May corona?
Ranch: Sitting quietly, I watch a pair of long-tailed tits hanging upside down under the lean-to, picking off little corner pockets [...]
Turnip
The Ranch: Spring hurtles in, full throttle, thwarted by snowy East-Beast snaps. It's been a funny old winter. Blue Monday [...]
Earth, water, fire and air
Ranch: Summer went, giving way to a musky autumn with the first frost already delivered a couple of weeks ago on [...]
Birdwatching
I forfeit my usual trip up the mountain in favour of heading north from the top of the lake. Up the [...]
The Chattering of Sparrows
The heady, exotic, musky, smutty scent of valerian flowering from mid-May heralds summer full-steam-ahead. The plants grow as tall as 8 [...]
Beltane and The Vulgarians
Ranch: May has always been my favourite month and I'm sure it's no coincidence that its beginning is marked with celebrations [...]
Unsubscribing and a new beginning
The Ranch: I’m on the ranch in demi-shed A. It’s raining. The long late run of balmy September sunshine has come [...]
Shed joy
The Ranch: It rained properly on Thursday night and I swear that the plants all grew an extra couple of inches [...]
Reincarnation of The Lizard
Ranch: On Saturday 10th April and into Sunday morning it snowed heavily - big white fluffy flakes. The dawn was crispy [...]
odmorden and the gin terrace.
The Ranch ... is a scruffy field and a scruffy allotment above the arsehole corner of an arsehole Northern town. Once [...]
Down the rabbit hole again
The Ranch: 12 days of snow and ice, with temperatures as low as minus 8. Then a thaw and heavy rain. [...]
A solstice celebration
Ranch: On Monday I'm exhausted. The last thing I feel like doing is going to the ranch. Who else is [...]
How science can help the ordinary gardener
Ranch: I haven't had much time to get up there this week. However, even a couple of hours at a time, [...]
How to start a revolution with just six people GalleryHow to start a revolution with just six people
100% DIY, Common ground, coronavirus, Derry Girls, Emergency Medicine, End of an era, Food, Friends and family, Irish, Making a film, NHS, older post, organic gardening, permaculture, Revolution, self-sufficiency
How to start a revolution with just six people
A perfect sunny day: Monday (the 21st of Sept) was a perfect Indian summer day. It started cool and crystal blue [...]
Ergot of rye, blues and Rock & Roll.
Ranch: The mild, muggy, rainy, northern summery weather is breaking into autumnal gales and horizontal rain and the harvest is [...]
Common ground and the House of Turds.
Wheels: Northwards! Along the bypass. Past the college. Past the toll-house. Past the tower on the hill on the right. [...]
Hey app! Sense and censorship.
I've been slowly levelling off an area next to the greenhouse in anticipation of a poly-tunnel, by emptying wheelbarrow [...]
Digging trenches
The primroses, in their exquisite pastel yellows are out on the shady lane, which leads past the ancient 17th [...]
Don’t panic
The start of a week's annual leave on Friday evening coincides with finishing three time-consuming but rewarding back-to-back projects. I'm a [...]
Food?
It's wet. Again. I'm repeating myself. Reporting the same old things every week. It's just that it's wetter than ever ever [...]