Welcome to my new podcast “Meadow Matters”. The first episode is all about Yellow Rattle. rss.com/podcasts/mea...

Welcome to my new podcast “Meadow Matters”. The first episode is all about Yellow Rattle. rss.com/podcasts/mea...

The evidence keeps on stacking up. When are we going to call out the honey bee #Beewashers? #BeeWashing www.sciencenews.org/article/hone...

£8.99 + postage for a raspberry “twig” from Sutton’s seeds. Remind me not to buy such plants online in 2026!

If putting up bird boxes this winter, seek advice from the webpages of @rspb.bsky.social and @btobirds.bsky.social This box is unlikely to be used, but if it is, the breeding attempt will not be successful. Too open - Too exposed. If ivy, honeysuckle etc was protecting it success will be higher!

My first ever contribution to a podcast with Will Rogers from Charles Faram and PhD student Josh Brett on 'Why Agricultural Research is Imperative for the Future of Sustainable Brewing' The conversation starts at 12 minutes! hopforward.beer/episodes/why...

Managed to harvest some seed & now have three more to look after!

I Live & Learn. I discovered these new plants when potting on!

They’ve been #BeeWashed www.countrylife.co.uk/food-drink/m...

Rubbish video, but great to see a male & female GCN in our wildlife pond tonight! Clearly not ready to hibernate! @arc-trust.bsky.social @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social @worcswt.bsky.social

Try and make space for patch of white dead nettles (Lamium album) in your garden, they flower throughout the year (mostly) providing nectar for late & early bumblebees. @lgspace.bsky.social @worcswt.bsky.social

Did you know that 90% of hops used in the UK are imported for brewing beer? Had a great time yesterday at the Damm Brewery in Bedford for a BBPA meeting to talk about our research projects in UK hops.

In 2000, the RSPB bought Grange Fm (Hope Fm). It covers about 180 ha and is run to make a profit & support wildlife. Last year they made a profit of £110k. The farm is buzzing with birds & insects; more than 2,000 species have been recorded #MakeFarmingBuzzAgain.

Leaving part of the meadow uncut until late Feb provides shelter for inverts & small mammals & a little nectar for the odd Queen bee!

Disturbed this lovely ‘Nightcrawler’ earlier (Lumbricus terrestris). Always nice to see them move!

My #BumbleBird patch still has a bit of food for those seeking pollen & nectar. Not much though! The goldfinches have moved onto it & are loving the teasels. #CotswoldSeeds

Some landowners do cut hedges appropriately, leaving at least one side uncut until Feb. This must be encouraged! @worcswt.bsky.social

Our carrots certainly went deep this year no doubt looking for water!

For tonight’s curry! #GrowYourOwn #OrganicAtHome

All wildflowers have their own requirements. I manage these two patches very different at this time of year. I cut the meadow crane’s-bill in early Sept, & have left it. The betony patch I’m keeping short as it would normally benefit from grazing at this point.

Very pleased not to be contributing to the “extensive and widespread pollution" in three rivers - the Wye, Lugg and Usk by not eating #CheapChicken #IntensiveChicken Can you say the same or are there lots of hypocrites in these catchments? @riveractionuk.bsky.social

Remember this? Well Malvern Hills DC have cut & collected as requested! I’m so pleased as previously they were only able to cut & mulch. This will accelerate the emerging community. A massive THANK YOU!

So frustrating hearing & seeing fruit & seed bearing hedges being cut ahead of winter. We have lost 50% of our hedgerows since the 1950’s, no wonder we are in a “”#BiodiversityEmergency in the UK.

Join me on the evening of 22nd October for a FREE talk by me on “Making Farming Buzz Again”, which will focus on what research I’ve been up to over the years. Then Ann Conquest from LUC will talk about her work on the agri-environment. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-far...

Not good. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Too many celebrities think that keeping honeybees addresses the #BiodiversityEmergency. Such a shame, they could do so much more with their money.

PLEASE READ! No more #BeeWashing. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The last bit of major wildflower colour in our front garden and what a beaut! @lgspace.bsky.social

Pond & Meadow prepped for winter. Meadow patch left to continue feeding the bees & provide shelter for inverts over winter @worcswt.bsky.social

If sowing a new meadow, go big! In the table below I've based sowing rates on a commercial mix; if you only create 1 square metre using their sowing rates, you are unlikely to get all the species 'advertised'; the number of seeds sown is simply too low! @lgspace.bsky.social

Where are all the birds that could be eating all this food in our #BumbleBird patch. Even the sparrows have disappeared after rearing three broods in our garden. @rspbengland.bsky.social

One day, nearly 2000 years ago, a cat dashed across some drying tiles, somewhere near Hadrian's Wall. It's immortality of a kind, isn't it?

Perhaps a bit late to get these in, but I’m really interested in seeing how Cotswold Seeds new range of small packet green manures do. I’ll still use my go to phacelia, & have sown one part with both!

One great thing about growing your own grapes is being able to take a large handful, shove them in your mouth and releasing all of the wonderful grape juice!

My new #WildlifePond has a long way to go, but it will get there!

The RAU & Asahi supported the BBPA at the House of Commons to demonstrate what was being done as part of #BrewingGreen. We discussed the challenges faced by the remaining 42 hop growers in the UK, and how our research in collaboration with Warwick Uni will lead to more resilience.

UK gardens cover c270,000 hectares – more than all the country's National Nature Reserves. And nature-friendly gardens – even small ones – can form a huge network of green spaces that are havens for wildlife. More: littlegreenspace.org.uk/features/Wil...

New addition to #WildlifePond an amphibian refuge. Most people forget about this. Where are they meant to go when they aren’t in your pond? @arc-trust.bsky.social @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social

To create access to the wealth of seed in our #BumbleBird patch, I’ve created a strip across it. Hopefully this enough… @rspb.bsky.social

Wildflower strip cut & collected, with patch left to overwinter. Cuttings put on top of habitat piles!

Which bat are you today? There's a strong case to be made for #3 🤪 📸 Jennifer Barros

Great point Miles! If we had biocontrol of all non-native invasive species like this in the UK it would be lovely!

Every day the government delays banning the sale of peat compost means more carbon lost to the atmosphere from this appalling practice www.wildlifetrusts.org/news/vast-ar...

Really can’t believe this; a frog has already found the pond only hours after I finished it!

Frog/Toad pond complete! It’s got a long way to go before it looks anything like my other wildlife pond, but it will get there! @arc-trust.bsky.social @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social

Join Wild Justice at the inaugural Wild Summit for an interactive and visual dive into the past, present and future of what George Monbiot describes as the ‘bronze plague’. Bristol Beacon, 11 Sept, all day! wildjustice.org.uk/general/join...

Wildlife pond #2 nearly complete! Will let it settle in before I start covering the flaps! @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social @arc-trust.bsky.social

Two frogs have setup home in this tray of plants rather than use our wildlife pond! I have therefore decided to create a frog/toad pond that hopefully the GCNs won’t like!

Growing lemongrass this year has been “interesting”!