Category Archives: environment

Austerity Gardening

Posted on May 15, 2012 by John Walker

Make do and mend, learn to do without, pull your socks up and get stuck in: it’s time to cultivate some old-fashioned values in the garden. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 15th May 2012. Have you … Continue reading →

Posted in carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, ecological footprints, energy use, environment, food & kitchen gardening, fossil fuels, garden centres & gardening industry, gardening footprint, glyphosate, mail order, media, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, overconsumption, packaging, published articles, renewable gardening, resilience | Leave a comment

Peat-Free Compost: A Buyer’s guide

Posted on May 3, 2012 by John Walker

Having tested more peat-free composts than I could shake a beanpole at, in this article, republished courtesy of Kitchen Garden magazine (June 2012), I recommend my top six peat-frees for the 2012 sowing and growing season. You can read the original 3-page … Continue reading →

Posted in environment, garden centres & gardening industry, garden compost, garden compost & composting, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, published articles | Leave a comment

Time to Turn Off The Tap

Posted on April 16, 2012 by John Walker

With hosepipe bans now in place in many areas, gardeners everywhere need to start tapping into a more joined-up kind of gardening. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 16th April 2012. Greenhouse gardeners are especially adept at … Continue reading →

Posted in carbon footprint, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, container gardening, energy use, environment, garden centres & gardening industry, greenwash, media, politics, published articles, rainwater harvesting, renewable gardening, water & 'water footprints' | Leave a comment

Peat-Free Compost: A User’s Guide

Posted on April 5, 2012 by John Walker

In this article, republished courtesy of Kitchen Garden magazine (May 2012), I reflect on lessons learned from my 2011 gardening trial of some good, bad and ugly peat-free composts, and offer advice for anyone setting out on the peatless path. … Continue reading →

Posted in environment, garden centres & gardening industry, garden compost, garden compost & composting, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, published articles | 1 Comment

Forget FITs – Roll Out Some Gardening GITs!

Posted on March 15, 2012 by John Walker

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

Modified New World

Posted on February 15, 2012 by John Walker

Letting the GM genie out of its biotech bottle hasn’t just changed day-to-day life on our allotments, it’s itching to take over control of life itself. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 15th February 2012. They’ll be … Continue reading →

Posted in allotments, eco gardening, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, genetically modified (GM) crops, glyphosate, green gardening, greenwash, media, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, pesticides in the garden, published articles | Leave a comment

The Carbon Conundrum

Posted on December 4, 2011 by John Walker

There’s a hands-on horticultural way to mitigate climate change – but it will only make a real difference if our gardens aren’t also part of the problem. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 4th December 2011. Something … Continue reading →

Posted in carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, energy use, environment, garden compost & composting, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, published articles, renewable gardening, soil | Leave a comment

Considerate Cultivation: Running Your Garden on Truly Renewable Fuels

Posted on October 21, 2011 by John Walker

Going peat-free is all-important in an earth-friendly garden, but there’s more: the compost you use needs to be a truly renewable fuel. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 21st October 2011. Coaxing a steep, bracken-riddled bank of acidic, nutrient-poor … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, ecological sustainability, environment, garden compost & composting, gardening footprint, green gardening, greenwash, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, published articles, renewable gardening | 2 Comments

Bring Me Sunshine: The Power Behind Renewable Gardening

Posted on September 15, 2011 by John Walker

Using a greenhouse to grow your own food will make your garden greener and help trim your ‘ecological footprint’ – but only if you tap into the right kind of sunshine. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 23rd September … Continue reading →

Posted in carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, ecological footprints, energy use, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, fossil fuels, gardening footprint, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, pollution, published articles, renewable gardening | Leave a comment

The Peat ‘Debate’ Does Us All Harm

Posted on June 14, 2011 by John Walker

The belief that by using peat compost we can benefit nature keeps us disconnected from the natural world. By John Walker. Published in Garden News, 14th June 2011. Of all the harebrained excuses I’ve seen bandied around for the continued … Continue reading →

Posted in carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, ecological sustainability, environment, ethics, garden centres & gardening industry, nature & the natural world, peat & peat-free compost, published articles | Leave a comment