Chef Clodagh McKenna on her homesteading life

If you have considered collecting chickens eggs out of your backyard in the morning, if you have swapped binge-watching Netflix for digging your kitchen area garden, and when your latest outfit is really a beekeeper’s coveralls and hat, then welcome to everything about backyard farming.

There is an outburst in people seeking a far more sustainable method of existence by continuing to keep creatures, growing crops and harvesting from honey to wild fruits and flowers. And you do not need an enormous farm or accessibility countryside to get it done.

‘From planning kitchen garden suggestions to keeping the own kitchen coops like Harry and Meghan, we are finding practical, homegrown methods to interact with nature,’ states Andréa Children’s, Editor of Country Homes & Interiors. ‘Which is the reason why we requested the brilliant chef and food author Clodagh McKenna to create about her very own homestead existence.

‘In a brand new monthly column, Clodagh is going to be discussing what is happening in her own plot, monthly and season by season. Sign in to help keep current and discover inspiration for your own personel backyard homesteading adventure.’

BACKYARD HOMESTEADING: A Different Way To Apply Your LAND

‘I am so excited to begin my monthly column about everything occur in our sustainable homestead, Broadspear,’ states Clodagh.

‘Each month I’ll share tales from my plot, and then any understanding which i have learnt, attempted and tested – from growing vegetables and tending an orchard, to keeping hens, bees and, potential coming, pigs!

‘I reside in Broadspear with my hubby, Harry. It’s a captivating property that people moved into approximately 3 years ago, also it sits within its very own 80 acres of Highclere Park in Hampshire. It’s a rather forgotten area of the park but an essential bit of the Capacity Brown landscape.

‘This month I’ll introduce for your homestead, and are available during the days ahead to understand what I will be doing season by season on my small land.’

BREAKING GROUND AT BROADSPEAR

‘When we first moved in, the job of having an outdoor going was overwhelming because there wasn’t just one plant growing here and thus much try to do.

‘Close towards the house lies a walled garden built-in the 1700s like a menagerie, however it had sadly been neglected for more than a century. As being a chef, I’d always imagined of accelerating my very own fruit and veggies, and thus we began your garden renovations here.

‘We levelled the whole space and built 10 x 8ft elevated beds to develop a multitude of vegetables, herbs, salads and soft fruit. We set up a pergola within the center from it actually are that people could eat, prepare and relax while experiencing the fruits in our work! We’ve also grown an orchard of 32 fruit trees, sown a wildflower field, and we’re beginning one half-acre cutting garden.’

Getting Within The BEE HIVES

Beginner beekeeping is one thing Clodagh is enthusiastic about.

‘In the summer time of 2019 we introduced two bee hives, then added another three at the beginning of this past year, so we’ve five working hives.

‘Honeybees are the most advantageous creatures within our atmosphere. They’re natural pollinators, meaning they assist our local flora to breed and flourish, therefore the bees are actually important fully circle of sustainability we’re attempting at Broadspear.

‘They offer us, us and buddies with honey all year long around! Any surplus I pot up then sell within my online shop.’