Margaret’s a heroine to domestic animals

She wrote to me expressing her condolences following the death of my pet rabbit Peter, saying that if I ever wanted a replacement, it could be arranged.

Margaret Layland coordinates the rehoming of small animals for the RSPCA, one of those unsung hero type of jobs that do so much good – particularly when they are taken into care homes and provide vital therapy for residents.

Domestic rabbits don’t always get the best deal in life but they have a fine friend in Margaret.

*I DON’T know how gardeners managed before chemicals.

I’ve been studying this book about plant diseases and – a bit like a hypochondriac reading Pear’s Medical Dictionary – you become convinced that your plot is afflicted by everything from thrips to cutworm, white fly to leatherjackets.

One day, tilling the soil at the Ranch, my thoughts turned to my maternal grandfather who bought a poultry farm after selling his Coventry watch-making business.

Sadly, he had come late to husbandry and the entire stock was soon wiped out by disease.

This being the 1930s he and his family were thrown into poverty.

It made me realise how close to the edge people lived in the days when the vagaries of harvest dictated whether you had food on the table or not.

*I LIKE to think of myself as a green grower, keeping sprays to a minimum and only using slug pellets when the broken eggshells stockade has been breached.

In fact, such is my selfrighteousness that I planted nasturtiums next to the cabbages this year, the idea being to lure away the cabbage white caterpillars.

Sadly, it worked in reverse – a brassica massacre while the peppery-leaved little darlings were left untouched. Best laid plans and all that.

*I MUST say what a good summer and autumn this has been for those who enjoy food for free. As well as providing endless blackberries, Worcester’s Cherry Orchard nature reserve even supplied a few hybrid apples to go with the stew. You can’t say better than that.