Free range hens have to earn their corn - by digging over the garden! I don't mind them helping themselves in the herb garden though as "A worker deserves his wages."

The start of Spring means that we all need to get working outside. I have a "hack and hope" mentality when it comes to gardening, which seems to have worked so far. Getting started is always the most daunting part. I look out of the window at just how much needs to get done and give up before I've even got started. Once I've got my wellies on it's a different matter - I struggle to stop then! In just a few hours, me, hubby and hens gave the entire back garden a quick revamp to get things tidied up and now I can't contain my excitement to get back into those wellies and look at things in a bit more detail.

It's so calming to have the hens clucking around your feet as you hoe and weed. It's so comical how they become intensely interested in what you're doing for the first few minutes, and then they lose interest and wander off - until you move to a new spot. Then, necks down and beaks pointed out, they come running to see what you're up to now. They do a really good job in scratching out the little weeds and turning over the top soil. They've developed a taste for chives, but they've earned a nibble or two - it'll soon grow back.