EarthShare

05/11/2025

🌸 Blossom in November? Nature’s got a surprise for us this Bonfire Night! 🔥🍎🌸

Remember, remember the 5th of November… but this year, it’s not only fireworks lighting up the sky — it’s apple and cherry trees in bloom! Yes, you read that right. Fresh blossom in autumn. But why?

Here’s what’s going on:

Unseasonably warm autumn weather can confuse fruit trees. Many varieties need a period of cold (called “chilling hours”) to trigger dormancy. If that cold snap doesn’t come, or is followed by a warm spell, trees can mistakenly think it’s spring again.

Climate change is shifting seasonal cues. Warmer Octobers and Novembers are becoming more common in the UK, disrupting the natural rhythm of plants and trees.

Some varieties are more sensitive to temperature swings. Early bloomers like cherry and apple trees are especially prone to this kind of “false spring” behavior.

While it’s a beautiful and surreal sight, it’s also a gentle reminder of how our environment is changing. So if you spot a blossom this week, take a moment to enjoy its delicate beauty — and maybe snap a photo. Nature’s putting on a different kind of show this November.

Have you seen any surprise blooms in your area? Share them with us! 🌿📸

05/11/2025

Huge shoutout to the amazing NTC Open Spaces teammates Jay and Matt! 🙌

The Habitats team is incredibly grateful for your tremendous help today — from clearing beautiful open pathways to expertly installing 4 new sleeper benches. That brings us to a total of 6!

✨ 3 benches now sit proudly at the top, offering what will be a stunning view over the food forest in time, and a place to escape the heat, while 2 more provide a perfect resting spot halfway down the project.

Your hard work and dedication today has made a real difference. Thank you! 💚

23/10/2025

Just a collection of photos of trees, shrubs, other plants and seeds we are growing at our nursery plot for the permauculture gardens. Most lovingly reproduced using cuttings taken by volunteers.

23/10/2025

🌱 Update from the Permaculture Gardens 🌱

Our nitrogen-fixing trees are entering dormancy, turning brown as they prepare for relocation from the nursery area. Sadly, their move may be delayed…

Last week, we experienced an unexpected setback: around 50 chestnut tree stakes were stolen from the gardens. The 4th theft of materials in 2 years. These stakes are essential for supporting the young trees against wind damage — and without them, we simply can’t move forward. We currently lack the funds to replace them.

We’re doing our best to investigate and recover what was taken. If you have any information or would like to support us in any way, we’d be incredibly grateful.

14/10/2025

Slinky D**k has been on the move at Polwhele. Our swales seem to be quite popular with local amphibians.

09/10/2025

🌱 Nothing goes to waste at Polwhele. We strive to ensure nothing leaves the site. Loss of resources means waste — loss of nutrients, materials, carbon, and potential. That’s why, when swaling, we repurpose the cut turf to create half-moon berms around our trees for:

🌿 Water retention – These semicircular raised mounds of soil help trap rainwater and runoff, allowing it to soak slowly into the ground. This is especially vital in drought-prone areas, where every drop counts.

🌳 Soil enrichment – By keeping moisture near the roots, berms reduce the need for irrigation and help trees thrive naturally.

🌍 Erosion control – Berms prevent water from rushing downhill, protecting the landscape and preserving topsoil.

♻️ Resource recycling – Instead of removing turf, we transform it into a regenerative feature that supports tree health and ecosystem resilience.

🌾 Soil rebuilding – Once in place, these berms can be backfilled with mulches to help rebuild soil structure and fertility lost to erosion over the years — turning a problem into a solution.

At Polwhele, every action is intentional. Every scrap of soil, every blade of grass, every drop of rain — it all stays, it all serves a purpose. 🌳

03/10/2025

Squishy Squash, the Doorstep Green Toad.

03/10/2025

The day Sqishy Squash, the Doorstep Green Toad came to visit Polwhele. Squishy Squash is around the side of a tennis ball and will soon be attaching her ribbons of spawn to marginal plants at the stream and ephemeral pond edges. We usually see the girls in the water with the boys in December.

01/10/2025

A bit of swale shaping today. Swales are great for drainage, flood mitigation and below ground water retention. They are also great on a south facing hillside for critters like these assumed (yellow legged mining bees). Please feel free to correct if wrong woithout properly identifying them.

25/09/2025

🌳 Why Aren’t We Planting More Food Forests in the South West?

Living here in the South West—especially from an urban lens—you can’t help but notice the tension between well-meaning environmental strategies and the messy reality on the ground. We’ve got green infrastructure projects sprouting up, pollinator corridors zigzagging through city parks, and biodiversity plans that often clash with efforts to manage invasive non-native species. It’s a noble effort, but it can feel fragmented, even contradictory.

And yet, there’s a quietly powerful alternative: community-led food forests. These aren’t just trendy permaculture experiments—they’re deeply rooted in cultural evolution and ecological resilience. In fact, research shows that food forest systems, especially those shaped by Indigenous and local knowledge, can rival or even exceed conventional conservation strategies in biodiversity. They don’t just preserve nature—they live with it, feed people, and regenerate ecosystems.

Here’s the kicker: many of our urban green spaces are dominated by ornamental or non-native species that, while attractive, often support only a handful of generalist wildlife and vertually no human benefit other than aesthetics. Think evergreen oaks, sycamores, cherry laurels, or rhododendrons—plants that look lush but offer little ecological value. In contrast, food forests integrate native, non-native and useful species—hazels, elder, wild garlic, apples and all the fruit under the sun—creating layered habitats that support pollinators, birds, fungi, and humans alike.

So why aren’t we planting more of them?

🛠 Barriers include:

Policy inertia: Conservation often defaults to “leave it wild,” even when “wild” means monocultures of invasive species.

Urban planning silos: Food production and biodiversity are treated as separate goals, when they could be beautifully integrated.

Lack of awareness: Many still see food forests as niche or experimental, not as scalable infrastructure.

But here in the South West, we’ve got the perfect ingredients: community spirit, a mild climate, and a growing appetite for regenerative practices. Imagine transforming underused green spaces into edible ecosystems—places where biodiversity thrives alongside berries, herbs, and nut trees. It’s not just possible. It’s practical.

Let’s stop treating food and forests as separate conversations. The future of urban ecology might just taste like elderflower cordial and smell like wild rosemary and lemon balm.

Agroforestry systems in Latin America practised by local communities are a boon to biodiversity, according to research

24/09/2025

🦋 Wings and Thanks

Can you see me?

For the EarthSharer:

I wandered through the fading light, a dancer in the air’s soft flight. The world below was fresh and wide— a patch of bark, a place to hide.

I saw your gift, a mulch so new, a bed of browns, a gentle hue. I landed there, my wings aglow, a flash of thanks before I go.

Then closed my cloak of mottled shade, and vanished where your hands had laid. You gave me rest, I gave you grace— a quiet bond in nature’s space.

For the butterfly:

I sifted compost, bit by bit, bark and discarded plastic, soil and grit. I spread the mulch with care and pride, and watched the garden open wide.

No sooner had I turned away, she came to rest, to end her day. A peacock wing, a burst of light— then folded into evening’s night.

She thanked me with her silent show, then vanished where the bark lay low. She found her peace in what I gave— and I found mine in how she stayed.

Can you see her?

17/09/2025

😉 Treloggan Residents Association Newquay Town Council