Info, news & debate
Plants & growing
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.
We need to completely close down industrial animal agriculture
Industrial agriculture is cruel to animals, cruel to people who work in it, it damages the environment and concentrates wealth in very few hands. I guess if you’re reading this, you know that already, and I don’t have to explain it. The problem is, it’s still there, doing its vile stuff every day. What do …
Zero food miles, zero packaging and plenty more: in praise of allotments
Monday marked the beginning of National Allotments Week 2020, at a time when the number of prospective allotmenteers far exceeds the number of available allotments. So what do allotments have to offer that means so many of us are itching to get our hands dirty?
Pushing up the veggies: human composting, coming to an end-of-life facility near you soon
Natural organic reduction, a technique for turning human remains into “soft, beautiful soil” is being billed by its American developers, Recompose, as the greenest of green funerary practices. A licence was granted in March 2019 by Washington State and the company hopes to open for business in 2021.
Keeping communities growing: how to get involved
With huge changes demanded by the Covid-19 pandemic, community gardens and growing spaces up and down the country are adapting to new realities. Here’s how you can support and get involved in their work to keep communities growing.
A beginner’s guide to foraging – Part 4: foraging for fruits, nuts and fungi
From greengages to giant puffballs, in the final instalment of a beginner’s guide to foraging, our friends at Ethical.net tackle the task of foraging for fruits, nuts and fungi.
Trying to make a living on an organic smallholding: Paul Jennings, ‘One-Planet’ smallholder
This is part 2 of an interview with Paul Jennings, who has built his own straw-bale house and lives with his family on a smallholding in Carmarthenshire in Wales. They were able to build their house via the One Planet Development (OPD) policy in Wales. Here’s part 1 of the interview.
Blossom, blossom and more blossom!
Nick Mann of Habitat Aid charts a five month journey of beautiful blossom and how people and pollinators alike can benefit from its bounty.
The 12 principles of permaculture: a way forward
We share a guest post from Ethical.net, in which Elizabeth Waddington sets out the twelve principles of permaculture. There’s plenty more to it than gardening, we promise!
Our policy on keeping animals & eating meat
Our topics include vegetarianism and veganism, but also keeping animals (for meat, dairy, eggs, honey, wool, leather, work etc); and also fishing and hunting animals in the wild. Is this incongruous? As a sustainability / new economy organisation, should we be promoting only veganism, rather than the keeping and/or eating of animals?
How small farms offer big solutions as global issues turn focus to home
With just under three weeks left until the Ecological Land Cooperative 202 community share offer closes, Lauren Simpson shares an update on progress so far, complete with a new film.
How and why to grow a food forest in your garden
With many of us taking steps to grow our own food right now, some for the first time, our friends at Ethical.net set out how and why to grow a food forest in your garden.
One Planet Development and access to land: Paul Jennings, OPD smallholder and self-builder
This is the first part of an interview with Paul Jennings, who lives on a smallholding in Pembrokeshire with his family, and built his own straw-bale home under the One Planet Development policy that exists in Wales (but not in England), which allows people to build a home on their land, even if it is …
Small farms, big solutions: climate crisis prompts investment in future farming
There’s exciting news from the Ecological Land Cooperative as they launch a new community share offer, inviting you to make an investment in future farming.