Sunday, November 5, 2023

NATURAL REACTION

This has been a strange spring and early summer in all ways. Not only have people’s habits been drastically changed by the lockdown, but we have had peculiar weather. It was the sunniest May ever – my solar panels made lots of electricity! It was unusually warm and here in particular extremely dry. All the muddy patches went and were replaced by dry ground.
wild garden

What can I do for biodiversity?

Mary Green provides 10 ways to ‘think global, act local’. Last month I wrote about some of the things we could collectively do locally to...
meadow

Flowers for the future

Mary Green explains why wildflower meadows are so important. There was a wrong caption on one of my photos last month – I hope you...
snail

Caterpillars and snails

Mary Green reminds us of the important role played by ‘pests’. Following last month’s article about hedges (and the lovely reader’s letter that echoed it),...
plants

Earth and water

Mary Green explains why ‘the answer lies in the soil’. Some of my neighbours are lamenting the sudden lack of goldfinches in our gardens where...
yew

Dark month, dark trees

Mary Green continues her series on trees in the Celtic calendar. We have a wildlife star in Alvechurch now – an albino (white) grey squirrel!...
garlic

Food for thought

Mary Green looks at the way our diets have changed over the years. I am writing this as a mild winter comes towards its end, hoping...
tree

Under the spreading chestnut tree

Mary Green identifies ‘useful’ trees to look out for in May. May is a lovely time to visit woodland, before the trees close out the...
burnet rose

The name of the rose

Mary Green explores why we call our flowers by so many names. I was unhappy to see that the railway people have mowed down all the...
hedge

Here’s a health to the bird in the bush

Mary Green praises ‘good’ hedges and the birds that use them. The title this month comes from an old folk song. I can’t find any...