Tag: free range

The Simple Things – Keeping Hens

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If you’ve ever fancied keeping hens and need some fluffy-bottomed inspiration, then you might like to take a peek at an article I wrote for one of my favourite magazines, The Simple Things. I was delighted to be asked to share my experience and our adventures with our quirky little flock of allotment garden hens – Dotty, Bean, Sweetpea, Bluebell & Squash. There are lots of tips about choosing chickens, coops, fencing & food and some very tasty recipes for cooking with their amazing eggs.

To read the article in full and for a copy of the recipes you can still buy the June issue of the magazine or have a look at my hen keeping factsheet on The Simple Things website. Keeping chickens is such a joy, surprisingly simple and great fun…

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Natural Henkeeping: Ill Health

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Our little flock are completely at home on the allotment and seem to live a pretty carefree, free-range life. We’ve always been drawn to a more natural way of keeping chickens, as close to their wild environment as possible, including an open coop, a large run, lots of fresh air, natural shade, dust bathing, fresh water and fresh food. All of this helps to maintain their overall health and happiness, but things can go wrong… it just happens.

Parasites, mites, scaly leg, colds, prolapse, low egg production and excessive moulting are all possibilities, to name just a few. This post starts us off with the delights of parasites and prolapses – lovely! – and some ideas for supporting your flock with natural remedies, herbs and some alternative thinking!

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Gardening with children

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A gardening post – hooray! There have been a lot of food posts lately with the release of our new book ‘Energy Bites’, but we’re still getting our hands dirty in the garden and on the allotment, if only to feed the chickens!

It’s mid-winter, pretty soggy and definitely cold out there – the perfect time to plan for the growing season to come. It’s also got me thinking about gardening in general and what I love about it…

There is a lot to love about gardening, but gardening with children has to be a huge highlight. Our gardens at home and on the allotment are a family affair, with everyone mucking in, tending their ‘patch’, digging, weeding and growing.

Being outside is always a pleasure and getting your hands dirty is definitely fun, but watching a seed turn into something that you can eat is absolutely magical!

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Free Range Children

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Footloose and fancy free….

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‘Free range’ children? What ARE they? I put this question to a group of parents, who said it conjured up images of children running around in the fresh air, nature, fun and laughter. And yes, I wholeheartedly agree. I think being a free range child is about fresh air, connecting with nature, rain, sun, mud and water, but I think there’s more to it than that. For me, free range also means FREEDOM. Freedom for children to think for themselves, freedom to be themselves, freedom to discover themselves and their place in this complicated world and, crucially, freedom from the concerns and worries of adulthood. So how can we as parents support and encourage this type of freedom?

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