There has been a lot going on out of sight in the Torridon kitchen garden. Take a look at these broad bean roots and you will see the atmospheric nitrogen fixing nodules formed by the bacteria frankia. We have had a good crop of broad beans this season and I have begun to harvest the last of them, adding the mass of leaves and stems to the compost heap. The roots are left to be incorporated into the soil to add nitrogen. Our native broad leaf tree the Alder also has these nodules on its roots making it an important species for improving soils; lupins around the garden also have the same effect. A symbiotic relationship between air, water and earth – just aided a little by the odd robin waiting for a worm or two, keeping the gardener company at his work.

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