Today is the first day of Meteorological spring, covering the three months March, April and May. The year is divided up into four three monthly seasons in this splitting of the year. Astronomical spring begins on the equinox which falls on 20 March this year. It is the day of equal day and night, from when the northern hemisphere begins …
We had a visit from Douglas Leroy from OurBike, a community e-bike company. To discuss whether we would want to be a host for a cargo bike. A cargo bike is one of those bikes with a big bucket in front that can carry cargo, this one up to 100 kg of goods or people. We sometimes see them around …
We had 118 mm of rain in January, a month which averages 55 mm in London. So well over double the average rainfall for the month. But February has had quite a deluge too. We have had 44 mm so far. February is usually quite a dry month, averaging 39 mm. We have beaten that all ready, and if that …
We both came in at 8.30 on a cold January morning, 6 degrees, to count birds. There was a wind too, making it feel colder. We had come in before the garden was open. The RSPB Big Birdwatch rules are one hour over this weekend. 8.45 to 9.45 am was our hour. It felt even colder as bird watching you …
It has warmed up in the last week. The frozen pond is just a memory. It was surprising how quickly the thick ice melted. The temperature had risen from around freezing, and below at night, to 8 to 12 degrees. And it had melted, like ice cream taken out of the freezer. We are becoming more aware of ice as …
It is cold, the pavement on Earlham Grove icy with frost. Frost on car roofs too, as I walk down to the garden. Car roofs are the most visible frosty surfaces. They are horizontal and so lose heat easily. Clear nights are the coldest as there are no insulating clouds. Car roof tops are metal, good conductors, so easily lose …
We had Auld Lang Syne, fireworks, and drank too much at the changeover from 2025 to 2026. And saw the cheers and joy around the world as 2026 swept in, with hopes for new possibilities this year. Love, money, health and dare one say – peace. It is New Year’s Day as I write this blog and the hope is …
Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. The sun rose at 8.02 am and will set at 3.51 pm, giving us 7 hours and 49 minutes of day. The longest day, the Summer Solstice on June 21st 2026, is 16 hours and 38 minutes, more than twice as long. Today’s sunrise is not, though, the latest …
Since doing the Cereal Project in 2020, I have maintained an interest in cereals, their growth and usage. More than half grown in the UK, mostly wheat, oats, and barley, are used for animal feed. In this blog, I am looking at wheat, the most important of our cereals by tonnage. Its primary contribution to our diet is as bread. …
The leaves are all but gone on most of the trees in the garden. A few languidly hang on but a strong wind will tear them away, leaving a winter silhouette of skeletal trees. We have two evergreens: a dwarf juniper by the small pergola and the olive tree. There are two distinct strategies playing out. The first is dump …
