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Elizabeth Packard

Elizabeth Packard

In 1860, Elizabeth Packard was a wife and mother of six when her husband did the unthinkable: he had her committed to an asylum.

Not because she was violent. Not because she was unstable. But because she questioned his strict religious views.

At the time in Illinois, a husband could institutionalize his wife without trial, evidence, or her consent. And inside the asylum, Elizabeth discovered the horrifying truth: many of the women locked away were not “insane” at all. They were wives who resisted, daughters who defied, women who refused to be silent.

Elizabeth did not break. She wrote in secret, observed carefully, and waited for her chance.

After three long years, she stood before a jury, defended her right to her own thoughts — and won.

But she didn’t stop there. Elizabeth published her story, exposed wrongful confinement, lobbied lawmakers, and helped change the laws so no woman could so easily be silenced again.

Elizabeth Packard’s courage cost her nearly everything, but it gave countless women the protection she herself had been denied.

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Kindness Travels Through Time

Kingfisher

This wild Kingfisher’s grandparent, I found in the garden, nearly dead, some years ago. Nursed him back to health, and set him free. The next morning, the family swooped down, past me, in gratitude.
A couple of years later, I awoke to find the next generation, a parent of this bird, waiting for me on the terrace, his wing seemed broken. I picked him up and examined him. He never flinched, and stared deeply into my eyes. A thorn had locked his wing from operating. I pulled it out, and set him free. Without fail, he passes my window every day at the same time, crying out to me.
This baby, sat in the tree, eye to eye with me, then flew directly to my hand, and sat there for several minutes, before flying away.
Intuition, compassion, good intent, those essences of love, was all we had. Pure, unspoken.
An energy that has no end, and passes silently onward, much further than we can imagine.
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Zucchini Pizza

3 zucchinis
2 teaspoons salt
1 onion
1 carrot
1 red pepper
handful of parsley
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1.5 cups milk
150 grams cheese

Peel and grate zucchinis
Add salt
Dice onion
Fry onion
Grate carrot
Add carrot to onion in pan
Stir together

Dice a red pepper
Add to pan and stir in
Sprinkle a teaspoon of salt over the mix in the pan
Finely chop parsley
Turn oven on to 200 degrees celcius
Ball zucchini in hands and squeeze liquid from it
Add it to mixing bowl
Add cooked vegetables and parsley to mixing bowl
Into another bowl, mix 3 eggs and milk with 2 cups flour
Pour over vegetable in bowl and mix together
Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper
Oil the baking paper on the baking tray
Spread mix evenly over baking paper
Place in oven and cook at 200 degrees for 35 minutes
Remove from oven and sprinkle 150 grams of cheese over top
Return to oven for 15 minutes at 200 degrees.

Julie gave it an 8 out of 10 but would not eat it again – too much cheese.

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Keyhole Garden Bed

Keyhole Garden Bed

A keyhole garden is the ultimate sustainable method of growing your food. A keyhole garden should reduce the need for watering and feeding your plants.

It’s called a keyhole garden because from above it looks like the shape of a keyhole with the channel in the circular bed left to provide access to the permeable compost heap.

There are lots of variations of a Keyhole Bed, but this is how I do it.

Keyhole gardening originated in Lesotho, in Southern Africa for growing food crops. In regions where the soil was too impoverished to grow food, they created raised beds with a central, permeable compost.

The theory is that the compost leaches out into the soil, feeding plants and reducing the need for watering. It is called a keyhole garden because the raised bed is shaped like a keyhole, with a central walkway (cleft) which enables you to reach the compost heap in the centre.

Keyhole gardening is great for dry arid conditions and droughts and can be used to combat climate change. It is also useful for improving food security.

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Kazakhstan’s Tian Shan Mountains

Kazakhstan’s Tian Shan Mountains

Deep in Kazakhstan’s Tian Shan mountains lies the birthplace of every apple we eat today. This region is home to the wild Malus sieversii, the ancient ancestor of all domesticated apple varieties. Long before cultivation began, bears and birds played a vital role in spreading the seeds throughout the region, unknowingly shaping the apple’s global journey. It wasn’t until 1790 that traders documented these apple-rich forests—marking the beginning of the fruit’s expansion beyond Central Asia.

Tragically, modern agriculture and deforestation have decimated these original forests. Scientists estimate that only around 1% of the ancient Malus sieversii stands still survive today. Conservationists now race to preserve this genetic reservoir, as these ancient apples hold untapped traits like disease resistance and climate adaptability—keys that could shape the future of fruit farming.