Human beings have one of the largest geographical ranges of any animals on Earth. Even before the age of modern technologies, there were people living in almost every corner of the planet, except Antarctica – from the Arctic circle to the southern tip of South America. Our ability to thrive in a wide range of… Continue reading Firewood
Author: Gareth Lewis
Living Without Money – is it possible?
Since writing ‘An Introduction to Twenty-First Century Hoe Farming – an antidote to globalisation’, several readers have asked us if we manage to live without money, or, alternatively, how much money we spend per month or per year. At first, I was a little surprised by the question, as I had made no claims to… Continue reading Living Without Money – is it possible?
Biodiversity
Over recent years, it has become fashionable to say that almost every new development, whether it be a new farming initiative, an urban redevelopment, or a new technology, is good for biodiversity in one way or another, but one rarely hears anyone restating the basic fact that biodiversity is all about sharing. Commercial FarmingCommercial farming… Continue reading Biodiversity
Cider
Alcoholic Drinks in the CountrysideIn Brittany, October is traditionally the month in which people started working on their annual cider production. Alcohol has become quite a sensitive issue in today’s world, but, in the past, brewing one sort of alcoholic beverage or another was considered to be a normal part of country life: wine in… Continue reading Cider
Watering
The subject of watering highlights many of the issues facing anyone who wants to grow their own food in today’s world. Where to Get Gardening AdviceThe first point is that the degree that you really need to water your garden will be highly specific to your particular location. Some soils dry out a lot faster… Continue reading Watering
Cereals
This month, I expect my time to be taken up with cereals – planting rye, perhaps preparing the ground for the winter wheat, and probably harvesting the buckwheat (which is not strictly speaking a cereal, but plays a similar role in the diet). I know that we are in a small minority even amongst keen… Continue reading Cereals
Cutting Grass
How much grass can you remove from a field before you start to reduce its fertility?This seems like a simple question, but the answer depends on what one means by fertility, and what sort of vegetation you want to see in your grass fields. Cutting Once Per YearAbout twelve years ago, we acquired a one-hectare… Continue reading Cutting Grass
What sort of Hoe should I get?
When we moved to France thirty years ago, I brought with me my old English gardening tools. It was quite a comprehensive collection, and included several versions of the sort of hoe that you use for weeding in the vegetable garden – a sharp blade of some sort on the end of a wooden handle.… Continue reading What sort of Hoe should I get?
Slugs
One of the most common questions that we are asked, is what do we do about slugs? There is no simple answer. Last year we had a more serious slug problem in our rye field than ever before. Plants sown in October germinated and started to grow well, but were then slowly devoured by slugs… Continue reading Slugs
The Vegetable Garden
Subsistence gardening is not just about growing food – it involves getting a whole range of products from the land, including fuel, building materials, and fibre for making cloth – but growing food is the obvious starting point, and, particularly if space is limited, the vegetable garden the obvious starting point for growing food.Vegetables are… Continue reading The Vegetable Garden