WILDING WEEKEND FLYER for 11&12 June 2022
Help! An Insect Apocalypse is happening right now… (Dec21)
Help! An Insect Apocalypse is happening right now… (Dec21) The frightening thing is that we may not be aware of how devastating the decline in insects has been over the last 100 years. Insects were the first things to fly and sing. Pre-dinosaurs the planet was swarming with them with no other living things. There […]
My Manifesto for COP26 and beyond(Oct21)
I’m delighted that Cop26 is getting a lot of attention. I think it’s great that young people – with Greta leading the charge – are voicing their anger at what’s happening to the climate. It’s incredibly positive that more and more businesses around the world are trying to make meaningful changes. Not so good is […]
Rewild schools before it’s too late (Jul21)
Rewild the world before it’s too late! I’m supporting Operation Future Hope in their mission to change the devastating impact of current land management practices in schools. School grounds have become wildlife deserts. They’re chopped, mown, poisoned and slashed. The brief is for well ‘managed landscapes’ – neat and tidy. What this means in practice […]
Peat in compost is environmental vandalism (Mar21)
That’s what Monty Don says and I agree. But it’s incredibly common. UK gardeners are responsible for destroying our ‘rainforests’. It has to stop and we can make it happen. OK, so why is this such a big deal? First and perhaps most importantly, peatlands are essential in our fight against climate change. Whilst they […]
I’ve learnt to love moles (Feb21)
My mother was very keen on mole traps, following a tradition that apparently started in Roman times. I remember having them firmly planted in the soft earth mounds that would regularly appear on our lawn. When I moved to Dorset, I’m embarrassed to say that I employed a mole catcher, who set the traps. Never […]
Going wild in Dorset (Sep19)
I’m tremendously excited about our new landscaping project… The central idea is wilding and I’m learning about what this means in practice. One concept I found rather appealing was to look at nettles and docks, which love fertile, agriculture land, as the bully boys. And we’re going to replace them with a myriad of other […]
War on Waste – Not just plastics (Oct18)
I’ve now done multiple speeches about plastics and waste. The more I do, the more committed I am to changing our wasteful, disposable society. We’ve adopted practices that are ridiculous in their wastefulness and think nothing of it. Here are some examples: Online Shopping: I live in rural Dorset and do most of my shopping […]
My Blog Returns Again… (Oct16)
My blog life has been rather quiet for a long time. There may be some people who have been checking my Blogspot and getting fed up with looking at Lidl lobsters, which was my last post or a photo of me getting married saying that my blog is coming alive again?! Hopefully, it […]
Incredible Edible was amazing (May11)
They’ve planted corn on the cob outside the police station. They’re lettuces in rose beds. And tomatoes on waste land. There’s even vegetables planted by school children in the graveyard. Incredible Edible, based in Todmorden is guerilla gardening at its best. The station master loved broccoli, so when he died, they planted broccoli all around the […]
My Garden (May09)
It’s such a wonderful time of year for getting into the garden. I’ve actually managed to mow the lawn – I’m afraid that I didn’t use a scythe. I’ve also been pruning the apples trees – and getting rid of the ivy that’s wrapping itself around them and planting vegetables. Home-grown food is a real […]
Autumn pleasures… (Sept08)
Picking apples and blackberries in the beautiful autumn sun has only been surpassed listening to the sound of bagpipes whilst watching kites waving around against a deep blue sky. The last couple of weekends have been truly magical. The Dorset Kite Festival is annual event on Eggardon Hill near Powerstock. It’s truly spectacular even when […]