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I went to Chelsea Flower Show for the first time last week and, considering how little I know about plants and flowers (see earlier failed attempts to cultivate herbs on my balcony), I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was a guest of the Malaysia Tourist Board, which won Gold for its rainforest-inspired garden, designed by James Wong (off the Grow Your Own Drugs programme on TV).

The garden was really beautiful… Continue reading

I’ve finally submitted my results online for last weekend’s Big Garden Birdwatch.
I decided to borrow a friend’s garden in the end, as I’ve never seen a single bird in our courtyard. She also supplied me with tea and chocolate digestives which was nice.

I made a little spread of seeds and over-ripe fruit out on her wall but the birds didn’t exactly flock to it. They need more than 20 minutes notice that the food is out, I… Continue reading

The alarming decline of honeybee populations has been in the news a lot recently. The Isle of Wight Festival chose to support a bee project, Give Bees A Chance. as part of its Eco Action Partnership this year, and Jordan’s Cereals is running a Big Buzz campaign, giving away bee-friendly plants.

I first got interested in the global honeybee crisis when I was working on a feature for Australia and New Zealand magazine about honey in those two countries (click the thumbnail to… Continue reading

I’ve been at a wedding in the countryside this weekend, at Springhead Sustainable Living Centre in Dorset. It’s a ‘rural centre for creative and sustainable living’ and its gardens are in the list of 1001 gardens you must see before you die, no less.

I’m not usually that into gardens (see other blog posts for attempts to cultivate a herb garden on my balcony) but this one was lovely. I surprised myself with how many plants and flowers I could name – I’ve… Continue reading

I’m on a work trip in Japan at the moment, on the island of Okinawa way down off the south coast.

They have one of the longest life expectancies in the world here – 86 years for women and 77 for men. This is put down to their chilled-out lifestyle and healthy cuisine so I came to Emi’s Place to try some of the Okinawan specialities.

These range from seaweed and aloe vera (bit gross) to pickled cucumber (quite nice) and prawns in dill-tempura (lovely).

To give them the best possible start in life, I’ve invested in some plant food for my boys out on the balcony.

They’re not looking too healthy at the moment, to be honest. The basil is faring particularly badly. I haven’t watered them all week so that probably hasn’t helped – the weather’s been a bit rubbish so I’ve not been out on the balcony much.

So, day one of the New Greener Me has involved a trip to Harringey Homebase to buy some herbs to grow on the balcony.

At about two metres square, it’s unlikely I’ll ever grow enough out there to become self-sufficient, but you’ve got to start somewhere.

I had intended to fully research balcony gardening before I went, to find out who likes sharing a pot with who, which