Ian Alcock’s A Hill Farmer’s Year (Swan Hill, Shrewsbury, £19.95, ISBN 1 85310 489 2) takes us from his new year – March, as the winter winds to an end – through a year’s work on the hills. November is the breeding season for ewes, the time for rowan, whitebeam and elderberries, and a chance for foxes and rooks to feast on wild cherries or geans. Illustrated with watercolours, this will make a good fireside read when it gets too cold to go out and see the real thing.
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
A type of fibre that stimulates GLP-1 release approved for use in food
2
The world's fastest spider tops 3.5 metres per second
3
What is 'SpudCell'? Arguably the greatest bioengineering feat yet
4
The weirdness of neutrinos could completely rewrite particle physics
5
Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse
6
The best new science-fiction novels published in July 2026
7
Babies are born with the neural foundations for maths
8
This physicist is hunting for the biggest black hole in the universe
9
We’ve uncovered a master gene that switches on human development
10
We’re not the most successful human species
