What a lovely warm welcome...put a smile on my dial......I am an amateur gardener and I am raising a purely edible cottage garden of around half an acre in a semi-rural / urban setting which I cultivate and maintain mindful and intuitively with a focus on doing my tiny, but significant, part in healing our planet and nurturing a green-minded family ...which has worked pretty well so far...its a family affair...dirty kids are happy kids..If I feel/see a plant isn't happy then I move it...which then yields a-plenty for me. Trial and error learning I guess. And weeds are allowed. Bees are dying out partly because 'gardeners' inadvertently remove their natural habitat. And Bees make my garden grow. . I share the space with my hubby, four kids, a dog, 6 chooks and 3 bunnies. And occasionally my horse.
So sorry to hear that bees are having a rough time surviving in the UK as well. Sometimes we here in the US get the idea that problems are unique to us, when they are actually world problems.
Do you do much food preservation from your garden? Canning, freezing, drying, pickling?
Not ventured into preserving much beyond jams and chutneys yet...as my kids grow up I am gradually getting more time to dedicate to it so hope to do more...