Monthly Archives: December 2012

Hazel Nuts: Britain’s first farmed food? Part 3

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Francis Pryor

In this experiment I was not so much concerned with yield, as with storage. Having grown hazels for nearly twenty years, I do not need to be convinced of their productivity and to some extent estimates of ancient yield are … Continue reading →

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Hazel Nuts: Britain’s first farmed food? Part 2

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Francis Pryor

My interest in hazel nuts began on my first dig, back in 1963 when I was a volunteer excavator on an Iron Age hillfort in Bedfordshire, about half an hour’s drive from my parents’ house. I’d just passed my driving … Continue reading →

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Preliminary Musings: Hazel Nuts: Britain’s first farmed food?

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Francis Pryor

Prehistory and archaeology are subjects where traditions die hard and where orthodoxies can rule the roost for generations. It must be great to prick balloons, but having said that, I don’t think I’m a great believer in acting the iconoclast: … Continue reading →

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Grow Your Own: Part 2, Digging

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Francis Pryor

The world of vegetable gardening is, as they say in the press ‘sharply divided’ into two schools of thought: to dig, or not to dig. I’m a life-long digger and am not about to change, unless, that is, I hurt … Continue reading →

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This Time it’s Pink

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Francis Pryor

Yesterday Twink was taking me for my morning walk through the woods when we came across this tasteful day-glow pink balloon, in the now familiar S-shape. No maker’s label and a bit weather-beaten. I honestly can’t be bothered to blog … Continue reading →

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Bloody Balloons!

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Francis Pryor

This morning dawned glorious. The sun rose above the black poplars as I cracked the top off my breakfast boiled egg – rather unusually two of our Cuckoo Marans are still laying this late in the year.  Then, I washed-up … Continue reading →

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Jack Frost and Other Old Friends

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Francis Pryor

The past four or five days have been bitterly cold, with penetrating frosts and freezing fogs. The Fens have seemed positively hostile at times. And then the sun cuts through the mists and suddenly everything, and everyone, is transformed. That’s … Continue reading →

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Bonny Scotland

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Francis Pryor

I’ve got a very soft spot for Scotland, and it’s not just that I like the people, the whisky and Rebus. It’s also got nothing to do with Maisie’s impeccable highland credentials. She hails from Moray, not far from John … Continue reading →

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Creating Fort Knox, a.k.a. My Vegetable Garden

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Francis Pryor

One morning bright and early during the winter before last, I was heading towards the barn to release the chickens, and check for eggs.  Overnight there had been a sharp frost, so I decided to take the gravel path along … Continue reading →

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Samantha: a Suggestion

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Francis Pryor

Today I was working in the barn, getting things ready for the ewes coming in after Christmas. Although the tractor was making a terrible din, I had an old radio turned on in the background. My sheepdog enjoys Radio 4, … Continue reading →

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