Sheep are like locusts (Apr23)
A flock of sheep will eat pretty well everything in their path – wildflowers, buds, saplings and anything else that looks tasty. Ben Goldsmith has been highlighting the perils of sheep, particularly in upland areas and in our national parks. He points out that apart from being incredibly destructive, sheep grazing on the hillsides are […]
Our Wilding Weekend in June 2023 (Mar Update)
On 17th and 18th June 2023, my husband Jamie Macdonald and I will be hosting the second Wilding Weekend at our home in Dorset. Find out more about it here. WE WILL BE SUPPORTING – THE NATIONAL GARDEN SCHEME Ticket sales will be donated to the National Garden Scheme (NGS) charities. Here’s a link to […]
Come and Listen to me talk about wilding – on 29th March 2023
I’m going to be speaking about Wilding at Slader’s Yard, West Bay (near Bridport) on 29th March, 2023. The evening includes supper and all proceeds will be donated to The Great Big Dorset Hedge project. You need to book to reserve your tickets by calling Sladers Yard on 01308 459511. Let me know if you […]
Rubbish In Indonesia (Mar23)
It felt like Armageddon. We went on a ‘nature bike ride’, but the trip highlights were piles and piles of rubbish. Plastic bottles, old flip flops, a child’s shoe, fishing nets, polystyrene, foil packets and general household detritus. We were in Indonesia staying at the Banyan Tree on the northern coast of Bintan, which is […]
INSPIRATIONAL HOTELS IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA (Feb23)
We weren’t far from Singapore, but it was another world. Two tropical Indonesian islands to the East of Bintan, which is just South of the Asian city-state. I have to admit that I’m a very critical tourist – I generally challenge hotels on everything including what’s happening to their sewage, how they source their […]
Wild about Wilding (Jan23)
We organised the very first Wilding Weekend in June 2022, at our home in West Dorset. It was also the first garden opened through the National Garden Scheme (NGS) that was included primarily for its ‘wilding’ rather than for beautiful borders, impeccably mown lawns and other attributes of more traditional gardens. The next Wilding Weekend […]
Second Wilding Weekend in June 2023 (Jan23)
Come to our next Wilding Weekend on 17th and 18th June 2023. We’ll be opening our garden and land through the National Garden Scheme, offering lunch, tea and cakes as well as showing what we’ve done to create more wildlife-friendly habitats. Stalls, Talks and/or Tours will include:
My Mother was the first person in the UK to be buried in a mycelium coffin (Nov22)
When I tell people about my mother’s coffin, the most common response is ‘what’s mycelium?’. The answer is that it’s fungi – in particular the vast network of fungal ‘string’ that thrives in the earth from one end of the planet to the other. Mycelium not only speeds up decomposition, it actually decontaminates the land. […]
Our new Environment Minister is a disaster (Nov22)
I couldn’t believe it when I saw this video of Thérèse Coffey, the new Secretary of State for the Environment. Actually, I felt depressed that we should be represented by someone so inept. Of course, this video doesn’t just illustrate that she’s totally clueless about answering the simplest of questions relating to her new role, […]
Swimming in sewage (Aug22)
I was very surprised to be told by the Environment Agency that no-one should be swimming in UK rivers because they were too polluted. My son and a couple of his friends had been at a popular swimming spot on the River Avon. A few hours later they were all violently sick. The extraordinary thing […]
