For the farmer, it's the moment when they finally discover whether a year's worth of investment has paid off. Seeds, fertiliser, machinery, fuel, labour, weather, loans and uncertainty all come long before a single pound of income arrives. In this latest Stories from the Farm article, I explore the economics behind growing wheat and why a successful harvest doesn't always mean a profitable year. Understanding the financial pressures farmers face helps us have better conversations about food, prices and the future of farming. I'd love to hear your thoughts after you've read it. Find it here 👉

There is a difference between Climate Change and Weather. The first is all about long-term trends and patterns. Temperature changes that used to take place over hundreds of years are now occurring over decades. The second is what the forecast is for today or this week. Weather is fascinating in its own right; it makes for amazing sunsets and cloud formations, it waters out gardens and crops, and it changes what we wear. If you love the experience of weather and want to understand it better, here is the Skool for you: The Weather Watchers Community

Please welcome @Suki Zoe. Suki is a fellow Green Party member and our social media Director for the East Hampshire Green Party. But she is also my girlfriend. So I am a very biased. All members are equal, but some are a little bit more... special. Sorry, but it is true. We live in a world of individuals, some of whom have close family, but even they may be scattered across a nation or even across continents. One of the greatest challenges facing us as we try to reduce the impact of the Climate Crisis is the need to connect with others, build alliances and friendships, build communities, and work together. Village life, for most of us, is not even a memory. So our understanding of what community looks like may be sketchy at best. I have found recently that even when ideals overlap, you can have conflict. The sense of urgency battles with the concept of the right or wrong way to do things. Even when I feel our efforts are minuscule and will have no impact at all, I still want to do the right thing, say the right thing, treat others with respect, and yet I want to move forward quickly. We are in an emergency; tipping points loom on the horizon. When my efforts seem thwarted by my colleagues, I feel panicked. We can battle over the minutiae of wording and intent, or we can do the best we can and keep moving. But the cost of haste can result in weeks of delay. The need to align efforts, again and again, is vital in order to avoid the kind of conflict that can tear nascent communities apart. I find this requirement agonisingly frustrating, but I have found this last month even more painful as I see the results of pushing for speed, rather than understanding, have set us back. The broken nature of our modern lives means that trust is low. Intention is doubted and tested. We are willing to offer some leeway, but we seek the proof that the other is genuine. We are ready to pounce at the slightest hint that ill will is intended. It is understandable; there are so many examples of deviousness and self-serving actions all around us. The only way to overcome this is self-reflection, owning our own actions, then seeking to understand the other. When a conflict occurs, time is needed for this process to run its course.

There was a time when it represented progress. It meant making something once instead of cutting down another tree. It meant building products that lasted instead of replacing them every few months. That intention wasn't wrong. What changed was us. Somewhere along the way, we stopped seeing plastic as something worth keeping and it became something to throw away. That's a very different idea, which is why I don't think the answer is to clear the house of everything made from plastic. If you've got a bucket that's been in the shed for twenty years, it's doing exactly what it was designed to do. The bucket isn't the problem. Throwaway thinking is. That's one of the reasons I like the idea behind Plastic-Free July. Not because anyone needs to be perfect for a month, but because it creates a pause. A chance to notice how often convenience quietly wins, or how quickly we replace something that's still perfectly useful simply because replacing it has become normal. Once you notice those moments, they have a habit of staying with you. The next decision feels a little different, not because someone told you what to do, but because you've started seeing the choice in front of you. I believe most lasting change begins with that.

Hello! I'm Rachele, a mom of 7 (bio/step/foster) kids, an artist, a software developer, an avid gardener learning about permaculture and food forests. One of my kids has an enormous amount of anxiety around climate change, and I'm learning more and trying to figure out how we can be more actively involved towards making a better future for the planet. I quit my corporate job recently for ethical reasons and I'm making digital tools to help people uncover and pursue their passions and values to do great things together, and I'm committing to building my life around things that matter to me. Climate activism is one of those investments in myself.