THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Modern Garden Design
Tucked away in the March issue of The Garden magazine is a lovely article by James Wong of ‘Grow Your …
Fairtrade Fortnight: Peeling back the Banana Story
Yesterday was the launch of Fairtrade Fortnight. This year the campaign is in support of banana farmers who are struggling to make a living from their crop. Supermarkets have almost halved the price of bananas over the last ten years, meaning it is farmers who bear the brunt of our savings. Buying Fairtrade bananas means workers have: Safe conditions to work in. Earn enough for a decent standard of living. Have rights and benefits. The idea of sourcing all your food from the local area is a good aim. But in the winter months the body begins to crave something a …
A Busman’s Holiday
Two years ago on Gardeners World we saw the work of Brian and Denise Herrick, who farm and manage the 85 acre estate Barcroft Hall. They had decided to create a wildflower meadow on poor land, to create “a little piece of heaven.” A few of us went down to see it and our director Darren Lerigo was interviewed by a local paper. You can read in the link what he had to say about ‘his busman’s holiday.’ Our memories of this still stand strong – especially the buzzing of bees that thrived on the nectar rich flowers, densely sown to cover as …
Flooding
Weather warnings, high winds, flooded houses and waterlogged fields. The damage is mounting. (Although high winds and the weight of the evergreen tree in the picture contributed to it falling over, it was the sodden ground in which its roots stood that caused it to tip, laying bare the root system you see. The ground was so wet and soft the roots had nothing to anchor to.) Environment secretary Owen Paterson and Prime Minister David Cameron have pledged to dredge river channels, believing it to be a way to prevent flooding. But it is the saturated land, unable to hold more …