I started assembling a tub for peas and strawberries for my neighbour’s grandchildren. I planted one up last year, and to keep birds and cats out, I used a wigwam trellis for the peas to grow up and covered it with a crinoline skirt of butterfly mesh attached to a hula hoop, which fitted over the … More The Naked Truth
It seems to be whatever nature has done, man thinks he can do better. Humans are never happy with what they have been given. Plants, animals, birds and insects have a sense of naturally adapting to their surroundings without human intervention. They live according to their needs but humans can’t, they have always got to … More To Err Is Human (Naturally)
This year I am trying different slug deterrents. Slugs do have their uses, but it would appear that they don’t adhere to terms and conditions – my terms that is. In an ecological system, they should work with other creatures to clear the land of dead matter and debris, in order for the next generation … More Gastropods, Pubs And Patisseries
We have been given this planet and yet we abuse it because we think we know best. The grass isn’t green enough, it’s too long, it’s not short enough etc. so we redesign the land of which we have been made guardians. We spray dangerous chemicals and artificial fertilisers and destroy land for the sake of … More The Rewilding Experiment
It’s bad enough that bees were in danger of being lost thanks to a parasitic virus, but neonicotinoid insecticides were also being approved of by the governments of the United Kingdom and the European Union until recently, when they realised the disastrous results it could lead to. The modern world is so wrapped up in … More Bee-ing Artistic
I have always liked garlic, but never really gave a thought to how many varieties there were, until I discovered ‘The Garlic Farm’. I planted up three varieties of spring garlic just a few weeks ago, Picardy Wight, Solent Wight and Mersley Wight. Most of it is growing fine but it will be some time … More Wild About Garlic
Death hits us hard when it calls. It has brought disappointment and annoyance because plants I bought, which were frost-tender at lower degrees, could still be expected to survive if protected, instead they have given up the ghost. I checked out the descriptions of the plants before I bought them and made sure they were … More Ashes To Ashes
How often I look at something and think ‘I could use that’. Most of the time the idea I had, fades after the purchase of it, but there are times when the light bulb over your head does switch on, and hope reigns once again, that what you bought wasn’t a complete waste of money, even if it’s original purpose never got fulfilled. … More Bag A Thought
Who would think that little furballs like fluffy cats, could hide such deadly secrets, but toxoplasmosis is a nasty parasite spread by them. People like having cats as pets because they say they are clean – but are they? … More Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Where Have You …
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