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We have only 100 harvests left if we carry on with modern farming methods. So warns writer and farmer John Lewis-Stempel about the state of our chemical-polluted soil.  An area once rich in wildlife has, in forty years, lost many species once taken for granted. In The Running Hare  he tells of a small experiment in restoring a field to its original state. 

Restoration of a different kind in Addlands, the latest novel from  Radnorshire author Tom Bullough.  Using some of the rich vocabulary of the region -  some current, some near-extinct -  Bullough explains to Phil Rickman his purpose in telling the story of one farming family over a period of 70 years from 1941.

If some borders words appear to defy lexicographers, then they are not the only mysteries to lurk in the area. Many borders churches feature carvings of the so-called ‘Green Man’. But like some Radnorshire dialect words, what  exactly do these carvings signify? Are they pagan? Are they Christian symbols? In a highly personal and critically-acclaimed account,  Nina Lyon goes on a hunt for the origins of the Green Man in Wales and beyond in her book Uprooted.

Don’t forget Shelf Starters returns later in the series. If you ‘ve drafted a novel and would  like a professional opinion on it, why not send us the first 25 pages plus a synopsis?  Send them to shelfstarters@bbc.co.uk .