Ray Lovegrove
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raylovegrove.bsky.social
Ray Lovegrove
@raylovegrove.bsky.social
43 followers 53 following 34 posts
Pusher of radical simple living! Originally from the UK, but now living in rural Sweden. Homesteading, rewilding, and reviving old ways. Politically agrarian. Quaker by convincement.

Podcast "Radical Simple Living" on Apple, Spotify, Audible, etc.
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raylovegrove.bsky.social
www.podomatic.com/podcasts/ray...

New Radical Simple Living Podcast is out S3E4 - all about #Distributism and why it relates to #Hobbit holes. S3E4 wherever you normally listen to podcasts.
A front view of a Hobbit hole. Nice day possibly May.
November 2, 2025 at 3:38 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
A new edition of the Radical Simple Living Podcast has just been published in all the regular places of podcast Or here
www.podomatic.com/.../2025-10-...

It's all about how we can take ideas that developed in the Arts and Crafts Movement and apply them to simple living in the twenty first century.
A nineteenth century poster for an Arts and Crafts Exhibition. A painter is shaking hands with a carpenter.
October 14, 2025 at 5:50 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
Home, husky and hearth. A great combination! #SimpleLiving
An outstandingly good looking young man and his beautiful husky dog!
October 6, 2025 at 1:06 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
A new episode of the Radical Simple Living Podcast is up and running. S3E2 "Cherry Picking, or Gold Mining?" You can listen in your regular podcast places, or follow this link www.podomatic.com/.../2025-09-...
A painting of cherries falling from a picture frame.
September 26, 2025 at 3:56 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
Frost is on the way next week here in southern #Sweden so time to harvest what's left on the pumpkin patch. It's been hard to get any crop this year due to a summer long drought! #Homesteading #GrowFood
A colourful selection of pumpkins and squash.
September 21, 2025 at 12:37 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
“ You can't instantly reap what you sow today, it does not work like instant grits, no matter what you sow in life it takes time to grow and be ready for harvest” ~James D. Wilson

#SimpleLiving

Artwork by N. de Moor - Farmer sowing Seeds, 20th century oil on board .
A painting of a farmer broadcasting seeds with birds flying behind him.
September 3, 2024 at 7:24 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
In case you missed it, this Radical Simple Living Podcast (series1 episode 20) is available in all the normal places or right here!

www.podomatic.com/podcasts/ray...

Making your life more simple may involve you in making small steps in the right direction.

#SimpleLiving #Podcast
The number ten is painted in white on an old red door.
April 27, 2024 at 7:55 AM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
“This is the core of voluntary simplicity. We are trying to find a way to live that helps us become fully alive. We are trying to discover and remove the things that are deadening, that cause us to escape … all the things that numb us and put us to sleep.”

~ Cecile Andrews

#SimpleLiving
A young girl stands outside the homestead with a small black and white cat.
April 27, 2024 at 7:49 AM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
The latest Radical Simple Living Podcast is up and about (S2E21). You can hear it in any of the normal places or listen here -
www.podomatic.com/podcasts/ray...

Planning is important, but vision is more important still. Simple living will involve you in using vision to help secure your future.
An old magazine cover shows a blindfolded woman with a crystal ball.
April 15, 2024 at 3:10 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
A new episode of the Radical Simple Living Podcast is up and running! In all podcast places or here-

www.podomatic.com/podcasts/ray...

Simple living involves solving some of life's problems, in fact any kind of living involves solving problems. Abraham Maslow might just help us out on this one!
A triangle showing Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
April 1, 2024 at 3:27 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
The latest Radical Simple Living Podcast has just been published. Available in all podcast places or here-

podomatic.com/podcasts/raylo…

"This Land is Your Land" or is it?#SimpleLivingn#RadicalChangeg#Landn#Agrariana#UseOfTheLandn#Planningn#Homesteadingn#Podcastst
A photograph of an Edwardian working gardener using a wheelbarrow as a chair.
March 18, 2024 at 4:00 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
Getting closer to the land is a simple way to improve your life. If you don't have the means to grow your own crops you can still make your local environment better by communicating with those who do!  Protect wildlife, care for your surroundings, and enjoy those wild places!

#SimpleLiving
A man takes a well earned rest from his work in an urban garden.
March 7, 2024 at 3:53 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
The brand new Radical Simple Living Podcast is up and running in all the normal places, or right here-

www.podomatic.com/podcasts/ray...

Agrarian - are you?

In this episode I use a tartan to explain all about agrarianism! You will need to listen to find out more.

#SimpleLiving #Agrarian
The beautiful red and green tartan of the Clan Maxwell.
March 4, 2024 at 4:46 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
Simple living isn't a destination that we intend to reach, it's a journey that we plan to take. We all start from different points and the routes we take may be diverse, but we are always fellow travellers.

Artwork from Lisa Graa Jensen
A garden behind a homestead has gardening taking place and laundry being hung on a line. A tabby cat is in the foreground.
February 29, 2024 at 6:35 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
"Preserve your freedom; and maintain your independency, be industrious and free, be frugal and free."

~Benjamin Franklin

#SimpleLiving #RadicalChange #Frugality #Freedom #Nonconformity
A man in a straw hat is digging a trench in his garden.
February 24, 2024 at 12:32 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
“We have become a nation dangerously dependent on politically motivated and money-motivated processes for our food, clothing, and shelter. In the world we must live in from now on, to produce our own food is the beginning of independence.”

- Gene Logsdon
A set of allotment gardens showing a diversity of fruit and vegetable crops.
February 24, 2024 at 11:47 AM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
Some things are imposed upon us. Words like "improvement" or "progress" are used to try and convince us of their value, but in reality it's not the case. Think very carefully before you rush to embrace these things and remember that saying "no" can sometimes be a very powerful tool!

#SimpleLiving
Self checkout sign. AI represented as some pointless graphic. Sign for chatbot. Young children using tick-tock.
February 23, 2024 at 3:41 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
Taking steps towards a simpler lifestyle may not bring you happiness, but it will help you achieve the much greater prize of contentment. Happiness is an occasional visitor in our lives, but contentment can be our daily companion.

#SimpleLiving #RadicalChange #Contentment
A family out on a country walk.
February 22, 2024 at 2:11 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
Being more self - sufficient in any way you can,  makes you more able to withstand pressures on you and your family. Growing food, cooking meals from scratch, needlework, woodwork, home repairs etc. aren't just pass times, they are important life skills!

#SimpleLiving #RadicalChange #Homesteading
A young woman busy at her carpentry.
February 20, 2024 at 3:35 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
The brand new Radical Simple Living Podcast is up and running! In all normal podcast places or here-

www.podomatic.com/podcasts/ray...

S2E17.
 We are all influenced, from cradle to grave, but between those two landmarks we need to take control ourselves and keep influencers at arm's length.
A string puppet looking a little uncomfortable with the influence of her string puller.
February 19, 2024 at 3:04 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
Many think that the movement towards simplicity is just a move against technology. In reality, simple living involves you in making careful choices about the sustainability, reliability, and reparability of the technology you use. If you don't have a genuine need for a device then don't get it!
An old fashioned WC as developed by Thomas Crapper.
February 18, 2024 at 3:04 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
All of you reading this in the Northern Hemisphere - if you want to grow food in your garden this summer, or if you want to grow more food, start planning now! Plan well, buy seeds, read about it, and have dreams!

#SimpleLiving #RadicalChange #GrowingFood #Homesteading #Gardening
A small, but productive vegetable garden complete with scarecrow!
February 16, 2024 at 3:19 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
Living simply today is voluntary - it is also an act of nonconformity and may even be seen as a radical act of passive resistance – it’s really up to you!  2/2

Artwork from Carl Larsson
A summer Swedish garden in the early years of the twentieth century.
February 14, 2024 at 3:11 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
Not too long ago a life of rural simplicity was the norm for many. Today, a complex life is the ‘norm’ which we are all expected to accept, and a simple life is a choice that we make and an aspiration that we work towards. 1/2 

Artwork from Carl Larsson
A painting of a summer Swedish garden in the early years of the 20th century.
February 14, 2024 at 3:08 PM
raylovegrove.bsky.social
It's worthwhile making some room for darkness in our lives. Escape electric lighting for a while. On a clear winter evening go for a walk, carry a flashlight and something reflective, but get away from the lighting of houses and street lamps, enjoy the darkness and the beauty of the night sky.
A beautiful night sky free from electric lighting.
February 12, 2024 at 12:55 PM