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Saving seeds
saving seeds store seeds in paper bags - we keep paper bags of all sizes ready for this purpose in summer/autumn - and let seeds dry out in the bags in a cool airy place; once dry and sorted from the chaff, seeds can be kept in small paper bags inside...
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The heart of school reform
at the heart of school reform and it must recognise a diverse population of individuals who have a right to access from birth to death. Pedagogy tells us to view education as a continuum, but our system does not truly allow for this. Additionally schools...
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disease, war, or innovation
Sometimes disease, war, or innovation, cause major dislocations in society. Whole areas of the economy either shrink or disappear, and other things develop. The Black Death killed about 25% of the population in Europe in the late 14th century, and surviving...
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How to profit from Debt
How to profit from Debt That is, you borrow £10,000 from a bank. If you don't pay them back and they are unable to get the money back from you using their own processes, they will sell the debt to a debt collecting organisation for something like £200....
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Plastic waste is not biodegradable
Plastic waste has been infuriating me ever since I found out, many decades ago, that it's not biodegradable. The current consequences were immediately predicable, and at the moment we don't even know how bad they will be. Plastic is now everywhere, and...
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Weekend retreats in Scotland
Weekend retreats are common at wooded latitudes from Canada, through the Nordic and Baltic states, to Russia, building on a tradition that began in the 1920s and 30s when working people escaped the disease and squalor of the inner cities. They were normally...
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A pear tree to harvest
We have a lovely large pear tree in our garden it is tall and beautiful with abundant fragrant blossom..full of pears this year but we were too slow in netting it and the parakeets ravaged it..... this year it is heavy with large brown pears, they are...
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Growing Garlic
Garlic is one of the easiest crops you can grow. In most regions of the country, garlic is planted in the fall. By that time, many summer crops have already been harvested, leaving some free garden space. Just remember that the garlic bed won't be available...
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Hard truth on immunity, vaccine or otherwise
The hard truth is that until there is immunity, vaccine or otherwise, there will always be Covid in the community. There's people who don't seem to have understood that yet - that this is a highly transmissible virus and as long as there are people it...
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Nature’s an opportunist
Nature’s an opportunist We try to be in control Distance and rows recommended Nature ignores them all Our lawn is now a meadow Wild plants in control Blue speedwell in the springtime With dandelions on call The mauve of wild mallow Trying hard to grow...
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Happy in Autumn.
As we brush up against October, we are still waiting for our first hard frosts of the year. In years past, we could have had snow by now. It is so much milder now. But the snows will come soon enough and there’s not a lot happening in the garden. Just...
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Alive and connected to nature
I could never understand why people complain about snow and long nights. The changing seasons are wonderful in the way everything is transformed. A crisp winter day is invigorating and the snow is beautiful in the way it settles on twigs and branches....
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The need for a prime meridian
It was on October 13, 1884 that the Greenwich meridian was officially adopted as the prime meridian, the imaginary north-south line where the longitude was 0 degrees. A.S.Ganesh gives you a glimpse of how this came to be and where the true prime meridian...
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Time to plant a Rowan Tree
The rowan tree and its bright red berries have long been associated with autumn arriving. Rowan, Sorbus aucuparia is also known as mountain ash. However, it is completely unrelated to the ash, it just has similar pinnate leaves. It got its name because...
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The Day for Saint Nicholas
It might surprise many today to find out that Saint Nicholas is a real person after all. Is he the white-bearded man with a red suit, a cap, and a sleigh? Not quite, but he probably was bearded, did wear a hat, and did travel in horse-drawn, not reindeer-drawn,...
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a prevailing myth -
There is a prevailing myth, especially in this country that its ok to be overweight and out of shape when you get older when that is the time your body needs the exercise and a decent diet the most. Even the youngsters are walking about soft and paunched...
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Giving and Sharing: Blessed Indeed
The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. the...
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The EU has serious problems
The EU has serious problems, most of the member countries are not doing well, in some, as much as 25% of young people are out of work. The EU has not thought out how to deal with countries who are dilutant with their finances, and several are coming up...
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Time to think of a soup for Winter
I've always loved a decent chicken soup, especially when I've got a cold, or it's cold weather, but when I make one it tastes good and actually contains things other than chicken that are known to be beneficial Chicken wings are ideal, they're cheap and...
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‘bargains’ A wee spiel on the topic of the day
I think one-day ‘bargains’ switch on some people’s ‘seeking’, competitive drive. The feeling of achievement comes from beating other people at the race. There’s also the ‘joining in’ aspect that’s so powerful in those who need other’s approval- society...
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Contemplate the works of nature
Contemplate the works of nature There is for a free man no occupation more worthy and delightful than to contemplate the beauteous works of nature and honour the infinite wisdom and goodness of God. Over 150 years ago, King Wilhelm 1 of Württemberg, a...
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The upper classes as "eccentric".
In our class-damaged society it somehow seems acceptable to describe certain behaviours amongst the upper classes as "eccentric". If we were discussing working class people this would be far less likely to be the case. Instead, other adjectives would...
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London: global centre for oligarchs
London is the global centre for oligarchs, kleptocrats, financial opportunists, tax avoiders, 'dark money' specialists, who all utilise the City of London as their money laundering centre. Had it not been for this, we would not see the distinct division...
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Struggling with rain in the garden
We've had a fair bit of rain recently and I struggled to get out and plant up my pots with the tulips I had bought. I also wanted to take out a Hot Lips Salvia that had completely covered the path, I was just going to cut it back but it has become rather...
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A Chicken Soup
I have always loved a decent chicken soup, especially when I've got a cold, or it's cold weather, but when I make one it tastes good and actually contains things other than chicken that are known to be beneficial Chicken wings are ideal, they're cheap...