Hehe, thanks, Tom and Dave. Of course, as soon as I posted those pictures the sun went in and I had to close the kitchen door and put the heating on. Still, it's very pleasant - definitely no frost.
Hey, Beppe. How did you get on with that? It's quite common to grow globe artichokes (the thistles, rather than Jerusalem artichokes) in France - and I see you're in Italy - but it's not so common here, and they're really expensive in the shops.
Mind you, I agree with previous posters - I find it a bit too much trouble to grow vegetables, especially with the snails and slugs. Everyone in London went mad for growing vegetables last year - not just here, I gather than Michelle Obama has an 'allotment' at the White House - and we duly followed suit. The only plant that really thrived was the purple-sprouting broccoli.