2018

Mrs Feathers who had what we assumed was a broken wing last month, took a turn for the worse a few weeks back and it was only humane to let her go.

We had a lovely holiday travelling, meeting family and friends, but when we came home we noticed one of our hens had a limp wing.

We are now heading towards that time of year again, where everything starts to slow down.

I wasn’t joking last month when I predicted I’d be making sauerkraut in August; it’s already in the big crock fermenting away!

Let’s start with the big news first: Tufty, our poorly hen is still with us!!

Keeping chickens is not always as straightforward as it seems. Most of the time it’s just a matter of opening the henhouse in the morning; feeding them and locking them in again at night.

I’ve been living in Scotland for long enough now to blend in with the locals when it comes to skin tone. When I was over in the Netherlands at the end of May, my very pale skin made me stick out like a sore thumb! Thankfully the weather has turned sunny and warm and I’m slowly beginning to catch up now.

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust confirmed that we are the proud ‘owners’ of the rare Bilberry Bumblebee! Planting all those wildlife friendly plants and shrubs has paid off, it seems, which I’m very happy about.

Well, well, what can I say? We had so much snow last month!! We all did! Due to living half a mile off the main road, my husband JP and I were snowed in for 5 days - finally having to be dug out by the local farmer and his tractor.

There is still not much to do in the garden at the moment, but I have started sowing sweet peppers and chilli peppers - indoors, of course. I’ll probably start to sow tomatoes later in March, too - again indoors.

In the last newsletter I set up a growing plan for 1m2 growing, but don’t despair, if you haven’t got a garden or are unable to plant things where you live, because you can also grow a few vegetables in growing bags, pots or even on your window sill!

Tips on how to grow your own in a small garden.