Fungus, Frankincense and Festive Recycling
Join Mark Stephen and Euan McIlwraith for the latest outdoor activities from Shetland to the Borders, plus the key stories for those who live and work in the countryside.
Euan visits the gardens of Hospitalfield House in Arbroath to find out about their ambitious plans for the historical grounds.
In our latest midweek podcast, author Raynor Winn shared her remarkable story with Mark Stephen and Helen Needham. We have an excerpt of her story of long-distance walking, homelessness and the power of nature.
In the week that scientists say the weight of human-made objects will likely exceed that of living things by the end of the year and in the run up to Christmas, our archive piece comes from December 2019 when Mark visited Moray Wastebusters. They aim to reuse and recycle the things that people throw away and as Mark finds out, that includes festive decorations.
Scotland鈥檚 Tree of the Year, 鈥淭he Survivor", a rowan tree at Carrifran near Moffat has been chosen to represent Great Britain in the European Tree of the Year competition. We are joined live by Jill Donnachie from The Woodland Trust who run the British competitions to tell us about what winning Tree of the Year is all about. Plus, Fi Martynoga from The Borders Forest Trust who nominated The Survivor, tells us its story.
Laura Guthrie is also at Hospitalfield House looking for fungus in the company of Jim Cook from the Tayside and Fife Fungal Group. Even in December there are things to be found.
A few months ago Euan was on Mull. While he was there, he visited Clach na Criche also known as the wishing stone. As he finds out, this boundary stone has an interesting magical reputation.
What will an outdoor Christmas be like for families? Jim Muotune tells us about his plans to make use of his gazebo over the festive period.
Euan has been coming up with yet another mystery bird, this one might prove tricky.
And after telling us all about gold last week, Mark turns his head to Frankincense. What is it and why would the Magi have been bringing it to an infant Jesus?