Category Archives: Gardening

In which I dream of escape

Posted on 14 July 2024 by Jennifer Rohn

Sometimes everything just seems too much. As the non-existent summer rolls on – 14C mornings of rain or overcast, wool sweaters taken back out from storage – I find my stress level to be the only thing heating up. As … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in careers, Gardening, Research, Science Funding, staring into the abyss, The profession of science, work-life balance | Comments Off on In which I dream of escape

Our House

Posted on 17 June 2024 by rpg

It’s not just the wrens. This is Shorty. Shorty is a year-old robin, one of the expanding family that lives in the shaggy old laurel tree out the front, and together with his (or her—difficult to tell with robins) parents/sibs, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Build It And They Will Come

Posted on 19 May 2024 by Henry Gee

I love ponds. I love digging ponds. I love furnishing ponds with plants. I love watching as the wildlife spontaneously arrives. I have had a number of ponds in various places in my garden — and previously on an allotment … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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In which I make the best of things

Posted on 6 May 2024 by Jennifer Rohn

Greetings from the tail end of a typical British bank holiday, where the big highlight was gardening in the rain. In all seriousness, it was rather lovely to be out tidying up the flower beds in the fresh air, among … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in academia, careers, Domestic bliss, Gardening, Research, staring into the abyss, The profession of science, work-life balance | 1 Comment

Learning to fly

Posted on 5 May 2024 by rpg

I’ve written at length about our hens. What I may not have mentioned is that last year we got a hive, and some bees to go in it.  The bees did what bees do, and we had a few jars … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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I’m still standing

Posted on 21 April 2024 by rpg

Big Vet doesn’t want you to read this post. Chickens, famously, do not have teeth. Instead they have gizzards, A gizzard is a kind of bag betwixt beak and stomach in which foodstuff is ground by little bits of stone … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The Country Life

Posted on 24 March 2024 by rpg

I set up a WhatsApp group for the locals, so I can let them know when I have eggs available. “Hello Richard!” they’ll message, “Any eggs available today?” At this time of year, with an average of 4 eggs daily, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Country House

Posted on 10 March 2024 by rpg

It’s March, and that means there’s far too much stuff to do in the garden. A few years ago we went to a PYO and got a pumpkin (or 12, whatever). It was a Blue Hubbard, and we saved the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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In which we fast-forward

Posted on 18 February 2024 by Jennifer Rohn

The phrase bleak midwinter was first coined by the English poet Christina Rossetti in 1872 and went viral when composer Gustav Holst incorporated her text into a carol a few decades later. Although the words are clearly meant to evoke … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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A Place Called England

Posted on 4 February 2024 by rpg

I planted snowdrops in the green in the woods last Sunday morning, and this Saturday when we visited they were already demurely in bloom. We usually get one crazy forerunner between Christmas and New Year in our garden, but it’s … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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