With a new Mayor and a new Government strategy for children and nature on the way, it’s time London made its children an ‘indicator species’.
via Back to the future: how London’s new mayor can reconnect children with nature — Rethinking Childhood
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Back to the future: how London’s new mayor can reconnect children with nature — Rethinking Childhood
By Alice Marks, @alicemarks0 On 19th July, the first annual report on the progress of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was launched as part of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2016 is designed to set the benchmark for […]
via Finding hope in a gloomy view: the state of SDG 2 — One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the World?
Picture by Karen Nuttall
An occasional series exploring Winterbourne’s weeds (yes, there are a few!) through the work of cyanotype artist Anne Parouty…
Following up on the last post, here’s a run down of the blooms in the rest of the garden: the Left Bank (the smaller part of the front garden that lies west of the driveway) and the shady back garden.
Picture by Michael Whitaker
Following the recent turmoil caused by the Brexit vote and so many upsetting world events, we need cheering up. And Blickling volunteer gardeners don’t disappoint. Sitting down to a well-earned lunch break, Tressa announced she’d brought in a ‘Reconcilation Cake’…..we didn’t need to be asked twice.
My pea tunnel finished
Prior to this I’d spent the morning putting in a stick tunnel for the peas in the walled garden. It’s always nice to work with quality materials. The chunky hazel sticks went in at an angle along along both sides of the double row, and then I wove the tops together…
After lunch (rather extended due to the cake and chat) I went over to the side border and worked with Aussie Pete and Jane in weeding the various border so veg. Then I turned my attention to the garlic; I carefully dug up eight different varieties, none of which was overly impressive I have to say…down to weather I guess.
Garlic being dug…
..some of the results…
..elephant Garlic- always impressive….
..the bed cleared, dug and raked ready for the next crop
Having cleared this area- during which I had a little banter with ‘Norah Lindsay’ (one of the volunteer garden guides dressed up to look like the famous 1930’s garden designer who made such an impact at Blickling)- I dug it over and raked it off, in readiness for some more lettuces.
The Walled garden is really looking splendid at present, especially with its lush borders of Catmint (Nepeta x faassenii) and the full growth of so many different plants. Project Manager Mike had started to dig the potatoes (he tells me he thinks we have 33 varieties) and was selling these and some of the other veg off for a donation. Methinks next year that even with supplying the kitchen here, we’ll need a shop to sell off the bounty to come.
The other joy of this time of year is the number of visitors around the place and many with questions or comments on the gardens and gardening it’s so nice chatting to these people who really appreciate the efforts of everyone involved here.
Project Manager Mike waterign in one of the glasshouses
Further Information:
Blickling Hall website
Blickling Hall Facebook page
A 360 degree tour of Blickling Hall
Old School Gardener
By the middle of July it feels like we have reached the gateway to high summer in Chicago. Let’s see what’s blooming in the garden, starting with the main part of the front garden: the Driveway Border, Sidewalk Border, and the Island Bed. The remainder we’ll cover in a second post.
Teasel- picture by Nigel Barker
Our second full day in Glasgow. Having taken the short train trip in from East Kilbride, we set off once more on the tourist bus and stopped off to see the Transport exhibits at the Riverside Museum..
From here we bussed and walked to the Botanical Gardens, where there were some very interesting, exotic displays in various glasshouses and plenty of very pleasant outside areas where people were soaking up the spring sunshine in their lunch breaks…
A short walk to the Kelvingrove Museum and Park where we explored some of the superb art and artefacts on display and then went onto see Mackintosh’s School of Art- which you probably know is undergoing significant rebuilding after the fire which severely damaged some of the best known areas, such as the library….
Sauchiehall Street called …. and we took advantage of the Willow Tea Rooms (another Mackintosh gem) for a classic afternoon tea…
The day ended with a walk through the town centre, catching the bus once more (having had a quick look around City Hall) exploring the ‘People’s Park’ alongside the river followed by a look around a Mackintosh museum and a quick beer in the famous ‘Horse Shoe’ Bar…
Back to East Kilbride for an evening meal and then home the next day.We scraped the surface of Glasgow in two days, and shall certainly return for another look at this very lively, friendly and engaging place.
Old School Garden 