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Thursday, January 26th, 2012
Clare Beebe winds up her two part series on incubation with a timely article on rearing your newborn chicks and Janice Houghton-Wallace sets out the rules for a home-reared Christmas turkey dinner. Meanwhile Claire Waring is preparing her bees for spring, Dot Tyne covers lambing and shearing your sheep and Heidi Sands pays tribute to the proud history of the Clydesdale horse.
Tags: Dot Tyne, Heidi Sands, Janice Houghton Wallace, Meanwhile Claire Waring
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Our kitchen garden section is headed up by Veg Talk where Jayne Neville goes through the essential jobs for March, sets up a herb garden and gives some great tips for finding real bargains at local farm sales. We also have a wealth of inside knowledge on growing year round carrots from Terry Walton, the welcome return of our polytunnel experts, Mark and Andy, who deal with siting a tunnel on uneven or difficult ground, and tips from Dave Hamilton on using your waste heat indoors as an aid to propagation.
We have an Eastern and Oriental flavour this month as comfort food investigator Mike Rutland hunts down the deepest secrets of those delicious takeaway treats we all enjoy, and Marjorie Kimber shares her Indian sweet recipes. And for all the non-meat eaters (and for the adventurous meat eaters who like a new culinary treat) Marjorie cooks up a range of delicious tofu meals, ranging from burgers to stir fries flavoured with ginger and sweet chilli and garnished with fresh spinach – absolutely delicious on a bed of basmati rice! Oh, and Andy Hamilton is drinking the nation’s trees and invites you to try out birch sap wine and beer and a traditional oak leaf wine. Why hug a tree when you can drink it instead!
I’m sure you’re all familiar with a ‘bodger’s shaving horse’… OK, neither was I, but it’s the mediaeval equivalent of a Black and Decker workmate, and John Butterworth shows you how to make one. For anyone who likes traditional tools and enjoys basic woodworking, it’s the perfect way to work your wood, and far more enjoyable than either Wii woodworking or mediaeval carpentry for the X-box. And it comes with a seat too! And together with the first in a new series combining pest control, air rifles and foraged wild meat and some useful tips on using and maintaining a chainsaw safely
John Butterworth is so proud of his plastic recycling boxes that he’s built a shed to keep them dry in and he shares the plans with Home Farmer readers, the less obsessed of whom might just want to keep them tidy and out of sight. We’ve also got advice for anyone thinking of moving to a rural idyll north of the border, Stephen Chilcott on hedgelaying as they be doing it in Devon, Jackie Hughes on saving money by emptying her freezer and bartering and Ruth Tott on the steps you may need to take to turn your hobby into an ‘earner’.
Clare Beebe sets out the next level of chicken keeping after taking on a couple of garden hens as she covers the subject of incubation and the latest equipment available which pretty much removes the uncertainties of bygone eras, with fully automatic options for those of us who aren’t around all day to turn eggs by hand. Janice Houghton-Wallace caters for the competitive and proud chicken keeper as she covers the show circuit and Dot Tyne turns her attention to keeping sheep in the first of a new three part series in the Viable Self-Sufficiency series. And our ongoing series on bee-keeping looks forward to the new season as Claire Waring checks out and revitalises the essential bee-keeping equipment for the forthcoming season.
Home Farmer regular Mike Rutland (“The name’s Rutland, Mike Rutland”.) braves US defence systems to seek out what produces the precise delights of a very well known (and well guarded!) southern fried chicken recipe and offers up his microfilm to Home Farmer readers (Read and burn, or else!). And then elsewhere in a kitchen in lovely Dorset Mell Sellings (aka the Jammy Bodger) offers up a range of marmalade flavoured desserts from a sponge pudding to a Jaffa cake which you can bake to your own specifications and (OMG!)… size. Marjorie Kimber has not been idle either and whips up some high tea treats including a tiffin to treasure (die for seemed too strong here), Joanne Brannan demystifies sourdough and Andy Hamilton knocks up a brew that kept Alcatraz rocking as it partied away into the night.
Terry Walton’s back and he’s already way out in front as he hits the ground running with his contribution this month on growing your own spuds, whether you have some land or just a couple of containers, and he’s also included a list of his own personal favourites. We’ve also got regulars Jayne Neville on seasonal planting, harvesting and special features on growing your own livestock feed and your own willow, Dave Hamilton on sowing seeds in February, Elizabeth McCorquodale on slugs (well, you should now your enemy!) and Richard Whincop tells us just how the mediaeval home farmer went about it and what they saw as their essential veg.
Best seasonal tips, advice and projects for the kitchen garden and a special look at the requirements for producing veg that will win the ‘best in show’ award. We look at the ancient but effective system of growing in hotbeds and give plans on making your own and examine the do’s and don’ts of moving shrubs to ensure happy and stress free planting for both you and the tree.
It’s January and far as the Jammy Bodger is concerned that can only mean one thing – MARMALADE and lots of it. Meanwhile we have recipes for making haggis and giving your dog the ‘home farmer’ make over with making your own dog treats. Plus recipes for energy-packed ways to start the day including Apricot and Hazelnut bread and Ben gives a run down on his worst home made wines – ever!
The third and final part of our series on keeping pigs looks at produce including curing bacon and making sausages. We consider the benefits of keeping rare breeds, start a new quarterly series on keeping geese and have plans for building your own multi-purpose coop.
We look at the advantages of buying up a bit of woodland, meet up with a couple who chucked in the 9-5 to go walking with Alpacas and another couple who have risked everything to bring back a local green grocer to their village. Plus we ask what is the meaning of The Good Life in the second decade of the 21st century.
Making perfumes, bath bombs and fizzies along with making moulded and rolled beeswax candles and home make Christmas tree decs. We feature the ultimate DIY project with a self-build Hobbit House built by the Dale family for £3000.
The second part of our series on keeping pigs considers options for dispatch, we check out the benefits of owning a pony, a reader tells of how her dream of keeping goats in her suburban garden has at last become a reality and we round up best gifts for your chickens and your chicken lover friends this Christmas.
It’s winter and our resident wine making champ needs to clear out the freezer and comes up with a delicious Tutti-Frutti wine with the produce from his freezer forage. In the kitchen we make butter tablet and vanilla kipferl as well as fruit leathers and mulled wine jelly.
We round up best seasonal advice and projects for your kitchen garden including planting native hedges and planting and pruning your fruit trees. Our growing under plastic series comes to a temporary end when we consider preparations and impact of a polytunnel on neighbours and an article on the cultural history of veg.
In October 2011 issue of Home Farmer Ben Hardy turns his hand to making another classic forager’s wine, which he forages from within his own garden, and drinks as soon as it has been bottled.
Though our tree is small, it produces over 30lb of fruit a year, and even for a triple batch of wine I need fewer than half of these. The rest I will give away to friends and strangers, or they will be used by my wife to make jelly. Crab apple jelly is fantastic. It has a glorious red colour, and is pointed enough to cut through even the fattiest of pork. Last year my wife experimented by putting in a (relatively mild) red chilli, and this was a revelation. The resulting jelly was both sharp and hot, and I foresee that this will become a regular way to use up any spare crab apples.
In October 2011 issue of Home Farmer Ben Hardy turns his hand to making another classic forager’s wine, which he forages from within his own garden, and drinks as soon as it has been bottled.
A crafty issue with making beeswax polish and cream as well as a step-by-step guide to making candles – and a crafty way of recycling your old tea lights plus we look at spinning and knitting with British Wool. We also have a series look at the solar PV options and work out the financial benefits and real costs.
Making Vintage spiced beetroot wine is on the wine menu and we make Pumpkin Glutney as well as mulled wine, the ‘As you Like It’ Christmas cake and a novice forager goes forth on a training course to learn what you can it, what you shouldn’t eat and, to be honest, what you can eat but why would you want to - it tastes horrid!
Expert Advice on putting your plot to bed and protecting the soil over winter, growing under plastic and harvesting seasonal produce and following no-dig principals for a more relaxed attitude to your garden.
Terry Beebe goes through step-by-step, the art of the chicken manicure and advice on keeping your garden chickens on the right side of the law. We also have sound, common-sense tips on helping your livestock survive the winter plus we start our new series on keeping pigs
With darker, earlier nights our thoughts turn to craft stuff…for your entertainment we have Extreme pumpkin carving, no chemical soap making in the kitchen and instructions on making ceramic buttons that will give that old cardie a new lease of life.
Your chickens and chicken housing are given a complete MOT in preparation for winter and we discuss the real cost of keeping chickens. Plus seasonal advice on beekeeping and a lovely feature on keeping a home farm cat.
We look at what vegetables and fruits you can dry and the best methods used. We make butter, ice cream and other dairy products and introduce tips from a bee keepers wife who shares her recipe for honey rice pudding and Elizabethan Flan. Our regular wine making spot has Ben Hardy making Crab Apple Wine and the Jammy Bodger gets us out of the glut rut with her jams and chutneys.
With winter round the corner we winter proof the greenhouse and protect our outdoor winter veg, make leaf-mould and collect seeds and save them for planting next year.
We have the round up of jobs in the garden for September including the wonders of winter squash and why you should consider growing willow. We list the top 50 thrifty gardening tips – ever and plant for the last quarter of the year. Our lovely feature ‘Winter Hadeaways’ shows a range of des res winter options for the good guys of the garden like the bees and the ladybirds to keep them save over the winter.
Elderberries are everywhere now and we make that all-time classic end of summer Elderberry wine as well as looking at other forager brews. We start a new series looking at what is now being called street food but traditional ‘take away’ food to you and me – kick starting with fish and chips. We make sweet and sour chutneys as well as cheese and pickles.
We have tried and tested treatments to get rid of red mite quickly – before it takes over and look at plants in the garden that could be poisonous to your chooks. Seasonal advice on beekeeping including keeping their feed stores safe from robbers, caring for the house cow – calf and the working farm dog.
This month our DIY weekend project is to make a wormery out of an old plastic ‘dalek’ compost bin and install a DIY solar powered system for lighting your hen-house or shed. Plus 7 ways to use a large plastic barrel, from a water-butt to a chicken house.
Mike Rutland’s new series shows how to make your own and slash ££££££s off your weekly shopping bill as well as making food for your family that’s better for you. We start off with the most important meal of the day; breakfast, where we make significant savings on bacon, bread, cereal and sausages. The Jammy Bodger makes fruity and frugal jam, Piers Warren starts a new series on preserving food – this month gives great freezing tips for all your garden produce, and Ben Hardy bottles up blackberries (not fruit, not the phone ha ha!).
It’s still not too late to plant seeds now to give you salad stuff for your August BBQs says Elizabeth Arter. We continue our series on maximising your polytunnel and have some great ideas for making the most of the inevitable summer green tomato glut. Plus Claire Boley invites us into her garden where she grows plants expressly for dyeing her home spun yarn.
Feather loss, foot problems, leg trouble, breathing difficulties? Our round up of common chicken ailments helps you to spot problems early and deal with them quickly. We also consider keeping quail in the garden and look at the fascinating area of chicken behaviour so we can spot whose boss and get to know our chooks better. Plus housing for house cows, bees in August and storing livestock feed
Using reclaimed materials or wood from the timber yard we give you plans for making a cold frame to house tender plants this winter plus a look at electric fencing for the home farm
Much can be learnt from just checking around the pen and the coop for the appearance of your chickens’ droppings writes Clare Beebe. We also look at the perfect House Cow, what to do when the vet calls, how to keep your chickens cool in the blistering hot BBQ summer, starting with guinea fowl and producing soft-set honey.
The Jammy Bodger makes jams strictly for the grown ups, we discover the ultimate peasant food – pea soap which you can wash down with Ben Hardy’s easy to make strawberry wine. Plus we have recipes for picnic food including fabulous finger licking cold chicken and plenty of recipes for using up your surplus eggs.
Want a self-composting raised bed? Joel Karsten spreads the word on planting veg in a straw bale, Tim Wootton gives ideas for working smarter, not harder, in the garden, Terry Walton brings out the water cannon for the aphids and Brigit Strawbridge focuses on permaculture in the garden.
We’re chilling…hope you’re chilling too making 5 of the very best, most delicious and wicked ice creams at home. Plus we have The Jammy Bodger enjoying the bountiful fruit harvests and putting June in a jar, we discover the forgotten Pig’s Fry and mamma mia! the editor gets his pasta making machine out and makes fresh ravioli, Ben Hardy makds elderflower wine and eyes up purple roses for July’s wine making schedule and we have plenty of foraging with recipes for neetle soup.
Now we have your attention…this is how to handle birds of the feathered kind with Terry and Clare Beebe’s expert advice on how to handle birds properly to reduce stress and harm. Plus we look at starting with pigs, curing your own rabbit furs and caring for your livestock (and vegetables) when on holiday and rules and regs for selling eggs.
Jayne Neville is looking forward to growing the best tomatoes ever and making liquid fertiliser – poo! In our series on Viable Self-Sufficiency we consider how much land you actually need, Tim Wootton considrs the long term benefits for the planet and your veg for nurturing the soil. We continue the series on growing under plastic with the Polytunnel experts Andy McKee and Mark Gatter and get expert advice on pricking out.
Beekeeper and pig farmer Joe Jacobs shows us how to reduce the initial cost of keeping bees from over £200 to just £40 by making your own beehive. Meanwhile John Butterworth continues his search for affordable sources of renewable energy for the home, concentrating this month on heating.
Stephen Chilcott knows a thing or two about DIY, and about chickens so we set him a challenge: Show us how to build a luxury, fit for purpose chicken ark to house 3 hens in style for under £75. We also have Clare Beebe looking at the importance of correct internal ‘furniture’ for the poultry house. Plus John Butterworth looks at the best options for renewable energy sources around the home farm and we introduce our new products review and the Tyne’s outline their self-sufficient system on their smallholding.
Polytunnel experts, Mark Gatter and Andy McKee kick off their new monthly series on making the most of your polytunnel, Julie Moore waxes lyrically about pumpkins, Elisabeth Arter delights in growing strawberries – plus there are 15 strawberry plants worth £14.99 free for every reader (small print just pay £4.50 postage – still a bargin!), Terry Walton takes some time out from his nearly full plot to share tips and Jayne Neville’s talks seasonal kitchen garden stuff ‘On the Plot.’
Jennie Rutland puts the ultimate comfort food, the sausage, through the mincer with some recipes to make your own including the Vampire Slayer Sausage! Steak and Kidney Pudding is resurrected by Peter Underwood, meanwhile the Jammy Bodger rebrands rhubarb making wonderful zinger chutneys whilst Ben Hardy sticks to making rhubarb wine. Pat Joy prefers to back Hugh FWs fish fight with loads of fishy recipes.
The Rutlands have ‘inherited’ 2 free range llamas on their farm and, despite early reservations, now wouldn’t be without them. Claire Waring takes a close look at how to acquire your bees and looks at swarm control and Janice Houghton-Wallace explains that ‘You are what you eat’ goes for your chickens too.
Brigit Strawbridge sets out a simple plan to attract a wide range of traditional ‘garden dwellers’ to bring your plot alive, Andy Hamilton takes a day off to stroll along the local riverbanks, then makes use of a much maligned villain – Japanese Knotweed – in the kitchen and Rachel Corby sets out to find the abundant supply of free food available from the nation’s woods and hedgerows inthe lean months of early spring.
Terry Walton sits down in the shed to discuss planting in April along with Jayne Neville who will be busy on the plot. Tim Wootton grows an mini orchard and Lynn Huggins- Cooper looks at the efficient use of different layers and heights of plants to maximum advantage in her forest garden.
