Francine Raymond - The Garden Farmer

CONTENTS

About the Book

A punnet of plums from your tree, a handful of gooseberries; home-grown nuts and herbs, and a few freshly laid eggs from your hens all enjoyed in your own small plot.

What could be more satisfying?

The Garden Farmer is an evocative journal and monthly guide to getting the most out of your garden throughout the year. Whether you would like to grow a few essential vegetables, some fruit trees or bushes for preserving, or even raise a small flock of hens, Sunday Telegraph garden-columnist Francine Raymond lays the groundwork for a bountiful year of garden farming.

Monthly chapters offer insight into the topics and projects you might be contemplating during the seasons, along with planting notes and timely advice, and a recipe that honours the fruits of your labour. With just a little effort and planning, every gardener can enjoy a host of seasonal delights from their own soil.

About the Author

Gardening productively is one of Francine Raymonds greatest pleasures, heightened by the chance to chronicle her experiences in a dozen or so books; newspapers, including a six-year weekly column in the Telegraph ; magazines such as The English Garden , Country Living , Gardens Illustrated and the general poultry press; and on her blog at kitchen-garden-hens.co.uk.

After a lifetime on an acre in Suffolk, populated with hens and ducks, Francine now gardens a small town plot by the sea in Whitstable with the help of her grandsons and a few bantams.

She started her career as a fashion designer, moving to Milan in the seventies and returned to an abiding love the English countryside with her small children. Making the most of her plot, Francine opened her garden to the public an evangelist, hoping to prove that a productive garden can be both stylish and a source of healthy food: a delight to all the senses.

Thanks

Thank you, Sarah for recording my efforts so beautifully and Friederike for displaying them to such great advantage: my garden and its occupants have never looked so glamorous. Thank you, Rose for having the vision and faith to commission this book, and to Lucy for seeing it through. It has been a pleasure to work with you all on such a lovely project.

What could be nicer than a meal packed with ingredients youve grown yourself?

THE FRESHEST SALAD leaves, perfectly ripe tomatoes, an omelette from your own birds, even home-reared sausages; finished with some juicy berries and eaten on a table in the garden jollied with a bunch of homegrown flowers all produce from your own small plot.

Gardens extend our lives beyond the boundaries of our houses four walls, and Im a great believer in making that little bit more of outside space. Some of us garden to show off artistic fantasies, others to create our own little bit of paradise, and a few just to improve the view from the house. Its a full-time job to some busy smallholders, while to others who energetically mow their lawns at weekends its an occasional burst of exercise.

I garden to hold tight to my connection with the outside world. It lightens my mood and keeps me sane, improves my health and gives me hope a small patch of soil thats mine, where I follow age-old rituals and make things grow, just like that first childs plot or indoor garden at nursery school.

The results may not be self-sufficiency just a larder packed with small tastes of the season, tiny flavours to heighten the senses; smells that evoke souvenirs of good times; and flowery visions to cheer, all at peak freshness straight from the plot. And its fun to share this harvest month-by-month with friends and family.

Most of us live in towns and cities with little outside space and its a battle to keep in touch with the seasons and celebrate those seasonal delights that augur special times of the year. They give us something to look forward to, the thrill of new flavours and the satisfaction of harvest, however meagre.

I grow a few essential vegetables to taste the season: those first eagerly expected delicacies, the gluts of high summer and supplies of salad throughout the year. My herbs add spice to life, and since moving to Kents Garden of England Ive concentrated on growing fruit. I love the blossom, the excitement of fruit ripening and the chance to eat it straight from the tree.

You need bees to pollinate fruit, and Im keen to encourage early bumblebees to kick-start baskets of cherries and apricots, and other bees and butterflies. So, even though Im not expecting honey, providing year-round flowers brim-full of nectar and a welcoming habitat is part of my gardening year.

Poultry-keeping has been my passion for a quarter of a century. My hens eat pests and leftovers, and in return improve the soil and produce the freshest eggs for the kitchen. Ducks, geese and other poultry are just as productive, and if you have the space, maybe even a couple of pigs. I love the companionship of gardening with my flock, the glamour and drama of their adventures.

So lets decorate our houses with flowers on high days and holidays, and celebrate those occasions outside with garden parties or by just relaxing in the fresh air. Lifes pleasures are made of simple transient moments, so lets share our plots produce with friends, family and wildlife, and make the most of our gardens.

A new gardening year, and its time to take stock, make plans and build up strength for the coming months.

LIKE OUR DORMANT plants, hibernating wildlife and warming soil, we need a period of vernalisation too, to re-energise and kick-start a year of growth and creativity. And where better to start January than the fireside, surrounded by the new seasons seed catalogues, a few scribbled garden plans, a cup of something fortifying and a piece of cake?