Marans are a French breed and are commonly known for their feathered legs and feet. Maisey, our Maran, is a beautiful looking bird with big brown eyes. She’s very ‘girlie’ in appearance, cute and fluffy to the rear, but don’t be deceived as she can change into a bit of a vampire looking creature when she’s [...]
Yorkshire inventor Robin Rose has created a range of ingenious products to make growing crops easier for the elderly, disabled and children – his latest is to be unveiled at The Edible Garden Show next month in a joint-venture with Hull-based social enterprise, Probe. Robin’s innovative micro-salad growing kit ‘Sproutapouch’ has captured the imagination of [...]
Ducks and Drakes Traditional and Regional Breeds in France The Duck of Challans When exiled Spaniards settled in the marshy regions of the Vendee on the atlantic coast, in the 17th Century, they drained the land to form a sort of ‘polder‘. They farmsteaded the land around Challans and allowed their domestic breeds to roam [...]
Ducks and Drakes Traditional and Regional Breeds in France The Duclair Originating from Normandy and named after the norman town of Duclair, this breed may well have been outcrossed from the fledgling Rouen breed by mating with white or black breeds. It has the white dewlap on the breast, an easily obtained result of such [...]
So you want to move to France? Following a wealth of media coverage in recent years, about relocating, downshifting or retiring to France for a ‘better’ way of life, I will be taking a look at the realities, and some of the hurdles involved in finding and setting up a smallholding whether for business [...]
This recipe has been kindly submitted by Bill Mason of Moons Green. If the picture is anything to go by, I’ll be definitely getting the mixing bowl out of the cupboard! OK, we didn’t grow any of this on our Smallholding at Moons Green! But it is a great recipe and one that my friend [...]
Ducks and Drakes Traditional and Regional Breeds in France The Rouen In the early 1800s thought to be in the region of the town of Rouen, now a huge industrialised zone in Normandy, a large native mallard bird was crossed with stock of increasing size. The locals, enjoying their ‘duck a l’orange’ discussed over a [...]
Series of cattle keeping articles written by Lydia Cook of Tower View Farm The Dexter breed of cow has become almost synonymous with smallholding for some very good reasons. At a very basic level, Dexters are quite cheap beasts to buy due to their unfashionably compact (we never say small) size. They are tough, hardy little [...]
For many chicken keepers foxes can be a menace. Unlike most animals, the fox does not just kill what it needs to feed on, but will launch on a frenzied campaign of death and destruction, slaughtering on an horrific scale, particularly if the fox gets into your run or hen house. The fox will, to [...]
Sponsors are signing up to show their support for The Edible Garden Show 2011 – the first-ever national event dedicated exclusively to ‘Grow Your Own’ fruit and vegetables. The sensational three-day showstopper, from March 18-20 at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, brings together celebrities, experts and exhibitors to satisfy the enormous public appetite for home-grown produce, [...]
