Late-March. It’s cold, and I'm craving spring. Spring colours too; sunshine yellow, baby pink and pastel blue. If Imbolc at the start of last month was the 'first showing', the difference to day length and the rise of the sun is now undeniable. This is the point where the year, after slumbering through the dark …
March
Each of the threshold months, those that fall on the cusp of seasonal shifts, can be tempestuous, but I think March is the most mercurial of them all; rarely kind, often barbed, but underneath is a tide of growth and burgeoning life that is gathering pace. Across the country, signs of spring start appearing earliest …
The Great British Teasel
This morning the weather was spring-mild, warmed by the yellowest of sunshine so precious of this time of year. I have been out in the garden, pottering around with my secateurs and trowel, happily loosing track of time. As the weather warms invertebrate life becomes active, and I can safely start to gather, cut back …
Love in a box
Theres no place like home. We've all discovered the truth in that saying in the past year! One of the silver linings of us all spending much more time at home was the opportunity to feather our nests - perhaps a deep clean behind the fridge (eeww...), maybe we splashed out on some new soft …
February
"The appearance of the snowdrop is a classic sign that winter is, if not exactly over, at least on the wane, and spring may be around the corner. If we search every nook of our gardens, parks, woods and churchyards, we'll find that tell-tale sign of the of the first green shoots that come before …
Notes from a few days in Exmoor (October)
Well, with lockdown restrictions continuing in various forms across the country, I thought a bit of escapism was needed in lieu of any holidaying for the time being. So here are a few notes and impressions from my notebook, from our last holiday (actually our honeymoon) back in October... Allerford, Somerset. Watching the day dawn …
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The Tale of Mr. Tod
January is the month of the fox. As we head back to work in the new year, despite the passing of the winter solstice last month days are still short we often find ourselves commuting in the dark. A flash of movement in the headlights, a brief encounter on the evening dog-walk or trip to …
January
"A summerish January; a winterish spring." New year, new resolutions, new goals, new starts - so much newness that we race into. January shouldn't be about new things really, not yet. We are still deep in mid-winter and waiting for the light which we know has been growing since middle of last month, to show itself. January …
Allotment Diaries – Looking ahead to a new year
January can be a quiet month on the plot. There is little to harvest. When the frost comes, the ground can be hard as iron. This is time for tackling those jobs that we don't find time for the rest of the year; organisation, clear out the shed, building structures, cleaning tools. January sales came …
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Feeding Garden Birds – from your kitchen to their tables…
The festive season and feasting go hand in hand. Christmas is notorious for triggering over-eating and over-buying. Come January, our winter-vitamin-deficient bodies are craving green, fresh foods - and anyway, more than half of us are on some kind of self-imposed diet! It is estimated that every Christmas, around 270,000 tons of food is wasted …
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Sussex Field Notes 