On Wednesday 27 May 2026, four corporate volunteers from Network Rail joined resident volunteer gardener Simon Kelly at Westbury Arts Centre in Shenley Wood, Milton Keynes, for a day of community gardening with Planting Up. The result exceeded our expectations… The weather did its best to complicate things. After a heat wave earlier in the…
DetailsIf you’ve been part of the Planting Up community for a while, you may have noticed things have been quieter than usual for some time. No regular volunteer days at Westbury Arts Centre. Fewer events. No emails or social posts for months. A blog without any news since 2025. Here’s an honest explanation… What happened…
DetailsThere is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from being told, again and again, that things cannot be different. That the way we grow food, build cities, spend money and organise society is simply the way it has to be. That dreaming of something better is naive, or worse, dangerous. It isn’t! Two thinkers…
DetailsKombucha is fermented tea. It’s simply sweetened tea brewed with a culture of bacteria and yeast (aka, SCOBY which stands for ‘symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast’). The result is a tangy, slightly sweet, refreshing drink that’s packed with probiotics and vitamin C that does wonders for your gut. Introducing: SCOBY What is a SCOBY?…
DetailsI was lucky enough to get an early view of the new Weston Open Living Lab that the Open University (OU) Milton Keynes (MK) has created to tackle crucial sustainability issues. This blog tells the story of my tour…
DetailsSee how our new garden sign was put together, backed by our volunteer group, and designed and made by Millery Design…
DetailsOn 22 June UK citizens will be taking part in a family-friendly, legal march behind one simple message – Restore Nature Now – in a call for all political parties to take urgent action to restore nature and tackle climate change in the UK.
DetailsSafe and sustainable alternatives for weed control are available, where necessary. Help to stop the use of pesticides in Milton Keynes…
DetailsHugelkultur is a sustainable gardening method that utilises compostable biomass to create raised garden beds. Here’s how we did created one…
DetailsView Dominic Walliman’s “Map of Plants” or take a tour through his video to visualise the complex diversity and evolution of plants…
Details
