January is usually a variable month in my part of the world. Sometimes it can feel like the true winter it really is, with continuous frosts and snowy spells. Other times it feels more like a dreary November: wet and windy and grey. Well this year it’s mostly been the latter, but there have been …
Japanese wineberries Rubus phoenicolasius are a species of berry, native to Asia, in the same family as blackberries and raspberries. I introduced one to my garden in the winter of 2022 for several reasons. The main reason was that it bears (reputedly delicious) fruit. The second reason was that it would be a good climbing cover …
My woad plants were somewhat neglected this year. They mostly went to flower and then to seed, growing about 4ft tall and attracting all manner of insects to their yellow flowers. I collected the seeds as I have read that you can get a dye from them. There are dozens of little woad seedlings popping …
