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I had an interest in the great outdoors from a very young age. I can remember as a child being mesmerised, watching as hundreds of baby spiders emerged and spread themselves bravely across a web. I wanted to grow veg but my parents didn’t know how, so I threw carrot seeds in the ground recklessly, hoping for the best. Trying …
If you want to feel better in this increasingly worrying world in which we reside then go and stick your hands in some good honest soil. Forget about gloves, and everything else you have going on in your life, and get stuck in. Pick some up, run it through your fingers and get connected because the healthier the soil, the …
Having closed the door firmly on an absolute scoundrel of a year (2016, you know I’m referring to you), it’s time to stick my hands in some good honest compost and get ready to delight once again in the restorative magic of watching as new shoots emerge bravely from the darkness and into the light. Yes the world is in …
In her latest blog on seasonal food, Alicia Miller explains how they bring a taste of summer to their plates in late January… As we packed our Christmas vegetable boxes a few weeks back, it was apparent that the rootiest time of year was upon us – potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beets, swedes and celeriac are the staples of holiday meals. …
It was the posh shabby-chic Christmas catalogue that came through the post a few years back that provided an incentive for me to start making my own festive decorations from items gathered from the garden. I balked at what they were charging for what (appeared to me) to be simply bits of tree with silver spray-painted on them…. Instead, with …
In an extract from their new book; home schoolers Lehla and her husband, Anthony talk about their experiences when it comes to dealing with the sometimes disapproving reactions of others… Anthony says: Sometimes people get curious and want to know if our way of life works according to their framework. Some of our relatives sneak little tests in to reassure …
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 to me many times even …
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 prepared by Director Chef Chris …
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 do on so many levels. …
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 farm, she is becoming well …