It seems a strange way to begin the story of a new ‘eco house’, with the tale of felling a tree. But in terms of construction, building out of wood is one of the best things you can do for storing and absorbing carbon, and I did hug this tree first… Read more
Aspen planted in 1.8m tubes by Loch Torridon.
Over the past year I have been involved in a project to plant 3,500 native trees on Ben Damph Estate in the Highlands of Scotland. It was a part of a Forestry Commission Scotland grant to improve woodland in an area previously infested with rhododendron ponticum. This blog is an attempt to exchange knowledge on the challenges of planting in a landscape shared with red deer and rhoddies, and a little bit of philosophy about the joys of planting trees…
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A pine marten looking for danger – and peanuts.
A few weeks ago I spent a very enjoyable evening in the hide at Aigas Field Centre, where BBC Springwatch is filmed, watching a pine marten happily munching peanuts – until a badger came along… Read more
I have recently written a piece for Spectator Life on why goose are back in fashion this Christmas – following the news Theresa May favours goose over turkey. Here is a photo story about how I plucked and gutted my own goose for Christmas, making sure to save the fat for the roast potatoes – just like our Prime Minister likes them. Read more
Free-range turkeys raised with care by farmer Lucy Beattie
Writing The Ethical Carnivore taught me how to shoot, fish and butcher animals. Most importantly, it taught me to be grateful for the meat we eat. Read more
This 8-pointer stag is in the height of the rut, roaring to demonstrate his willingness to fight for the chance to mate with the hinds.
If you have already read chapter 14 of The Ethical Carnivore, you will understand this is a little bit of a postscript… Read more
Tagging gannets on the Bass Rock.
I was lucky enough to visit the Bass Rock with Leeds University scientists to tag gannets. A short piece has already appeared in the Guardian Country Diary so I just wanted to add a few photos here and note my family connection to the island.
The cover of The Ethical Carnivore published by Bloomsbury September 2016
After much deliberation, The Ethical Carnivore has a cover and the build up to publication has begun. Read more
A roe deer skull I found on Glen Clova. The back of the antlers were black so I wonder if it was running from the muirburn? Or died before the heather was burnt off?
Preparing squirrel to a Nigella recipe.
In the latest update to The Ethical Carnivore project, I eat grey squirrel killed as part of a programme to protect the red population. Read more
