What’s in this issue?
Does any flower say summer quite as loudly and proudly as the sunflower? With the climate warming, more and more farmers are growing this glorious plant – sometimes as a crop to be harvested for bird food or vegetable oil – but increasingly as a ‘pick your own’ flower and often as a backdrop for social media selfies. Either way, we love a good sunflower and are recommending 21 great sunflower farms to visit this season (there’s bound to be one near you!).
Next up, and into the kitchen, chef-extraordinaire Miranda Gore Browne has some delicious lamb recipes for you to try at home and some scrumptious blackberry swirl meringues, too.
Elsewhere and into the garden, Nicola Stocken is recommending 17 plants and techniques to climate-proof your garden: from permeable paving and living walls to the best plants for pollinators.
Finally, if you love horses (or know someone who does), we’ve got a special equine focus in this edition, including an indispensable five-page events guide.
Also
in this edition…
- Sunflowers radiate joy and create a spectacular flash of colour across the British countryside and farmers are increasingly growing them – Lorna Maybery recommends 21 great sunflower farms to visit.
- Climate-friendly farming – we go behind the scenes at the family-run farm and farm shop, Copleys of Pontefract, where they have a passion for good, local and sustainable food.
- Enter our competition to win a wonderful woollen throw made from British wool, courtesy of our friends at Glencroft – worth £169!
- Great British food – Miranda Gore Browne puts the spotlight on British lamb, including some delicious recipes and, with autumn on the horizon, there’s also a recipe for a delicious blackberry meringue swirl.
- Feathered focus - Focus on chicken coops, coccidiosis disease and chicken arithmetic. Plus, a spotlight on the Old English Pheasant Fowl breed.
- Diary dates - From country shows to foodie events, we bring you a rundown of all the best September events and shows for rural dwellers.
- The sustainable garden - as each year brings new challenges with gardens throughout Britain bearing the brunt of flooding, hosepipe bans and extremes of weather, Nicola Stocken focuses on how to climate-proof your garden.
- Rare breed – Alix Chidley-Uttley looks at that true stalwart of the English countryside and beyond, the Hereford cow.
- View from the Farm – With harvest in mind, Leicestershire farmer Joe Stanley reflects on a challenging growing season, particularly with long spells of hot and dry weather.
- Get ready for autumn/ winter - With the days beginning to shorten once more, here’s our guide to all the equine kit you need for the autumn and winter months.
- Five-page events guide - From Burghley and HOYS to the London International Horse Show and the Royal Windsor Horse Show 2026, our five-page event equestrian event guide will reveal all the major shows and events for equestrian fans.
- Horse-logging - We go behind-the-scenes with a horse logger working with Dales ponies to pull timber out of woodlands – a traditional low-impact extraction system.
