Green & Environment

What's next for Wilderness Wood?

Joanna Yarrow spent her childhood at Wilderness Wood with her parents who lovingly managed the 2000 year old wood for nearly 30 years. On their retirement a year ago she made the decision to continue the legacy by taking over the management of the wood with her partner Jonathan Smales.

Hadlow College’s entry in this year’s Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is entitled ‘Food 4 Thought’ – and it really will get you thinking.

We should have known. From the moment Food, Glorious Food became the Food Industry, alarm bells should have started ringing. Like any other industry, say, the Film Industry, we should have anticipated the upheaval. The scams, the scandals, the marketing, the scares. Gimmicks, hypes, propaganda and the backlash of the media. It's almost worrying the paparazzi aren't involved!

‘Going green' is extending into new and unusual situations. In pursuance of ‘urban agriculture', people living in cities and towns have been encouraged to give serious consideration to installing a kitchen garden on balconies, flat roofs and other suitable high spaces. This initiative should be seen in light with statisticians' predictions suggesting that cities are more likely than rural areas to suffer the effects of any future food shortages. Now ‘greening up' is extending rapidly into country towns and villages - but not necessarily in order to produce food!