Landscape Juice

Green apprenticeships available for parks and open spaces

Forty seven local authorities in England will share a one million pound fund aimed at providing apprentices for parks and open spaces.

In announcing the scheme this week (24th March) Margaret Beckett said: "hese new apprentices will be green ambassadors in their communities, taking responsibility for our parks and open spaces and making sure they are of the highest quality for everyone to enjoy.

How to make plant labels with wooden spoons

This is just a quickie post to share this great little tip I have just read on the Little Green Fingers blog.

Dawn has made child friendly plant labels out of wooden spoons and engraved them using her neighbours soldering iron.

Not only is it a clever and novel idea but it is also a nice and safe way to mark a row of produce that won't take a child's eye out if they bend down to tend the rows.

The Landscape Institute raises subscription fees

I have this feeling that the Landscape Institute is walking a very thin tightrope across a wide canyon with a steep drop below after it raised subscription fees by a massive nine and a half percent.

Hort Week reports that the LI have also taken out a £160,000 loan and secured a £60,000 overdraft.

Join our 'Sustainable Group'

The Landscape Juice Network is coming up for a year old and it enjoys a daily buzz on topics ranging from the best tools needed for a job to tips on cleaning wooden decking.

Recently we started a Sustainable Group and I have to admit that I completely underestimated the strength of feeling and I have been overwhelmed on how quickly, and the volume, that people have signed up.

Local Action Groups to get £3.9 billion boost

Farmers, growers, foresters, rural tourism organisations, businesses and community organisations are being urged to pool their skill resources and share best practice if they are to benefit from a £3.9 billion pound that has been made available for rural areas.

The cash will be channelled through Local Action Groups (LAG's) via small capital grants, strategic investment funding and action plans to safeguard and enhance the countryside, creating new jobs and helping rural communities thrive.

Win vegetable planning software from GrowVeg

There will be thousands more people this year who will be growing vegetables for the first time as we all try to cultivate great tasting produce.

I don't think that cost necessarily comes into it but value certainly does.

The great thing about growing fresh vegetables is it can be enjoyed by everyone and it is something that the whole family can participate in.

Rowing up Asparagus beds

I hope that my efforts are not to be in vain but, belatedly, I have now managed to clean up the asparagus, add some really well rotted horse manure and rowed them up ready for the harvest - and, do you know what, I feel in control again.

One thing that I noticed while rotovating the veggie plot was how dry the soil is becoming; we have had two weeks of solid spring sunshine (35 degree C high) with a good drying breeze.

English badgers to be vaccinated against tuberculosis

Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn has announced that from badgers in England will be vaccinated against bovine tuberculosis.

The vaccinations will be set up in six geographical areas of one hundred square kilometres each where bovine tuberculosis id high occurrence levels.

DEFRA say the treatments will be the first use of a vaccine for TB in badgers outside research areas.

Preparing the vegetable patch

I have left it late again to prepare my vegetable patch but I am determined that we shall eat fresh produce this year.

I was planning get the rotovator out this Sunday to break the soil down and get my garlic at least started off but then I had a brain wave.

Michael is preparing the fields with the discs - in preparation for the sunflowers to be drilled next week - so I asked him to run over the plot; after all, it had not had a deep cultivation for four years.

The White House to grow organic vegetables

Fresh vegetables at the White House has come a step closer after Michelle Obama revealed, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, that part of the White House garden will be put aside for the production of organic food.

In the news, first aired on Obama Foodorama, Michelle revealed that part of the south side of the sixteen acre parkland garden will be dug up and planted out and she believes that this process will be a learning curve for the kids, saying: