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) and after several weeks of trying to track down a local supply (it felt like … More How to split lengths of untreated round wood for making fence posts, coppice crafts and other random rustic objects

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 gardening in relation to the issues of biodiversity and climate change, how they affect us … More Gardening Course first at Centre for Alternative Technology

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 facilities which you can see at http://yaldingorganicgardens.info/drupal/node/24 but they’re keeping an open mind and were … More Yalding Organic Garden re-opens: but is it as good?

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 put compost on every year but no amount of compost will change the basic soil … More First seedlings coming up in the kitchen garden

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 garden – wattle blog and the bean pole archway blog the most so I’ll keep … More April Visits Best Yet

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 – all of which more later. This is how I made the gate. I started of … More How to make a basic hurdle gate

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 it was great to spend a day there just barrowing mushroom compost around, weeding, watering … More Visit to Sweet Loving Flowers Organic Growers