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Lüneburg harbour on the river IlmenauI have just had another happy holiday in a Hanseatic League town. In 2018, I had a wonderful trip to Lübeck, ‘Queen of the Hanseatic League’.  I made a resolution that someday I would visit Lüneburg, which supplied much of the salt traded by the...

a hügelI first came across the term “hügelkultur” during an internet search on a gardening topic. This time, for once, my interest wasn’t sparked by a book. Basically, it involves growing vegetables on a compost heap with a base formed by a pile of logs. The idea is an interesting...

I was wandering around Waterstones bookshop on a visit to Cambridge last month when my eye fell on a copy of Martin Crawford’s book “How to Grow Perennial Vegetables” (2012). It was the words “low-maintenance” on the front cover which attracted my attention. Ever one to save effort where possible,...

“Keep off the Grass" outside a Cambridge college: what grass?2025 has been an extraordinary summer. I went south to the London area to visit friends and family, and I have never experienced such conditions since I was working in Greece and the Middle East fifty years ago. Temperatures were over...

Heatwave in ScotlandPseudo-pithos waterbuttsWater shortage in Scotland? Too much sunlight? No, I’m not joking. Having restrained myself from planting out my seedlings in March and April, until the risk of snow had passed, I then had to cope with scorching sunlight and drought in May. I quickly used up the...