Every gardener needs a top supplier of rotten muck
The magic of manure. Farmer Tom has been and gone. He left behind three sacks of muck. Black cow manure, well rotted, a good year old. Each bag so heavy I could hardly lift it.
We don’t much like our soil too rich, preferring some structure to chocolate-cake crumb
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It is no coincidence that the housing disaster started under the Tory government led by Margaret Thatcher. She actively aimed to destroy the concept of council housing, along with all types of public ownership, and propelled greed to the forefront of British life (“Council houses were once a glory of the public realm. Let’s return to those days”, Rowan Moore, Comment). The 30 years since, uninterrupted by the Tony Blair/Gordon Brown New Labour governments, have created the disasters we see around us, from ludicrous house prices, scandalous homelessness and dysfunctional markets for energy and even the water we drink.
In London, we see block after ugly block of unaffordable home in almost every area, destroying long-established communities and skylines, while contributing nothing to the community. When will we get a government that will stop the insanity?
Continue reading...Every gardener needs a top supplier of rotten muck
The magic of manure. Farmer Tom has been and gone. He left behind three sacks of muck. Black cow manure, well rotted, a good year old. Each bag so heavy I could hardly lift it.
We don’t much like our soil too rich, preferring some structure to chocolate-cake crumb
Continue reading...Ancient woodwork and strong colours take this idyllic Devon home to a new level
There is an air of escapism about this Devonshire home. A former rectory at the end of a quiet lane, it looks every inch the rural idyll. It even has roses climbing around the front door. But step inside and a different version of country living unfolds – equally escapist, but in a darker and more dramatic vein.
“I think when you walk into a room, it should make you feel something, be it cosy, intriguing or startling,” says Susy Parker, who gave the house a big makeover when she and her family moved here two years ago. Her husband Ben, a doctor, was offered a job locally and it didn’t take much to persuade her, plus their children, twins Oscar and Felix, nine, and Darcy, three, to make the move.
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