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A member recently asked for details on growing the famous (and VERY expensive) Matsutake, the source of some pretty vicious armed confrontations between foragers and landowners not too many years ago. Read more

Exercise and cultivate the common capacities of people to know, to do and to organise, which have been enclosed by regimes of wage-work and professionalised authority. Read more

The world wide web could have been a commons, and lots of people who work in the software and web sphere remain committed to the principles of P2P-commons in software code, digital data and digital processing capacity. Read more

Facebook is not commoning, and is not costless. It’s a way for a giant corporation to pump value out of your traffic and unselfconscious gossip, for profit, surveillance and Big Brother manipulation of your buying (or voting, or social ‘othering’) behaviour. Read more

May is the most exciting month in your tunnel or greenhouse. This is the time to plant out your summer crops – your tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers and basil. Read more

See veg growing further info for month-by-month guides to growing fruit & veg. Read more

Do you have some south-facing roof space? Most people have a pitched roof, so there’s a good chance that you do – but if you don’t, an east-west roof is fine. Read more

The following list is a summary of the work needed to build a horizontal flow gravel reed bed system: Read more

If there are people whose subsistence is threatened, support them – join Survival International. Read more

We usually don’t think about our tunnel or greenhouse in November. There is very little need for it especially if you have planted the winter salads and overwintering garlic cloves and onion sets in October. There is much less need for watering and also the weeds have slowed down. Nevertheless the most important job is… Continue reading What to sow, plant and harvest in your polytunnel or greenhouse in November Read more

Your tunnel or greenhouse is likely to get a little bit out of hand during this month, with most crops not being at their prime any longer. Pests and diseases are also spreading much faster than before. You have to decide which plants to clear and which ones to leave a bit longer. Remember it’s… Continue reading What to sow, plant and harvest in your polytunnel or greenhouse in September Read more

Anyone who feeds the birds in their garden is likely to have a Sparrowhawk passing through from time to time.  I am no different from anyone else – feeling that moment of flinching fear as the small grey male or his larger female mate come swooping past my window with outstretched talons.  Read more

Step-by-step guides to growing different vegetables. Thanks to John Harrison of Allotment & Gardens. Read more

First, you want to find an actual installer, rather than a sales company. You need to find someone relatively local, who is knowledgeable and believes in what they do. You don’t want someone who’s doing it just for the money, although of course they need to make a living. Read more

The mushroom growing substrate referred to as ‘compost’ is quite different from garden compost or soil. Read more

Preventing and ending enclosure is a core commitment of commoning. Read more

A Refreshing and resourceful recipe for cider: Every year thousands of tonnes of apples go to waste in orchards and gardens. The Orchard Project Community Cider hub have rescued an incredible 21 tonnes of apples from rotting since 2016. If you want to share in the joys of cider-making, we’ve shared an excellent cider recipe… Continue reading Basic recipe for 5 litres of cider Read more

The first part of any retrofit plan is to design & implement a programme of repairs and maintenance.           Read more

Heat pumps are very much in the news these days, as they’re set to replace gas boilers, helped by government incentives. There has been criticism of heat pump technology, but what it really boils down to is that they won’t work as well in badly-insulated homes. The priority for home owners should be to make… Continue reading Things to think about when considering an air source heat pump Read more

Before commencing any practical work, it is of the utmost importance to understand the risks involved with making biodiesel. Read more

Your system will tick away nicely without you ever having to worry about it. It doesn’t really require any maintenance, and there are no moving parts to go wrong. Read more

Materials Read more

The main benefit of building your own is that you can do it cheaply, especially if you have the materials lying around already. Read more

Thanks to Sigi Koko of Build Naturally. Whether it’s for your kitchen walls or your 5 year old’s latest masterpiece, Sigi Koko shares her simple recipes for homemade natural paint with milk. Read more

Making & using lime mortar, and pozzolanic additives. Read more

This guide can’t (and shouldn’t) explain how to use a chainsaw. If you don’t know, then you have to get training of some sort. Read more

Thanks to Andy Reynolds for vids.  Read more

Thanks to Andy Reynolds for vids.  Read more

The best advice for success is to start by growing Oyster mushrooms, the easiest and most forgiving variety for any home cultivator to grow. Read more

We want to spread the word about compost toilets, and so they have to be pleasant to use. Read more

Lowimpact.org are working closely with Mutual Credit Services, the Credit Commons Society, Island Power and Local Loop Lancaster & Morecambe to help build commons institutions / a new, commons economy. New ideas are emerging that are summarised here. These new ideas allow us to take infrastructure into common ownership without incurring debt – which I think is the main reason that (much as… Continue reading Building the commons economy Read more

Adsorption: attractive forces acting between particles in the wastewater draw them together, allowing them to settle to the base of the reed bed or wetland. Adsorptive forces also adhere pollutant particles to plant material and gravel or soil, trapping them within the system. Read more

If someone is going to allow you to use a chainsaw on their land, then you need a certificate and they need public liability insurance, because on their land, they have a duty of care for you (even if they’re not employing you). Read more

August with a little luck brings us the best of the summer weather but being the traditional holiday month it can be hard to keep on top of the vegetable plot growing with a fortnight away, even if a neighbour can be persuaded to water as required. Read more

The consumption of mushrooms probably occurred during prehistory, in the hunting and gathering period. Unlike plants, mushrooms could not be cultivated at first and were collected for a long period of time. Read more

Nicolaus Copernicus What happened next was a revolution that rocked the Church and turned our view of the universe on its head – a scientific revolution that hinged on the work of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543). Read more

When you make larger amounts of biodiesel you will inevitably end up with quite a large store of glycerine. Read more

This time of year is usually holiday time for me, so, when it comes to nature in October, my trips away from Shropshire and my garden have to involve a large element of looking at wildlife and hopefully walking in beautiful countryside. Read more

Living in a cool and slightly windswept location in the South Shropshire Hills means that the arrival of migrant birds or the appearance of the first spring butterflies occurs a little later here than it does in counties further south and east. These wildlife events are very weather dependent too, so we are now used… Continue reading Nature in May – what to look out for Read more

Lime slurry can be applied to a wall to present a uniform surface to further coats of lime wash. Read more

John Locke The 17th century saw the beginnings of one of the most important epistemological debates in the history of philosophy, that ran well into the 18th – between empiricists and rationalists. Read more

As someone who used to work in university research, it is deeply ingrained in my nature to observe and record what I see, and also, when necessary, to count things (I once spent six years counting weed seedlings). All for the greater good of course as this meticulous sort of research is the basis for… Continue reading Nature in August – what to look out for Read more

Ways to reduce outgoings (and be healthier and happier). Please send us more ideas. Read more

This article, originally published by Musgrove Willows describes how to make a woven hurdle from willow. Read more

Mushrooms can be preserved in several ways, but some species are better preserved in certain ways rather than others. What follows is a brief guide. Read more

You’ve now got Linux installed on your hard drive and hopefully, it’s working well. It shouldn’t take much getting used to – if you know how to navigate around Windows, then Linux Mint is a doddle. Read more

Thales of Miletus The way that we think nowadays didn’t just fall from the sky – it’s not ‘common sense’ and it hasn’t always been the same. We’re not born with a worldview – it’s something that we develop from what’s gone before. Read more

As we move through April towards May, woodlands and waysides start to burst with late spring flowers. One of the most notable of these is the Bluebell which is opening its glorious blue nodding bells this month. We are famed the world over for our bluebell woods and a swathe of azure blue beneath hazel coppice or… Continue reading Nature in April – what to look out for Read more

By April spring should be well and truly underway, the soil warming up nicely and everything growing away. Don’t be complacent though, it’s been known for a cold snap with snow to strike even in the sunny south of England. Read more

Thomas Aquinas Last week we saw how Augustine reconciled Plato with Christianity; but Aristotle, with his logic and his empiricism, was difficult to reconcile with a book that already claimed to have all the answers, and so that didn’t happen until 900 years later. Read more

Commercially-available mushroom spawn: Read more

The ponds in the garden have been rather disappointing so far this year in terms of the numbers of dragonflies we have seen. There have been very few individuals of only a small handful of the larger species – nothing like the usual numbers that we see at this time of year. Read more

St. Augustine Augustine (354-430) was a bridge between the classical world and the medieval, Christian world. He reconciled Christianity with Plato, and his immaterial world of forms – a much easier task than reconciling Aristotle, with his scientific outlook and emphasis on reason. Read more

Already there are birds around the garden preparing for nesting. Blue Tits in particular have been checking out a couple of nest boxes that I can see from the house, one of which is right outside a bedroom window. Read more

Lime concrete, or limecrete, has been used since Roman times for massive structures such as bridges, docks, and even the dome of the pantheon in Rome. Read more

Preparation of the kiln site The ideal site on which to put a charcoal kiln has free draining sandy loam. Because of the high risk of fire never burn on peat – never! Read more

December always naturally makes me think of Christmas, and Christmas makes me think of robins, and this colourful little bird seems to feature on almost every Christmas card I receive and no wonder – it is a bird we very much notice, and associate with, nature in December. Read more

Sourcing your wood for smoking – Can be a very simple task, especially if you want to buy it online. If you’d rather enjoy a more DIY approach you can harvest wood after fresh autumn or spring winds. Read more

First, read our introduction to clay plasters. Now here are some common questions you might need answering before considering clay plasters. Read more

July is usually one of the hottest and driest months so a lot of time may be spent watering. You can reduce water loss and so save yourself some time. Mulching with a layer of organic matter will help preserve moisture but may encourage slugs so you will need to take action against them. Read more

Make sure your stove or flue isn’t next to combustible materials. If the stove backs on to a wooden wall, fit a heat shield to protect it. Read more

Here are 40 ways that the corporate sector influences government and receives huge benefits in return, disadvantaging communities, individuals and small businesses. Giant corporations would not benefit from ‘economies of scale’ without government support. Read more

Socrates After the natural philosophers, the main focus of philosophy was changed by Socrates – probably the most famous philosopher of them all. His position was that you begin to become a philosopher when you admit that you know nothing. Read more

Thanks to Sigi Koko of Build Naturally. I do a 2-layer adobe floor, mostly because this allows me to pour the thick base layer before the exterior walls are completely closed in.  That extra air-flow speeds up drying time (and eliminates a highly humid interior later in construction). Read more

In this section we will go through the process of making biodiesel using a simple one-stage base-catalysed transesterification. Read more

So at the moment, your hard drive is all Windows, and you’ve practised running Linux from a datastick. But it runs slowly, because datasticks aren’t designed for swift data transfer – it’s like being on a little B-road compared to a motorway for data. Read more

How will you use it – do you want it to heat just one room, will you try and move heat around the house from that one room, or do you want it to heat the whole house, provide hot water – everything? Read more

Linux is different from the programmes that you use to produce documents, spreadsheets, presentations, manipulate images, watch videos etc. Linux is an operating system – equivalent to Windows, rather than the programmes you run on it. So when you switch on your computer, you get a Linux system rather than Windows. Read more

In this video Alan King demonstrates how to make a hazel hurdle, including how to split the hazel rods. Read more

When it comes to nature in September, this month is a melancholy time of year for anyone who loves swallows. Through the summer I enjoy seeing them and the local house martins, swooping and diving around my house and garden, drinking from the pond or sitting on our electricity wires, twittering and preening. Read more

Including polishing and texturing. Read more

Thinking about dipping your toes into the world of wild swimming but don’t know how to start?  We often get asked about how you can get into wild swimming if you are new to it.  So, we have put together this handy little guide with all the points you should consider when taking the plunge… Continue reading Beginners’ guide to wild swimming Read more

Soil testing is a very useful way of seeing how your soil improvement techniques are working, what is working well and what isn’t. Read more

We recommend biomass rather than fossil fuels, because it’s more-or-less carbon-neutral Read more

Choose a stove Read more

Read our introduction to wood stoves, their benefits, and what you can do. Maybe talk to other stove owners, (and see our resources – read books, attend courses) – get as much basic information as you can. Read more

There are various types of substrates which are used in mushroom growing, including: Read more

Flaming June should bring us a hot sunshine-filled month with the risk of frost passed and those in more northerly parts should be able to catch up with those in the south. We’re also moving towards the longest day, June 21st being the summer solstice so there is plenty of daylight to let you get… Continue reading Fruit & veg growing guide for June Read more

René Descartes Philosophy is for doing, not for studying – I know, sorry. But the way that we think nowadays didn’t just fall from the sky – it’s not ‘common sense’ and it hasn’t always been the same. We’re not born with a worldview – it’s something that we develop from what’s gone before. Read more

The ‘basic method’ is the single-stage base-catalysed transesterification method. There are a number of variations on this method which may yield better fuel quality with certain feedstocks. Read more

Recommended mushroom species for cultivation. Read more

Including cleaning, protecting, painting and repairing. Read more

This article is based on our experiences of the planning system at Bulworthy Project and the experiences of our friends. Neither of us had any interaction with the planning system before setting up Bulworthy Project. As part of setting up the project, we have applied twice Read more

Around now I begin to see Speckled Wood and Wall Brown butterflies feeding in the borders or on the buttercups in the cut grass, and by the third week of June, Meadow Browns in the wildflower meadow, with Ringlets joining them in early July. Read more

A great project to try with kids, natural builder Sigi Koko shares her best recipes for how to make two different natural paints with eggs. Read more

Thanks to Sigi Koko of Build Naturally. There are a few approaches you can take for this layer.  What I do is float this layer smoooooth and then polish it as it hardens. Read more

In order to look in more detail at the issues involved in practical biodiesel production we will take the example of a small-scale batch system making 100-litre batches. Read more

One part lime putty, c. two parts water or until the consistency of full cream milk is achieved. Mix in a small tub or a bucket with a whisk. You can sieve for a particularly fine finish. Read more

This section covers the bodies you need to satisfy in the UK. Sorry, we have no information about circumstances in other countries, but probably the best place to start is your local authority. Read more

A mushroom develops in two stages: a vegetative phase when it grows and decomposes organic matter, and a fruiting phase, when mushrooms (fruiting bodies) are produced. Read more

Now that you’ve switched to free / open source programmes and downloaded the Linux operating system onto a datastick, you can launch Linux from the datastick to familiarise yourself with it, but when you take the datastick out, it’s back to Windows. Read more

September is the end of summer although we’re often lucky to have an Indian summer with blue skies and sunshine, nothing is certain with the weather. The bulk of the harvest comes home now and as crops come out the plot begins to empty. Read more

The following information is the understanding of a lay person interested in mushroom collection, rather than a legal professional. Read more

99% of problems with wood stoves are caused by the wood used, or by the chimney. Read more

Generally one of the busiest months on the vegetable plot, here John Harrison shares his fruit and vegetable growing guide for May. The soil is warm and the plants growing well. But watch out for a sneaky late frost. Keep an eye on the weather forecast and be prepared for frantic last minute wrapping of… Continue reading Fruit & veg growing guide for May Read more

Never eat a mushroom unless it is positively identified as edible. Use a good field guide, but don’t rely absolutely on pictures in books – differences between fungi can be difficult to spot. Read more

Thinking about changing to open source software can be scary for non-technical people (i.e. almost everybody). We’d like to persuade you that it’s really quite simple to start, and you’ll gain confidence as you use it more. If you can use the proprietary software, you’ll be able to use open source / free software too. Read more

Some mushrooms can be cultivated from commercially available spawn either as dowels, grain inoculated spawn or as truffle trees. Read more

Here’s a code of conduct for wild mushroom collecting: Read more

Read our introduction to compost toilets, their benefits, and what you can do. Maybe talk to other compost loo owners, read our book or take our online course first to make sure a compost toilet is for you. Read more