Hen Corner

Cracking ON Photography credit: Pam Wade

Sara Ward gets on with the spring tasks at Hen Corner in Brentford

It can be pretty chilly in early spring, but there’s still loads that we can be getting on with to stay ahead of the game and ensure the garden is as productive as possible. Last year, we totted up the value of everything we harvested and were jolly pleased with the £1,708.75 total, much more than the previous two years, though I must give most of the credit to the chickens who laid a whopping 2,750 eggs between them! We were significantly down on the honey harvest; squirrels took most of the fruit from the trees and the veg plot was struggling to say the least. So I am determined to crack on and get those seasonal jobs done now that should increase our yield later on in the year. This time last year, we were down to just one healthy colony of honey-bees so reproduction was the priority for them. Fortunately, we ended up with four strong colonies that have all made it through winter, so some good investment now to treat them for mites and ensure that they have enough food will help them get the best start as they forage on the crocuses, snowdrops and hyacinths that we’ve planted for them. Pretty soon the queen bees, when they discover there’s lots of food available, will start laying more eggs and the hives will be a-buzzing.

A key to successful fruit and vegetable crops is fertile soil. A problem in our kitchen garden is an overly large bay tree which is drawing moisture and nutrients from underneath our raised beds. In the short term, shovelling on heaps of home-made compost, enriched with chicken manure, works as both a mulch to reduce evaporation of vital moisture and as food for the soil to nourish our crops. Fortunately, our faithful chickens respond to the seasons like clockwork and, as long as their coops are cleaned out regularly and they’ve got enough food and water, they don’t require much work from us. They are beginning to lay more eggs now than at any other time in the year, so I’ll keep up the treats - they love a handful of mixed corn - and stock up on egg boxes. HenCorner.com