THE MODERN MINT BLOG
The Cows Are Coming!
Who would have thoughts cows can skip? Here is a video of the cows at Riverford Farm being let out …
Hedges
Hedges were grown for practical purposes, the most obvious examples being to keep livestock in the right field and marauding invaders at bay (hedges still do this job, but the marauding invaders now are rabbits, not William the Conqueror.) In 1349 when the Black Death hit, resources were depleted and hedges and woodlands that had been put in during Anglo-Saxon times were degraded and decaying as a result. It was Henry VIII who, taking land away from the church and giving it to his courtiers, made the next changes to the look of Britain. Huge sums of money were being made in the wool trade and …
Flooding (Part 2)
To prevent future flooding there is a need to manage the land in a different way. The dredging of rivers will do nothing but speed up the flow of water to ‘pinch points’ further upstream. The use of sandbags is a measure provided too late, when normal life has been halted by water flowing into homes. Natural Flood Management (or NFM’s) must now be considered a major part of flood prevention. The critical factor of NFM measures? The planting of trees to slow down running water. By planting trees near headwaters they act as a buffer to hold up rainwater runoff. Planting …
Did You Know…
… Iceland is Europe’s largest producer of bananas. Solanaceae (plants from the nightshade family) are known to produce alkaloids that can be either toxic or advantageous (this depends on your view of the world, and possibly how much you’ve ingested!) Three alkaloids borne by the family are Solanine, Nicotine and Capsaicin. Capsaicin is the one that gives you the burning sensation when you eat a chilli. Several members of the nightshade family are now important crops – tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, aubergines and tobacco. Who would have thought something so tasty could be so deadly too? The Ginkgo tree is a botanical ‘living fossil’ with …