I feel very lucky to have a garden in the middle of the city. As I sit writing this I have the door open and can hear the birds outside... at the front of my house it is often madness... but at the back it is a beautiful calm.

Spring leaves are full of the fantastic bitterness that gives our body a detox boost... whether it is dandelion or early nettle leaves or grape vine leaves - this is the time to eat them before they get too thick and less pleasant to eat.

When we bought our house ten years ago it was in quite a state - we went through a major renovation job that took the best part of 3 years to be where we are today. However I have always been very grateful to the previous owners for leaving us two amazing things in the garden: a fig tree and a grape vine.

Many years ago my Greek neighbour told me how to make stuffed vine leaves - she used to make huge amounts herself and often I would give her leaves off our vine. I have forgotten her original recipe but this weekend I decided to have a go again and made these...

I chose the herbs based on what I had in the garden - mint and coriander (the mint grows like crazy but coriander I am not good at keeping... any tips very welcome!)

If you access to a grapevine, give them a go... I love their bitterness with the tangy lemon juice. Serve with some olive oil drizzled over...