Create a Special Place for You and Your Wildlife Visitors to Enjoy
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See through smokescreen
Wakefield Express … would get no support from anywhere and would not happen as it is just going to be another nail in the coffin for any nature and wildlife in Wakefield. … |
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See through smokescreen – Wakefield Express
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Park swan is shot dead
Manchester Evening News Wildlife enthusiasts found the badly-bleeding bird and took it to Stapeley Grange Wildlife Hospital, near Nantwich, Cheshire. … |
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Park swan is shot dead – Manchester Evening News
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Rare spider glides into Wales – for the fishing
WalesOnline But now a population of them has been found on the Tennant Canal at Pant-y-Sais Fen, near Jersey Marine, Neath – allowing producers of a new wildlife … |
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Rare spider glides into Wales – for the fishing – WalesOnline
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Photo competition won at a snail's pace
MK News Daniel Megherlich from Medbourne was the the overall winner as well as adult winner in the wildlife category. Speaking at last nights presentation David … |
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Photo competition won at a snail’s pace – MK News
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Events – February 4 onwards
ChesterChronicle.co.uk HARTFORD: Bird box making – make homes for the birds in your garden in the car park next to Cloughwood School in Stones Manor Lane from 1.30-3.30pm. … |
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Events – February 4 onwards – ChesterChronicle.co.uk
 Grough |
Ramblers at risk claim rejected by councillor
Press and Journal Mr Rhind said the wildlife compound occupied just 500 acres of the 23000-acre estate. “That gives people over 20000 acres to roam about,â€� he said. … Councillors give elk and wild boar right to roam on estate |
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Ramblers at risk claim rejected by councillor – Press and Journal
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'X Factor' bid to strip Ben Nevis of banana skins
Scotsman THE blight of banana skins on Ben Nevis is set to be tackled by a leading wildlife charity if they can win an X Factor-style contest to land £25000 in … |
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‘X Factor’ bid to strip Ben Nevis of banana skins – Scotsman
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Diary February 4-10
North Norfolk News Holt Lowes: Wildlife conservation, volunteers needed to help manage encroaching scrub, lunchtime walk included, 10am, 01362 694071. SHERINGHAM. … |
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Diary February 4-10 – North Norfolk News
 BBC News |
Northern Ireland opinion divided on animal snaring
BBC News The issue of snares will be considered again when the Assembly deals with a new wildlife order. Tighter controls and perhaps a licensing system look … |
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Northern Ireland opinion divided on animal snaring – BBC News
 Thame |
New green belt survey published -
Thame It is a vital environmental resource than can help with the production of locally grown food, support wildlife and provide breathing places for city … Green belt land ''can play a part'' in food production |
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New green belt survey published – – Thame
When thinking of learning how to vegetable garden, thoughts firstly turn to those vegetables that are sown in spring and eaten through the summer and in to autumn.
However, there are vegetable varieties that the vegetable gardener can grow for winter consumption as suggested by Sarah Raven in her column in The Telegraph.
Chicory and kale are the kings of the winter veg patch
More of us should grow chicory. It looks wonderful in the winter veg garden and makes some of the best home-grown meals. It’s good raw in a mixed-leaf salad and even better cooked when the leaves lose their bitterness.
Following close behind in edible plant, winter glamour has to be the kales. The upright crinkled slate-coloured leaves of cavolo nero look their best at this time of year. Even if your plants were devastated by cabbage white caterpillars in the summer, they will recover and look fresh and beautiful right through the winter.
Add ‘Red Bor’ kale, always the biggest presence in my veg garden, and you’ll come to love the kale family for life and they supply another whole series of delicious winter meals.
clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk
When I saw the headline in The Seattle Times Newspaper “10 Steps to a 30 minute garden” my first thought was “Oh no, not yet another of those quick garden makeover fixes”. There have been so many of those television programmes where gardening gurus have been called in to do a makeover in anywhere from half a day to two days for people who do not have any idea or real desire to create a garden. So often the result is good, perhaps a bit fanciful, but within a year has been allowed to deteriorate.
My other gripe has always been that these type of gardening programmes can send out the wrong message to new home owners. Create a garden over the weekend just like you would decorate a room in your house. The trouble is those who have not gardened before may get the idea that you only have to freshen up the garden as often as you would your house decor.
When I read the article I realised that I was misinterpreting the headline. To quote; “The popularity of gardening has even taken a hit, as we find more and more competition for what would have been time spent in the garden. But whatever the reason, if 30 minutes is all you have to spend each week, here’s my list for 10 ways to minimize your time while creating a beautiful, lower-maintenance yard and garden.”
The article gives sensible gardening tips for those who want a tidy looking garden but find their time pulled in all directions.
The message for any new home owner or budding gardener is that a garden takes time to create or to get to your liking. In fact any experienced gardener will tell you that a garden is never finished. You can always see things to improve, unfortunately plants and shrubs die for a variety of reasons and this can create the opportunity for a change of theme or improved theme.
It is sad to read today that the memorial to one of the most famous gardeners of modern times has been vandalised by mindless idiots. Unfortunately, as we are all too aware, it is not just the well known and famous personalities that are targets of this type of mindless behaviour but when it does involve a name like Percy Thrower it highlights the problem.
Percy Thrower was an inspiration to millions of gardeners who watched his television programmes and read his books. My first gardening book was by Percy and it is still in my collection and, even though my collection of authors has grown over the years, it is still regularly thumbed and a key part of my introduction to gardening.
Many television gardeners have come and gone since Percy Thrower retired from our screens and hundreds, probably thousands, of books have been written on various aspects of gardening. New ideas and new techniques quite rightly come along but many of those new ideas are based on good gardening basics. Those good gardening basics are what Percy taught.
Let us hope that the culprits are caught. It would be nice to think that they have a conscience and will feel remorse but that is probably too much to hope for.
Learn From the Past and Learn How to Vegetable Garden
By Rodger Cresswell
There was a time when most young boys learned how to vegetable garden. It is perhaps more appropriate to say learned than taught as the learning process was a practical one. There was a great need to grow your own vegetables so that the family had food on the table.
The history books teach us that it was essential to grow as much of our own food as possible during the World Wars. Dig for Victory conjures up pictures of lawns and ornamental borders being grubbed up, dug over and planted up to provide the much needed nutrition for the family.
Instruction leaflets were produced to teach many people skills that they had not had to call upon when vegetables were readily available and affordable in the shops. And as we know, this was a task that had also to be undertaken by women as many of the young men were away fighting.
Returning to the period before the war, a picture is literally painted of cottage dwellers spending their leisure time cultivating their vegetable gardens and harvesting wonderful healthy and nutritional crops. This is so far from the truth and some of the blame can be put at the door of the commercial artists whose canvases show contented wives and children watching as the man of the house working in bright sunshine maintaining the vegetable plot. Apart from the cottages being draughty, cold, damp and overcrowded the man of the house had very little leisure time. They worked very long hours from dawn to dusk so how did they manage to dig over their vegetable gardens and cultivate their crops? The answer is that they had to work in the time they had available which would be late into the evening using the Parish Lantern to see what they were doing. What is the Parish Lantern? Moonlight.
There is a growing interest in vegetable growing and some of our reasons for wanting to do so are the same as those cottage gardeners. For example, one reason is the desire to save money when prices of fresh vegetables have risen in the greengrocers and supermarkets. But we are also aware of the number of miles clocked up to get the produce to our table. The carbon footprint is not the only issue; we like to know that a concoction of chemicals has not been used in the production of that food.
If you want to help yourself and your planet try growing your own vegetables. You can start in a small way and expand as you become more confident. Unlike those gardeners of the past you may not have had the chance to learn vegetable gardening but there is not a better time to learn how to vegetable garden.
Rodger Cresswell is interested in all things about gardens and gardening. Flowers, vegetables and greenhouse growing and also tries to encourage as much wildlife into the garden as possible.
How to Vegetable Garden – Hints, tips and instruction about vegetable growing.
My Garden is My Space – Hints, tips and how to’s about gardening generally.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rodger_Cresswell
http://EzineArticles.com/?Learn-From-the-Past-and-Learn-How-to-Vegetable-Garden&id=2792681
Fresh Vegetables when you learn how to vegetable garden
Learning how to vegetable garden can be so rewarding. Why not make a start? Begin in a small way and build your confidence as you produce fresh vegetables for the table.
Home gardening can involve a number of different gardening techniques, ranging from simple indoor gardening, to hydroponics gardening, to anything else that you can envision. For many folks however, home gardening means the ability to grow your own fresh produce, the ability to determine what chemicals enter your domain, and most importantly just how fresh your food will be when you bring it to the table.
Flower Gardening
It’s undeniable really just how flavorful a newly picked tomato tastes, or peas right out of the pod. And the delightful smell you get from just a handful of freshly gathered berries, or fresh cut rosemary. This is what the home gardener lives to do.
But is there more that home gardening can accomplish? Could there be more to it than the cultivating of vegetables and fruits? I was thinking exactly that at one time when I discovered the concept of home gardening. There is more to home gardening than initially meets the eye, however.
Home Gardening Tips
Not withstanding fruits and vegetables, you have your flowering plants, your leafy plants, and even your shade giving trees. These must all be arranged within the design of your garden in a manner that you achieve the maximum benefit. After thate, if you liked you could also construct an irrigation system worthy of a larger garden, or you could keep it simple and just spray the hose when need to.
Bugs are an ever growing annoyance, excuse me for the pun, and must be monitored vigilantly. And especially in a vegetable or fruit garden, you will have to be extra careful of such cute, and cuddly creatures as hares, and other burrowing animals. Rodents are constantly a headache, and must be dealt with fast so as not convey any disease.
Dirt must be fresh and aerated so as not to become compacted, thus hindering root growth. Worms and other like insects must be brought into the overall scheme of your home gardening process.
Vegetable Gardening
Water drainage, soil erosion, landscape maintenance, tools and equipment, the many glasses of water you will be drinking in your quest to perfect your home gardening plan. The list is nigh on endless, and I could go on for a long time, just suffice it to say that home gardening is not as basic as it may seem.
Finally, you will need to make it a place that you feel at ease in, and that your guests can feel welcome in. A place that makes you want to investigate all of angles to see, exactly what it is you’ve done with the place. And that is what home gardening should be all about.
An Easy to Understand System That Teaches You Everything You Need to Know About Organic Gardening What Organic Gardening is and how to get started!  Soon you will
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