I was fascinated to see a bee making use of a hole in the brick wall of my house recently. As the sun started to drop, it crawled in to the hole, then turned round and settled down for the night, protected from rain, predators and dropping temperatures. With so much of their natural habitat destroyed, bees and other insects have to find homes to live in wherever they can. According to Plantlife, in the UK, two species of bee have already been lost to extinction, two are on the brink of extinction, and another six are at severe risk. This is already having adverse impacts on agriculture. 84% of all UK crops are dependent on pollination and Britain now imports in the region of 70,000 boxes of commercially farmed bumblebees to carry out this critical ecosystem service. We no longer have enough wild bees for basic pollination services.
Some agricultural methods work with nature, not against it. Sign up for the next HGN Gathering next Wednesday, 19th April 7.00pm, online which looks at a nature-friendly system of cultivation: Andrew De La Haye will be speaking about Permaculture.
Permaculture is a holistic approach to growing food regeneratively, using methods that require minimal input from people whilst creating maximum habitats for wildlife. To book for this FREE online event Click here
If you want to find out more and receive practical advice, the Permaculture Association runs courses on Growing Food In Small Spaces and there are details of courses run by Applewood, in a post later in this newsletter.
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