I recently interviewed Trevor Hilder, a specialist in the viable system model. I’ve been interested in it for a while, since I heard from credible sources that it could be a valuable tool for building the new economy. Read more

Sigi Koko of Down to Earth Design shares her top tips for how to plaster straw-bale walls with clay, beginning with the first, or base, coat. Read more

You’ve picked your apples but what to do now? Learn how to make the best of the harvest with Nick Mann’s brief guide to how to store apples over the winter. Read more

Today I’m talking with Alice Brown of Sutton Community Farm. I’m interested in looking at how we produce food in the new economy. The current system is a disaster in terms of environment and wealth concentration. Read more

Here’s a delivery job with a difference, on offer from Sutton Community Farm in south London. It’s over to them to tell us more. Read more

Ruby Taylor of Native Hands shares her forage of the month for September, with stress-busting nettle seeds the star of the show as autumn approaches. Read more

I’ve never been without a bike until recently. As far back into my childhood as I can remember, I always had one. A bike was always part of my life, part of me. Read more

It’s that time of year again when the fab folks at OrganicLea invite grape-growing Londoners to join their community wine-making scheme. It’s over to Craig to tell us more, with a useful guide to harvesting grapes to boot. Read more

Ever fancied fishing for your supper but don’t know where to begin? In Part 3 of her Fishing for Food series, Jessie Watson Brown explores fishing with lobster pots. Possibly a more efficient approach to fishing – once you have put the pot in, it does the fishing for you, leaving you free for a… Continue reading Getting started with fishing for food: Part 3 – Lobster pots Read more

There have been some developments in the planning system that might allow a lot more people to build their own home. First, here’s some background. Read more

I’m too busy to have a vegetable garden. I don’t have the mental energy to think about when it’s time to buy seeds, to plant them, water them, prick them out into pots, dig the garden, plant them, and then continue to water them, weed them and harvest them. Read more

The Landworkers’ Alliance will be joining a host of partners to put farming, food and climate justice centre stage this October. Here’s how you can join them on the Good Food March 2019 in London. Read more

This is the second part of an interview with Cath Muller of Radical Routes (here’s the first part). Cath hitch-hiked across the Atlantic on a sailing boat, to visit co-operatives in the States. I talked with her about the differences between co-ops over there and in the UK. Read more

Are you fired up to find practical solutions to the climate crisis? If so, this job opportunity as a Project Officer with Big Solar Co-op could be right up your street. Over to Jon Hallé at Sharenergy to tell us more. Read more

Ziggy of The Year of Mud shares a how-to guide for scribing wood to stone, with a project fitting a wooden timber frame on to a stone foundation. Read more

Chris Smaje of Vallis Veg and Small Farm Future shares his thoughts as to why the elephant in the room is capitalism. Maybe. It’s over to Chris from here… Read more

Are you keen to downsize and downshift? Chris from Loosehanger Oak shares his top tips for tiny home living in a small timber building. Read more

This is part 2 of a conversation with Micky Metts of Agaric – a co-op in Boston, Massachusetts that provides online tools for other co-ops. Part 1 is here. I told Micky about some of the meetings and discussions we’ve been having in the UK with people working to build ‘new economy’ infrastructure, like community… Continue reading Networking small businesses and co-ops to replace corporations: Micky Metts on the new economy Read more

Ziggy Liloia of The Year of Mud in Kentucky, USA, shares his how-to guide for shou sugi ban, preserving wood using fire as practised in traditional Japanese timber building. It’s a thing of beauty! Read more

People usually conflate the two, but I want to try to persuade (mainly the right) that capitalism is nothing like a free market, and (mainly the left) that there’s nothing wrong with a truly free market. Read more