Old School Garden

Beautifully fresh, flavoursome and sweet! We also had some raspberries and first early potatoes the other day…joys of home grown!

Had a lovely walk around the Bishop of Norwich’s garden yesterday…very well organised and some fascinating and beautiful spaces. Oh, and I picked up a few special Dahlias and a Tetrapanax….now have I got somewhere to plant it?

It’s Monday morning and recent history tells us that somewhere in the world kids are returning to school for the first time in weeks, or months. As the day gets underway, parents, students and teachers are trying to chart their way through a maelstrom of colliding emotions – excitement, anticipation, uncertainty and anxiety. This morning, […]

School Awakenings — PlayGroundology

“The natural world is the greatest source of excitement. The greatest source of visual beauty. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.” David Attenborough Sam Newton – Land of Iron Natural Heritage Officer You don’t necessarily need to go far to observe nature. Over the last couple […]

Looking outwards: recording nature – Part One — The official blog for the North York Moors National Park

For those of a certain age, Kirkby is probably most associated with Z Cars, a BBC police drama that first aired in 1962. The programme was set in the fictitious ‘Newtown’ but the town bore an uncomfortable resemblance to Kirkby, described by Troy Kennedy Martin, one of the show’s screenwriters, as: (1) one of the […]

Kirkby, Liverpool, Part I: ‘a tremendous achievement’? — Municipal Dreams

Both the month of May and the full spring season have been exceptional for the UK, as outlined in our recent news release. In this blog we look at the local detail of what has been an exceptionally sunny and dry few months. Sunshine Perhaps the most impressive of all the national statistics was the […]

A local look at the record-breaking Spring and May weather — Official blog of the Met Office news team

All the gardening experts recommend the ‘Chelsea chop’, cutting back perennials to improve their flowering performance. So called because it is carried out in late May, around the time of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, it can be done on a wide range of perennials, including phlox, sedum and penstemon. Pruning all the stems on […]

Biting the Bullet — Rambling in the Garden

Some more pics in today’s garden, after some welcome rain…time to mow the lawn again.

Neither sorrow nor fear has diminished home gardening’s potential to heal during this pandemic spring. Chris Beytes of Grower Talks, the respected commercial trade magazine, has been keeping tabs on retail garden centers for the last twelve years. This year, weekly surveys of growers and retailers across the United States have been surprisingly positive.…

The Arrival of the Future — GardenRant

‘If we put energy into cultivating the earth, we are giving something back. There is magic in it and there is hard work in it, but the fruits and flowers of the earth are forms of goodness that are real; they are worth believing in and are not out of reach. When we sow a seed, we plant a narrative of future possibility. It is an action of hope. Not all the seeds will germinate, but there is a sense of security that comes from knowing you have seeds in the ground.’

I’ve just finished this wonderful book. An engaging and well evidenced assessment of gardening and nature’s benefits to mental health. Recommended reading!