you know when its cold

Although not cold enough to now the weather has taken a chill with two hard frosts lately.These events are shown well  the compost bin,and with a family of 4 this can cause problems.On average we put at least half a carrier bag of compostables in the bin and the cold has slowed its workings down by quite a bit , even the worms have gone down into the warmer parts. We have a deliberation,get another composter on the go or cut down on our waste output, and as this stuff we compost is veg peelings etc. this is not what we want to do.If i turn the contents will the lower parts cool too much?  I will have to consult the oracle .

an interesting read

Had a quick look at the Green Choices website here there are some good articles One particularly about power used and standby  The fact that the average house uses around £35 to £50  of electricity a year with products on standby , even our tv watching costs us about £50 to £60 a year to run. It just makes you think about all your appliances really ,in isolation it doesn't sound much but add all your appliances together and wow!  look at your bill.

A day at home.......at last

This post will probably take all day in bits so excuse he bitty nature of it . After a much needed rest after a 9 day stretch at work its time for some comfort food, a wholesome veg stew, the reason for this is we took delivery of our organic veg box last night, this is my wife and my Christmas present from my wife's mother. We get a veg box every third Thursday from Pickering Organics, this is probably the most useful present we have ever had  Food Miles  about ten but as the owner of the company lives less than 3 miles away she can drop it off on the way home, a further reduction in food miles i would say.Its so nice to come home to a cardboard recycled box full of veg, veg for us peelings and box for the wormery, seems like a win win situation to me.
The stew worked really well with great taste as do all the organic meals we cook, its an old cliché but  the veg tastes like it did when i was a kid.

bin ratios

a week or so in and there are a few things that become obvious Firstly i will need bigger or more compost bins particularly in winter when composting slows down , rather than binning everything i can is composted.This has a knock on effect on the waste bin in fact it has half the amount in, compared to comparable weeks even the blue recycle bin has half the contents it did before  . This is probably due to me buying less packaged food particularly veg.How quickly these things make a difference has surprised me .

organic or not, financial or ethical

Decided this morning to head off into town early with a visit to our  market, a place i always visited as a kid. oh dear where has  it gone ?  i remember 5  to 6 veg stalls all competing on price now 2 and hardly a meat stall in view 2 i think The problem i find now is that prices were either more  expensive or at the least the same as large supermarkets .Yes i know the green in me said support these independents but i am on a budget and what are the differences, non stated organic or where they had come from were they any different ? A bit dissolusioned i headed on after buying a few bits, so lets think now  my next stop Fairchilds a local organic ethical retailer, shame i arrived on a day the veg hadnt arrived  but i did buy a nice squash not cheap but good quality . The owner , knew where it all came from , all the veg came from a local site and i could see the value of this knowledge, thanks for the chat Chris.
I can  see why families on tight budgets go for the pre-packed lifestyle and i too have done just that but i have made a desision to follow what i think is good for us as a family  as much as i can that is . Hopefully once the veg gets on the go in my gardens it will be all down to us .

09/01/12 nice mornings digging

Decided to visit my Growing Opportunities plot today and do a little winter digging, although how we can say winter this year is beyond me.I do like some winter weather, helps to organise your growing and lifestyle just think those T-shirts get twice as much wear. Also decided to drop off some bottles on the way as I have to pass a bottle bank,something im ashamed to say i haven't done for many years.Anyway on to the plot; for some reason i found some leek seedlings at home which i lost in the summer ,still in their little black tray,i thought that if they have lasted this long planting out in these springlike conditions could only give them a fighting chance and me , an earlier crop,heres hoping.
Its funny once you decide to be more "GREEN" what you notice, have a look around just see how many PV Solar panels have sprung up  even tempory traffic lights are using then now, i just wish my roof had been a couple of metres bigger, that would have meant i could have got free or a very cheap install, you never know things may change and i may qualify. Joy the post as arrived with my little parcels.Cooking is a bit of a passion so have always used a multitude of herbs and spices , but why buy in little glass jars, it costs more,i dont need the jars,i have to drive 3miles to buy them?  So onto the internet  it was , to find places like The Spice Cellar (www.SpiceCellar.co.uk) or The Spiceworks, both on Ebay,  Here i get the quantities i want, i have the choice of organic and they are cheaper and are delivered to my door. As i said one little change can make a difference.if you know of any-more please let me know.Sat here at the moment it (16:18),you suddenly realise that the nights are getting longer, and as i face south west it is very evident, this is also great news for reducing my heating costs as i have a large picture window which passively heats the front of the house ,i have just got to remember to shut the blinds to keep it in, but it is nice to watch all the Gulls coming to roost in the bay behind the house after a long feeding day on the Wolds.

lets get the ball rolling

Well here we go.After years of looking at various ways to save money and still live well, i sat with my wife and kids and said  "we need to be greener" a sweeping statement yes, but true, .For a while now we have dabbled , with food growing in the front garden,  then a bigger plot , actually half the back garden to be correct,  . The result our green food intake increased  and best of all, for free! My reasons may not be for the good of mankind but, start small cut the famillies financial outlay , eat better food  sounds good to me   . As they say  Reduce  Reuse Recycle  . All i can say is one day i will look back at all this and think we should have done this years ago much like my green mentors life  John Cossham.