Good Life Gift Guide

We’re making a list and checking it twice

As Christmas approaches, we are planning presents for family and friends and always find it lovely to receive a well-chosen gift from someone who knows us well and can find something that we’ll enjoy eating/wearing/using/displaying. Here at Hen Corner, we are trying to choose practical gifts that will definitely be used. Yes, we want that element of fun but are trying to avoid an excess of plastic novelties that quickly become clutter… Here are some gift ideas that we think will fit in well with a life more sustainable.

For the Hens

I’m not usually one for buying gifts for pets, but have really enjoyed watching our girls peck away at this Hentastic® chick stick feeder stuffed full of oregano, mint, turmeric & garlic chick sticks… The sticks can also be fed at arm’s length using the Hentastic Fun Feeder!

For the Bees

Something that we’ve tried this year, and recommend to other bee keepers is a super box of Round Sections, this allows us to position plastic rings in the top of the hive and the bees fill the space with ‘tiny jars’ of honey, ready for us to enjoy… A wonderful delight of perfect honey packed into little wax cells untouched by human hands (just by little bee hands!). We love it with a special cheese board (especially tangy goat’s cheese), as a treat on toast or simply by the spoonful. The wax can be chewed and eaten or discarded once all the honey is removed. We have some of this honey comb for sale if you’d like to try some!

For the Garden

Now, I know that this is quite pricey, but it would be a wonderful investment that we can use throughout the year for the Bakery for pop-up Supper Clubs, for Course Guests, for family and friends. I would love a wood fired bread oven in the garden that we can use to cook anything from Pizzas to Pork joints. This Campagnard Wood-Fired Oven looks just the job, or maybe we’ll grab some friends and build one ourselves…

For the Kitchen

A cookery course, be that baking, cheese making, sausage stuffing, etc. is the gift that just keeps giving (and never needs dusting!). Last year, Andy bought me a Charcuterie Course from Black Hand Food – it was fantastic! Whilst we run a number of courses here at Hen Corner, I’ve always fancied visiting the School of Artisan Food up in Nottinghamshire and particularly have my eye on their Introduction to Cheesemaking (Two Day) Course.

Other News:

• The six chicks that hatched back in June are NOT all girls, we are waking to ‘Cock-a-Doodle-Doo’ at the moment and need to confirm which chicken is making all the noise!
• Our Courses have almost finished for the year, but next year’s schedule is confirmed and gift vouchers are available
• We are looking forward to spending a week next month at the Bertinet Kitchen Cookery School in Bath, I’m especially looking forward to making French and Italian breads

Jobs for the Week:

• Get busy making Christmas Wreaths on courses and to fulfil orders…
• Bake a feast for afternoon tea at a local Primary School as the Governors say thank you to the hardworking Staff
• Pack up preserves, box up baked goodies and herd up the hens to be part of Christmas at Horsenden Farm on Sunday 11th December, 1-5pm

Are you feeling paced and prepared for Christmas or like the last-minute hustle and bustle? What are you looking forward to this year?