April 16th, 2007
Posted in Uncategorized by Elisa | No Comments »
If you’re sick of flushing all those valuable nutrients down the loo and want to reclaim them as your own, then you could spend a lot of money on a composting toilet by one of the increasing specialist companies, or you could follow the likes of Dick Strawbridge and make your own.
Low Luckens Organic Resource Centre are hosting a six day residential course, starting on 28th May. It will provide you with the history of composting your waste, plus some ‘hands on’ experience of building your own composting toilet. The course (including accommodation) is totally free and all you have to pay for is your organic food, which will cost £50.
Related: Sitting Pretty: the international green bathroom hunt | Green Building Company’s one stop shop for water saving
April 13th, 2007
Posted in Uncategorized by Camilla_chafer | No Comments »
Terraces and rood gardens are a growing trend especially if you’re living in a city like London where space is limited. Apparently if all the flat roofs in London were joined up, the space gained would be 24 times the size of Richmond Park! The good news is you don’t have to live in a swish mansion flat to get a green roof either as it may be possibly to grow a lawn even on your pitched roof.
Property sales and rental site Findaproperty.com have a good beginner’s guide to green roofs to get you started. Dealing with basic questions such as ‘why have one?’ and ‘what is a green roof?’ you’ll soon find which roofs are suitable for planting, how it improves the green footprint of your home, what you can plant up there and how much it’ll cost.
Related: Give your home a green makeover with Ecover I More home and garden I Plants and gardens
April 13th, 2007
Posted in Uncategorized by Elisa | No Comments »
I have a confession…I’m an amateur twitcher! I never leave home without my binoculars, and my garden is fast turning into a wild bird sanctuary.
I’ve experimented with lots of different bird foods, but have come to the conclusion that my birds definitely prefer Bill Oddie’s Bird Food Recipes range. They go crazy for the Garden Friendly Combo, a delicious mix of sunflower hearts, peanut granules, oatmeal, maize and maize oil..yum! As you would expect, Bill has created a large range of quality foods and feeders which are specifically designed to attract different types of birds, depending on the recipe. The quality of the feed is reflected in the price, with the smallest (1kg) bag costing about £3.25. I find the bigger the bag, the better the value, and Bill’s ‘Big Bag’s’ are £12.95 for 13kg. Proceeds from certain varieties goes to the Woodland Trust.
Available in garden centres or online at Haith’s
Related: Popoutz recycled plastic bird feeders in glam colours | Nest Box Challenge – who’s sleeping in your garden?
April 12th, 2007
Posted in Uncategorized by Louise Penman | No Comments »
Beekeeping has a reputation as a rural pastime, something you can only do if you have fields and woodland to play with. In fact, according to North London Beekeepers, urban bees can make more honey than their rural counterparts, thanks to the large variety of plants available in towns and cities – a London beekeeper can expect to collect an average honey crop of 70 plus lbs of honey, compared with about 30 lbs per hive in the country.
While the professionals do stress that you shouldn’t just rush into beekeeping it is an increasingly popular pastime, and there is plenty of help out there for those of you who are tempted by the thought of making your own honey.
If you’re interested in finding out more, the best bet is to contact your local branch of the British Beekeeper’s Association, who can offer advice and often run courses. There are still spaces available on the London Beekeeper’s Association ‘Taste of Beekeeping course in June
The BBKA also recommend Ted Hooper’s book ’Guide to Bees and Honey’ as a good starting point for learning about bees at home.
Related: Pollinating Bee Log from Natural Collection | News: Decline in haymaking bad news for the bumble bee
April 12th, 2007
Posted in Uncategorized by Louise Penman | No Comments »
Beekeeping has a reputation as a rural pastime, something you can only do if you have fields and woodland to play with. In fact, according to North London Beekeepers, urban bees can make more honey than their rural counterparts, thanks to the large variety of plants available in towns and cities – a London beekeeper can expect to collect an average honey crop of 70 plus lbs of honey, compared with about 30 lbs per hive in the country.
While the professionals do stress that you shouldn’t just rush into beekeeping it is an increasingly popular pastime, and there is plenty of help out there for those of you who are tempted by the thought of making your own honey.
If you’re interested in finding out more, the best bet is to contact your local branch of the British Beekeeper’s Association, who can offer advice and often run courses. There are still spaces available on the London Beekeeper’s Association ‘Taste of Beekeeping course in June
The BBKA also recommend Ted Hooper’s book ’Guide to Bees and Honey’ as a good starting point for learning about bees at home.
Related: Pollinating Bee Log from Natural Collection | News: Decline in haymaking bad news for the bumble bee
April 12th, 2007
Posted in Uncategorized by Camilla_chafer | No Comments »
We’ve mentioned the Organic Gardening catalogue before as it’s stuffed full of organic seeds, veg, plants and garden care items. If you’re lucky enough to have a large garden and fancy turning your hand to some organic fruit growing, check out the fruit section where you can pick up one year old apple trees from £16.75 each, pear and quince, plums and damsons as well as small soft fruit bushes like strawberry, blackcurrant, white currant, raspbery and gooseberry.
Whilst many of these trees and plants are now out of stock until late Autumn, now is the ideal time to start planning your winter garden planting for future harvests and read up on creating your own produce the organic way.
Related: Smart Soil composting I Solar garden sculptures from Micromark I More home and garden
April 12th, 2007
Posted in Uncategorized by Camilla_chafer | No Comments »
We’ve mentioned the Organic Gardening catalogue before as it’s stuffed full of organic seeds, veg, plants and garden care items. If you’re lucky enough to have a large garden and fancy turning your hand to some organic fruit growing, check out the fruit section where you can pick up one year old apple trees from £16.75 each, pear and quince, plums and damsons as well as small soft fruit bushes like strawberry, blackcurrant, white currant, raspbery and gooseberry.
Whilst many of these trees and plants are now out of stock until late Autumn, now is the ideal time to start planning your winter garden planting for future harvests and read up on creating your own produce the organic way.
Related: Smart Soil composting I Solar garden sculptures from Micromark I More home and garden
April 6th, 2007
Posted in Uncategorized by Elisa | No Comments »
Having recently swapped my city centre flat for a house in the country, I am now faced with the search for the perfect garden furniture. I want something eco friendly, which is also stylish and unique.
So how excited was I when I found this chair by Reel Furniture? It’s made using a reclaimed cable reel, which is already seasoned and waterproofed, so no nasty chemical lacquers are required. The wood is gnarly and knotted, which gives each seat it’s own individual character. Perfect for lounging around outside in style.
At £435 it may not be the cheapest garden chair you’ll find, but what price great design?
Related: Reviewed: Reel’s recycled bookcase | Crocus sustainable relaxer chair
April 6th, 2007
Posted in Uncategorized by Elisa | No Comments »
Having recently swapped my city centre flat for a house in the country, I am now faced with the search for the perfect garden furniture. I want something eco friendly, which is also stylish and unique.
So how excited was I when I found this chair by Reel Furniture? It’s made using a reclaimed cable reel, which is already seasoned and waterproofed, so no nasty chemical lacquers are required. The wood is gnarly and knotted, which gives each seat it’s own individual character. Perfect for lounging around outside in style.
At £435 it may not be the cheapest garden chair you’ll find, but what price great design?
Related: Reviewed: Reel’s recycled bookcase | Crocus sustainable relaxer chair
April 5th, 2007
Posted in Uncategorized by Louise Penman | No Comments »
Since we read that people in the UK throw away one-third of the food we buy, everyone in my house has been trying to cut down on our food waste. We already feed scraps to pets, but it looks like to really cut down on our waste we’ll need to start composting.
In my search for a suitable composter today I discovered Smart Soil, whose sealed, rotating compost bin allows you to add meat and fish scraps along with the usual vegetable matter from your kitchen and turn it into usable compost in around eight weeks.
Personally, I’m taken with their Sun Frost Scrap Eater (pictured), as it allows you to grow plants off the compost you’re making in the middle – and it looks much nicer too. Now all I have to do is convince my housemates to help me pay for it…
Related posts: Making recycling sexy | World’s cutest composter?
