The new year cycle approaches, and what will it bring? What green commitment will we pledge to ourselves?. These are questions we should all ask ourselves, not silly goals realistic ones,a little less packaging,fewer food miles, they are realistic goals.
 I have the job of keeping a garden looking good and with a history of great cottage tradition, there is also a compost system to set up, with very strict instructions no smell no flies very low maintenance, and no rats.
 So an open bin could only be used for leaves , my thoughts are towards a HOTBIN  although cost could be  an issue, thoughts ?

Just a quick note to wish you all a happy Solstice

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As we head towards that time of year again,,,,,,I mean the solstice, its time to reflect on what has been and what might be in the future.
Its been a busy year i suppose with my move towards a greener lifestyle taking shape , more recycling, less packaging less take-aways, (how i miss them sometimes)  and the beautiful toastie Clearview pioneer 400 stove.Add to that the starting of this blog and my new ethical gardening venture ,, I am proud of how far towards my goals i have come, the addition of my lovely new chainsaw will hopefully help this venture too. On the down side the veg year was poor, and the garden i was using via Growing Opportunities decided to pull out, i must admit she wanted pristine rows of veg to look at and use, not my style so i suppose it wasn't too much of a loss, i can concentrate on my little garden plot now.
What next, well hopefully a caravan for the garden to practice some greener living styles, water harvesting , straw bail base insulation etc, solar and perhaps small wind power project  who knows.

Well here we are again , after many days of rain and much loss of property throughout the UK but as an environmentalist i must wonder how much of this is just a return to normality and is it just mankind building where we should not. Flood plains etc. Also, as it is so early in the winter, how much worse is this going to get with rain and snow melt, i fear the worst is yet to come.
 It appears that my Dalek composter has now stopped for the winter, the food i keep piling in is not moving, not even the fruit flies are bursting out. This seems to be a common problem, however a friend and blog follower says that his Hotbin is still nice and warm, this is a product i have considered, but £150 or more for a compost bin is still not an option.
 Onto my gardening job, still not much action here , but it is winter, next week hopefully should see the arrival of my new tool , a stihl 181c-be chainsaw, which should make short work of mall trees and logs with the additional use of supplying my log burner with food.. 
With Christmas around the corner or should i say the Solstice my thoughts turn to natural finds for decoration, Yew, Holly and a night venture may bring forth a tree or nice Yule log, to bring luck in the new year which will be a welcome change.

colder times

well this colder weather has really slowed the dalek composters down.  where do i put the waste? I have thought about putting a water lagging jacket round it to warm it up a bit,  any thoughts?

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