THE JOYS OF SPRING

Was beginning to wonder if it would ever come. All the plants are so late in flowering, and now I suppose they’ll all appear in a bunch. Have been watching the bees on the primroses, pulmonarias and apricot blossom, they buzz round quickly because they’ve been there before. Must plant some really early flowers for them: mahonia, pussy willows, flowering currants and crocuses are all bee magnets.

My broody has been promised, so am getting her quarters ready. Since there are no other occupants, a cardboard box within the main house, lined with paper and dried moss is ideal. Will make sure mum has been dusted, because there can be nothing worse than having to sit still for three weeks, itching. I can’t wait: spring doesn’t seem the same without hens scratching about.

Waiting till May to bring out tender plants like salvias, and to plant zinnias and most veg, though I have rows of salad seedlings under tunnel cloches. First pickings of rhubarb and buckler-leaved sorrel – sharp and tangy, and am watching my fruit trees blossom one by one: cherry plum, apricot, pear, damson, quince, cherries and apples, when the bees will be very welcome.

Lovely to work in the garden again, and am starting at the Abbey Physic Garden in Faversham occasionally helping. After a great year volunteering at Great Comp, decided to pick somewhere nearer home, though will re-appear there for their Hens Gardens event on June 21st. Don’t forget the Hen Party at Benenden on May 16th as well. Hope to see you there.

STILL CLODHOPPING!

The joys of gardening a clay soil, and I really shouldn’t be even standing on it, so have been wobbling on planks and duckboards as I tidy, plant and try and improve the soil. Have added Gro-char Soil Improver, grit and horse manure. There’s a school of thought that chunky manure is the answer, and of course I garden in raised beds where I can, but trees and shrubs need to go into the soil.

Have ordered 100 plugs of Yellow Rattle (from naturescape.co.uk) to reduce the grass in the meadow and leave more space for wildflowers, and planted some white wild strawberries to confuse the squirrel who ate my entire crop last year. It’s all about problem solving.

The old swing seat is getting a coat of paint and I promise I’ll re-cover the cushions, the existing ones have nearly rotted away anyway. Bulbs are appearing, slightly later than usual, and it’s a relief to welcome favourites back. I sometimes get dark days when all I can see are the plants that haven’t re-appeared. Oh me of little faith.

I’ll be talking to the Friends of Canterbury Cathedral on March 11th about gardening, hens and downsizing, and at the Country Living Spring Fair on Saturday March 21st about keeping hens. It would be great to see some familiar faces.

CLODHOPPING

Spending my afternoons puddling about in thick clay as I try to turn the area around my metal swing seat into a scented garden. Hacking out old hedging shrubs that have been banked up with the excavations for a greenhouse that has long since disappeared: bricks, flints and bits of rusted ironmongery, all clagged together with lumps of yellow subsoil.

It’s a strangely relaxing – and exhausting procedure for just a few hours every afternoon, as I dream of what I’ll plant (akebia, eleagnus angustifolia, sweet peas, and magenta-coloured shrub roses), and imagine myself sitting in the sun. The image is completed with an imagined flock of Orpingtons. Every time I garden, I miss sharing the excitement of the turned spade, though the job is easier without darting beaks.

I’m hoping that Kent College will lend me a broody and some of their hatching eggs. Their provenance (mums and dad seen above, and borrowed for the day) can be seen in an article I’ve written for this month’s Gardens Illustrated, in some gorgeous pics by Andrew Mongomery: Henkeeping for Serious Gardeners. Can’t wait!

Winter Gardening

A couple of days spent out in the garden and life makes sense again. Leaf mould and compost sorted and mixed, and spread on the beds. I won’t clear them until late Feb, but the spring bed behind the veg garden needs tidying so that early treasures can actually be seen. Hellebores are opening, arums unfurling their spears, a few snowdrops and various bulbs beginning to bud. A sort among the pots at the back of the house produces a few to bring to the front door, including winter honeysuckle, wintersweet and a pot of cheerfulness.

On the terrace table, I have a pot of tender hellebores under a galvanised cloche – like a tiny greenhouse, various pots of herbs for easy access from the kitchen, myrtle, winter savory and hyssop, apart from the usual suspects. Time to take down the Christmas decorations and replace my driftwood tree with a pot of cymbidium orchids again.

Writing about gardening clothes for the Telegraph and I realize just how important it is to be wearing clothes that are comfortable, easy to move in and that keep you warm. I favour a pair of Max’s old Carhart baggy jeans (I wear woolly tights underneath), a strange hoodie over a red cashmere jumper and a ski vest. I always wear gloves – Showa, and my ancient Dubarrys keep my feet warm and dry. Not fashion plate perfect, but workmanlike.

PS If you miss an article, just type in Francine Raymond at the Sunday Telegraph, and it should be there.

DECORATE YOUR HOUSE FROM YOUR GARDEN

Thank you all who came to see us at our Christmas Shopping Day. It was like a lovely day-long party with long-lost friends! We raised £200 for Unicef and I did my Christmas Shopping. The house looked very bare after everyone had gone. Since then we’ve done a couple of shoots for my column in the Telegraph and so various decoration projects have appeared and the house looks quite festive again.

Using succulents, herbs and various other plants, wreaths have appeared on doors, candle rings on tables, small trees on windowsills and little landscapes in terrariums. Some will stay and others will go out into the garden where they’ll be much happier.

My poor spruce will be spared disinterment and instead, disregarding cries of ‘Call that a Christmas tree’ from my sons, I’ve bought a driftwood tree from Martin Pammant (kentbeachart.com), hung with sea-washed glass and pebbles. Since we intend to eat part of our lunch in the beach hut – depending on the weather, this will be a seaside themed Christmas.

Enjoy yours too!

Tying up loose ends for our Christmas Shopping on Sunday December 7th (10 till 5)

View fullsize

Start celebrating Christmas here with an eclectic mix of passionate people selling tasty treats, stocking fillers, decorations and special presents to suit every pocket.

*Katy Cox’s Mighty Fine Things include locally sourced homemade fruit liqueurs, preserves and Christmas goodies. Lots of seasonal tastes and ideal presents.

*Rune, The Norse Baker bakes fabulous Norwegian biscuits and cakes to bring a Scandi twist to your celebrations. Also Stollen from local baker Toby Schwenn.

*Hiroko Aono-Bilson, textile artist and writer is just back from a visit to Japan with some beautiful kimonos. Special presents for special friends or treat yourselves.

*Rob Wheeler, a Suffolk potter who has supplied The Kitchen Garden since we started. Lovely raku and sponge-wear pots, and his famous bantam eggcups.

*Frances Prescott is a magazine make-up artist, offering advice and highlighting her products. An appointment with her would make a much-appreciated present.

*Cranbrook Iron make bespoke ironwork for home and garden. I’ve just bought a beautiful rusty curled fern that’s on my kitchen table.

*Martin Pamment from Kent Beach Art is a beachcomber who turns flotsam and jetsam into decorative house and garden artworks. Also painted pebbles from Jane.

*Odds and ends I think you’ll like from The Kitchen Garden. The usual eclectic mix: vintage, garden and henkeeping stuff and my new book – Flying the Coop.

I’ll also be selling hardly used gardening books I’ve reviewed, at hugely reduced prices. Funds will go to help the Ebola Crisis, as will the proceeds from refreshments: glasses of mulled wine and spiced biscuits.

Email me at francine@kitchen-garden-hens.co.uk if you need to know more.

Putting the Garden to Bed

A sunny day, a little spare time and bags of energy finds me thinking ahead and doing the right thing in the garden. I know it’s lovely now, but it could change overnight, so anything vulnerable needs to be protected. I don’t want to be grovelling outside in the dark after the weather forecast.

I’m bringing my enormous pot of amaryllis into the spare bedroom, alongside two enamel buckets of cymbidium orchids that have been enjoying the summer outside. Both should flower just after Christmas if not given too much heat. If you want them to flower later, pop them in a frost-free shed with light for a little longer, then bring them in and give them a feed.

Succulent geeks have been lucky for the last couple of years, but echeverias, agarves and crassulas aren’t hardy, and don’t like wet anyway, so pots should be placed under a terrace table or in a cold frame, if you have one. I keep a couple of bamboo cloches to hand, just in case there’s an unexpected cold snap.

I’m leaving my lovely flowering potted salvias till the last minute, to make the most of their colour, but will pop them undercover out of the wet in Max’s garage with his buggy, and pick off fallen leaves and flowers to discourage botrytis.

I let my garden rest, untidy till the spring, to give shelter to wildlife and insects, just mulching with compost and leaf mould. I need to empty both bays to be able to start again with this year’s fall. There is danger from moulds from decaying vegetation when it’s moved, for those with asthma, lung infections or a weak immune system, so experts are advising those sufferers to wear a mask when gardening.

Although I won’t have hens till next spring, I usually cover my run with bark chippings. www.flytesofancy.co.uk are selling a great hardwood woodchip that will keep your flock clean and dry under foot over a wet winter. I rake the moss from my lawn and dry it, ready to line nestboxes, and use wood ash from my now regular evening fire to fill the dust bathing space under the henhouse. 

SUMMER’S LONG GOODBYE

Last few joys of the season. A spectacular day out at Great Dixter at their Autumn Fair buying a last few gems for the garden, a visit to Charlotte Molesworth’s exhibition, packed with paintings, metal sculptures and pots, and a huge bunch of garden flowers. Wonderful how the Michaelmas daisies all carry on despite the weather.

Now I need to stack my wood store with logs, bed the garden down with a snug layer of compost, batten the hatches at the beach hut and dig out some warmer clothes. Buying, preparing and eating food suddenly seems to take up a major part of my time, and it’s not entirely due to a week’s visit from Max, down to finally get his beach buggy on the road (strange timing – but at least it will be ready to go next year). The change of season heralds an increase in appetite, and waistline. I crave rich autumnal tastes.

Am also starting to source goodies for my Open House at Christmas (this year on Sunday December 7th) and have joined forces with a great band of local makers. I shall be taking books to a Christmas Craft Fair Bethersden for the Friends of Canterbury Cathedral on October 16th (email me if you’d like more details), and joining the judges for this year’s batch of entries for Gardening Against the Odds.

Twitter lessons may result in a bit more activity on that front, so do follow me @FrancineHens if you have time.

Late summer colour

A rush to get my garden tidy for a shoot by Kristin Perers who was lovely and reassuring. We did the kitchen, garden and some recipes for Sainbury’s Magazine that’ll come out next year, and the results were fabulous. They even got make-up and hair for me – so I looked fairly fab as well (almost unrecognizable in fact). Have a look at Kristin’s inspiring website, and particularly her section: This is 50. Very encouraging.

Trying to extend the season in the garden – that looks as though it’s October already, and my table still looks exotic with Will Dyson’s salvias, some succulents and a strange purple plant called …oh dear I’ve lost its name. The purple is picked up in the distance by stalwart verbena bonariensis, that’s been flowering away (and self-seeding) since May.

I find, if the table that can be seen from the kitchen, is looking good, the rest of the garden is forgiven, and that’s not just because I’m short-sighted. I have a similar ruse round the front door: lots of interesting plants to welcome visitors. On the subject of visitors, I’ve had a few. Living by the seaside during a good summer brings the whole family flocking. And by next year we’ll have a beach hut, so bring on the hoards.

Enjoy these last few days of summer. 

HENKEEPING PLANS

We had a lovely day, and thank you all for braving the Oyster Festival traffic and wandering down the quieter end of town. We ate all the puddings, drank all the tea and sat around chatting in the garden in just the right weather, not too hot, and no rain. Entrance money went to The Conservation Foundation, David Bellamy’s charity that sponsors Gardening Against the Odds, who I’ve just interviewed for the Telegraph. Friend Nicola Smith brought along two of her blue egg-laying Broughton Blues who had fine time in the garden.

I’ve had Solomon – type decisions to make in the hen department. Clio’s dear little bantam hatched out just the one chick. Not her fault, the other eggs weren’t fertile. So, if it’s a hen she’ll stay with mum and if it’s a cockerel – he’ll probably go for the pot, (fingers crossed not) but either way, I still don’t have any occupants for the henhouse.

I could have hatched out more eggs – though Orpington eggs are like hens’ teeth in this part of the world, and if you have any next spring, I’d love to hear from you – but it’s getting late in the season, so have decided to wait. Hopefully, by then, the fox – who hasn’t been seen since, may have died, and maybe his successor won’t be so bold.

It was fun to see hens in the garden again, but I think I’m wiser to wait. In the meantime, Ludo and I have been harvesting apples and damsons (poaching and freezing for autumn tarts and sauces), and watching the butterflies on the wildflowers. 

MY OPEN GARDEN

We’re having an Open Garden Day here on Sunday 27th July to celebrate the publication of Flying the Coop. Am nervous about showing my still very rudimentary plot to visitors, but hope everyone will understand:  this is a work in progress. To distract from the garden’s shortcomings, the legendary Peggy of Peggy’s Puddings will be providing lovely sweet things to eat; Katy Cox of Mighty Fine Things will be selling Bellinis (both alcoholic and non) and I’m hoping we’ll have locally grown flowers for sale. And books, of course.

We’ll be open from 10 till 4 or 5, depending on the weather and how exhausted we are. Please park carefully on Joy Lane, avoiding neighbours’ drives, and bear in mind, this is the beginning of the Oyster Festival in town. Looking forward to seeing you.

Am writing a piece on Bantams in this weekend’s Telegraph. Feel a great debt to a particular bantam – Clio’s silkie/pekin cross, sitting for me, as we speak. My eggs are due to hatch this weekend, so we may have some chicks to see, fingers crossed. Will keep you posted.

Open gardens, Oyster Festival, hatching chicks, bantams.

Sitting Pretty

Here she is, still sitting pretty ten days in, and the same still to go.  She’s covering the eggs well, but her chicks will probably outgrow her rather quickly and she’ll have trouble keeping them all under her wing.

Broodies need to be dusted for mites and lice – her owners have used DE (diatomaceous earth) read all about it in the news section of www.henkeepersassociation.co.uk. If they don’t leave the nest every other day to eat, drink and dustbathe, encourage them to do so during the hottest part of the day.

Will keep you posted…….

Fingers Crossed

With heart in mouth, have taken six Orpington hatching eggs to a friend’s broody to sit on. The dear little Silkie cross settled on six eggs easily, pleased to be given the task that all Silkies love best.  I will be posting pics of her soon, and also tweeting with luck. And sending progress reports via Clio who is in charge. I’m hoping for just two hens, and Clio and her family will keep any extras.

In many ways, I feel irresponsible providing another meal for the fox, but we’ll improve our defences, beefing up my perimeter fences; I’ll keep a closer eye on my birds; indulge in all the advice I’ve been given: radios on, male urine, visits by friend’s dogs; and sadly probably allow my birds less freedom in the garden. The fox who killed my hens was in a bad way, injured with mange, and has probably not survived (95% of urban foxes don’t live longer than 3 years), though if so, he will have been replaced. So like many henkeepers, I shall have to constantly be on the alert.

Bought my hatching eggs at The Hen Party, which was fun, and also the eggs in the photo – outstanding Copper Maran eggs, and pale blue ones from my friend Nicola. Am at the Open Garden Fair at Faversham on Sunday 29th – hope to see you there.

Summer on the beach

Off to the Hen Party at Benenden in Kent (TN17 4LE) on Saturday June 7th till 4. Nice friend Sheila Hume has copied my idea to host breeders who will show and sell poultry and hatching eggs. This year there will be a potter, leather worker and pole lather – wow, lots of plant stalls and hopefully lovely bunches of flowers from Sheila’s garden. She grows flowers professionally for florists, so I look forward to filling my car.

My stall (selling books, hen paraphernalia and garden bits and bobs) is always next to  the excellent cake and tea table, so I always end the day a good half a stone heavier,  (but hopefully lighter by a few books). Am cadging a lift with my friend Nicola Smith who sells blue egg-laying hens. Do try and come too if you’re local, it’s a lovely day out. For more information – email m.garnier@waitrose.com.

An article about my house has just come out in the July issue of Country Living magazine. Have a look! Gorgeous pics by Charlie Colmer, artfully managed by Hester Page – they photographed the first article about our house in Troston that came out in 1996, so we have come full circle.

Had a fab time at The Leaping Hare at Wyken, meeting old friends. Thank you Kenneth and Carla Carlisle and the staff for being so welcoming. I do miss Suffolk.

Beach Hut

Dodging the showers, I do my usual circuit, taking in Prospect Field, the golf course and the beach. I pass two lines of multi-coloured beach huts, some looking as though they’ve shut up for decades. I’m particularly interested at the moment, because I’m thinking of investing some of my non-existent pension in one, for the general benefit of the family.

West Beach is less busy than the rest of Whitstable’s shorefront. Far from any facilities, bars, or shops and a bit of a hike from anywhere to park, we spend family celebrations in this same beach hut – rented on a weekend basis. The news, this year that this hut was no longer available because it’s up for sale, is what has triggered this thought process.

I nearly bought a beach hut when I first moved, but was dissuaded by my son, who thought his side of the family wouldn’t use it. Prices have doubled – thanks Jacques – but in fact we all enjoy sheltering in its welcoming lea on birthdays and sunny weekends, especially my grandson.

So we shall see……The lure of tiny houses is hard to resist.

PS The new book shows the beach here in its full glory with pictures by Victoria Spofforth.

PPS Looking forward to seeing Suffolk friends at The Leaping Hare on Friday 23rd for my Book Launch. I shall be there all day and would love to see you.

New Website & Book

Welcome to our new website! I hope you like the improvements we’ve made – a fresher look, with easier access and lots more photos. The only loss is our products page, which was getting harder to supply with nice henkeeping bits and bobs. If you’re desperate for one of our lines though, just email and there may be something tucked away. Those still wanting a bantam eggcup – one of our most popular goodies can still buy them direct from www.robwheelerpotter.com.

The other big news is the arrival of my new book – Flying the Coop, chronicling my move from Suffolk to Whitstable and taking up the story from All my Eggs. As from Tuesday 26th April, it’s available from the website, either via Paypal or by cheque (see SHOP page). If you have any problems ordering or with any of this new high techery, just email me: francine@kitchen-garden-hens.co.uk, and I’ll try and help. There’s a new website too:

www.francine-raymond.com but don’t confuse me with a very successful French Canadian singer with the same name.

I’m going the whole hog and tweeting now and then on @FrancineHens – where will it all stop, and even going out and about to sell the book. I’m at the Leaping Hare at Wyken Vineyards in Suffolk IP31 2DW on Friday 23rd May, so do please drop in and say hello.

10th April 2014

Here’s wishing you a sunny Easter, full of blossom and bulbs, chocolate, marzipan and family fun. To celebrate the arrival of my new book Flying the Coop, we are re-vamping the website, starting to tweet again – I never quite got the point the first time round, going on Facebook and visiting various venues, like The Leaping Hare in Suffolk, The Hen Party at Benenden and others to be announced. 

All rather daunting. I much prefer to have open house here in Whitstable, so in tandem with an article about the new house in the July Issue of Country Living Magazine, we’ll be welcoming visitors here on Sunday July 27th. Further information here nearer the time. Hope to see you here. 

In the meantime, the book should be available here after Easter, I’m off to the Gardening Against the Odds awards at Syon Park, a lovely event that celebrates those who manage despite their problems. This year’s winner is a garden centre in Cheltenham who has turned their greenhouses into workshops for disabled gardeners. All 57 are arriving by coach. Last year, it snowed – here’s hoping for a more clement day. 

Please bear with us if there are any problems during the re-vamp of the website. I’m always available: francine@kitchen-garden-hens.co.uk, and it’s nice to hear from you. 

19th March 2014

Much better news!

This is my grandson Etienne.

Here with proud dad and slightly perplexed brother.

How lovely to have a new baby in the family during this spring weather. New life all around. The garden is blooming and sprouting, and it’s a pleasure to be outside. My Narcissus ‘Thalia’ – pale cream and delicate are up, as our lots of daffs, blue anemonies, celendines and primroses. Spent yesterday at Great Comp gardens near Sevenoaks  and gloried in their spring garden, packed with flowering shrubs underplanted with hellebores, pulmonaria, ferns and almost a hundred magnolias – the subject of my next article in the Telegraph.

Thank you all for your kind letters responding to the sad demise of the hens, I was deeply touched to hear from so many readers, many had experienced the same awful loss. I will probably try again, but not just yet. New book just gone to press. Fingers crossed.

10th February 2014

Can hardly bring myself to tell you the news. Such sad news – the fox got my lovely hens. 

I suppose I knew it would happen in the end, but you and they live in hope. And to console myself, they lived the life of Riley for two and a half years. That doesn’t really diminish the guilt I fell at not having been able to protect them, or undermine the true horror that all poultry lovers feel in this position. 

It happened in daylight, the first fox I’d seen apart from dusk and dawn, at 2 in the afternoon, the hens were pottering near the house. I was in the kitchen, thinking of dodging the showers and doing a little gardening. I suddenly felt uncomfortable and went outside, found a few feathers – strange, wrong time of the year for feathers, and then saw something in the corner of my eye. Both were already dead. Not a squawk! Where were the usual alarm calls that accompanied any other arrival in the garden of miscellaneous cats, seagulls and magpies? I can only assume they were so shocked – and it’s an oft told tale – that it happens without a sound. 

I picked up their remains and put them in their house, to gain a little breathing space and stop the fox from finishing his meal. Decided eventually to take the corpses to the vet to be incinerated. Would have preferred to bury them in the garden, but they’d have only been dug up again. And the carcasses were too big for our tiny little food bins. Not a fitting end either. Amazed at their weight, about 10 lbs each – no wonder they had to be eaten in situ, I delivered them to the surgery and was charged £19. 

My garden seems a dead space. I don’t wonder out there five or six times a day. Just look rather morosely out of the window. Have seen the fox several times since – he has a very damaged back leg and tail – too damaged to catch the rabbits on Prospect Hill, I suppose. That’s his and my excuse. 

Will I start again? Too early to say. I miss my hens terribly, and can only now imagine life without them. Will need to review my poultry-keeping practise, though, and look into some kind of daytime protection or be prepared to offer them a life within their run. 
 

13th January 2014

Happy New Year! 

Now all the decorations have been put away, it’s cheering to have a few indoor plants to light up our lives. I’ve planted pots of narcissus ‘Cheerfulness’ that are sitting outside my front door, ready to come inside if the winds get up again; my amaryllis ‘Green Goddess’ have re-appeared; and the cymbidium orchids are flowering their socks off. All these wonders flower year after year, despite my treatment of them. They all spend the summer outside, get fed sporadically with a seaweed drench and come in before the frosts. Well worth the trouble for the uplifting pleasure these plants give.

Hope everyone’s garden has survived the wind and rain. Mine is always boggy at this time of the year, so have put metal net panels on the route to the henhouse to save the path. Have run a length of carpet underlay across the decking to survive the route into the garden, and the hens peer out from under the henhouse during the rainstorms. The back section of the run is sheltered, but it’s still a miserable existence for them, so they come out and hang around the back door, making the decking even more perilous.

Have noticed the blackbird singing at dawn. Hope its not thinking of nesting just yet. But spring will come – could be anytime sooner or later.