Half Term Hens & Honey Show…

We’ve had a great half term holiday as a family which began in Paris to celebrate the first two years of my husband’s business and ended with us picking up a prize at the National Honey Show!

Paris Poultry

We had a wonderful long weekend in Paris with Andy’s brother, Rich, and his family to celebrate the second birthday of their new business Raw Unlimited. We saw all the famous sites, including a three-hour queue for the Eiffel Tower, and cocktails at Harry’s New York Bar, but a real highlight for me was to visit the colourful Marché aux Fleurs (flower market) which, dating from 1808, is the oldest and one of the largest flower markets in Paris. From Monday to Saturday you can find everything from orchids to orange trees and on Sundays it is joined by the Marché aux Oiseaux (bird market) with cage after cage of birds ranging from the tiniest of finches to an extra-large goose and a wide variety of parrots, pigeons and poultry on display for sale. I’m not sure whether the chickens were intended as household pets to be kept in a fifth floor apartment; caged birds seem to be the easiest, low maintenance, pet for a hard-working Parisian and whilst hens may contribute freshly laid eggs I think the farm animal odour might outweigh the benefits!

Another Prize!

Half Term finished with our annual visit to the National Honey Show at St Georges College, Weybridge. This year, with its mild weather that was perfect for bee keeping, saw 1,714 individual entries at the show distributed between classes that included inventions, photography, baking, brewing and all things honey and wax related. Whilst our honey didn’t scoop any prizes this year we were thrilled to pick up an award for our favourite Honey and Oat Cookies; they came third place in a class that included entries from all over the country.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Coming up at the Corner

This year we have had courses right throughout 2014 giving everyone the opportunity for ‘A little bit of country life in London’. The next sessions coming up are Family Feathers and Fun! on 8th November and Stir Up Sunday on 23rd November, which is now fully booked.

Into the new year, we have our Toast and Marmalade Course on Wednesday 28th January, this is a whole day course introducing both marmalade making and baking bread.

Why not come and join us? We have also planned all of our courses for next year, so whether you want to try something new or treat someone to a wonderful gift, have a look and book in early!

‘Oh yes, I am!’ There are no courses in December as I’m fulfilling a dream and am playing a part in a local pantomime, Cinderella, on Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th. Tickets are available here and we’d love you to join us along with your family and friends (£5 adults, £3 concessions).

Book of the Blog Post:

Spoonfuls of Honey – A complete guide to honey’s flavours & culinary uses with over 80 recipes

By Hattie Ellis

I’d seen this book first on Twitter and then held a copy in my hands at the National Honey Show. Filled with stories, recipes and beautiful pictures – this is a must for my Christmas list!

This book is available with many of our other favourite books from the Hen Corner Shop!

Other News:

• Now that our honey has been safely extracted, the empty super frames have been frozen to kill any wax moth eggs, and packed away for next year
• The bees have been slurping up syrup to store as spare food over winter
• We’ve been continuing to treat our apple, pear and plum trees with a Codling Moth Nematode

Jobs for next week:

• Tidy up the kitchen garden, collecting in the last of the harvest, and mulching the asparagus bed
• Tuck the chickens up safely for Firework Night
• Start gathering fruit, nuts and favourite tipples for our Christmas Pudding Course

Have a good week yourself…

Join us on the Journey!