Info, news & debate
Plants
Establishing urban orchards to benefit people, communities and nature
The Orchard Project are a superb group establishing and maintaining urban community orchards. The are beneficial in so many ways, including biodiversity, community cohesion, local food, carbon storage and human well-being. Here, they explain an approach called ‘nature-based solutions’.
Composting: explaining the carbon-nitrogen ratio
If you read much about composting, you’ll soon come across the terms carbon:nitrogen ratio (often shortened to C:N ratio). Everything you put in your compost has a different C:N ratio. Materials such as grass and manure, known as ‘greens’, have a higher level of nitrogen, and ‘brown’ materials, such as paper, have a higher level …
Introducing the Velojuicer – pedal-powered apple scratter
Here is an in-depth look at the Velojuicer, our pedal-powered apple juicer. A lightweight, mobile, all-in-one machine that scrats, presses, and juices apples using only human power and a bit of good humour.
12 reasons why industrial-scale agriculture is driving environmental destruction
In this article, the LWA’s Horticulture Campaigns Coordinator Rebecca Laughton explains why we have to produce and trade a greater percentage of food locally.
Want to work for a great veg box scheme in the south of England?
Want to work for a great veg box scheme in the south of England? Actually it’s our veg box scheme. And it’s a bag not a a box. Each week we get a bag full of organic fruit and veg from Sutton Community Farm. If you live in south London, I really recommend them. Lovely …
Would you like to be an ecological smallholder?
Would you like to be an ecological smallholder? The Ecological Land Co-op are looking for smallholders for plots of land in Devon and Cornwall. More below from Luci at the ELC:
Building your own sustainable future
Hi. I’m Andy Reynolds – author, instructor, forester, promoter of self-reliance, and for the last few years I have been reflecting on our project’s progression, as it seems to have reached the stage of early maturity. The project – rebuilding a home, and changing the surrounding fields from dead agricultural land into an oasis of …
In praise of parsnip flowers and seeds
What are those yellow flowers? Its a common question asked by visitors to the plot at this time of year. The eye-catching flowers that tower above everything else are parsnips. It’s a shame that more don’t keep their parsnips in the ground overwinter and let them flower. Not only are they attractive plants with their …
History of the use of medicinal plants
This article explores the history of the legal rights of herbalists to practise, and looks particularly at the use of medicinal plants in wartime Britain.
What kind of work do we want to do? Is working with our hands passé?
There’s an approach to life that sees craft jobs, or smallholding and food production, including baking, brewing and beekeeping, as well as any kind of job that involves manual work and dexterity as somehow retrograde and passé, and that ‘work’ now means mainly putting on a suit and travelling to an office to do something-or-other …
Can organic farming feed the world?
Now there’s a question – posed by Chris Smaje of the Ecoogical Land Co-op. Chris joined the board of the ELC as Dave of Lowimpact left, and since then Chris has produced a book called A Small Farm Future, which we review here. Members of Lowimpact have become involved in the world of mutual credit, …
How to start a community garden: Part 3
In the final instalment of how to start a community garden with Ethical.net, it’s time to address the key issues of planning and design, as well as how to make sure it’s sustainable in every way.
How to start a community garden: Part 2
We explore the nuts and bolts of how to start a community garden with Ethical.net, this time tackling finding a site and first steps towards sourcing funding.
How to start a community garden: Part 1
With the UK lockdown ongoing, many of us will be dreaming of days when we can once again be out and about and active in our local community. With this in mind, we share a series from Ethical.net exploring how to start a community garden.
Neonicotinoids and climate change
With neonicotinoids back in the news this month, Nick Mann of Habitat Aid shares his views on the growing threat they pose in combination with climate change.
Job opportunities with the Ecological Land Cooperative
There are exciting times ahead for our friends at the Ecological Land Cooperative, as they share news of five new job opportunities. Lauren Simpson tells us more.
Paid internship opportunity with Vallis Veg for 2021
Our friends at WWOOF UK share news of a 2021 internship opportunity with the fab folks at Vallis Veg in northeast Somerset.
Review of ‘A Small Farm Future’ by Chris Smaje
Industrial agriculture and giant monoculture farms dominate our food sector. But does it have to be that way? Could and should we build a new kind of food system based on small farms? This new book, ‘A Small Farm Future’ published by Chelsea Green, outlines what a post-covid, post-capitalist society might look like, built around …
Sustainable alternatives to garden lawns: Part 2
In this second look at sustainable alternatives to garden lawns, we hear from our friends at Ethical.net about growing your own food, keeping the kids happy and more.
Mentoring and more: support for new entrant farmers
Know someone taking their first steps into farming? We take a look at a growing wealth of schemes and resources providing support for new entrant farmers.