So it’s Easter weekend and I’ve just received an email from the Nation Bee Unit warning us that due to the cold weather our bees are at risk of starving, we were due to go on an exciting camping holiday with Feather Down Farm but have postponed until warmer weather and have brought home the School Chicks for the Easter holidays…
Spring Fair at River Cottage
Today we took the family to Park Farm, Devon, to join the team at the River Cottage Spring Fair, I hadn’t been to the farm since 2009 when I did my first Bee Keeping Course and it was great to be back to enjoy all the fun of the fair! It was a long drive from London to Park Farm, but it was well worth it to meet the gang and enjoy a day in the beautiful spring sunshine. Head Chef Tim Maddam‘s session with pigeons was great fun and the Produce Exchange rewarded me with fantastic chocolate & beetroot brownies, some honeycomb & dark chocolate truffles and a jar of fresh lemon curd; a great swap for my apple & chilli jelly, courgette & cumin chutney and a box of eggs. Other highlights were the slow roast lamb for lunch with warm mulled cider, Craig giving me some growing advice in the poly tunnel and catching up with bee keeper David Wiscombe, letting him know how we’ve got on since that first course. We’re already planning our next trip back, watch this space….
A Good Egg – Genevieve Taylor
Book of the Month:
A Good Egg: A Year of Recipes from an Urban Hen-Keeper
By Genevieve Taylor
My mother in law recently passed on a newspaper article about urban hens, as she does, and I instantly recognised that it was about my twitter friend and fellow blogger Genevieve Taylor. The feature was to celebrate the launch of her latest book which is a diary of inspiration to other urban hen keepers and all round foodies in general. With a new recipe every few days throughout the year (you need to give the girls time to lay enough eggs for the next recipe) it includes favourites such as Purple Sprouting Broccoli with Lemony Hollandaise and Rhubarb & Rosewater Pavlova through to the more adventurous Malaysian Egg & Aubergine Curry and Spiced Nut Meringues with Marsala Cream. It is beautifully produced (feely touchy hardback), down to earth (read 6th Nov), and obviously a favourite for our Speckled Sussex chick (see photo)…
This book is available with many of our other favourite books from the Hen Corner Shop!
Other News:
- Our almonds are in full blossom but the bees aren’t flying to pollinate them
- We knocked up some orange liqueur (oranges, sugar & vodka) and it tastes amazing even after a week
- The first Bee Keeping course of the year is nearly fully booked
Jobs for next week:
- Get a wood chipper to recycle tree pruning into chicken mulch (good for scratching in!)
- Paint the cold frame and patio edges; spruce it up for summer
- Watch the weather; will it be warm enough for a shook swarm?
Have a good week yourself…
Join us on the Journey!
