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A monthly exploration of agroecological farming, folklore and nature by farm coordinator, Fern Towers February begins with St Brigid’s day, or Imbolc in the Gaelic tradition (meaning ‘in the belly’, referring to the lambing season), marking the beginning of spring. Although we’ve had some wild weather this month, spring is certainly in the air at…
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Jubilee’s Aaron Hanson continues his monthly blog on environmental and agricultural topics There is a comedy sketch I enjoy in which a news presenter asks a politician about an oil tanker accident out at sea.  When the politician is asked to comment on the impact on the environment he very firmly responds that there was…
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A monthly exploration of agroecological farming, folklore and nature by farm coordinator, Fern Towers January … An Introduction to Agroecology In many parts of Britain and Ireland, Plough Monday traditionally marked the beginning of the agricultural year. Falling on the first Monday after the Twelfth Day of Christmas, it was a time to tighten one’s…
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Jubilee’s Aaron Hanson continues his monthly blog on environmental and agricultural topics The acronym ‘NIMBY’ stands for ‘Not In My Back Yard’.  NIMBY-ism is defined as ‘the behaviour of someone who does not want something to be built or done near where they live, although it does need to be built or done somewhere’. It…
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Jubilee’s Aaron Hanson continues his monthly blog on environmental and agricultural topics Humans, it is often said, cannot cope with complexity.  Various psychological studies apparently confirm and quantify the claim that we are only able to account for so many variables when totting up numbers in our heads, or to focus on so many things…
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I recently finished reading Doughnut Economics, an engaging book by Kate Raworth in which she sets out ‘Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist’.  Ms. Raworth clearly illustrates throughout that the underlying ideas or stories which we tell ourselves can exert a profound influence on how we think about ourselves and our world.  Hence,…
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Jubilee’s Aaron Hanson continues his monthly blog on environmental and agricultural topics I love coffee a great deal; there are even some who would say I love it too much. Not so Juan, a hypothetical coffee farmer who, thanks to my coffee-drinking habit, is able to earn a living. But only sort of: in reality…
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