About
This blog is about living sustainably and in tune with nature. What I write is based my own experience, as well as on my research. I have been a passionate gardener and a lover of nature for many years. But I am also a historian and write about how people lived, ate, gardened and celebrated in pre-modern and pre-industrial age. I believe that we can learn from their knowledge and experience, since they had to rely on nature much more than we do today.
If you want …
- suggestions on how to garden organically
- how to garden in a small space, such as a windowsill
- snippets of history behind everyday customs and traditions
- ideas about maintaining and decorating your home organically
- suggestions on how to enjoy home-grown and wild, foraged food
- ideas about how to protect nature around you
… then you will find it here.
About me
My name is Elizabeth. I live in the UK and I am an academic. I try to live a natural lifestyle. I have many years of experience in gardening and researching history, including traditional lifestyle and gardening methods.
Browse the topics that I cover in this blog.
Here are some examples of posts under each topic.
Natural Garden
How to Grow Wild Flowers in the Garden
Anyone who has seen a wild flower meadow cannot forget this wonderful sight. It is a multi-coloured carpet of flowers and grasses that gracefully move in the wind…
Indoor Garden Ideas: Growing Microgreens on a Windowsill
Indoor garden is a brilliant concept because it allows us to grow our own food even in the smallest of spaces….
Plants: Our friends and Enemies
Growing Winter Aconite – a Golden Treasure in your Garden
Growing winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) requires very little effort and brings tremendous rewards. Who can resist a bright, shiny yellow flower that adorns the garden when most of nature is still in deep sleep…
Hellebore – Christmas Rose or Lenten Rose? Detailed Growing Advice
Hellebore is the ultimate winter flower – supremely elegant and graceful, yet hardy and able to cope with snow and cold…
Natural Home
Natural Cleaning Recipes for Home
Chemicals in household cleaning products solve many problems. But they CAUSE serious problems as well. Is our of fear of dirt and microbes really so great that we are prepared to spray everything around us with toxic substances?
Natural Methods of Cleaning Silver
I remember how shocked I was when I looked at ‘how to use’ instructions on a tub of silver cleaner that I bought, and saw warnings that the product is harmful to ‘aquatic life’ and can cause cancer in humans…
History
Nero: An Early Fan of the ‘Natural’ Style?
Nero, the ruler of Rome from 54 to 68AD, did not create the Roman garden style, but his reign marks a high point in its development…
Winter Solstice and Pagan Holidays that Underlie Christmas
What is the meaning of the winter solstice and why was it celebrated? Is there a connection between the pagan winter solstice traditions and Christmas?
The Golden Apples of Hesperides
The myth about the golden apples of Hesperides is a beautiful and mysterious story. Where else can you find such an arresting poetic image as a magical garden at the edge of the world in the extreme west?
Food
10 Wild Salad Leaves to Eat in Late Autumn and Early Winter
In spite of a lack of light and increasingly cold temperatures in late autumn and early winter, it is still possible to collect wild edible plants…
October is the last opportunity to collect rosehips. They are not only beautiful, but also highly nutritious…
Natural Cosmetics
Natural Anti-Aging Cosmetics: 19th-century Recipes
As a historian, I am interested in pre-modern sources describing all aspects of human life, including health and beauty…
Natural Bath Essences for Winter
As the warm days of early autumn become a distant memory, daylight is reduced to just a few hours, night-time temperatures plummet, and mornings bring icy rain, frost and wind, a hot bath becomes an increasingly desirable prospect…
Ecology and Biodiversity
Nectar: Basics for a Bee-Lover
Nectar is a sweet substance secreted by plants in glands called nectaries, often, though not always, located inside the flower…
Pollen: Basics for a Bee-Lover
Pollen is a powdery substance made up of microspores produced by plants. It is essential for their reproduction, but it is also an important food source for bees and other insects…
Reviews
Review of ‘Wilding’ by Isabella Tree
‘Wilding‘ by Isabella Tree (Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm, Picador, 2018) is one of the most inspiring books recently published. It is impossible not to be influenced by it – it changes how its readers perceive nature, farming, countryside, and their own gardens…
Review of ‘The Lost Orchard’ by Raymond Blanc
The Lost Orchard: A French Chef Rediscovers a Great British Food Heritage (London, 2019) is another creative and informative contribution by the famous chef. The overarching theme is the same as in Raymond Blanc’s other books – the loss of purity, richness and diversity as a result of the industrialisation of food production…
