There was a time when almost every arable field in England was bounded by a hedgerow. It has been estimated that between 1750 and 1850, around 2,000 miles of hedgerow were being planted every year, li

Ever resilient, farmers nonetheless need help to be ...

In 1874, the Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie completed the mile-long Eads Bridge, made of steel and crossing the River Mississippi into St. Louis. At the time, nobody believed that ste

Our gardens have difficult histories. As a historian of empire, writing a book re-telling the stories of America’s plants, I spend swathes of my day reckoning with them. Most of the plants we grow wer

From her smallholding in the heart of West Somerset, Bec Briar spins wool from her own flock of sheep and hand-weaves it into beautiful blankets and scarves

Following Adam Henson’s excellent article on British wool (November issue), I would like to mention that British wool is used in the compost I purchase from Cumbria. It is brilliant for tomatoes, grow