Why not give the gift of a real rose this Valentines Day and watch your love grow, year-on-year.

There has been a lot of debate recently about using bird feeders in our gardens, particularly at this time of year to help birds survive through the cold weather. It seems the consensus amongst the experts is that on balance, it may be better not use bird feeders – a contentious argument for many. What are the alternatives.

Who knows what creatures will appear in your garden if you create the right conditions. A pigmy hippo … not a chance!

Enjoy the quiet winter months exploring veggie planting-and-harvesting ideas. It is great to grow what you like eating but it is also fun to explore more unusual vegetable options. SeeHow - Veg is a great planning tool that can help with this. SeeHow’s illustrations show how and when each veg grows – so no experience necessary to achieve great results!

It really is so exciting each year to see the fantastic veg exhibited at local village and town shows. The superb displays have got me thinking – how best to prepare the veggie beds for my own bumper crops next year. It is also time to think about which veg to plant now, for a tasty early harvest next year.

SeeHow’s new interactive vegetable gardening book, SeeHow – Veg, is full of ideas!

Let us know if you are thinking about growing any veg to exhibit - we’d love to know more! 😊🥜🫛🍄‍🟫🥕

https//www.seehow.co.uk

This year, most areas of the UK have been affected by the drought. This has left quite a few plants with crisped leaf edges and given biodiversity a very hard time too. Many trees have suffered early leaf loss. This should give us pause-for-thought regarding our garden flower choices – combining resilient plants which also support biodiversity.

https//www.seehow.co.uk

Countless hectares of monoculture farming practices over the last 50 years have crushed biodiversity levels. Farming practices need to change. This will require top-down political pressure. But we gardeners can make our own small changes to support biodiversity, from the bottom up. There are approximately 23 million gardens in the UK - that potentially adds up to a big effect! Today, I did my bit by picking some wild blackberries and turning them into a homemade blackberry flan. A small celebration of the abundance nature still offers – and a reminder of why it’s worth protecting. 🌱🖤🥧 

What about you? Let me know what you love to cook using nature’s fruits and if you want to read more of my ‘Bring back the Buzz’ Blog head over to the website by clicking the link in the Bio.

https//www.seehow.co.uk

What a beautiful country Romania is, offering the opportunity to get away from the usual tourist destinations. Choose the right areas and you will glimpse landscapes that are a reminder of the way the countryside used to look across much of Europe and the UK too.  For anyone who loves nature, in Romania, it is possible to see permaculture farming at work enabling people and nature to co-exist in balance. 

https//www.seehow.co.uk

As I wandered around a monastery garden in Romania, somewhat to my surprise, I realised that the majority of the plants and flowers were ones we all know and grow in the UK. In fact, if it were not for the different architecture, I could have been in Perthshire, Scotland!

https//www.seehow.co.uk

Aren’t we a bit like bees, attracted by the colours of flowers. But unlike bees, driven by instinct to search for nectar as food for the hive, we are driven by our search for beauty – food for the mind.

https//www.seehow.co.uk

We live in a world of processed foods and processed lives – conformities forced on us that often seem to detach us from the natural world all around. Growing veg and foraging for wild food can help counter these stresses, declutter our lives in a natural way.

https//www.seehow.co.uk

SeeHow’s latest gardening book is now out! SeeHow – Vegwas launched at the @RHS Hampton Court Flower Festival on 01 July 2025. It includes 107 of the most widely grown vegetables, each one illustrated to show the its whole life in the veg bed, with all the required technical information on the back of each illustration. Follow the notes on the back and enjoy eating what is shown on the front! Happy veg growing!

https//www.seehow.co.uk