The Ultimate Christmas Tree Decoration Guide - Fantastic Gardeners

International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) is now in its 17th competition year and continues to be one of the world’s most respected photography competitions and touring exhibition; especially in the garden and plant photography genres. 

A lot of new gardening and plant books have landed on my mat this spring, and I need to up my book reviewing game! I like to do them justice, and spend some time reading them before I write a review, so that does create a bit of a backlog. Right at the time when the garden is demanding my attention. Anyway, the book that has found itself at the top of the list is one that really encompasses the gardening zeitgeist – The Community Gardening Handbook, by Ben Raskin. I looked him up, and he has impeccable credentials. He’s currently Head of Horticulture for the Soil Association; prior experiences include working for Garden Organic, running a walled garden and being a Horticultural Advisor for the Community Farm near Bristol.

From the moment humans started to reach for the skies, we have used other species from Earth to test what’s safe and what happens to life away from its natural habitat on the planet’s surface. 

Header image: TheOldBarnDoor/Shutterstock.com

The Wartime Kitchen and Garden, starring Ruth Mott and Harry Dodson, was broadcast in 1993. Although you can still find copies of the book that accompanied the series, you can’t buy the episodes on DVD (or even video!), even though it is possible to buy the sister shows The Victorian Kitchen and The Victorian Kitchen Garden.

During the Second World War, the British Isles were subjected to a Nazi naval blockade, the aim of which was to disrupt food imports and starve the British people into submission. Shipping, whatever it was carrying, had to get past the German U-boats before it could safely deliver its cargo. Of course, the Allies were also trying to prevent ships from reaching Germany – this was the Battle of the Atlantic. By the end of the war, more than 2,400 British merchant ships had been sunk, with the loss of over 30,000 men.

On 10th June, thousands of scientists worldwide went on strike, putting their research activities on hold for a day to reflect and take action on systemic inequalities in science. #ShutDownStem was part of the wider Black Lives Matter protests, forcing us to take a long, hard look at how systemic racism affects people of colour.

I am making transcripts for The Wartime Kitchen and Garden, a fascinating series starring Ruth Mott and Peter Dodson, with a voiceover by Peter Thoday. This is episode six (of eight). [You’ll find the other transcripts, and other relevant posts, under the Home Front tag.]

What kind of traveller are you? Do you prefer to lie in a hammock slung between two palm trees, reading the latest blockbuster novel? Or would I find you soaking up the local culture along with the sun? I’m more of the latter, and it helps to know a smattering of the local language if you go off the beaten track!

On Saturday, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer shared a taste of home with the rest of the crew of the International Space Station (ISS). Maurer is from Saarland, a forested, southwestern German state. Saarland is named after the Saar River, a tributary of the Moselle, and Saarland is considered part of the greater Moselle wine region.

On 31 January 1971, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa launched on their Apollo 14 mission to the Moon. While Shepard and Mitchell walked on the Moon, Roosa stayed in orbit, taking photographs and performing experiments. Tucked away in his personal belongings were 500 tree seeds, which orbited the Moon 34 times.

Continuing my research into which of NASA’s African American astronauts are space gardeners, I turned my attention to the second name on the (alphabetical) list: Guion Stewart Bluford Jr.