All about sustainable food production on small spaces plus books and gardens
Read about the one-acre plot that Sally Morgan has set up at Empire Farm in Somerset. Sally blogs regularly about the plot – what's being grown and raised, her polytunnel, and the certified organic allotments on the plot, as well as matters that concern her - climate change, soil, organic growing, biodiversity, sustainability etc. You can read about Sally’s visits to farms, gardens, allotments and growers during the year. You can also find out about her workshops that she runs from Empire Farm and the books she has written, including The Climate Change Garden
Love walking round the #organic #allotments on the one acre plot and seeing the ingenious #recycling and #repurposing of items on the beds – nothing goes to waste here. The eagle-eyed amongst you will be able to spot pallets, containers,
Continue reading
There’s been a lot of tweeting around compost in recent weeks; the #peatfree campaign which is vital to saving our peat bogs, biodiversity, climate change and flooding; the risk of #aminopyralid contamination in manures and composts and the growing popularity
Continue reading
Coming back from the one-acre plot the other evening, I noticed a comma butterfly flitting around an overgrown patch of brambles festooned in flower. Stopping to watch, I was mesmerised by the sheer wealth of insect life in this sunny
Continue reading
One year on and I’m back a #RHSHamptoncourt. This year I went on the preview evening as well as the Tuesday to make sure I could get to see everything. If you want to see the show gardens, I would
Continue reading
It was a comment from one of the speakers on BBC Radio 4 Farming Today (Sat 15 June) that got me thinking about #nectar, or rather the lack of nectar. The topic of discussion was flea beetles and oilseed rape
Continue reading
Hurrah, some rain is forecast. I know, it’s June, and we all want to be outside enjoying the sun and the last thing we want is rain. But 2019 has been a dry year so far. Down in the south-west,
Continue reading
I’ll never tire of sitting down in the plot on a sunny day to simply watch and listen. Today the phacelia was alive with pollinators, mostly honey bees and bumblebees, while the birds were in full voice. The video says
Continue reading
The orchards are full of blossom at the moment and bees (hopefully) are busy. But all may not be well. I have just watched a Countryfile Spring report on fruit trees, pollinators and the threat of climate change. The item
Continue reading
Once again the news is full of record breaking temperatures. This time it’s the warmest February day on record. Already temperatures have hit 17oC in North Wales and 19 oC in London. The average temperature for this time of year
Continue reading
I took advantage of a bright and still morning to watch the comings and goings on a patch of asters. These gaudy flowers were obviously a hit with #pollinators, within a few minutes I observed visits from bees, hoverflies and
Continue reading