Nature Spot

I love food - and I love seasonal food - for lots o reasons.

The recent purchase of a butternut squash inspired the cooking of butternut squash risotto, and got me thinking again about all the other things I can make from this vast vegetable, the joy and importance of eating seasonally.

Eating seasonally can help us connect with nature’s seasons, use up what we have grown on our allotment on veg patch or in our balcony pots.

It can reduce emissions from the food we eat and the other environmental impacts of that food.

The link to the website I mentioned is below.

I woke up this morning with that feeling of ickiness that I feel when it’s grey, cold and wet outside. 

Feeling somewhat 'self-judgy' at not wanting to venture out into the drizzle, I headed to my new 'illustrated journal' for solace. 

Today's diminutive episode is about me surprising myself at the quality of my nature connection through this new daily journal - and I wanted to share it with you, because sometimes - when you really don't want to go out but still want to connect with nature - you might find that this really does the trick!

I have a few prompts below to start you off if you would like to try it.  All you need is pen and paper - no expensive art supplies required. Add colour if you want to - use what you have and see how you feel.

7 days of Prompts

* birds I see from my window

* different leaves I have seen today while out and about

* interesting seeds and seed heads

* how many kinds of wild berries spotted recently

* things I like to make with foraged fruit

* different types of tree bark (can you spot at least 3 different barks)

* the spiders in your kitchen (or wherever they congregate ;-))

Let me know what you think, do you journal? Will you give it a go now?

Today’s episode is a bit of a ramble - you will see why and I challenge you to count how many times I said ‘apple’ in the main part of the recording.

I hope you enjoy this episode - and would love your thoughts on apples, local food, local food, food systems, accessibility, or indeed anything else nature related.

Today, I’m talking to Kathryn Reynolds, whom I first met virtually through a mutual friend when we formed a running group for the RunAroundTheWorld challenge -

As you know, the Nature Spot podcast aims to bring the outside in and help people to connect with nature so that they feel it’s wellbeing benefits and hopefully love it more.

Kathryn is a wonderful example of someone who connects with nature daily (unless the weather is really very unfriendly), and does so in a dynamic way - through cycling. She shares beautiful photos on her Instagram account every day, and she agreed to talk to me about how she connects with nature, what she gets from that, and what keeps her heading outdoors, even as the mornings grow colder and darker.

I ventured out today despite my initial reluctance to get out in the rain, and am now feeling smug :-)
Well OK not smug, but definitely happier for pulling on my boots and jacket and heading out to the woods under my over sized umbrella.

How do you connect with nature when the weather in not enticing? Do you head out anyway, watch the world go by through your window or do something else to connect?

Today's bonus episode was recorded on 11th September - on the last afternoon of my short holiday on the South Devon coast and as promised, at the end of Episode 15 - I wanted to share with you the sounds of the sea - without the interruption of talking.

I wanted to do this because it's really such a beautiful sound - and a very distinct one - so it might be fairly easy for you to close your eyes and see in your mind's eye the beach or piece of coast that you last visited, and so transport you to a place of good memories.

Following my return from the seaside, I also realised how valuable these sounds could be to those of you who have not had a chance to visit the sea in some while, or who might struggle to get out of the house. On the first morning of my holiday - I spoke to my grandma who has been house-bound for a number of years, and was unable to travel any distance even before that. I called her from the beach where I recorded this episode - so that she could listen to the waves. It had been a couple of decades since she was able to visit the sea, and she told me how much it meant to her to be able to hear it. How good just those few moments made her feel and the good memories that the sound conjured.

And so for those of you who love the sea but who have not seen it for a while - for any reason - I hope that this brings some joy,

Today I’m speaking with Maddie. An artist and photographer who lives in Berlin with her husband, and has been finding nature even in the big city, watching the leaves change colour as autumn comes in, and connecting with nature.

She shares a very personal story of loss and grief, and how nature has helped her and her husband to navigate through this time. I am very grateful to you Maddie for sharing your story, and I know that your sharing of it, and of your spiritual connection to nature will bring comfort to a number of those listening, as it has to me.

Maddie also shares her wonder and joy in the every-day things like squirrels, conkers and pineapples, and tips on connecting with nature if, like me, you find it a struggle sometimes.

This week I’m talking to Heather about the power of nature to heal us, messy gardens, veg patches, the community of community gardening, getting comfortable with silence and making nature connection a habit which is good for the soul. 

We talk about connecting in a physical way too, to the walking or the feel of the soil, to the exercise, which are so good for our bodies too - although the two are of course connected. 

We recorded out chat over zoom, so you will hear some variation in the sound quality.

Many thanks to Heather for joining me and sharing some personal insights, and I hope that our discussion inspires you to let your garden grow a little bit wild(er), and to connect with nature wherever and whenever you can. As Heather said - “nature is the route to happiness”.

This week’s (unedited) episode was recorded just yesterday, during my last few hours in Paignton where I spent just a few days making the most of the late summer sunshine.

I know that we had a seaside episode just last week but frankly I have felt recently that I have really needed it!

This episode is really about just being - and how difficult our conditioning can make it for us to just stop. I hope you enjoy it, and would love to hear from you - as always - on this or the subject of any other 'nature spot' which has meaning for you.

Here are the links I mentioned at the end of the recording: