Field finds: troughs for all

March 25, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

One of the nicest things about moving to a new house is how it can surprise you. Of course that can also be one of the worst things about a new house too (boiler breaking down the week after you move in anybody?). But in the garden I’ve been constantly surprised and pleased at the […]

Chickeny Capulets and Montagues

March 23, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

I have to admit to being distressed by our chickens. I am pleased to report that although I enjoy their ridiculously pompous feathery strutting and posturing, I am still able to see them as the livestock they are rather than pets. We named this first six and so they’ll be parent hens to our meat […]

Auditing the new orchard

March 15, 2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

When we planted our small orchard over the winter, we did so with no knowledge of how to do so. Luckily for us, the amazing Monty Don had made a short video on how to plant bare-rooted trees which we watched the morning we decided to make a start. It took us several weekends to […]

10 things I’ve learned since moving out of London to the countryside

March 8, 2018.Reading time 11 minutes.

I was delighted to be asked to share our experience of leaving London to move to the country by the wonderful Life after London team, who are well worth a visit if you’re planning your own River Cottage exodus. I chose to try to be brutally honest about how we’ve found it so far, and I’d love […]

Snow joke: cold weather is for the birds

March 3, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

Life in the UK has recently been brought to a standstill by the revelation that we on this Northern European island have had some snow fall on us. It was admittedly something of a shock for us ex-Londoners to see just how deep snow falls out in the rural countryside and we woke yesterday to […]

Planting an edible boundary hedge

February 25, 2018.Reading time 5 minutes.

Our little smallholding is surrounded by very appropriate but rather ugly stock fencing. We needed something that would fit in well with the rural nature of our village, but that would keep our livestock safe (and, frankly, would keep other people’s dogs out). However, the stock fencing that was in existence when we moved in […]

Sowing seeds with a toddler

February 22, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

Ever since my oldest son was born, I’ve always tried to interest him in the outdoor world. We go for walks whatever the weather, we look at trees and plants and birds and investigate animal holes and tracks and calls. We also mess about in the garden, and he’s joined me in the garden since […]

Planning a traditional country garden in the front

January 28, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

We tend to focus on practical (read: food producing) parts of our smallholding when prioritising projects. But one thing I did want to do when we moved in was to fence off the back garden and paddocks from the front. This wasn’t just to make it more secure for the children and various pets that […]

Location, location, location

January 18, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

Chickenopolis has moved. That is to say, we’ve moved our tiny flock of hens from one paddock to another. I am actually rather astonished at all that we’ve done to our smallholding since moving in October. But there’s still so much more to come. It’s our intention to build up a kitchen garden and a […]

Gather ye roses if ye may (and ye can’t, the sodding ground is undiggable!)

January 14, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

In the spirit of trying to do as much as we can around our little homestead ourselves, we had a good crack at the main flowerbeds in the front garden. This is a slight change of pace for us as we’ve focussed mainly on practical projects thus far, chicken-proofing the paddock for them to free […]