As I made my excuses to leave an afternoon party early last week because, ‘I had my columns to write’, a friend asked how I find something new to write about each week for three different columns.
I replied, ‘I just write about what I do, and that means there is never a shortage of material!’ The only ‘work’ involved is rounding it up into some kind of order or relevance.
Take last week, for example. My neighbour phoned me whilst I was in work to tell me she had put a hedgehog in my front yard. Not only did she not want me to be surprised by the hedgehog but nor by the half eaten slow worm she found him devouring. I didn’t realise hedgehogs ate slow worms.
Sometimes nature just bends me all out of shape. A few weeks ago I had a melt down as something had raided a pheasant’s nest by my front gate and eaten all the eggs. It was probably a hedgehog – and probably the hedgehog that was now seeking refuge in my front yard. Two weeks ago I ‘rescued’ a knot of baby slow worms, which had somehow turned up on a patio in work and now I learned that hedgehogs eat slow worms. Ye Gods. So anyway, I have now bought some proper hedgehog food in an attempt to reduce the mass murders a little.
Last week, I also learned that nettle seeds are a super food as well as a medicine. You can sprinkle them on salads, soups, in sandwiches or blend in smoothies as well as making a tincture with them to use through the winter. The seeds also store well but have to be harvested at the right stage. There is more about this on the internet.
Apparently, back in the 1800s horse peddlers used to give 1-2 handfuls of nettle seed a day to horses for about 2 weeks before they took them to market to make their coats shine. A German doctor heard about the practise and began administering nettle seeds to patients at a home for the aged and there was a noticeable improvement in energy levels, clarity and general well being (though there was no mention of shiny coats!).
And, thanks to Ian at McDonald’s Nursery in Llanfoist, I learned that if you put greens in a hanging basket for the chickens and hang it about 2 ft off the ground (instead of just chucking them on the ground), it keeps them entertained. I had had a problem with one of the hens eating the eggs but since they have had their ‘hanging greens’, the egg-eating has subsided.
And finally, I also learned that I have a reputation for leaving parties and ‘events’ early (often using my column writing as an excuse) and am consequently known as a ‘cat-flapper’; one who is out the cat flap at the earliest opportunity!
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