Joy as an act of rebellion

Every single day we are confronted with catastrophic headlines. But what will your response be to the Nature & Climate Emergency? Strange though it may be sound, I feel a peculiar, bright and tactile hope. Not your hope of make believe and fairy tale but the hope of a dawning reality, that there are alternatives to the accepted ways of living that brought us to this dark place.

This is part of my gardening practise, where I seek to reconnect with the entire garden and all its inhabitants, in a practical, compassionate way, providing food and habitat for all, not just the humans. This means using native plants where possible to provide a food source for inverterbrates. This means creating habitat in the form of dead hedges, gabions, windbreaks, ponds, trees, ground cover plants, nest boxes etc.

And this is a practise as well; you never finish gardening. And to be a practise, it needs to be joyful.

So, if you enjoy gardening, consider growing edible crops and creating wildlife habitat, together. And consider joining a local resilience group and engaging in some climate activism, together.

Forest garden photos

Inspirational quote

Quick links

• Birds on your Doorstep - key information about the changing fortunes of birds in your area, based on data collected by BTO and partner organisations.

• Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists - sobering overview of threats to humanity, including Climate Emergency, like this Faster than forecast, climate impacts trigger tipping points in the Earth system

• Glastonbury Regenerative Farming Centre - part of the £23.6m Glastonbury Town Deal project. This is what proper funding for a more secure future looks like.

• Horticultural Myths - Such a useful reference by Professor Linda Chalker-Scott. Evidence based gardening? Now there’s an idea!

• Grow Like Wild - Ecological landscaper Rebecca McMackin is back to writing her newsletters, hurray! I know, it’s a bit meta having a link to a newsletter in a newsletter but there we go.