My garden is my pride and joy, and my passion. Its where I go when my kids are driving me mad. Luckily they are old enough now to be more than happy watching the box or playing on some electronic device or other whilst mummy disappears for an hour or so of pottering. And its the place I often take a glass of vino to relax after a long day. Basically I feel happiest outside.
As well as an eclectic and rambling mix of edible and ornamental plants my garden is also home to 3 chickens, who had a starring role in my book A Good Egg (published March 2013), a cookery bible for hen keepers and egg lovers alike.
The girls arrived to our house in early November 2010 and live in a wooden coop with a 9m long run attached. At first they were to free range around the garden all the time but it soon became clear that they would decimate every living thing they could get their beaks and claws on. And we have a lot of urban foxes here in Bristol. So now they come out from their run for 'free time' for a few loosely supervised hours a day.
As well as an eclectic and rambling mix of edible and ornamental plants my garden is also home to 3 chickens, who had a starring role in my book A Good Egg (published March 2013), a cookery bible for hen keepers and egg lovers alike.
The girls arrived to our house in early November 2010 and live in a wooden coop with a 9m long run attached. At first they were to free range around the garden all the time but it soon became clear that they would decimate every living thing they could get their beaks and claws on. And we have a lot of urban foxes here in Bristol. So now they come out from their run for 'free time' for a few loosely supervised hours a day.
The second best thing about chickens, after the eggs of course, is their insatiable appetite for slugs and snails. In return for their mollusc eating duties they get a share of cabbage from the veg bed and odds and sods from the kitchen.
Here are a few of my favourite pictures of the girls in my garden.
