Frogs, toads and newts (Jun21)
I’ve just sent my first recording of toads and newts to the Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC Trust). Spotted the toads hiding in dark places by our compost heap. And the newts in one of the smaller new ponds we’ve created. They’re humming with tadpoles too. I joined the ARC Trust last year, but […]
My Green Life (May21)
When I was a baby my brother painted me green.. Perhaps a sign of what was to come. And the start of my Zoom speech on ‘My Green Life’. I also talk about: Setting up SustainAbility Ltd, with John Elkington, in 1987 The global success of ‘The Green Consumer Guide’, published in 1988 Becoming a […]
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 […]
BEING FRIENDLY TO BARN OWLS (Dec20)
I’m learning about owls. My interest has been propelled by the regular nightly call of a male tawny owl. He seems to be much more vocal than the female because I’m not sure I’ve heard her calling back…. However, what I’m now listening out for is the screeching call of a barn owl. I’m very […]
Scorched earth in Sicily (Oct20)
What a beautiful time of year to come to this island perched on Italy’s toe. We were lucky to have clear blue skies and the trees were turning gold. One of the most striking things about the island is the number of wind turbines on nearly every horizon. I rather like them both visually and […]
Wilding week 2 (Jul20)
The diggers are in their element The water meadow is now looking pretty earthy with very little water at all. The old mill pond has been drained to reveal a shallow muddy bottom – it turns out that it was pretty full of silt. If we’d left it for a few more years, it would […]
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 […]
