Are you getting outdoors and enjoying nature this season? We've been having fun with a tree, leaf and seed hunt and putting our local park to good use; I've also been making the most of those crisp morning school runs to stomp through the leaves on the way home, such a good way to start the day! It's around this time of year that my walking boots become my go-to footwear for most of our family outings. Rain, slippy leaves, mud and general ...
Exploring the UK with The Discovery Adventures by Land Rover
Isn’t autumn a fantastic time of year for getting outdoors and enjoying nature? We try to squeeze in as many outdoor adventures as we can in autumn; whether it’s a day trip to a specific location, or just a family walk in the local park, we all love the chance to really interact with everything that the season has to offer. Conker hunts and leaf collecting always feature rather heavily! I do think that it’s all too easy to let busy family life ...
Review & Giveaway: Isbjörn of Sweden children’s outdoor clothing
Are you getting outdoors and making the most of autumn? The right clothing can make all the difference to a family outdoor adventure, and I’ve got a great giveaway that will help you get it right. There’s a bundle of premium outdoor children’s clothing from Isbjörn of Sweden worth £180 up for grabs, read on for details on how to enter! We love getting outside and exploring nature at this time of year, but the colder temperatures do mean we have ...
Buying kids’ outdoor clothing: what to look for
Are you looking to buy some new outdoor clothing for the kids this season? I thought my two were all kitted out, but a recent check on their outdoor gear made me realise just how much they’ve grown this year! So we’ve got a shopping list to tackle before the weather really turns cold, and this got me thinking about the features that I expect when I’m buying outdoor clothing. It’s no secret that the right kit can make or break your enjoyment ...
Giving nature a home in our garden: making a frog and toad abode
If you read the blog regularly, you’ll know that we’re big fans of getting outdoors and enjoying nature, and also that we’re partnering with RSPB this year to support their 'Give nature a home in your garden’ campaign. 60% of the UK’s wildlife species have seen a decline over the last fifty years, and the RSPB campaign aims to encourage us all to take small, achievable steps to help nature in our own green spaces. We’ve had lots of fun this year ...
Product Showcase & Giveaway: Bridgedale walking socks
Welcome to a new product showcase and giveaway, perfect for those of you who are looking forward to some outdoor family fun this autumn. I’ve got a family bundle of fantastic walking socks from British company Bridgdale worth £49.96 to give away - perfect timing isn’t it?! So the kids have gone back to school, and autumn is making it’s way into our lives. In our house, that means digging out the wellies and looking forward to lots of outdoor ...
Review & Giveaway: GardenSite Forest Toulouse Trellis Planter
Welcome to a new product review and giveaway, perfect for those of you who are looking to spruce up a patio or deck area. We've been trying out the Forest Toulouse trellis planter from online gardening supplier GardenSite, and I've also got one of these lovely planters worth £89.99 to give away to a lucky winner. The Forest Toulouse trellis planter has a generous container with an integral trellis for climbing plants, allowing you to ...
Container plant care with Baby Bio Pour & Feed: 3 month update
How’s your garden looking now that we’re into late summer? We’ve had a good summer weather-wise in the UK - including some crazy heat in late June - and I’ve really enjoyed my garden this year. I’ve been trying hard to water effectively, and I’ve also been learning more about dealing with plant diseases and plant pests in an effort to keep everything as healthy as possible. The regular games of football and cricket that go on in our garden ...
Using a soakaway to improve land drainage
Does your garden or outdoor space suffer from flooding or get waterlogged in some areas? If the answer is yes, today's guest post explains how a soakaway might be the answer to the problem. A soakaway is, in a nutshell, a hole that’s dug into the ground and filled with coarse stone and rubble. It’s there to enable surface water to seep back into the earth, and is usually part of a full drainage system; there’s almost always a land drainage pipe ...
Tips for controlling plant pests
Have you experienced problems with pests on your garden plants this summer? Whether you garden on a large or small scale, there’s a very good chance that your plants have been affected by pests at some point. I experience this every year at the allotment, with blackfly on my broad beans and caterpillars on my cabbages, and at home in the garden there’s always an invasion of greenfly on the roses and honeysuckle at the start of the summer. You ...