Blog

Catch up with our newsletters here. Newsletters are sent to people who've added their email address to our list of subscribers through the website. Occasionally things go wrong: emails can be bounced or messages incorrectly identified as spam. Just follow the link for the relevant month: 2026 September Newsletter (3rd September 2026) https://www.planetshaftesbury.org/so/caQ1elzoF?languageTag=en 2026 August Newsletter (1st August 2026) https://www.planetshaftesbury.org/so/1f

A straw poll of local activists found two questions that people most wanted accurate, detailed and up-to-date answers to: how certain is the survival of the human race if mean global temperatures rise above 2°C, and what are the critical global temperature tipping points and when are we expected to reach them? Note: the answers below were produced by an AI system rather than written by a climate scientist. They broadly reflect mainstream scientific assessment, but specific fi

Mechanisation on the farm enables a relatively small team to produce a wide variety of crops using a number of tractor-mounted machines to help with preparing the land, planting and then weed control during the growing season. Green manures are used to maintain and improve the fertility of the land: Red Clover provides nitrogen fixation in the soil and is used in the cropping rotation; Phacelia is also used as a weed suppressor with the benefit of its flowers providing abunda

Photographs from the Gillingham & Shaftesbury Show, held on 19th and 20th August 2026.

Open Farm Sunday at Coombe House School, 6th June 2026. The write-up of the day appeared in the July newsletter. The Orchard Cluckingham Palace Chicken House Growing plots

"A nut in the hand is worth two in the bush" During the early hours of August 19th I awoke to the sound of light rain and just couldn’t get back to sleep. It seemed to take ages before there was a proper fall, enough to exercise the gutters and trickle down. Later that morning I walked on Castle Hill with the dogs in glorious sunshine - glorious because it wasn’t burning hot and glorious because everything was mercifully damp. The dogs sniffed. We meandered slowly across the

At the time of writing we’ve just entered the last month of summer. Please don’t tell me it’s been wonderful - it has not! The natural world is struggling desperately without any meaningful raindrops for months and burning temperatures are causing absolute chaos for the rhythms and cycles of life which we might normally expect. Although “normal” isn’t any longer the right word. I mean, it’s not like we can pretend that nobody saw this coming. So here we are, 2026, and climate

From the UK Government petitions website: Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks. Created by Christopher Packham. Closes on 20 November 2026. The UK faces growing risks from climate and nature breakdown - from extreme weather to economic disruption and national security threats. Yet the public has never been given a clear national briefing on the scale of these risks. Government should hold an emergency briefing from leading experts. These risks could have seriou

Planet Shaftesbury Meeting Minutes from 20th August 2026

Planet Shaftesbury Meeting Minuts from 18th June 2026

Planet Shaftesbury Meeting Minuts from 18th June 2026

Planet Shaftesbury Meeting Minuts from 14th May 2026

Plantlife UK (https://www.plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/nomowmay/) has launched its No Mow May event for 2026, inviting anyone concerned about the catastrophic decline in our insect populations to sign up to participate in this critical activity. Owing to the expansion of intensive agriculture over recent decades and with the loss of wildflower meadows by up to 97%, our gardens are now at the forefront of providing food and habitats for these insects, especially pollinators whi

Planet Shaftesbury Meeting Minuts from 16th April 2026

Meeting Minutes from the Planet Shaftesbury meeting held on 19th March 2026

Meeting Minutes from the Planet Shaftesbury meeting held on 27th November 2025

Meeting Minutes from the Planet Shaftesbury meeting held on 27th November 2025

Meeting Minutes from the Planet Shaftesbury meeting held on 27th November 2025

Meeting Minutes from the Planet Shaftesbury meeting held on 23rd October 2025

Image taken from 'Making Shaftesbury an Orchard Town', leaflet produced by Shaftesbury Town Council Joe Hashman of Shaftesbury Tree Group...