Welcome Agatha: The Chicken Lady sends an expert broody hen to replace recalcitrant Hope
I tried isolating Hope in the dark nesting box on her own – willing her to return to her broody state. But she put her tiny claw firmly down and demanded to be released. We left her overnight but the next morning Radio Hope was blasting across the garden with her own individual strain of “Release Me”. If he’d known, Engelbert Humperdinck would be proud of her. So we were left with just two routes to follow. Borrow an incubator or a broody hen. The latter is the best option as the hen, nine times out of ten, will look after her brood....
read moreRecipe for Fiona’s fabulous watercress soup
Watercress is packed with vitamins (A, C and K). It is a great source of iron, calcium and is full of beneficial chemicals such as glucosinates. It’s also quite pricey to buy, so when I saw a couple of packs reduced to 20p on the Tesco *CFC, I grabbed them with a chortle. Most summers we grow our own watercress in pots in a shady area of the garden but our plants are still babies at the moment. If you like watercress it’s well worth growing your own. You can see how to grow watercress at home and an update here. The secret to the deeply...
read moreHope has got off the nest! What you can do if your chicken suddenly stops being broody.
I went down to the chicken run this afternoon, lifted the lid on the nesting box and found just a neat nest of eggs. The eggs were still warm but where was Hope? I could hear Radio Hope transmitting from behind the Emerald Castle and she stepped out to enjoy the corn that I’d brought for an afternoon treat. Perhaps she was just stretching her legs? But no. She didn’t return to the nest. She was clucking constantly, which is unusual for her. Deciding to hang about in the run for a bit, I busied myself spreading bark chippings in the muddy...
read moreHope has finally gone broody!
When The Chicken Lady and S gave me two black and white Wyandotte bantam hens for Christmas three years ago I was delighted. They were so pretty and it was a present that would give me pleasure for years to come. We were also told that this breed has a tendency to go broody. These two plucky little bantams, Hope and Peace, were characters from the word go. They refused to associate with the rest of the flock, would rather spend the frosty nights on the roof of the henhouse rather than join the others on the perch inside. Peace was a gentle...
read moreRecipe for traditional slow cooked cottage pie: slow cooker/crock pot
Ever since my mum was sent a box of meals from Abel and Cole I haven’t forgotten her comment when she reviewed the cottage pie. “It was a really good traditional cottage pie with no fancy or far flung additions. Delicious!” This was several years ago and I’ve been meaning to make a traditional cottage pie since then. Of course I wanted to see if my recipe came up to scratch the in A&C stakes as far as mu mum is concerned. Yesterday I had minced beef in the fridge and as it was a chilly day I reckoned that cottage pie would be...
read moreWin a stylish metal bedstead in our new Cottage Smallholder Grand Draw
Argos has teamed up with Cottage Smallholder for our latest Grand Draw. There’s just one prize but it’s a great one. If you win you could be spending a third of your life curled up in a beautiful, cottagey metal bedstead! This prize has been supplied on behalf of Argos, your first choice for beds and washing machines. As you know all the beds in our cottage were all inherited from my aunt. And she inherited a lot of these beds from my grandparents. I’ve always fancied a metal bedstead myself but we are replete on the bed front and anyway...
read moreUpdate on our Bosch Rotak lawnmower and why it was left out all winter
“I’m going to get dressed and mow the lawns today. I just hope that the mower will work as it has been out all winter.” “What! Why?” spluttered Danny. “I did tie on a bin liner to protect the electrical bits.” This strange action needs an explanation – I have been treated for depression for about four years now. This doesn’t mean that I sit in the corner weeping, in fact I always think of myself as a happy person. The depression manifests itself in an extremely debilitating way. I find it very hard to do certain tasks. I...
read moreApril edibles in our garden
We grow a lot of brassicas. With the allotment and the kitchen garden at the cottage we have feasted all winter and spring on cabbages, cauliflowers, sprouting broccoli as well as spinach and salad leaves, winter lettuce and so much more. Now tiny hands are clapping with glee – the final swan song of kale and cabbage is the production of tasty shoots. If left these will eventually open into flowers and produce seed for the future. One day we might save the seed but at the moment we savour these fresh shoots. They are generally sweet and...
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