Last Blog Entry

I've discontinued the Design Different blog, though Design Different is still going strong.

But I'm continuing to write a blog - this time about plants at http://www.jeremybartlett.co.uk/, my "Let It Grow" blog. Why not take a look?

The Urbal Fix - Transforming Cities

This is inspiring stuff - "The injection of countryside, or more specifically; green productivity, deep into the heart of our cities."

See http://www.turnstone.tv/theurbalfix.html.

Website of the Month - Campaign for Better Transport

I don't drive, so I travel on foot, by bike and by public transport. I do this largely for environmental reasons, plus the fact that I don't like driving.

Public transport should be cheap and easy to use, to encourage people to make fewer car journeys. But bus services are being cut and train fares are rising steeply, in spite of the Government's claims to be "the greenest Government ever".

So this month's website is the Campaign for Better Transport - an organisation that is doing something about this.

Self-employment: how to set up your company website

There is an excellent article on setting up a website for a small business on The Guardian's website - see http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/jul/22/self-employment-set-up-website. I can thoroughly recommend it to anyone thinking of having a website for their business.

Website of the Month - Landshare

June's website of the month is www.landshare.net.

Landshare links people wanting to grow their own produce with people who have spare land. It was launched in 2009 on one of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's "River Cottage" programmes and now has almost 62,000 members.

 I'm lucky enough to have a back garden and two allotments, plus a community garden, to grow in but not everyone is as fortunate - and this is where Landshare comes in.

Website of the Month - Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society

Bombus hypnorum on Salvia 'Mainacht'

The Grapes Hill Community Garden is now planted up and actually looks like a garden. One of the highlights at the moment is Salvia 'Mainacht', a beautiful ornamental sage with violet-purple flower spikes. This is proving to be a great hit with bumblebees. On Tuesday we identified three species, including the beautiful Bombus hypnorum (Tree Bumblebee), which only arrived in the UK ten years ago, and is spreading north.

A Google search quickly found the Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society (BWARS) website and I submitted a record.

The BWARS website is website of the month as it has some very helpful factsheets and information on bees (and wasps and ants). With habitat loss these beautiful and fascinating insects need all the help we can give them.

Facebook

I must admit I was a Facebook sceptic for a long time. And I still don't see the need to post lots of trivia on a regular basis.

However, I think Facebook provides a useful way of following particular actions, activities and groups. Here are a couple I've set up:
Grapes Hill Community Garden on Facebook
West Norwich Art Trail on Facebook.

Reluctantly, I think Facebook may even be April's website of the month...