18th March 2011

Raining again here, and pretty cold too. Luckily for Elspeth’s day at Chiswick House last week, the weather was lovely. The Life section of the Telegraph (the bit I write for) have been running a competition – Gardening Against the Odds – to celebrate gardeners who create beautiful gardens in adversity. It was a pleasure to meet the winners, who were awarded their prizes by David Bellamy.

Back down to earth, progress here is slow. Have decided though, on the area where my hens will live, under an ancient silver birch, where the garden shed used to sit. The ground is very dry, but will try and sow grass, so the birds have a comfy sward to scarify when in their run. Am planning a new henhouse that I hope the company Jacques works for will build, and maybe sell to the public.

We have come up with a list of venues for our courses for this half of coming year. Several in Suffolk, but also in Hampstead, Guildford and Sussex (see course page). Will resume courses from home next year probably, when the dust settles.