Category Archives: energy use

It’s Time For Gardeners to Break Their Silence on Climate Breakdown. What we Do in Our Gardens and Allotments Does Affect the World Around us

‘Keep quiet and grow on’ simply isn’t tenable any longer. What we do in our gardens does make a difference to the chaos of climate change – for better or for worse. By John Walker. Originally published on the Hartley Botanic website as … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, carbon emissions, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, earth-friendly books, energy use, environment, ethics, garden centres & gardening industry, green gardening, greenwash, media, organic gardening, overconsumption, published articles, renewable gardening, tv gardening & celebrities | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the Slime Trail

With our recent wet summers, we need to adopt more of a ‘whole garden’ approach when it comes to curtailing the ravages of slugs and snails. In this 4-page article republished courtesy of Grow It! magazine (May 2013), I explain why I … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, carbon footprint, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, ecological sustainability, energy use, environment, food & kitchen gardening, gardening footprint, green gardening, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, pesticides in the garden, pollution, published articles, renewable gardening | 1 Comment

Deep Green Gardening

The down-to-earth lessons of vegan-organic growing have the potential to make our gardens not just more productive, but more ethical and compassionate too. In this 4-page article republished courtesy of Grow It! magazine (Spring 2013), I look at what slaughterhouses have got … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, ecological sustainability, energy use, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, fossil fuels, garden compost & composting, green gardening, nature & the natural world, no-dig gardening, organic gardening, published articles, resilience, soil, vegan-organic gardening | Leave a comment

Stay Home and Keep Gardening

A sun-soaked holiday taking in some of the world’s most beautiful gardens is a wonderful idea, given the growing year we’ve had – but only until you join up your thinking. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, … Continue reading

Posted in carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, ecological footprints, ecological sustainability, energy use, environment, ethics, fossil fuels, gardening footprint, green gardening, media, nature & the natural world, overconsumption, peak oil, pollution, published articles, tv gardening & celebrities | 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

Choosing Delusion

We’re told that whether or not to use garden chemicals is a personal choice. That may be so, but it needs to be an informed choice – and we’re not being told the whole story.  By John Walker. Published on … Continue reading

Posted in carbon footprint, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, energy use, environment, ethics, garden centres & gardening industry, gardening footprint, green gardening, greenwash, media, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, packaging, pesticides in the garden, politics, pollution, published articles, renewable gardening | 2 Comments

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

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

Flogging Faith in Nature

There’s no need to buy solutions to pest problems that nature can solve for us. The only real problem is how to sell this idea. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 21st June 2012 Minuscule spiders a … Continue reading

Posted in ecological sustainability, energy use, environment, fossil fuels, garden centres & gardening industry, green gardening, media, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, pesticides in the garden, pollution, published articles, renewable gardening, tv gardening & celebrities | Leave a 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