‘The world generates 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, with at least 33 percent of that—extremely conservatively—not managed in an environmentally safe manner.’ Worldwide, waste generated per person per day averages 0.74 kilogram but ranges widely, from 0.11 to 4.54 kilograms. Though they only account for 16 percent of the world’s population, high-income countries generate about 34 percent, or 683 million tonnes, of the world’s waste. When looking forward, global waste is expected to grow to 3.40 billion tonnes by 2050, more than double population growth over the same peri ..read more

Wild mushrooms have always been fascinating. They are somewhat whimsical and conjure up a whirlwind of thoughts and nostalgic memories when I come across any. From Alice and Wonderland, fairy houses and my mother telling us not to touch the wild mushrooms because they could be poisonous and deadly. The past few years I’ve always wanted to go on a true mushroom forage but have never had the opportunity to go with an actual mushroom forager- going to pick mushrooms alone and do a tasting session without properly identifying the ‘shrooms doesn’t seem like such a good idea… BUT, this year, I thoug ..read more

We needed a safe space to hold our gardening tools and store our seeds, a shed was undoubtably on the cards. After shopping around online we mentioned we were looking for one to our dad and to our suprise he said he had an old one that he had flat packed and kept down the end of our garden [what are the odds?!]. So, to our delight a wonderful bit of upcycling was about to go underway! First step [probably the hardest part] was transporting the shed to the allotment itself…we managed to get hold of a friend who owns a large van so we loaded that up and off we went to the allotment. Through the ..read more

Here in the U.K., alongside the crazy year it’s been already with COVID-19, the weather seemed to join the party so unfortunately our grand plans for our garden and allotment didn’t go entirely to plan BUT we did have a wonderful array of herbs! Herbs are very hardy and we have grown them in our garden at home for years- some a little more needy than others but either way – there is always something sprouting around (at least we have an endless supply of fresh leaf teas and flavourful food!) Year on year, we have always said we would dry the herbs before they die off and this year we stuck to ..read more

Most purchased plants and seed packets usually contain some form of advice as to when to plant a plant or seed. In our experience, this is based on extensive research to find the best growing conditions for that plant. Based on the findings, the advice is created for a generalised public to fit a general average environment. These guides are essentially just guides – only you will know your area and it changes every year. If the plant is not very hardy and prone to cold, because a packet says to plant the seed in March but you know that it has been especially cold this year, you will not see ..read more

So who doesn’t love a bit of Macro? We had some beautiful leaves and flowers Hosta, Cordyline, Dhalia, Bamboo and Lily that we’re looking stunning after a morning shower so had to take some photos and wanted to share the beauty with all our wonderful followers. We hope you enjoy them! Cordyline Leaves ..read more

So, I have a friend that has a warehouse – with lots of pallets! When I sent a photo of the 99+ pallets to Ben, he immediately said; “GET THEM ALL!”. First task…finding a van…check Second task…loading the van…check Third task…transporting the pallets…check Fourth task…emptying the pallets from the van…check… Fifth task…transporting the pallets to the garden………..PAINFUL!! Anyway, we managed to get 49 pallets inside a Sprinter van and we drew out a plan for the pallets and decided where they were going to go. Managed to transport 9 pallets over to the grounds for assembling. Sixth task…taking ..read more

Go on…sing along – A WHIM A WAY…(I can hear your humming now!) Thought we would give you an on our first little haul of broad beans/ fava beans/ pillows of goodness (whatever you’d prefer to call them)- an interesting journey through growing nevertheless. We have these a try in the garden at home and at the allotment and WOW, was there a difference in growing and haul!! Blackfly and aphids reigned supreme on the majority of plants, strangely only one of the back plants in the garden at home with a few soldiering through to the front plants but the poor guys at the allotment – ANNIHILATED! Sadl ..read more

Composting can be as easy or as hard as you wish to make it. There are a number of different composting methods. Below we will go into those we are currently exploring: Sub-soil or trench composing: Trench composing involves digging a trench and burying green material in your trench. Based on the tests it is taking approximately 1-2 weeks to fully compost 1-2 kgs of green household material per trench. We gave this a go and usually bury the waste up to a spade deep in a trench approximately 2 ft long and found it simply has the quickest results. Dos and Don’ts: Do – include a variety of gr ..read more

Of course we want to take you on the journey with us and as the well known saying by Benjamin Franklin goes; ‘If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail’. We thought we would share the plan we painstakingly constructed at the beginning of this year (2020). This plan is for the allotment plot, STAGE 1: THE SUN TRAP Whilst we were clearing the plot we watched the sun (not literally) but we watched to see which areas stayed the longest in the sun and which areas either saw little sun or had partial shade throughout the day. This is the foundation to how we went about planning. STAGE 2: WHAT PL ..read more