Just before Christmas, I was helping out at an after-school play session in a community centre in Tower Hamlets in East London. Eight-year-old Jane arrived, took a plastic mug from the kitchen, sat down at a table near me, and started clapping her hands and the table, and tapping and flipping the cup, in a repetitive, rhythmic routine.
View original post 910 more words
Places like the North York Moors National Park may at first glance seem like areas of wild, natural beauty, but in reality they are largely managed landscapes. As a Conservation Land Management Adviser working on the Habitat Connectivity – Linking Landscapes Programme (“bigger, better, more connected”), I work with farmers and landowners to encourage and assist them in managing their land in a way that maintains and improve conditions for our native wildlife.
My week is usually a mix of sitting at a desk and being out and about in the North York Moors (no prizes for guessing which I prefer). By far the best bit of my job is the people I come into contact with. The North York Moors is a tough environment to farm in but we are blessed with some wonderful characters who have a deep sense of pride in what…
View original post 416 more words
Manchester has been described as the ‘shock city’ of the Industrial Revolution and if you lived in Ancoats it was, indeed, pretty shocking. Ancoats was the world’s first industrial suburb – factories and workshops cheek by jowl with mean terraces of back-to-back working-class housing and courts.
Ancoats in the 1870s
In 1889, a report by Dr John Thresh on 36 acres lying off Oldham Rd detailed 25 streets, many less than 17ft wide, and housing, mostly over 70 years old. The area contained over 50 courts; one third of houses were back-to-back. A death rate of over 80 per 1000 led to his dry statistical conclusion that ‘3000 to 4000 people [were] dying annually here in Manchester from remediable causes. (1)
The City Council declared it an ‘Unhealthy Area’ and determined to clear and rebuild. A total of 1250 people were displaced and 239 dwellings demolished.
Manchester City Council had…
View original post 1,529 more words
Found this really interesting video on spacing crops, so thought Id share it.
At the
World Economic Forum
, held in Davos in January 2014, experts on food security, Ellen Kullman, Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of DuPont; Michel M. Liès, Group Chief Executive Officer, Swiss Re; Shenggen Fan, Director-General,
International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI); Ajay Vir Jakhar, Chairman, Bharat Krishak Samaj (
Farmers’ Forum India
) and Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nigeria
came together to discuss
how we can produce enough healthy food for everyone.
Moderator, Rajiv J. Shah, Administrator, US Agency for International Development (USAID), began the discussion by stating that the global population is at 7 billion, 850 million of which don’t get enough to eat. By 2050 the population will rise to over 9 billion and we need to find ways of producing sufficient food for this enlarged population whilst also coping with environmental changes. Every economy that has…
View original post 1,008 more words
Rhubarb Ted
Mobilane, the leading supplier of living wall systems and green screens has launched an irrigation-free living wall which is an upgraded version of its popular Live Panel that requires minimal maintenance.
Live Panel 2 is suitable to cover large external walls or interior spaces and is based on exactly the same principle as Live Picture – a product it launched in 2013, which is a framed arrangement of plants designed for small indoor spaces. The Live Panel 2 system uses a tank watering system which is refilled usually no more than once per week, depending on the size of the wall. It is much quicker to install and costs less to maintain making Live Panel 2 being one of the most cost effective living walls on the market.
“Interest in our irrigation free wall has already begun” said Sean Farrell Director of Mobilane “The fact that we have a…
View original post 176 more words
Nigel Boldero aka 'Old School Gardener'
 | Nigel Boldero on Fighting to Reduce Climate Cha… |
 | Anonymous on Fighting to Reduce Climate Cha… |
| Anonymous on PicPost: Carrot, my foot! |
| 18 Surprising Hydran… on Plantax 16: Hydrangea the wate… | |
| Nigel Boldero on Poppyland: A Victorian romance… |
| Anonymous on Poppyland: A Victorian romance… |
| Anonymous on Plants to die for… |
 | Isabella Childress on PicPost: Forest, but not as we… |
 | Happiness Factor on Is child-friendly planning a l… |
 | zidane on Top Tip: On a Pedestal- make m… |
Nature Connectedness Research Blog by Prof. Miles Richardson
Connecting People with Nature
A daily selection of the best content published on WordPress, collected for you by humans who love to read.
Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
Writing, photography and more by Daniel Greenwood
Lydia Rae Bush Poetry
Australian Pub Project, Established 2013
The Journey from Finnish Rintamamiestalo to Arboretum & Gardens
Because even in chaos, there’s always gin and a good story …
RANDOM BITS & MORE TIDBITS
.....and nurturing my soul
Cultural Heritage and the Digital Economy
Sense of place, purpose, rejuvenation and joy
Notes from the Gardeners...
Connecting People to Nature, Empowering People to Live Sustainably
A girl and her garden :)
Old School Garden 