Category Archives: food miles

Gardening’s Last Stand

Allotments are a vital, living part of our gardening heritage – and when they are threatened, it’s time to draw a line. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 28th January 2013 I’m an emotional kind of gardener. … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, good life, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, politics, published articles, resilience | Leave a comment

The Eco Warrior Within

“You may consider yourself just a smallholder, but are you really a ‘quiet but potent eco-warrior’? It’s possible. John Walker, author of How to Create an Eco Garden: The Practical Guide to Greener, Planet-friendly Gardening, sees smallholders as occupying a … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, blog, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, environment, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, good life, green gardening, nature & the natural world, organic gardening | Leave a comment

Crowd Cultivation

What do you get when you cross crowd funding with plant breeding? At the Sárvári Research Trust, it’s the chance for ordinary gardeners to have a stake in the future. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 20th … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, blight-resistant 'sárpo' potatoes, carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, energy use, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, fossil fuels, gardening footprint, genetically modified (GM) crops, green gardening, media, organic gardening, published articles, renewable gardening | 1 Comment

Resistance is Fertile: How Gardeners Can Help Wave Goodbye to Potato Blight

This summer’s record outbreak of late blight in potatoes has helped shine a light on a quiet but powerful revolution in potato breeding, which aims to banish the disease from our gardens. This is a resistance movement which all gardeners … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, blight-resistant 'sárpo' potatoes, carbon footprint, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, ecological sustainability, energy use, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, good life, green gardening, organic gardening, pesticides in the garden, published articles, resilience | 1 Comment

Find Out About Garden Food Growing With Frodsham Transition Initiative on Saturday 8th September 2012

On Saturday 8th September 2012, I’ll be offering advice and ideas on how to grow more food in your garden as part of Frodsham Transition Initiative’s free ‘drop-in’ event which is being held at Frodsham Community Centre, from 1-5pm. This … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, blog, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, ecological sustainability, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, transition | Leave a comment

Keep Calm and… Put Up a Greenhouse

It’s time to take cover: after another grey, sodden summer, the future for serious garden food growers looks a lot brighter under glass or plastic. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 26th July 2012 Pale, drawn and … Continue reading

Posted in climate- & earth-friendly gardening, ecological sustainability, energy use, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, garden compost & composting, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, published articles, rainwater harvesting, renewable gardening, vegan-organic gardening | 1 Comment

Greening Up Your Gardening

Rethinking the way you tend your garden will reap great environmental benefits and help to strengthen your relationship with the natural world. By John Walker. Published in Kew magazine, Summer 2012. When it comes to more eco-friendly living, insulating your … Continue reading

Posted in carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, ecological footprints, ecological sustainability, energy use, environment, food miles, fossil fuels, garden centres & gardening industry, garden compost & composting, green gardening, greenwash, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, overconsumption, peat & peat-free compost, pesticides in the garden, published articles, rainwater harvesting, renewable gardening, soil | Leave a comment

Forget FITs – Roll Out Some Gardening GITs!

High-tech sunshine harvesting is all very well if you can afford it, but there’s an easier and more earth-friendly way to turn sunlight into energy that’s right outside your back door. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, ecological footprints, energy use, environment, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, fossil fuels, gardening footprint, green gardening, organic gardening, packaging, peak oil, published articles, renewable gardening, resilience, transition | Leave a comment

Election Special

With trust in status quo politics withering, I offer my manifesto for a brave, visionary and greener force fit for the dawning of a more earth-friendly era. By John Walker. Published in Kitchen Garden, April 2010. Amid fevered media speculation … Continue reading

Posted in climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, ecological sustainability, energy use, environment, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, garden centres & gardening industry, peat & peat-free compost, politics, published articles, resilience, retail monoculture | Leave a comment

Going With My Guts

It’s time to stop using our heads when wrangling over the pros and cons of growing food organically, and trust more in the visceral. By John Walker. Published in Kitchen Garden, November 2009. The next thousand words or so are … Continue reading

Posted in climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, environment, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, garden compost & composting, green gardening, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, pesticides in the garden, published articles, soil | Leave a comment