3rd April 2012

Maybe there’s a chance of rain after a glorious week or two of summer weather.

Have been taking advantage to press on with work in the garden: moving the compost heaps, constructing a ‘fedge’ that’ll take any wood that is too big to compost and too small to burn and building soft fruit bed to take gooseberries, raspberries and strawberries, to join an existing row of jostaberry bushes.

Have been inspired to do this by a visit to Bob Flowerdew’s plot in Norfolk where I interviewed him for the Telegraph (have a look on their website for the whole shebang). An extraordinary gardener and amazing eccentric, Bob didn’t disappoint. His garden is full of experiments, and labour and money saving experiments. He kindly cooked us a home reared and grown meal, including an ex member of his flock of chickens that would have been churlish to refuse – I had forgotten how good a real chicken tasted (sorry girls).

Also went to Syon House to help award prizes for friend Elspeth’s memorial competition Gardening Against the Odds, and met again the inspirational bunch of people who won from Sherborne Allotments and from Gardening Leave at Chelsea Barracks. Quiet Easter at home – gardening and decorating. Can I take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Easter.

5th March 2012

Where did February go? 
Along with my resolution to blog more frequently, I suppose.

The snow came and went and I celebrated its passing by planting a small spring garden behind the vegetable beds in the shade of my two damson trees. As a background I planted a row of yellow-stemmed cornus, that promptly disappeared against the yellow fence, so I now have a grey painted fence. In front I’ve put in various skimmias, euphorbia wulfennii and stinking hellebores and in the foreground have popped in pulmonarias, brunneras and lovely helleborus corsicus and orientalis that will flower and then show off their pretty foliage in the shade as the trees come to life. All interspersed with snowdrops, snowflakes, arums and cyclamen that grow wild here.

I’ve been watched by two increasingly friendly hens. Yes, I know they were supposed to be banned from that part of the garden, and the fence is ready in place, but later, as summer progresses, I’ll be spending more time in ‘their’ part. And my main reason for excluding them was so that Ludo can learn to walk without skidding on hen poo, and although an expert crawler, we should be safe for a month or two yet, which will coincide with better weather.

Off to visit Bob Flowerdew next week. Will let you know how it goes. And learning to tweet very soon……………….

20th January 2012

Sad day here at the Kitchen Garden when Martin came to retrieve his Brahma mum and her young cockerel. They went off perkily enough, but the remaining two pullets have been severely traumatised and mope about in the run. They were so obviously at the bottom of the pecking order, happily bossed about by mum and blossoming king of the roost, that now they don’t seem to know what to do with themselves.

Have decided against bringing in two other hens. Will leave these two to settle and then either hatch from them or introduce others in a year or two as their laying starts to decrease. An interesting project, starting from scratch. Usually life in the chicken run is a continuum, chicks follow mums, get integrated, initiated by the cockerel, work their way up the pecking order, then down again. These girls will sort themselves out eventually, learning as they go, and hopefully start another dynasty of garden-wise birds who will enjoy a jolly free-range life.

On a much chirpier note. I spend an afternoon a week at a new friend’s blissful seaside home, chatting and sewing, knitting, beading and chatting. Marilyn will be giving residential weekend courses in beading (see vase brooch), garden mosaics (see rhubarb forcer), stitching cushions/curtains, and possibly writing and publishing small books and journals with you know who. Get in touch with her for details marilyn@thebattery.info See also our hen keeping course dates on this website.

11th January 2012

A Happy New Year to you all.

And I start the year with my usual resolution to blog for you more frequently – even to tweet, God help me, if I can get someone to show me how. Realistically, it’s the technology that holds me back rather than the desire to hold back information.

Bright sunshine, and I’m searching for signs of life in my rhubarb plot, not the triffid jungle of times gone by, but a few plants to see if the warm weather has tricked them into growth, and perhaps we’re all producing forced rhubarb. But we need a frost apparently for that to happen, before we stick an upturned bucket or terracotta forcer over the plants – and we’re bound to get one soon.

Just back from a brief visit to Suffolk – my first since I moved almost exactly a year ago. I hadn’t trusted myself to visit before. I stayed at Wyken Hall, which is out of this world anyway, so beautiful at this time of the year. A quick trip to Bryant’s Mill for cheaper, better hen food, reminded of what I’ve been missing – the feeling of knowing every inch of the road, and the occupiers of almost every house – the feeling of being at home. It will still take a while before that happens here in Whitstable.

I had a wonderful time, thanks to Carla & Kenneth Carlisle’s generosity, and met several friends I was missing. A nice break, but I am glad to be back. It’s farewell to the Brahma foster mum who is going home, taking with her one ‘chick’ who is turning out to be a fine cockerel. Narrow escape for him – one neighbour threatened to get his gun out…….

16th December 2011

For the past fifteen years, getting ready for Christmas has followed a time worn routine: the Christmas Shopping marathon, the decoration bonanza and the food foraging, round well-loved venues. This year I’ve enjoyed our pop-up shop, decoration workshops and finding local food outlets (like our Farmers’ Market and Macknades in Faversham), and although I’ve missed my customers and friends (one or two showed amazing fortitude and came here), I’m beginning to feel quite Christmassy – and I must admit – slightly more relaxed than usual.

This will be grandson Ludo’s first Christmas – he’ll love the tree and decorations – it’ll be a year or two before he really appreciates the presents, and we’re planning a big family celebration. We had a small naming ceremony for him in the garden recently, where we planted a tiny walnut seedling that made the journey from Troston in a pot of agapanthus, courtesy of a squirrel. There are lots of squirrels here, so the chances of Ludo ever seeing any nuts are remote.

The new hens are settling in well, though one has turned into a cockerel. The minute he found himself in sole charge, he started to develop cockerel tendencies, so sadly he will have to return home with his mum. I’ve become so enamoured with her that I’m hoping to find two more Brahmas once my girls have grown to full size.

Can I take this chance to wish you all a very happy Christmas and thank you for all your support during my first year here.  Please keep in touch. I enjoy your emails and cards very much.

1st November 2011

My three little pullets have arrived at last! Chaperoned by their handsome Brahma Mum, kindly lent by their breeder and fellow hen keeper Martin Gurdon, they have settled in seamlessly, enjoying their new surroundings and faultlessly blending in with the local colour scheme! I now know why I’ve been painting everything that particular soft apricot yellow – I must have been missing that peculiar Buff Orpington hue.

For almost the first time since I moved – I’ve sat down to watch my little flock fossicking around the orchard – and relaxed in the garden. Yesterday was spent planting hundreds of bulbs (pheasant’s eye and actea narcissi, camassias and alliums) in the turf, while the hens foraged. Obviously not from gardening stock, they’ve yet to learn the excitement of turning a spadeful of soil – although they love the windfalls and seem bent on eating every single apple.

Neighbour, Harry aged 3½ has named them Birdy, Beady and Beasty, and that’ll do until Ludo comes up with other names. I’m so happy that that particular void in my new life here has been filled.

27th October 2011

The hens arrive tomorrow!
And here is their handsome house* – built by my handsome son Jacques. The interior is lined with ply wood and all the joints have been filled with silicone to deter mites. You’ll notice a clever nesting drawer, with easy access to all those tasty eggs, which will be a while coming because my new girlies are just 12 weeks old and will be accompanied by mum.

Can’t wait, but have had a bit of a nightmare preparing their fox-proof run. First attempt by handyman Martin was brilliant, but he has damaged his arm; next try by random builders who couldn’t quite cope with the concept was unsatisfactory and so am now waiting for a third attempt next week. Hope they’ll be safe in the meantime.

Couldn’t quite let the autumn colour slip by without my usual squirreling for Christmas decoration goodies. We’ll be having a small pop-up shop here at the Kitchen Garden-on-Sea on November 27th. Several potters, decoration makers and driftwood artists will be joining in, and Whitstable is a jolly place. Email francine@kitchen-garden-hens.co.uk. It would be lovely to see you too!

*Jacques’ company Moosejaw Woodworks is happy to take on the design and making of bespoke henhouses. Give him a ring on 01227 281 806 or contact him at moosejawwoodworks@googlemail.com

12th September 2011

Have been waiting for a windless day to photograph the new seating area for you. In the meantime handyman Martin and I have been planning the chicken run with foxes in mind. Neighbour, Eleanor has spotted one walking around her garden, and there are reports of others nearby. Hopefully, these are nocturnal country foxes with a healthy dislike of people, not urbanized vermin fed on rubbish and cavorting in gardens at any time of the day or night.

Have been waiting for a windless day to photograph the new seating area for you. In the meantime handyman Martin and I have been planning the chicken run with foxes in mind. Neighbour, Eleanor has spotted one walking around her garden, and there are reports of others nearby. Hopefully, these are nocturnal country foxes with a healthy dislike of people, not urbanized vermin fed on rubbish and cavorting in gardens at any time of the day or night.

We’ll be building a hefty run around the house and maybe investing in a steel framed poultry run from www.gardenlife.biz for the bottom of the garden for days I’m not about, but gone are the carefree Troston days, when for 30 years I never saw or heard a fox, dead or alive, thanks to the local gamekeepers. I suppose I’m now living in the real world that confronts most henkeepers, and dread the constant worries about my new flock’s wellbeing.

On a cheerier front – lots of visitors, and also the first of our personal henkeeping courses here for 2 or three students. Felt a bit of a fraud with no hens as yet, but they will come once their security is sorted.

18th August 2011

Three of the eggs that have been brooded by Martin’s Brahma hen have hatched. Could these dear little things be the basis of my new flock? In the meantime the henhouse is under construction. Built by Jacques at the Garage Workshop, this will hopefully be the first of many - they’ve decided to produce individually tailored henhouses as a sideline. Will post a picture and their details soon, by which time we hope to have a run as well.

Have found a handyman to help with all these projects, who spends most of his time repairing and building beach huts along the front. The new garden work surface featured in next Sunday’s Telegraph is our first venture together, built of wood that sat for 25 years in our garage in Troston and ridiculously was transported down here. Knew it would come in useful.

25th July 2011

The reasons for choosing a particular house are often quite random. In my case, I’d hate to admit that the potential larder, scullery and understairs broom cupboard had quite a lot to do with my choice, and my son Jacques had a big hand in changing that potential into reality. The larder space had been a passageway housing the gas boiler and the scullery housed the downstairs bathroom. It took a lot of skill on his part and money on mine to turn these little plans and schemes into reality. Can I just indulge myself and show off a few pictures?

Other plans, for a new tiny flock for Joy Lane have been put into effect by Martin Gurdon’s broody Brahma who is sitting on eight Orpington eggs in the hope of three pullets for me – no amount of skill or money will have any bearing on the outcome of this one. Max and his friend Liam are building a garage to house Max’s buggy, currently still residing in Suffolk, and James, my excellent builder these past six months has upped tools and gone. I shall miss him.

With the summer holidays and Whitstable Oyster Festival, it has been great having lots of visitors and the whole family (including lovely Ludo) around, and this house and garden has come into its own. A good space for entertaining, emerging like a butterfly from its sojourn as a chrysalid builder’s yard and general dump.

20th June 2011

A glimpse of the new kitchen! 
We knocked down walls and turned three rooms and a corridor into this space. All the dust and upset has been worth it. James can be justly proud of his handiwork, and the windows are beautifully made. The structure is there, with extra light and insulation, and we have a larder and scullery, which I’ll save to show you when complete. The units are designed and made in collaboration with the Garage Workshop, the company Jacques works with, and again are unfinished, but it won’t be long.

I have endless decoration work to do, which I love – and I long to unpack my things which are still in boxes, and despite having been wrapped and covered, are grey and dusty.

In the meantime I’ve been setting up an online henkeeping course with My Garden School, who have a great range of gardening courses. Have a look on htpp://www.my-garden-school.com/course/how-to-keep-hens-in-your-garden/ especially for those who can’t get to our usual henkeeping days.

www.whitstablebuilders.co.uk – James for building work

RP Joinery 01227 281 820 – Rob for windows
The Garage Workshop 01227 281 806 – Jacques for kitchens

14th June 2011

Every time I think I’ll post photos of my progress in the garden, I decide to wait a little longer – till this is done or that is finished. We could wait forever. So I’m sending some pictures of work in progress.

As you’ll see, to one side, the vegetable plot is up and growing a few odds and ends.
Some plants, like the rhubarb, artichokes and raspberries have just been heeled in to give them a home, others like the salads are being eaten, both by me and pigeons – they’ve followed me from Troston, and a squirrel who has been enjoying the strawberries.

The paths are laid with bricks from the house alterations, and are about to get a filling of Dansand, a new organic Danish product that prohibits weeds – no more hours spend on knees with a kitchen knife digging out every plant from the garden that prefers a tiny slot among bricks to their perfectly lovely beds. I will let you know whether it lives up to its promises.

In the middle I have just seeded a lawn which will lead on to the path cut through the orchard. And next is the gravel area, still under construction. Still hundreds of barrowloads to go: of hardcore (from the house), bricks, soil and sand. All good exercise, but not so good for the back.

Not many plants in evidence yet, but am determined to get the basics right to avoid work in the future. We shall see. We gardeners always succumb.

1st June 2011

Another lovely day!

And we even had a little rain – not nearly enough to close the giant cracks in the garden, but the plants look a little happier. They so obviously prefer rainwater to tap. And the garden is filled with daisies, which gives a romantic atmosphere and covers the neglect. I have laid two brick paths, reclaimed from the house, hovering around poor James the builder and rummaging through the skips.

On to the main news – gorgeous little Ludo. Doing well, gaining weight, but sleeping in fits and starts. Nothing can quite prepare new parents. Pale and tired, with good days and bad, they struggle on, like millions before them. Wish I could help more.

Ludo appeared briefly before the press yesterday! We had a photoshoot organized with the Telegraph to illustrate an article on safe gardens for children, and another on the local allotment. The baby waited, allotmenteers waited, no photographer. The baby cried, the gardeners grumbled. Mistakes had been made, so a roving photographer was dispatched from London and eventually all was well. Felt briefly like an inefficient Cecil B Demille.

Thanks for all your good wishes.

17th May 2011

It’s a waiting game!
Waiting for my first grandchild, who was due yesterday, so we’re all here poised. Champagne is in the fridge, the bed is made up in the spare room for the other granny-to-be, I’ve been knitting like a dervish, but of course, this little being must take his/her time. In the meantime, I can be impatient about my new kitchen, the new windows and the final touches on the ground floor here.

I’ve painted my scullery and larder, but the cupboard doors are still to come. I will post photos soon. The vegetable garden is progressing, and tomorrow I’m starting my brick paths, and of course, we’re waiting for rain. There are so many things I’d like to show you, but nothing is quite ready.

We are giving a course in Hampstead on Sunday, and on Monday, I’m covering Chelsea for the Telegraph on Press Day. At 1pm we’re all chased out so the Queen can visit, and I’m moving on to the Veterans’ Garden at Chelsea Barracks. Here those wounded and damaged by the recent wars have started a garden as therapy. It’s a challenging site with overhanging plane trees and a 20ft high wall, I salute their efforts and will try to support the project known as Gardening Leave with a little publicity.

PS. V early Thursday morning
Baby son born to Jacques and Saskia
Ludo Raphael 8lbs 2oz
All’s well.

18th April 2011

Another scorching spring day! An early morning walk down along the beach, the tide is out and the sky is hazy, and then back to no water in the house for a shower. James the plumber strikes again, and the kitchen and bathroom are non-functional once more. I thought we were moving on into the rest of the house, but there is still an interminable list of last minute jobs before the floor can be laid and the kitchen built. So it’s back out into the garden again to escape the dust and noise and control my frustration.

Progress is slow in the garden as well. But it’s easy to just sit among the blossom with Lulu and dream about what I should be doing. The ground is clay hard and it amazes me that plants are growing. I’m having to water the new grass seed and the pots of plants from Troston that should have found new homes by now. The decking gets laid by my boys during the Bank Holiday weekend when I’m appearing at the Grow your Own Show near Guildford, and then the rest of the garden can be re-organized. I must keep reminding myself that this is a low maintenance garden, and not a chance to show off and design myself a lot of work in the future.

Am beginning to venture a little further afield for a few jollies. Canterbury and Faversham are both within 20 minutes drive or a busride away. I enjoyed Faversham.
It has more listed private houses than any other town in England, and is quirky in patches, with an old quayside and junk shops. Canterbury has more predictable fanchises, but is very beautiful. Whitstable is getting busy.

Happy Easter. I feel both sad and relieved not to be preparing for another Hen Party, but I’m told the village is holding a mini version at the Village Hall in Troston on Easter Saturday.

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.

7th March 2011

What a lovely spring day!
So I’ve been out and taken photos to send you.

About time, I know, but if it’s possible for dust to affect the brain, then that’s my excuse. Walls have come down, floors have come up and ceilings are all over the place. I know I asked for it, but I’d forgotten just how pervasive the dust is. My eyes, my nose and I hate the fact my hands are always dry.

Anyway, I seemed to have forgotten how to work my camera, but a quick lesson from son Max, shaking his head at my uselessness, have resulted in a few images for you.

Progress in the garden:

A group of brilliant lads from the local Enterprise Board ’s horticultural initiative came round and we planted a dozen or so fruit trees from local Brogdale – home of the National Collection. They look like a collection of twigs, rather than the beginnings of an orchard, but with a scattering of bulbs and a bit of imagination, I can see myself one day, sitting there surrounded by blossom.

Wishful thinking is what it takes at this stage. My builder, James is ace, but things move at a much slower pace than I’d imagined, and I’m camping out in the meantime, with all my belongings back in boxes or under dust sheets.

Tomorrow, I dust myself down, and go to Chiswick House to celebrate the winners of the Against the Odds garden writing competition run by the Telegraph to commemorate the sad death of friend Elspeth Thompson. Will report back.

11th February 2011

Have just spent a whole day out in my new garden. Such pleasure. No builders and reasonable weather. I’ve made endless forays over the last four weeks: viewing the plot from every angle, checking the light, the wind direction, the views and what’s beginning to grow. I’ve made a few decisions. To divide the garden into three – the first part will be for sitting and eating out, the second will be an orchard planted in long grass, and the third, containing a 100 year old oak tree, will be underplanted with Kentish cob nuts, and inevitably – blackberries, and then left wild.

Am steaming ahead with the orchard, trying to get the trees in this year, and have ordered a range of wonderful 2-3 year old plants from Brogdale, holder of the National Collection of fruit trees at nearby Faversham. Together we’ve chosen a mixture of local apples, some standards on semi-vigorous stock (I hate those tiny stunted trees) and some espaliers: a pear, a medlar, an apricot (fingers crossed for fruit), a greengage, and some morello cherries. An ideal spot for my new flock in the autumn.

I have to keep reminding myself that this is to be a low maintenance garden. I don’t want to sacrifice productivity, so feel an orchard is slightly less work than a vegetable garden. I shall grow herbs and salads and a few perennial vegetables, and try to grow flowers mostly in containers, and no lawn that needs regular mowing. We’ll see……

We’re planning some courses in various venue around the country (seeCourse Page), but I hope to start small courses here in the autumn when I get my new birds.

21st January 2011

Well, here I am, sitting at my old desk in a new house, a rather grumpy cat on my lap, festooned with wires, as we try to sort out the computer. Thanks to BT, we were without a phone and internet for a week. Amazing how debilitating and confidence sapping it is to be incommunicado. That apart, I feel perky. I do miss my birdies, but know they’re well and happy, and I’m possibly just a dim memory in the back of their feathery minds.

I shan’t be getting my new flock for a little while, though my new neighbours are enthusiastic, I’ve heard there are foxes. My new garden used to be a 400 ft orchard backing on to allotments and railway lines, a golf course and the sea, ideal foxy territory. Since then land at the end has been sold off and a new house has been built, and the same has happened right along this road, so it’ll be interesting to see just how much of the wilderness remains. Also, there will be builders…..

I’ll be writing about my garden plans (with professional photos) in my piece in the Sunday Telegraph on Sunday 30th, (this week it’s my sons’ old school who have a BTech in horticulture), but promise to give you lots of photos as life settles, and I remember just how to get images on to my computer.

Thank you all so much for your messages of support, they mean a lot. Please do keep in touch on my new email address: francine@kitchen-garden-hens.co.uk. Life is good and busy, no time to miss Troston, but that will come, I’m sure. We all need to mourn changes, and then adapt slowly to new circumstances.

1st January 2011

The time has come and I’m moving a week on Friday. I’m ill so it’s an even more slow and painful process. After a few bits of packing I have to go and lie down and cough, but expect I’ll get there. Lots of help from Rena, Lynn, Keith and Evan and nearer the time from my sons.

I’m trying not to look at anything here, just get on with the work at hand, and having a temperature gives one a jaded and unreal view anyway. I can’t even say I’m looking forward to being in my new house, but expect I will, once I get better. But I am looking forward to showing you some pictures and wonder what everyone will think.

Must get on and stop brooding. Pieces to write for the Sunday Telegraph (every week) and a new hen magazine called Your Chickens which makes its debut on January 13th. 

Wish me luck.