Prof Duncan Westbury

My first ever contribution to a podcast with Will Rogers from Charles Faram and PhD student Josh Brett on 'Why Agricultural Research is Imperative for the Future of Sustainable Brewing'

The conversation starts at 12 minutes!

hopforward.beer/episodes/why...

Managed to harvest some seed & now have three more to look after!

I Live & Learn. I discovered these new plants when potting on!

'My sister Catherine shares a love of bees and has a few hives herself': James Middleton, Jamie Oliver and Sir David Beckham on the pleasures of harvesting your own honey Beekeeping is a star-studded hobby and has much to offer, finds Jane Wheatley.

They’ve been #BeeWashed www.countrylife.co.uk/food-drink/m...

Rubbish video, but great to see a male & female GCN in our wildlife pond tonight! Clearly not ready to hibernate! @arc-trust.bsky.social @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social @worcswt.bsky.social

Try and make space for patch of white dead nettles (Lamium album) in your garden, they flower throughout the year (mostly) providing nectar for late & early bumblebees. @lgspace.bsky.social @worcswt.bsky.social

Did you know that 90% of hops used in the UK are imported for brewing beer? Had a great time yesterday at the Damm Brewery in Bedford for a BBPA meeting to talk about our research projects in UK hops.

I used to, but now it has a bitter taste!

In 2000, the RSPB bought Grange Fm (Hope Fm). It covers about 180 ha and is run to make a profit & support wildlife. Last year they made a profit of £110k. The farm is buzzing with birds & insects; more than 2,000 species have been recorded #MakeFarmingBuzzAgain.

Leaving part of the meadow uncut until late Feb provides shelter for inverts & small mammals & a little nectar for the odd Queen bee!

Disturbed this lovely ‘Nightcrawler’ earlier (Lumbricus terrestris). Always nice to see them move!

My #BumbleBird patch still has a bit of food for those seeking pollen & nectar. Not much though! The goldfinches have moved onto it & are loving the teasels. #CotswoldSeeds

Some landowners do cut hedges appropriately, leaving at least one side uncut until Feb. This must be encouraged! @worcswt.bsky.social

Our carrots certainly went deep this year no doubt looking for water!

For tonight’s curry! #GrowYourOwn #OrganicAtHome

All wildflowers have their own requirements. I manage these two patches very different at this time of year. I cut the meadow crane’s-bill in early Sept, & have left it. The betony patch I’m keeping short as it would normally benefit from grazing at this point.

Very pleased not to be contributing to the “extensive and widespread pollution" in three rivers - the Wye, Lugg and Usk by not eating #CheapChicken #IntensiveChicken Can you say the same or are there lots of hypocrites in these catchments? @riveractionuk.bsky.social

Remember this? Well Malvern Hills DC have cut & collected as requested! I’m so pleased as previously they were only able to cut & mulch. This will accelerate the emerging community. A massive THANK YOU!

So frustrating hearing & seeing fruit & seed bearing hedges being cut ahead of winter. We have lost 50% of our hedgerows since the 1950’s, no wonder we are in a “”#BiodiversityEmergency in the UK.

Making Farming Buzz Again ~ 180th Lecture Series Join us for the fifth event in our180th lecture series at the RAU and learn more about enhancing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.

Join me on the evening of 22nd October for a FREE talk by me on “Making Farming Buzz Again”, which will focus on what research I’ve been up to over the years. Then Ann Conquest from LUC will talk about her work on the agri-environment. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/making-far...

Glad they flowered Roger!

Wild bird numbers continue to fall in UK with some species in ‘dramatic freefall’ Species index fell by 4% between 2019 and 2024 – although data shows woodland populations beginning to stabilise

Not good. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Too many celebrities think that keeping honeybees addresses the #BiodiversityEmergency. Such a shame, they could do so much more with their money.

Why saving the honeybee could be bad news for other bees In this week’s newsletter: a conservation success story has a sting in its tail as wild pollinators pay the price

PLEASE READ! No more #BeeWashing. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The last bit of major wildflower colour in our front garden and what a beaut! @lgspace.bsky.social

Pond & Meadow prepped for winter. Meadow patch left to continue feeding the bees & provide shelter for inverts over winter @worcswt.bsky.social

If sowing a new meadow, go big! In the table below I've based sowing rates on a commercial mix; if you only create 1 square metre using their sowing rates, you are unlikely to get all the species 'advertised'; the number of seeds sown is simply too low! @lgspace.bsky.social

Where are all the birds that could be eating all this food in our #BumbleBird patch. Even the sparrows have disappeared after rearing three broods in our garden. @rspbengland.bsky.social

Photo of square orange tiles, set into the ground, across one of which several cats footprints are clearly visible.

One day, nearly 2000 years ago, a cat dashed across some drying tiles, somewhere near Hadrian's Wall.

It's immortality of a kind, isn't it?

Perhaps a bit late to get these in, but I’m really interested in seeing how Cotswold Seeds new range of small packet green manures do. I’ll still use my go to phacelia, & have sown one part with both!