Spent Saturday helping Mike Rutland make a clay oven in readyness for the Home Farmer Building a Clay Oven training Day. Had a really enjoyable day getting thoroughly covered in clay!!! Mike’s book is due out end of July. Rachel has put together yet another fantastic cover – much better than my very hurried cover. All being well and photos agreed I’ll get the cover posted on the blog and the forthcoming books section. I’ll get some pics of the clay oven posted as well. Can’t upload at the moment for some odd reason – technology, can’t live with it, can’t throw it out the window!

No, it’s not a dream! This morning I woke to news that the North West England is to have a hose pipe ban unless we get heavy rain fall in the next 7 days. Just when I finally get my toms in growbags and pots!

Oscar is off on holiday this week and we are tearing our hair out realising exactly how much he does do that we are now having to do. Note to self do not let Oscar book a holiday the week the magazine is due at the printers.

But it’s been beautiful weather and when I came to work the swifts were going crazy at The Old Pigsties – darting and diving and one even flew into the office, did a couple of rounds and managed to find the door to get out.

Paul is proof reading A-Z Companion Planting and we should get that off to the printer on Friday, same with the 2nd edition of Craft Cider Making and Rachel is putting the final finishing touches to Urban Beekeeping – securing copyright releases for various photographs etc.

The new magazine is taking shape and I’m thrilled that the ‘Fat Man in the Kitchen’ is making a welcome return. It will be interesting to see how well this goes down – it’s quite a nostalgic feature for us as he was in the very first 3 issues of Home Farmer. Hope we are not seeing it all through rose tinted specs.

The chickens at home are slowly but surely eating their way through any plant I don’t want them to touch and completely ignoring the weeds – is this an inbuilt thing do you think? Bloody annoying whatever.

Talking about bloody annoying – got a speeding fine yesterday. 36 in a 30 (it was a dual carriage way and yes, I know, should know better). Got me really angry!!

Good afternoon again. Oscar here.

Firstly, i’d like to apologise for the spelling and grammar in last weeks post. It was atrocious. Luckily Paul is proof reading ‘Urban Beekeeping’, so you should all be safe from such errors.

This week, we were welcomed back after a long, glorious Bank Holiday weekend to rain – lots of it. Very surprising given the weather today is practically tropical in comparison. Still, much better than Oyston Mill, where it was frozen all year round.

Rachel has spent the past few days ammending the index in the back of ‘Craft Cider Making’, which is being reprinted, and says it was the most mind numbing thing she has ever had to do. At least she’ll be able to make some Cider after going through the entire book. I have been creating internet links and mocking up our monthly newsletter, and Paul has been a busy bee proof reading ‘Urban Beekeeping’.

Ruth has had a tough few weeks, and we all wish her well!

Before i get back to work, i’d like to leave you with this:

May your crops be ripe and your livestock healthy!

Oscar

Afternoon folks, Oscar here.

Ruth hasn’t been blogging recently, so i thought i’d pop something on here as a slight update.

Well, Ruth and Paul have got their chickens, and from the way talk about them in the office, they’ve become completely smitten. They’re having a Chicken Naming BBQ this weekend (fingers crossed), where they are taking suggestions for names, but i’ve got a funny feeling that they have already decided on names themselves. My choice of Poseidon didn’t go down quite so well, and neither did Zadok (taken from the title of one of Handel’s famous pieces).

Rachel and I have just seen a bird fly straight into the office window, and after a 10 minute search, have deduced that it has lived as is now, hopefully, avoiding glass from now. It made a sickening crunch.

Paul is busy chuckling away to Craig’s forthcoming book ‘Urban Beekeeping’, which he says “is a joy to read”. Get your orders in before June 11th and get a special, preorder price!

For my part, i’ve been busy getting these blogs up and running, and doing my usual day to day things (processing orders etc…).

Ruth is down in Reading getting her father for a jazz gig this weekend, so will hopefully back soon.

Laters,
Oscar
Good Life Press Wonderkid

A busy week and all talk is on the election in the office – first time in years that everybody seems to be taking more of an active role. Paul and I will do our usual Election Night routine – up all night. We’ve already warned Rachel and Oscar in the office that we will be a little jaded tomorrow.

Ordering our chicken house today. After years of being so absorped in setting up and running The Good Life Press/Home Farmer this year we pledged we would make the time to dabble in ‘living a bit of the good life’ rather than just proof reading and setting books about it. So our ark arrives next week and chickens the week after the Smallholder Show – that gives us time to get them settled in before we leave them in the care of Gwen so we can go to The Royal Cornwall Show.

I am declaring war tonight on a weapon of mass destruction that is eating my young carrots. Opened up our small wall greenhouse to find my newly transferred pickings were picked and chomped!! Not happy.

In the office Rachel is busy setting Urban Beekeeping which is taking shape very nicely – it’s going to be a great book. Oscar is bringing us up to speed with these blogs and is busy liaising with authors so that their blogs are on our site.

I’ve also been in a bit of a mild panic about the new Home Farmer Training courses. We now have our Build a Clay Oven day sorted but it is a baptism of fire for us. Luckerly both the trainer and the landlord are supportive so I’m sure it will all go smoothly.

Meanwhile we are making preparations for the Smallholder and Garden festival next weekend. Love this show! But this year we are holding the Home Farmer teXt factor auditions. Winner gets a series published in Home Farmer magazine and possibly a book. It will be interesting to see what comes up. There have already been one or two interesting submissions.

Seems today I spent quick a while swimming in treacle. Book about to go off to the printer got recalled as Paul spotted a last minute error which made him want to go through the whole book – AGAIN. Then the day went downhill fast.

However finally getting somewhere with our training days with 2 full day sessions sorted for the Build a Clay Oven Day.