Bishopston is full of many creative and talented people and local mum and award-winning writer, Lia Leendertz, is just one of them.

Lia has plans to write The New Almanac, a book which revives the tradition of the rural almanac for a new generation.

The book is planned as the first edition of an annual publication, with each edition split into 12 monthly sections.

It is aimed at readers who want to connect with the seasons, through gardening, eating seasonally, moon gazing, foraging, celebrating feast days and picking seasonal flowers.

Photo credit: Kirstie Young

The aim of the almanacs is to give readers the tools and inspiration they need to celebrate, mark and appreciate each month of the year in their own particular way.

A set of tables each month will give it the feel and weight of a traditional almanac, providing practical information that gives access to the outdoors and the seasons, useful for expeditions, meteor-spotting nights and beach holidays.

There will also be essays on each month’s unique nature, folklore and stories, seasonal recipes and ID charts relevant to the month.

Lia has set up a crowdfunding campaign to help her get The New Almanac published. There are various ‘rewards’ given to supporters who pledge particular amounts of money towards the campaign, which can be anything from £10 to £1000.

For example, a £10 pledge will entitle the supporter to The New Almanac ebook, access to Lia’s shed and their name printed in the back of the book.

A £50 pledge will entitle the supporter to a garden consultation with Lia herself, plus a signed first edition of the hardback book, an ebook, access to Lia’s shed and their name printed in the back of the book. You can see details of more rewards here.

To date, Lia has reached 65% of her necessary target, however there is still a considerable way to go.

If you would like to pledge some money towards Lia’s crowdfunding campaign please visit https://unbound.com/books/the-new-almanac.

There is a discount code for Bishopston Mum readers of ‘bishopston16’. Just pop this code in when ordering.