Leo McEwen ACIHort

Cut to white #sciart illustration of the Chinese bramble rubus tricolor done in #watercolor for Field Studies council. This shows the whole plant with leaves at the base and an erectile bearing big white flowers and shiny red berries, resembling blackberries. Theeaves are bumpy and textured, dark green with much paler undersides. Fresh leaves and the stem are covered in lots of tiny red spines which resemble scarlet fur. Leaves are lobed and a slightly elongate circular shape, emergent ones are more triangular abd a brighter green.

Cut to white #sciart illustration of the Chinese bramble rubus tricolor done in #watercolor for Field Studies council. This close up shows the 5 petalled white flower. Sepals with red glandular hairs oeep out behind the petals and the stem is similarly haired. The stamens are still all centrally clustered, with pale green filaments and pale cream anthers. On the left hand side a portion of leaf is visible.

Cut to white #sciart illustration of the Chinese bramble rubus tricolor done in #watercolor for Field Studies council. This close up shows a rounded mature leaf, glamorous but with a scarlet haired stem behind. The leafis bumpy and there's shadow where the leaf lamina is currently by lateral and central veins. The margins are crenate and the leaf olis a darkish forest green with slightly spots of far paler green representing areas of the leaf hit by light.

Cut to white #sciart illustration of the Chinese bramble rubus tricolor done in #watercolor for Field Studies council. Thus close up has a portion of a textured leaf in the bottom left. There are two berries, the larger one on the right is more mature. It's shiny and an orange red colour. Each druplet shows the shine. The core of the berry emerges above the fruit and is orange. Sepals are recurved. Each drupelet has a residual stamen which has withered to a thin brown line with a terminal dot (the anther as was). The unripe berry is smaller and more orange and it's red-haired sepals are still touching the fruit, not having recurved yet.

This is the #Chinese #bramble #Rubus tricolor, completed for The Field Studies Council. It appears on the #Urbanplants of Scotland fold our chart, on sale through FSCs website.

I loved illustrating the textured leaves and shiny berries.

#botanicalart #botanicalillustration #rubus

Orobanchaceae is such a crazy group of plants

Ok good, because the moment I think I got it, I realise I haven’t. So beautifully bonkers. I guess I’ll just keep dying and eventually work it out.

New study calls for greater role of water and aquatic foods in agroecology principles | CIFOR-ICRAF A perspective study published in Nature Food argues that global agroecological frameworks and research must better integrate water and aquatic foods if they are to effectively drive food system transf...

No water, no food. 💧🥗

A new Nature Food study calls for integrating water & aquatic foods into #agroecology—embracing fishers, aquatic biodiversity & land-to-seascape approaches for resilient food systems.

Read more:🔗 bit.ly/4jylmAN

#aeTPP #FoodSystems

Hori-hori for sure!

Thanks! Trying to keep the progress ticking over so that the plot is ready for sowing and planting madness

The recent announcement from Defra that they will no longer be accepting applications for the #SustainableFarmingIncentive has come as a huge blow to our members.

You can read our full response here: landworkersalliance.org.uk/defra-announ...

The Felling of the U.S. Forest Service The Trump Administration has cut two thousand workers, making it harder for the service to fight wildfires and repair storm damage across the country.

“My community has been gutted. The trail crew, wilderness crew, timber crew. We truly care for this resource we’ve been protecting. You have to be standing there to understand the beauty of it & how delicate it is.”

On Trump's felling of the US Forest Service.
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Please sign the petition to save @agroforestryrt.bsky.social established food forest garden from eviction:

www.change.org/p/stop-the-d...

This is worrying news for the U.K. since Viticulture is the fastest growing sector of Agriculture.

I did research on this to make a mammoth #Hügekkultur bed at work. N’ lockup happens when bacteria dominate fungi (more likely when surface contact with soil is higher: i.e. woodchip).
Logs and branches should breakdown without robbing significant nitrogen but will speed up on introduction of N’.

In the last few weeks, I’ve built a pergola with the help of @vanderdecken.bsky.social, weeded and mulched beds and netted my brassica cage. Today I sowed a few seeds to mark the start of the growing season at the #allotment

#horticulture #vegetablegarden #gardening #growyourown #permaculture

Thanks! I planted ‘Red Devil’ at my last allotment which I’d trained over an arch so couldn’t dig out. I taste a few yummy cultivars here at Wisley each year so I’m sure I’ll have a long wish list soon.

Currently, none! I grafted a couple of ‘George Carpenter’ (from West Byfleet) last year in my first attempt and gave one away which happened to be the successful graft. I love red fleshed apples so I’ll probably try to source one like ‘Bloody Ploughman’. Any recommendations?

Exciting time of year! I need to get some more experience grafting (and graft a few more apples for my own allotment) #horticulture #orchard #fruittree

Photo of an allotment plot, all neat and tidy like

As Norbot would say "all neat and tidy"

Petal of a miniature iris adorned with raindrops, it ranges from pale to deep blue with alternating striations of light and dark, with a yellow vein running down the middle

Iris reticulata 🌱📷

#bloomscrolling #gardening

Thank you! Get planting some Salix viminalis, you’ll get loads of material off it. Maybe a dead hedge frame would work too.

Thanks, was going to have a weekend off but my car has decided it needs a spa day so I guess I’ll spend it at the allotment again 😂🌱

This week’s update from the #allotment . Still weaving the compost bay with Hazel and willow, mulching beds with manure and wood-chipping pathways. Already passed last year’s progress at this time
#vegetablegarden #horticulture #gardening #permaculture

The destruction of trust in science.

The burning of the books.

The erasure and harm towards queer people.

It’s happening.

America went to countless wars and lost many of its children, making the ‘ultimate sacrifice’ for these freedoms.

And one evil megalomaniac went and threw all of that away.

European Citizens' Initiative Give your support !

There's a petition to ban conversion practices (targeting LGBTQIA+ people) in the European Union. We need one million signatures, and we currently have 180,000+. If you live in Europe (even if you don't), spread the word ! 🌈🔥✊

eci.ec.europa.eu/043/public/#...

Not sure what this means…

Gorgeous marking!

Proving sourdough focaccia dough

Poked sourdough focaccia dough drizzled with oil

Baked focaccia slices showing big bubbles

This week I had my first try at baking sourdough focaccia for a dinner party. Kneadless to say… I bubbled with joy.

Also, I’ve decided to name my starter ‘The Rise of Wisley’.

#sourdough #bread #sourdoughbread #breadsky

🙋‍♂️

Tomorrow morning, if you're experiencing withdrawal symptoms after #ORFC25 #Agroecology

Caroline Lucas, "We keep being surprised by these phenomenon.. Floods in Valencia.. Hurricanes that hit the US"

"What else does nature have to throw at us to wake us up to recognise that this is being massively exasperated by climate change"

Well said @carolinelucas.bsky.social

Thanks! I tried scoring some leaves but they tore in the oven

Crispy malt and seeded sourdough bread loaf

Can’t wait to try this crunchy and springy malt & seeded sourdough loaf… my 4th loaf since receiving this starter from a friend.
Anyone got any tips on scoring? Not sure my blade is sharp enough.

#sourdough #sourdoughbread #bread #bakesky