‘TIS RAININ’ There’s a dirty farm yard in the Vale of Marshwood. They’ve a Collie dog in a box by the gate. Though ’tis rainin’, when you pass he barks from his cage and nigh-on strangles hisself through growlin’ and warnin’. From the concrete yard mud flows, suspended in the running water out onto the [...]
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Posts Tagged ‘november’
21 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman ‘TIS RAININ’
Saturday, November 21st, 200920 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman APOLOGIES TO PLYMOUTH
Friday, November 20th, 2009First and foremost my apologies to anyone from Plymouth who planned to pick up a personally signed copy of any of my books today at Waterstones Drakes Circus. I was 38 miles from destination when I got a call from Clint, my contact there, with bad news: the books had not turned up. We were [...]
Read More »19 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman WINDY DAYBREAK
Thursday, November 19th, 2009Out the back, only elder and the lowest whiskers of lime hold on to any semblance of foliage. The rest, blown inside-out by recent winds, are skeletal-naked. Hilltop trees Mexican Wave their outer branches in an elastic ripple. A stones’ throw from my back-against-a-wall vantage in the veg garden, I can see whole elephantine lime limbs [...]
Read More »18 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman A NEW PLACE
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009I was a bit time-famined yesterday but today am feeling more relaxed. I put it down to an al fresco cuppa with the early dawn and two hours weeding between 10.30am and half-past midday. Gardening is good for you, of that simple fact let there be no doubt. It can help to get you lost in [...]
Read More »17 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman THE APPRENTICE GARDENER
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009Last week I had the pleasure of chatting to 19-year old Nathan Biggs from Shaftesbury. He’s a shining example of positive energy at a time when it would be easy to drag your feet and give up hope. Nathan felt quietly overlooked at school. He left formal education at the earliest opportunity to become a [...]
Read More »16 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman THE LOST GARDENERS
Monday, November 16th, 2009THE LOST GARDENERS The other day I was chatting with some retired friends of mine. Alongside the weather, our successes and failures, we got on to talking about young people and gardening. Although the many school ‘grow your own’ projects taking root in playgrounds across the county are an excellent way to reconnect children with [...]
Read More »15 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman AN APPLE TREE ON THE CORNER OF MARKET STREET BRACKNELL
Sunday, November 15th, 2009On a grassy verge at Market Street there stands an stands an old apple tree on the wonk. By a zebra crossing, beneath a red-bricked box-like factory with blinded windows and opposite, across the road, advertising billboards for computer games. The trunk must be at least nine inches across at the fork which forms a [...]
Read More »14 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman WELCOME TO SLOUGH
Saturday, November 14th, 2009Parking all day in Slough is only £2 at the weekend. That’s actually really cheap. You might ask why one would want to visit such a place on a day when the whole country has been, and is being, battered by storms but I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve sampled the flavour which this Berkshire town [...]
Read More »13 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman INTO THE FUTURE
Friday, November 13th, 2009One of the things I love most about engaging with the natural world through gardening is being part of the changing year. The passing of time is relentless and when you’re growing things, be they flowers or food, don’t you know it! Like the hands of a clock, which don’t seem to be moving in [...]
Read More »12 November 2009 DIRTY NAILS’ BLOG by Joe Hashman THE GROWING SPACE, WINCANTON
Thursday, November 12th, 2009Behind an old fruit and veg shop on Wincanton High Street are a complex of community gardens which exist to provide local people with opportunities to improve their lives. The gardens include edible plots, ornamental beds, quiet areas for rest and relaxation, herbs and lawns. An orchard is in the planning stage. Known collectively as [...]
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