In this, the first of a new series aimed at showing the inspirational people behind the autism, proud mother, Jackie tells us about her son Bobby was diagnosed with Autism when he was four. I felt relief, I wasn’t a bad mother and he wasn’t a bad boy needing discipline (words that had been said …
AUTISM CHAMPIONS – the 17 year old Kart racing supremo, Bobby Trundley Read More »
In this second blog for us, inspirational lady-farmer, Sam explains how much she enjoys working with local restaurants. There is no greater privilege for a smallholder like me than tasting your home-reared, much loved, rare breed produce on the menu of a well reputed restaurant. I recently enjoyed a spectacular 10 course taster menu exquisitely …
A lot of people still follow so-called traditional advice of ‘bedding the garden’ down for winter. This normally entails meticulously pulling out dead or spent crops and digging the ground over to expose it to the elements which is recommended as being ‘good ‘for the soil. It’s actually a terrible, I repeat terrible thing to …
First – a bit about Sam Sam Gray works a five acre plot in the heart of Shropshire where she keeps British Lop pigs, rare breed chickens, Soay sheep and grows a lot of her own fruit and veg. A published writer and author of ‘Doing it in Wellies’ about her first years on the …
There are many fantastic (and free) materials that can be used to great effect around the smallholding and woodchip has to be one of the best. It’s also one of the easiest to get hold of as most tree surgeons or tree maintenance companies will jump at the opportunity of somewhere to dump their leftovers. …
WOODCHIP – making friends with your local tree surgeon Read More »
Kim Stoddart gets up close and personal with all pollinators great and small… Have you ever stopped and listened to the musical sound a bee makes as it works a flower head? Or looked at a wasp as it chews tiny bits of wood off your fence or garden furniture? Wasps may have a somewhat …
Celebrating all pollinators – why they truly are the bees’ knees Read More »
There are whole books on the subject of taking cuttings. Whole books about something that is in reality an incredibly easy thing to do. Equally baffling is the fact that most advice is also ridiculously overly-complicated and exacting. No wonder then that many people choose to buy in any extra plants needed, rather than giving …
TAKING CUTTINGS – Why we should all snip, snip away Read More »
I am part of The Growing Kitchen on the Wenlock Barn Estate in Hackney. We started in 2008 with a community garden on a disused piece of lawn. Since then we have expanded to create a foraging garden with a wild area and a community orchard on a separate site. We also have a pond …
This summer solstice weekend saw the return of the Power of Food Festival to Edinburgh’s community gardens. Across the city, 16 gardens threw open their gates and welcomed in the public, to experience first-hand the magical spaces flourishing right under their noses. From Newhaven to Merchiston, Granton to Tollcross, each garden was unique, with its …
AN EDINBURGH FESTIVAL – proving the power of food and community grow your own spirit Read More »
Carol Plummer; engineer, entrepreneur and co-founder of Vivent tells us more about this fascinating subject… Recently there’s been lots of talk in the biology community about whether plants are intelligent. It is an interesting question to consider. What is intelligence? In plants? In people? Do you need a brain to be intelligent? If something is …
PLANT SOUNDS – What can we learn from listening to our plants? Read More »
