Sara Ward on Living the Good Life August 2026

Great Taste Awards are in!

Last Tuesday I was hovering over my inbox as I knew that the results of this year’s Great Taste Awards were going to be announced at 10am.

You’ve probably spotted the little black and gold stickers on some of your favourite foods – a confirmation that they’ve been rigorously tested by professional judges and celebrated for their quality and taste.

If you follow us on Instagram you’ll know that we were very excited to win not one but two awards from the Guild of Fine Food!

The first award was for our Brentford Honey, which is naturally unique as Brentford is the home of The Bees! Fortunately, as you’ll have read in previous posts, it’s looking like our best year yet. We have honey, with their new award stickers, available now and honey comb rounds will be available once the bees have finished filling them.

The second award was for our Garden Picalilli, and there’s a bit of a story behind that..

Many years ago, I was on a television show with well known food writer, Xanthe Clay. When she overheard me explaining that we are self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables for several months of the year, she asked to come and visit to write a piece for The Telegraph. ‘I’ll bring a photographer, could you make a recipe for us?’ no problem, I thought, looking around as to what was in season. We certainly had a good stash of veg, some fennel seeds were growing and if I could add in some honey that would give a shout out to our bees.

Before she arrived, I gathered ingredients together on the garden table and had decided that a piccalilli, preserving vegetables in a spiced vinegar based sauce, would be of interest. As we chatted about the chickens, I began to put together the recipe. Actually, no, I didn’t have a recipe – I was freewheeling it! So when Xanthe checked that I would be able to send her the specific quantities and method, my jaw dropped in horror – my goodness, I was making it up as I went along. ‘No worries’ she said, ‘I’ll just write down what you are doing’ and the following week it was published across the country and it’s been the recipe that I’ve stuck to ever since. Good job too as ten years later The Guild of Fine Food gave our Garden Piccalilli a coveted Great Taste Award and it’s been renewed again this year in 2026.

Why not join us on a course, see dates below, to meet the bees or make your own award winning Picalilli?

Enjoy the sunshine and we hope to see you soon,

Sara

Coming up at Hen Corner

August

Bees for Children Saturday 1st

Introduction to Scandinavian Baking Tuesday 4th

Full Day Bee Keeping Saturday 15th

Introduction to Making Bread Wednesday 19th

Bees for Children Thursday 20th

September

Introduction to Making Bread Wednesday 2nd

Urban Hens – Keeping Chickens in London Wednesday 2nd

Introduction to Pickles & Preserves Tuesday 8th

Making Cheddar, Stilton & Sourdough Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th (Two Day Course)

Introduction to Making Bread Tuesday 22nd

Introduction to Making Cheese Wednesday 30th

Don’t forget – if you’ve been on a course before, email me for your 20% discount!

Sara Ward is the owner of Hen Corner and author of Living the Good Life in the City: A journey to self-sufficiency

All courses can be found at HenCorner.com

Follow them on social media @HenCorner

Hen Corner’s Children’s Directory

Hen Corner is a member of The Chiswick Calendar’s Club Card scheme, offering discounts on her courses and on her book Living the Good Life in the City.

See their Club Card offers here: Hen Corner Club Card offers