The wild garlic is as abundant this year as ever. It carpets the woodland floors and lines many of the shaded roadside verges. Open the car window on a sunny afternoon or stumble over a patch on a walk, and its scent is almost instantly noticeable. Here on the smallholding, we are lucky enough to…
blog
Pine Needle Vinegar
There has been a lot of rain here over the last couple of weeks. The ground is saturated with water. The stream is swollen and lapping at the edges of the daffodils. And the geese have found themselves inundated with muddy, pond-sized puddles to dabble in. But, in the moments of sunshine between heavy showers,…
Chickens: Creating a Dual-Purpose UK Easter Egger Flock – Part 1
We came up with a chicken-keeping plan several years ago, which we have been working on here on the smallholding ever since. Our ultimate aim was to create a happy, free-ranging and organic flock that lays a multicoloured array of eggs and produces some of the finest meat we have ever tasted. This is the…
Blackcurrant and Bay Leaf Jam
Jam making is very much an activity we reserve for the colder months of the year. Rainy days especially. There is something very cheering about having a huge pan of brightly coloured fruit and sugar bubbling away on the stove, while rain patters against the window panes. This weekend though, it was not only rain…
Keeping Geese Part 3: Fencing
Prior to moving the goslings from their brooder (see Keeping Geese Part 1 and Keeping Geese Part 2) out into the orchard, we gave some careful thought to fencing arrangements. Our initial plan was to allow the geese to free-range and not to worry about fencing but, after further consideration, we decided this wasn’t an…
Coriander Pancakes with Lemon Curd and Primroses
We awoke to a grumpy sky of grey fog and drizzle, pulled on our wellies and coats over our pyjamas, and headed out into the feathery rain. The ground was wet and muddy, and there was a bitter chill in the air, but a closer look at the garden revealed some cheering signs of spring…