The Journal
The latest from the homestead
Fresh guides and seasonal notes. What to grow, keep, cook and preserve right now, written for the UK.
17 July 2026
How to Make Bramble Jelly: A UK Blackberry Recipe
Turn a free autumn glut of hedgerow blackberries into a glowing, seedless bramble jelly. The classic UK method, the pectin fix, the setting-point test and how to pot it safely.
Read →17 July 2026
Growing Parsley in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
Parsley is slow to germinate but easy once it's up. Here's how to sow it, when, the flat-leaf vs curly question, and how to keep picking for months.
Read →17 July 2026
Growing Kale in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
Kale is the toughest, most productive winter green a British veg patch can grow. Here's how to sow it, plant it firmly, beat the brassica pests and pick it right through to spring.
Read →17 July 2026
Growing Lettuce in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
How to grow lettuce outdoors in Britain: choosing loose-leaf and hearting types, sowing little and often, beating bolting and slugs, and picking cut-and-come-again leaves right through the season.
Read →17 July 2026
How to Make Piccalilli: A Classic UK Recipe
Make proper British piccalilli at home: crunchy cauliflower, onions and beans in a bright mustard-turmeric sauce. The salting trick, the safe vinegar rules, and why it beats shop-bought.
Read →17 July 2026
Growing Coriander in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
Coriander bolts faster than almost any herb going. Here's the UK way to slow it down: sow direct, sow little and often, keep it cool and moist, and get both the leaf and the seed from one plant.
Read →17 July 2026
Growing Leeks in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
The hardy winter staple that stands in the ground until you need it. How to sow, the classic dibber-and-puddle transplanting trick for a long white shank, and how to beat the two grubs that bother them.
Read →17 July 2026
Keeping Marans Chickens in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
The hen that lays the darkest eggs you'll ever crack. A UK beginner's guide to Marans: those chocolate-brown eggs, the colour scale, Cuckoo and Copper varieties, temperament, housing and the law.
Read →17 July 2026
How to Make Bread: A Simple UK Everyday Loaf
A warm, foolproof guide to baking your own white loaf at home: the ingredients for one loaf, the science in plain English, kneading and proving, and how to fix a flat or heavy bake.
Read →17 July 2026
Growing Redcurrants in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
Jewel-red, heavy-cropping and tough as old boots. Learn how to plant, prune and pick redcurrants the right way, and why they're handled completely differently to blackcurrants.
Read →17 July 2026
Growing Broad Beans in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
One of the hardiest, earliest crops you can grow. How to sow broad beans in autumn or spring, support them, beat the blackfly and pick them at their sweetest.
Read →17 July 2026
Keeping Cream Legbar Chickens in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
The British blue-egg hen that started the craze. Blue eggs, chicks you can sex at hatch, and everything a UK beginner needs on temperament, housing and the law.
Read →17 July 2026
How to Make Marmalade: A UK Seville Orange Guide
The classic British January preserve, explained properly: why Seville oranges, the pectin science that makes it set, a forgiving ratio and full step-by-step method with the setting-point test.
Read →17 July 2026
Keeping Wyandotte Chickens in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
Calm, laced and built for cold, wet weather. Here is why the rose-combed Wyandotte is one of the best dual-purpose chickens for a British back garden, plus honest advice on eggs, housing and the law.
Read →17 July 2026
Growing Blackcurrants in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
The hardy British soft fruit that shrugs off our cool damp climate. How to plant them deep, prune for young wood, dodge big bud mite, and pick heavy crops of vitamin-C-packed berries.
Read →17 July 2026
Growing Peas in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
How to grow sweet, tender peas at home in the UK: the best types for beginners, when and how to sow, keeping mice off the seed, supporting the plants, and picking for the sweetest crop.
Read →17 July 2026
Foraging Wild Garlic in the UK: A Safe Beginner's Guide
How to find, identify and pick wild garlic (ramsons) safely, including the smell test, the three toxic lookalikes to avoid, the law, and what to cook.
Read →17 July 2026
Growing Beetroot in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
Beetroot is one of the easiest roots a UK beginner can grow: fast, hardy, and dual-purpose for roots and leaves. Here's how to sow, thin, water, harvest and store it, plus why the seeds come up in clumps.
Read →17 July 2026
Growing Blueberries in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
Blueberries are acid-loving, so most UK gardeners should grow them in pots of ericaceous compost and water with rainwater. Here is the beginner-friendly method for a reliable crop.
Read →17 July 2026
Keeping Leghorn Chickens in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
Leghorns are among the best white-egg layers of any pure breed: active, flighty foragers that suit a secure UK garden. Origin, eggs, temperament, winter comb care and the legal registration you must do.
Read →13 July 2026
Foraging Blackberries in the UK: Picking and Using Brambles
The friendliest wild fruit in the British hedgerow. How to spot, pick and use blackberries safely, from crumble to bramble jelly.
Read →13 July 2026
Growing Runner Beans in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
How to sow, support, water and harvest runner beans for a heavy crop from mid-summer into autumn, and how to stop the flowers dropping.
Read →13 July 2026
Growing Gooseberries in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
Hardy, reliable and happy in cooler northern gardens. How to plant, prune and pick gooseberries, and beat sawfly and mildew.
Read →13 July 2026
Keeping Rhode Island Red Chickens in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
The Rhode Island Red is one of the world's great brown-egg layers and a hardy, confident starter breed. Here is how to keep them well in a UK garden.
Read →13 July 2026
Growing Carrots in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
Sweet, homegrown carrots are simple once you know the two knacks: the right soil and beating carrot fly. Here is how to get a long harvest.
Read →13 July 2026
How to Make Sloe Gin: A UK Foraging Recipe
Forage blackthorn sloes from the autumn hedgerow and turn them into a rich, ruby homemade sloe gin that's ready by Christmas.
Read →13 July 2026
Keeping Sussex Chickens in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
The Sussex is one of Britain's oldest breeds: a calm, hardy, dual-purpose hen that lays well through winter and suits gardens and smallholdings alike.
Read →13 July 2026
Growing Raspberries in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
Summer or autumn raspberries? The answer changes how you prune, support and plant. A practical UK guide to a fruit that pays you back for years.
Read →13 July 2026
How to Make Elderflower Cordial: A UK Foraging Recipe
Forage elderflowers from a British hedgerow and turn them into fragrant homemade cordial, with a safe method, real quantities and storage tips.
Read →13 July 2026
Keeping Orpington Chickens in the UK: A Beginner's Guide
The calm, cuddly British breed that suits back gardens and first-time keepers. History, eggs, temperament and UK care, plus the registration rule.
Read →
Sunday letter
Every step out of the system
One short email, weekly. The week's best guides, what to do on your patch, and the next small step out of the system.