 Some of my favourite books about death and dying Throughout 2024 I am starting to do more work around death, dying and grief again. This blog post contains some of the resources I refer to in the various events I am involved with.
Bradford Death Cafe Living With Death exhibition Leeds City Museum Creative Dying - My own advanced care plan “When I Die” a blog by me (includes lots more resources) A Lasting Legacy - how to have a more sustainable funeral Full Circle Funerals - great, progressive funeral directors in Yorkshire Poppy’s - great, progressive funeral directors in London Dying Matters - creating an open culture around death, dying and grief LGBTQ+ death, dying and bereavement resources PDF lgbtq_death_dying___bereavement_resources.pdf
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 Quite a few garden projects have been started over the past few months. The relentless wet weather has meant that progress has been slow, but some things are starting to take shape now. I’m going to be writing some blog posts about specific designs, but for now here are a few photos of the general scene!  These old fence posts are on their way to become some raised beds for the wildlife garden  Pallet Pot Palace! The plan is to have a green roof on here too.  Moving established ‘meadow’ plants from a border area where I will be placing raised beds  Cardboard and woodchip mulching the border areas where raised beds will be going. The beds will be planted up with perennial pollinator attractor plants  More fence posts lining up to be repurposed into raised beds  Stumpery development  I relocated this insect habitat pile to access the fence and make additional composting space  More composting space is always an exciting thing!  The new habitat area with more space and more visible to folk walking by on the pavement  Happiness is also organised wood piles, whatever the scale!  Windowsills full of emerging new seedlings destined for the edible garden at some time in the next few months.  Seed sowing on the kitchen floor (will it ever stop raining!?)  And finally, I said goodbye to this little old lady last month, 20 year old Socks loved spending the fine (and not so fine!) days of her twilight years hanging out in the catio accessed through the kitchen window. Her sister Sooty is still very fit and well and I’m sure that once the rain stops she will be back outside to watch the world of Saltaire Rd go by.  Notice board/insect habitat It’s just over eight months since my border collie Floss died. Two and a half seasons have passed. Ever since then I’ve had a strange low level disconnect from my garden, which is the opposite to what I predicted. Yes things have happened, (nature doesn’t stop for grief, luckily), but it’s all felt mundane, hard work and to be honest, a bit pointless. So its been really useful today to look back at photos I’ve taken in the garden over that time and be reminded of some times where I felt my garden holding my hand as I’ve wandered through these weeks and months. Here are a few of them.  Perennial ‘meadow’ outside my front door  Edible garden June 2023  Another view from the ‘meadow’  My garden hosted the plant nursery for Shipley In Bloom this summer  Gorgeous print from Black Lodge Press  My lovely friend Laz came and did a photo shoot in the garden, they are a wonderful photographer!  Fire bowl, part of my Samhain celebrations gathering  Soil building with leaves  Gathering ‘meadow’ plants for seed collection  The composting zone is undergoing a time of transition, updates to follow!  My favourite sit spot is way too big without Floss Book Review Lyme disease - Borrelia burgdorferi , is a disease transmitted to humans by infected ticks and found throughout all areas of the UK now in woodlands, fields, parks and gardens. It remains poorly understood by public health systems at a time when the number of people being infected with this multi system illness is rapidly increasing. Patients and practitioners have found it difficult to obtain reliable and effective information, test results and treatment. ‘Lost In Lyme’ sets out to address these challenges and is a welcome accessible tool to inform and empower both people living with Lyme and the health care practitioners treating and supporting them.
‘Lost In Lyme’ by extensively experienced medical herbalist Julia Behrens and chef and nutritionalist Daphne Lambert, is a new, well researched and super accessible resource and practical tool kit. Its format is clearly laid out chapters with short blocks of clear text, photos, diagrams, tables and illustrations which is a big help to those of us with foggy brains, one of the most common long term symptoms of Lyme. Behrens and Lambert’s work includes chapters on; An in-depth introduction to the disease, diagnosing and testing, medical and herbal treatments, (including using herbal treatments to support the use of lengthy courses of antibiotics treatments), plant profiles of herbal treatments, nutrition and recipes, growing herbal treatments in pots and gardens and self care. Included in the self care chapter is Julia Behren’s inspired holistic model, STEPS ( Social, Time, Emotional, Physical, Self), a tool about self awareness of concerns, needs and strengths in living with long term Lyme Disease. As I enter into my seventh year of living with a chronic Lyme Disease diagnosis I am once again incredible grateful for the recovery improvements I’ve made since the early long years of some hugely debilitating symptoms. I continue to experience some long term disabling Lyme related issues though and ‘Lost in Lyme’ is presenting me with new and easily applicable ways to start exploring different ideas for improving some of these     I recently created this ‘Meadow’ t-shirt and tote design for Permaculture Magazine. The ts and totes are ethically produced by Teemill and now available to buy via this link - I’m currently working on some further clothing designs, sign up to my newsletter to find out when they become available.
 Creating new gardens In a totally unplanned way, this year I’ve joined the volunteer planning team for Shipley Town Council’s Shipley in Bloom project. Its been great to get involved with the creation of two new gardens in public spaces in the run up to the Yorkshire In Bloom judging, which happened a couple of weeks ago. I’m now looking forward to being part of the long term plans for growing spaces in Shipley which includes a lot of regenerative visioning and doing for both communities and environment.  Giving donated raised beds a makeover!  New raised bed garden on the neglected and unused tarmac area at 62 Saltaire Rd   Planting out a mini edible food forest outside the Post Office in Shipley  Mini edible food forest Floss. April 2010 - March 2023 This spring in my garden (and all other areas of my life), has been totally dominated by the death of my best buddy Floss, who died at the Equinox. At 13 years old she’d been fading for several months and although her death wasn’t unexpected, the anticipated then actual grief of loosing her from my life has been huge. As a result some core things planned for the garden this spring including taking regular photos have happened late or not at all. Here are pics of some of the activities and events which have taken place.  Early annual seeds for the edible garden were eventually sown, not that early! They occupied the kitchen table for the first few weeks post sowing.  Other edible garden seeds were sown directly into a raised bed in mid April  Removing the mulch of woodchip from the raised bed prior to direct seeds sowing revealed a super healthy worm population doing their soil fertility magic.  I built a pallet structured insect habitat (or ‘bug hotel’), near my garden gate and within clear sight of both pedestrians and road users travelling by. One of the functions of the garden is to provide inspiration to folk in my local community. (I sowed some annual wild flower seeds in compost on top of the pallet stack, the bubble wrap is to keep the birds away until the seeds germinate)  I’ve been creating some weather proof signs for different areas of the wildlife garden for visitors to my garden.  Small areas of the perennial meadow were cleared to the ground with a strimmer and then plug plants grown from perennial flower and grass seeds in early March were planted out. These will grow to full hight next year.  My local Green Party did great in the local elections, it was a pleasure to have their presence in the edge between my wildlife garden and the busy main road. I’m excited to be participating in some great local events over the summer months. Everyday Permaculture Workshops, Saltaire ‘Everyday Permaculture’, my series of monthly two hour workshops at my neighbours, the brilliant Salts Works workshop space in Saltaire, West Yorks, continues on the third Saturday of each month 10-12pm . ‘Everyday Permaculture - Climate Actions’ takes place on June 17th, ‘Everyday Permaculture - Designing Events on Saturday July 15th and Everyday Permaculture - Right Livelihoods on Saturday 19th August. For more details and how to book, click here Saltaire Arts Trail It will be my second year hosting the work of 2 other artists alongside my own creative work as part of the super popular Saltaire Arts Trail - taking place over the late May Bank Holiday weekend 27th-29th May. People walk through the wildlife area of my garden to get to my edible gardening area and kitchen where work by Cameron Ling, Felicity Pockets and my permaculture themed illustrations will be displayed. Shipley Open Gardens This year for the first time I’m participating in Shipley Open Gardens for the first time - happening over the weekend of the 10th and 11th of June my permaculture inspired garden in Saltaire will be open from 1-5pm both days. I’ll be selling my zines, cards and prints from my kitchen, where vegan chai and flapjack and permaculture info will also be served! Through the weekend I’ll also be hosting work from one of the amazing ceramic artists at Hive Community Arts Shipley’s Great Big Green Week My Open Garden and June Everyday Permaculture workshop (both events as above) are also part of ‘Shipley’s Great Big Green Week’, connecting to the national Great Big Green Week initiative Saltaire Festival And round the corner into September, I’ll be taking part in the Open Gardens weekend of the brilliant Saltaire Festival, which will be celebrating its 20th birthday this year. Saltaire Festival takes place from 9th -17th September, the Open Gardens event is over the first weekend, Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th.
 I love this South facing wall in my edible garden so much - such a great example of using microclimates.  Early January saw me sorting though my seeds to work out what I needed to order for the year ahead. It turns out, I don’t need to order any! Where do all these seeds come from!?  Mulching raised beds and the wild garden ‘edge’ with a thick layer of leaves topped with woodchip supplied by a local tree surgeon. The soil along the wild garden edge is looking, smelling and feeling SO much better in terms of fertility and structure, now into its 3rd year of this winter mulching application.  Imbolc fire with my girl.  Beautiful fungi  Pruning back some of the larger baby trees in my wild garden edge, so that the more recently planted ones get enough space and light. I added these prunings to two different insect habitat areas.  Creating a new area for fallen leaves, including leaves from several of my neighbours’ gardens.  Cutting down seed heads, (intentionally left standing over the winter for insect habitat) ready for new growth in spring. Tied the dried stalks complete with seed heads together and left upright so that the little critters can carry on snoozing until the days get lighter and warmer.  (Photo by Kath Baker) …..and to mark the start of 2023 growing season, I had a stall at my local Potato Day, 40 varieties of seed potatoes and lots of amazing people buying them and supporting the accompanying stalls and cafe too. I’ll be sowing my chilli seeds over the next few days. More details about this years growing in my next blog post.
 I’m excited to be facilitating a series of 11 workshops throughout 2023, about how to use permaculture design in everyday life situations and events. The 2 hour monthly workshops are taking place at my brilliant neighbours, Salts Works in Saltaire, Bradford. Through relaxed information sharing, creativity and informal discussion, these workshops will enable participants to explore how permaculture can be used to navigate everyday life in ways that connect with our values. Each workshop focuses on a different topic and is created to be enjoyed as a stand alone event or as part of the year long series. Access Places are limited to 10 per booking. Salts Works is accessible for people using mobility aids, including wheelchairs. This includes an accessible toilet. There is also an accessible garden for anyone who needs a break from being indoors. COVID 19 Please feel free to wear a face covering/mask in the workshop, if this gives you the confidence to participate. People are asked not to attend if they have any symptoms of a new bug or virus. Cancellations for a full refund are available until 24 hours before the event. Also Each workshop costs £20. The price include hot/cold drinks, vegan & gluten-free sweet goodies and a takeaway mini zine about the main themes of the workshop. The Workshops - Details & BookingEveryday Permaculture - An Introduction
Saturday 18th February 10.00 - 12.00 Everyday Permaculture - Edible Gardening Saturday 18th March 10.00 - 12.00 Everyday Permaculture - Health & Wellbeing Saturday 15th April 10.00 - 12.00 Everyday Permaculture - Wildlife Spaces Saturday 20th May 10.00 - 12.00 Everyday Permaculture - Climate Actions Saturday 17th June 10.00 - 12.00 Everyday Permaculture - Designing Events Saturday 15th July 10.00 - 12.00 Everyday Permaculture - Right Livelihoods Saturday 19th August 10.00 - 12.00 Everyday Permaculture - Caring For Others Saturday 15th September 10.00 - 12.00 Everyday Permaculture - Death, Dying & Bereavement Saturday 21st October 10.00 - 12.00 Everyday Permaculture - Winter Festivals Planning Saturday 18th November 10.00 - 12.00 Everyday Permaculture - Designing 2024 Saturday 16th December 10.00 - 12.00 Please feel free to email me if you have any questions about these workshops |
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