The quail is a game bird and part of the family Coturnix – the same family that partridges belong to. They are in fact closely related – partridges are bigger, however, and brighter in colour. Quails are mostly coloured brown, tan or grey. Quails have a longer wing-span than partridges and are therefore stronger flyers. They are migratory birds and often fly long distances – such as between Africa and Europe.

Most of us have at some time or another eaten a smoked food product such as smoked salmon, kippers, smoked chicken, bacon, and I could go on. Even non-meat products are not excluded, for example smokehouse almonds.

Smoking food as a way of cooking and preserving it has most likely been around for only slightly less time than we have been using fire for cooking.

So what is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault? It's a secure facility located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the remote arctic Svalbard archipelago. A vault dug 120m into a sandstone mountain, 130m above sea level, and 1,300km from the north pole. Seed that's stored within the facility is kept at -18 Degree C by generators running at the site, should a catastrophe occur where power is lost, it would take several weeks for the vaults temperature to rise up to the chilly -3 degree C of the surrounding sandstone rock.

The inaugural edition of the Backyard Farming magazine has now been released. We've packed a lot of information into the magazine, with 43 pages of information without any advertisements. Thats right, unlike most magazines that have 50% or more advertisement content, our magazine has none, not one. So although it's only 43 pages, it's the equivalent of a magazine that might be at least twice the size, only you don't need to wade through all the rubbish.

We have included a diverse range of information in this first edition. You'll find articles on raising muscovy ducks, information about seed saving and genetic diversity, and a range of other subjects including how to grow many different varieties of fruits and vegetables.

In truth, it isn’t that easy. First of all, chemical sprays don’t always work. And even if they work once, it doesn’t mean they’ll work the next time. It’s been proven that pests can develop immunities to chemicals, so next time you might have to buy a stronger spray.