Enjoy the summer - go mad in your garden

Hello again,

It is the middle of summer, so get outside and enjoy your garden.

Spruce up your garden by cutting the grass and doing a bit of weeding. Now is the perfect time to trim your box plants and add a bit of seasonal colour to the garden by planting some summer bedding. Then to make sure it all thrives, make sure your garden watering system is working efficiently, adjust the timing for high summer and sit back and watch it grow.

If you still have some energy then fill your fridge with easy food, buy some beers, wine and soft drinks and then invite your friends, family or work colleagues around for lunch or dinner in the garden.

Don't wait, get on with it...

Until next time

Fowl language seems to be the order of the day

Hello again

It seems that we are all reverting to nature, discarding the excesses of the last decade or two, moving away from conspicuous consumption towards a more natural, considerate way of life. Recycling, buying cars with smaller engines, using farmers' markets, buying local, buying seasonal, growing your own fruit & veg and now, chickens.

It seems that having your own micro, egg production facility at the bottom of the garden is the must have accessory of the middle classes. It's easy to scoff though, but actually, having chickens and producing your own eggs is great fun, tasty and provides a good message to children - apparently eggs don't come from Sainsbury's, they come from chickens!!

My mother is an old hand at keeping chickens. She has lots of breeds: Frizzles, Polish, Light Sussex, Seabright & Black Rock amongst others. Some are more relable egg layers and some are more ornament but collectively they are rather charming. My daughters love feeding them, giving them some water and most of all, collecting the eggs. This is a joy to the children and to adults alike. There is nothing quite like opening the coup and finding four or five fresh eggs - one never tires of this.

Try it, I am going to.

Unitl next time