Lay of the Land

We have some new arrivals. 

Fowl Challenge

Their home is functional made from various bits of recycled construction waste (*exemption applied for) with no thought of aesthetics.

And there is no room for sentimentality here.These are food producers not pets and it is ill-advised to name your hens. But it is more important to relive past glories and celebrate revered figures from world history. Clockwise from bottom left: Benjamin, McGoldrick, Gilbert, Morley.

And the drought goes on...

2014	Snab	Brize
January	34.5	155.2
February	42.5	105.7
March	21.0	56.6
April	23.4	62.7

When the plot starts to resemble a beach, it's time to resort to maritime plants, quite littorally. Asparagus and chard are adaptations of shore plants. A more unusual choice is sea kale. It's a native perennial and you may find its blanched stems emerging from your local shingle bank but you can mimic this by use of force. 

At a time of relative dearth, it gives a crunchy treat with a sweet cabbagy flavour. Use raw, in spring stir-frys, and with a squeeze of lemon on pasta. Remove the chimney pot and it develops an attractive rash of white flowers, worth a place in the flower border, if you go in for such conformist concepts.