Sexing the bantam eggs: results of the ring test on the clutch of mixed bantam eggs
I must admit that I felt quite confident about the ring test on the lucky dip bantam hatching eggs that we bought on eBay. The ring test predicted that Dixie and Beatyl would be female chickens. But there has always been something about Beatyl Chick. A certain Tyrone Power swagger and adventurous approach to life in the Emerald Castle and grounds. Last week a teeny mound of feathers appeared on Beatyl’s rump. Hens do have tail feathers too, I reassured myself. Within days these feathers had elongated and a tiny ridged crest appeared on...
read moreWhite soda bread with oatmeal recipe
Just before I met Danny I attended a bread making course at Darina and Tim Allan’s cookery school in Ballymaloe. It was a great course covering a vast swathe of bread making from brioche to Irish soda bread. The days were packed with information and practical sessions. Set in the heart of the Cork countryside, it was an unforgettable experience. After the course finished I spent the weekend at Ballymaloe House. The food was so good that, even ten years later, I still remember the amazing dishes on the massive hors d’oeuvre table in the...
read moreFlowers from the garden: September 2008
I keep on extending the borders in the first part of the garden. This means digging out masses of bricks and rubble, generally a large barrow load to a square metre of soil. I now have two things. A large pile of hardcore and a very pretty border. Over the last two years I’ve filled the new border with perennials from the stand outside the secret garden. We visited this wonderful garden again early this summer when I discovered that the church fete was going to be held in the grounds. The fete was the quintessential English church fete. A...
read moreNew horizons
I drove into Newmarket this evening with that tingle on the skin from a day working in the sun. I’m painting the outside of a bungalow in a sleepy road on the outskirts of Newmarket. A lovely mellow place where I’m entertained by the kind couple and their cats. Endless cups of tea to fuel my work. Perfect. And there’s the view. Built on a hill, the bungalow sits in a large plot set between two horizontal parallel rows of houses. So it looks across an unseen road to the paddocks of a stud. These fields rise on the other side of a...
read moreThe Cheveley Two. Growing butternut squash in a barrel
This year I grew a butternut squash in a barrel on our gravel drive. It’s southwest facing and gets sun all afternoon when the sun makes an appearance. It was my first journey into the world of squash growing. This meant several tense moments reversing at speed as a passenger in Danny’s car. Finally I announced. “If the wheels of your car touch even a leaf of that plant I’ll..” The reversing operation was carolled into a ten foot spurt ending with a gentle roll. He’s cut it fine but rubber tyres never...
read moreTomato Blight returns with a vengeance
Perhaps it was because I kept tomato blight in check last year, that I felt confident about coping with blight this summer. It did take some time – examining the plants morning and evening, removing the iffy leaves at he first sign of blight. We did have some sunny days too and these keep the condition at bay. I thought that I’d cracked dealing with blight without spraying. This year I was working away from home when it struck. I was regularly getting back after dark and so I did not see the signs. Rushing off early one the...
read morePane Basso. Quick Italian homemade bread
Bread making has become a bit of an obsession. I baked every evening while Danny was away, trying out different recipes and methods. Lots of late nights for me and the trusty old Kenwood Chef that has been eased out of semi retirement to do the kneading. She’s a trooper and as she kneads she gives me the time to prise stray bits of dough off the kitchen worktops and sweep the daubed flour off the tablecloth. I have the book that Veronica suggested on order from Amazon. Waiting for the bread to rise is fine on a day off but when I get...
read moreThe scary balls in the Emerald Castle grounds
“Are you sure that Beatyl chick is a Silkie?” The Chicken Lady asked last week. “No, I just assumed that she was. The egg was tiny and just marked with an S.” “She could be a Sebright,” added S. “They’re a lovely breed, very pretty. You’d love them.” When The Chicken Lady and S visited yesterday, they went down to the chicken run and examined Beatyl Chick. They looked bemused when they returned to the kitchen. “We don’t know what breed she is. We’ll just have to wait...
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