Monthly Archives: May 2008

There’s always a sense of adventure when ordering untreated, un-processed fresh from the wood timber. I needed some untreated chestnut fencing posts (chestnut doesn’t rot easily so lasts longer in the ground than any other UK wood apart from oak) … Continue reading →

CAT will be running a new course next week, the first of its kind in the UK. It’s called Gardening for A Sustainable Future and will combine CAT’s unique blend of horticultural and environmental expertise. The course will look at … Continue reading →

Yalding Organic Gardens has re-opened for business under new ownership after being dumped by Garden Organic following a financial review earlier in the year. The campaign group set up to save the gardens has posted a mixed review of the … Continue reading →

After spending much of the winter tidying, digging, building, fencing and preparing its great to finally have my first seedlings coming up. This snap will also give you a good idea of what sort of soil I’m working with. I … Continue reading →

Compost Lover had nearly 1500 visitors last month (the most in one month so far) so thanks to all who made the call. You seem to be liking the how to make a dry stone wall blog, the low carbon … Continue reading →

I made this with the help of Grace Crabb and Bob Shaw at the Centre for Alternative Technology’s coppice crafts course. During the five days we learnt how to split and turn wood, make charcoal and weave a wattle – … Continue reading →

Yesterday I decamped from my own garden to spend a day with my friend Sue Harper at her organic flower field. Her and her husband Pete work so hard to get the flowers and the field looking fantastic and beautiful … Continue reading →

Yes but. I’ve called this a ‘yes but’ because you can compost some weeds, but you have to be careful. For example if you’ve got a patch of nettles, you can harvest the leaves and stems and put them in … Continue reading →

Organic gardeners like to have something in bloom throughout the year to encourage wildlife activity and part of my goal this year is to keep a note of what’s flowering when to build up a picture of what’s missing so … Continue reading →

As we are never more than 6 few feet away from a rat (or 8, 10, 12 or 20 depending which particular website you believe), its a good idea not to encourage them to get any closer, especially as they … Continue reading →

You can make quick compost with grass clippings and leaves, so long as you chop and turn the mix every three days. You can also mix two parts grass clippings with every one part manure for another relatively fast compost, … Continue reading →