It was a sad day last Thursday when one of the girls passed away just five short weeks after release from the battery pens. She was one of the weaker birds and enjoyed her time of freedom before succumbing to a fermenting crop. She was a little unwell the day before so I moved her to a quiet shed in the warm with fresh water and food. I spoke to fellow chicken keepers and had had much advice given. In the morning, she seemed to perk up and I thought she would be around for a long time. Sadly, by 12 noon she had rolled onto her side. I went to see how she was I am sure she winked at me, as if to say thank you, before drawing her last breath. At 12.02, kebab, as the youngsters named her, was in chicken land, wherever that is.

The rest of the girls knew something was wrong, suddenly appearing outside the shed. They made no noise, just peered in, fluffed up their feathers before walking off. Kebab is buried under a tree she took such a fancy too when I first let them all out to explore the garden.

What is great is the way the girls have really filled out, are laying four eggs a day and will now feed from visitors hands. If you have space and time to devote to taking ex battery hens, get them into your garden or back yard for a better life for both of you. Just one word of warning – watch your garden plants.

In the days of rising food costs and the ever increased use of chemicals in the production of food there is a growing band of people growing their own. From turning front and back gardens into vegetable plots or looking further a field and taking on an allotment.

Many local authorities are opening up partially abandoned sites for the increasing numbers of the population seeking a great working environment and somewhere to grow the five a day we should all be eating. Somewhere also to teach children about nature and where fruit and veg comes from, from seed to eat.

Easy for me to sit here banging on about growing vegetables and fruit. I have built more raised beds, invested in a basic green house to bring on more crops and fenced off areas of lawn in readiness for more fruit trees.

As a household we are trying not to buy out of season fruit and veg but have to admit we are struggling. One, because we want to eat tomatoes all year round, and two, we are aware that some farmers who supply our shops from abroad depend on that trade. It is a chalice of poison whichever way I look. There are also the EU subsidised payments to farmers here who can afford to undercut the farmers in the emerging countries thus ruining their chances of building up a sustainable business.

There you see I am off somewhere else again. Back to allotments. I do want to have an allotment, however it will take me two bus trips and ten minute walk at either end with all the tools I would need for the day. Not an option as it is also too far to cycle. My cunning plan is to look around my home area for a piece of land that is overgrown and find out who owns it. The plan is to get together with a few neighbours and set up our own allotment group. The local council would be willing to help if we had problems finding out who the owners are and may have a small amount of money to get water to the site.

Not all councils are as helpful as many allotment holders have found when councils see them as a cash crop for housing. Some believe it is not the councils fault as they struggle to meet the government’s house quotas. The thought of working a plot for years, of getting the soil just right only to see it all pulled down and throw up houses appear with stamp-sized gardens. Sad times.

Having seen the price of food increase thoughts turn to what could be grown in smaller areas of the garden and even on a window ledge or balcony. Herbs are an easy target but wanting something a little more substantial the potato sprang to mind. How though? Trawling my mind I remember some time ago reading about growing potatoes in plastic bags. Therefore, that is what I plan to do – grow a crop of spuds in plastic bags and see how it goes.

Finding suitable organic, peat free compost, an old plastic animal feed bag that came with some farm yard manure and two chitted potatoes (ones that are found at the bottom of the bag growing arms and legs)

Rolling down the side of the bag reminded me of sports days at school when the plan was to annoy teachers by having rolled down socks. See, I am off again. So roll down the sides of the bag to about six inches. Fill to that level with compost then add the two potatoes just below the surface. Now water well. If all goes to plan the potatoes will start to grow and as the green shoots appear they will be covered with more compost as the bag is rolled up and filled with compost to eventual full height. Remember to keep watering and to make sure the potatoes are not sitting in water cut a few drain holes in the bottom of the bag for drainage.

The result should be a bag of spent compost and a large number of potatoes. The plan is to have a number of bags planted two to three weeks apart for continual supply of spuds throughout the year. Watch this space for more on the potato bag.