best blog of the day award

thankyou whoever nominated me best blog of the day. best blog of the day and in the local paper in the same week, watch this space.

Recycling christmas trees

We ended up keeping the fake tree this year and will put it on freecycle in a few days or in December, then go back to having a real tree again. Normally I would recycle the tree and not like many people who just throw it in the bin or by the side of the road. I strikes me as strange how a thing that can be treated with such respect one day and then thoughtlessly discarded the next.

Anyway this is how I use mine, this is assuming that you have at least a garden or an allotment plot. If you have neither I would suggest taking it to your local household recycling centre. Most of the eight million trees bought each Christmas will be thrown away after December, generating over 12,000 tonnes of additional rubbish. That’s nearly six times the weight of the London Eye. If you know somebody who does not no how to get rid of it offer to take theirs for them I’m sure they will be pleased.

Firstly I take the tree outdoors, next take an axe or saw and remove all the branches, keep all but the very smallest, dump the rest on the compost. These branches will become protection for peas and beans. They also will last you for a few years, so you end up with a collection.

Then place all the branches on a piece of tarp or in an old compost bag. If you do use a bag keep it in a dry place. Over time all the needles will fall off and you are left with a good mulch that will keep the slugs at bay, well some of them.

The main trunk has many uses, if you have a woodburning stove then it’s fuel. I take off about 12 inches from the thick end to make a mallet, which is great for non- delicate tasks. The rest of the trunk I use for climbing plants.

In my opinion this is the best way to recycle your tree, rather than it just being put through a shredder to make simple mulch. If I can aquire a tree I’ll take photos of the process, although I don’t want to ask too many people or I’ll end up with forty trees by the back door.

resolutions for 2007

I never really make resolutions but I like to think about what phsyical things I want to achieve for the new year, so here goes

Finish work in house tile floor skirting etc

Finish the shed/workshop which will be used to store tools bikes and homebrew, it’s an ideal place as it faces north and is always in the shade. It is also a better place for a water butt as our garden is on a slope so having the butt at the top will mean I will be able to connect a hose pipe.

Build a rain water catchment system, collecting water from the roof into a storage tank to be used to flush the downstairs toilet and possibly the washing machine, if I can find a cheap filter. This would be our biggest step towards self-sufficiency.

Reapply to the council to try and purchase the garden behind mine.

Build a wall at the front of the house, as it was taken down when we had the extention build to allow skips and bricks etc to be delivered. At the moment it is just layed to gravel and a waste of space, I want it to be another part of our permaculture garden, growing veg and bigger herbs like bay. I want people to see from the street that a front garden can be just as productive as a back garden.

I think thats enough for now, there are many things that I want to do but actions are better than words so I’ll keep it simple for now and get these out of the way first, partly because they were the things that I said I would get done this year. This is the reason I don’t make resolutions as when I don’t stick to them I have guilt as well as the fact that I have failed. Not getting something finished can be bad enough without feeling guilty about it.

Anyway happy new year, and if you do make resolutions don’t feel bad when you don’t stick to them, you can always make them again next year.

Barter economy

My friends father shoots rabbits locally and will often bring me round a fresh one from time to time. There will be a knock at the door and a guy with a smile on his face holding up a plastic bag, it always makes me laugh, there needs to be no words. However due to the recent cider being bottled I was able to offer payment, one bottle one rabbit. He normally gives it to me for nothing but I wanted to offer something this time.

I just hope that it will work when the game keeper my wife knows brings us some pheasants, I think it will be harder to convince him.

Christmas eve

The house was full, family, friends, was I toasting the festive season no I was upstairs washing bottles in the bath and bottling up the cider, now thats commitment. Merry Christmas to you all.

I ended up with 30 bottles but I’m sure I should have had more, thats why you should never leave a barrel unattended when drunk friends are round.

cold but beautiful

These photos were taken today at Normanby Hall country park.

cold morning

This the first day this winter that it was just too cold to just add another layer so the heating went on. This is officially, in our house, the latest day in the year we have gone without resorting to the heating. This year is deffinatly hotter than the last few years, but I’m waiting to see what feruary and march are like till I start digging a swimming pool.

Insulation is the key to keeping our house warm, before we had an extention built we had metal framed windows with gaps and no insulation in the loft or walls. Now we have it all, and the difference it has made is amazing. We have an open plan downstairs with four main rooms, but only three radiators, two of which are quite small. All of them have foil behind then so as to direct heat back into the room instead of heating the wall. We keep all the doors closed and close curtains and blinds as soon as the sun goes down. The heating will then go on at about 4 o’clock and off again at about 9 o’clock, this means it’s not too warm for the kids in bed, but warm enough for me untill I get my arse into bed.

We never have the heating on in the night I don’t see what for, you are wrapped in a duvet and blankets? We also sleep with the windows open, as me and my wife hate to sleep without the fresh air, and yes our bedroom is freezing in the morning. It makes you get dressed quicker. I’m not a sadist, if the kids are cold I will put the heating on, for a while but I’ll also ask them ot put thicker clothes on first, and then see if they are still cold.

I think that alot of people put the heating on through routine behavior, it’s winter we better put the heating on regardless of the temperature. Stick on a jumper wear a vest, make a cup of tea, forget fashion and be warm. Enjoy the different temperatures.

wrapped up

Why buy wrapping paper when you get the kids to make it for free. This roll of backing paper cost £1 from wilkinsons.

Garlic finally appears

I planted this garlic ( Garlic Printanor )in late October and thought it would never appear. I bought it online from The Organic Gardening Catalogue. I have some planted in the herb spiral and the rest i in pots around the patio. As always they are planted possibly too close together but when you have limited space it’s hard not to try and cram them in, besides bulbs are supposed to grow close together to keep each other company. I have tried these this year as normally I just get bulbs from the green grocers but they never seem to get to a decent size, we will see if it’s the bulbs or my lack of green finger ability.

christmas trees real or fake ?

I have a slight dilema this week as a relative brought round a fake christmas tree, that they no longer want. It is in perfect condition but it causes the eco warrior in me to take stock of the situation. Normally we choose to have a real tree, that we source from local growers. You could say that the sacrifice that the tree makes, for years of growing to then be cut down to spend a few weeks in the corner of the room, means that I should go for a fake tree that may last for many many years, leaving the living thing in the ground. However you would be wrong.

If a tree is sourced with care then you can find yourself purchasing from a local suppiler, which means the embodied energy in producing that tree is virtually zero. I knew a game keeper who reared pheasants for shooting, he had a patch of land where he grew various types of Christmas tree, it provided him with a bonus at Christmas and the rest of the year it was cover for the young pheasants. A duel purpose crop which also was a much needed break in the hedgeless expanses of the Lincolnshire agricultural landscape. Without this regular coppicing this small area of trees would soon turn into an overgrown copse which would not cater for the same variety of animals, or would end up being turned back into farm land.

On the other hand buying a live tree each year is a wasteful tradition that contributes needlessly to deforestation. A plastic tree will last for years. A fake plastic tree however comes from half way round the world not to mention the petrolium based materials that go into making it. Also as fashions change and things break these things find there way to the landfill site, you can stick one on the compost heap but you may be waiting a while. Thinking that buying a fake tree will stop the trees being cut down is a false hope, if there was no call for them you may see a whole plantation cut down in favour of a more lucrative crop.

However this does not solve my present problem of what to do with this fake tree I was given. I could put it on freecycle then go out and buy another, but would that be against my principles? I have this thing in my possession, should I make use of it in favour of what I want?