have to pay to have them removed. They have hopes of buying part of an adjoining wood which, if properly managed, could provide all the wood they need indefinitely. Careful pruning would also improve the wooded area. One of their biggest problems is the number of rabbits which caused considerable damage to newly planted fruit and nut trees, until Harold devised guards for the base of them. He explained that the previous owner of the adjoining land had had all the foxes, stoats and weasels killed because he had stocked his land with pheasant for shooting. "If the present owner will just let the rabbit predators alone this will keq) the rabbit population down to an acceptable level. " They plan to experiment again with their solar oven this summer. Harold made it from bits and pieces he found in the garage when they moved into the house last year. (They do not throw anything away unless absolutely useless and only collect about two plastic bags of rubbish a year for the dustman.) The oven consists of a wooden box lined with fibreglass two inches thick and a cooking chamber made of metal salvaged from old peanut tins. Flat wooden boards covered with strong plastic reflect the heat from the sun into the cooker through a glass panel on the front, tt heats up to about 350 F which is hot enough to make a casserole, biscuits and rolls, but not quite good enough to make decent bread. But by double-glazing the front glass it should be hot enough for anything.
They are bringing up Rosemary and Michael as vegans but do not worry if they have non-vegan food when visiting friends, although Rosemary refuses meat. They consider it more important for them to be able to mix socially than to insist on a 100% vegan diet, as any non-vegan food they might have only makes up a tiny proportion of what they eat. Harold and Jenny, with Rosemary then a baby, took part in the Open Door film. They have also been featured several times in local newspapers. Maggi Taylor
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