Spring plantings and perennials/Vision 2050

The snow has only just cleared and already fellow plotters are out in force at the weekend making preparations for Spring plantings. It's great to see everyone is so keen. (Local government rhetoric on tackling climate change is all very well - but plans to do this are still only words on paper in some places - see Vision 2050). Organic gardeners have been getting real about it - and getting our hands dirty - for years now. We have to educate our elected representatives, that much is clear.

Stopped by our Allotment Society shop yesterday to renew my membership and catch up on plans. A sense of relief was in the air and I had the chance to exchange a few words with our lovely Chair, who promised to update me on the progress and politics of our long-awaiting composting toilet as soon as she has some news.

But the best was yet to come. With a bag of sharp sand on the back of my tricycle I headed down to the plot. It's Year Four. With all those additions of home made compost and the many mulches I've put down during the last four years the soil is looking better than it has ever been. The pay off for all that hard work. The sunshine was beautiful.

Cut the raspberry canes down. Tweaked the guttering on the shed. Pruned the pear tree.

The no-dig approach definitely works - soil condition is better than it has ever been. I felt sorry for a fellow plotter who gloomily told me: "I've still got so much work to do..." (they dig the plot from front to back every autumn/spring). As I've said before on this blog: "Why do it to yourself?".

We'll be picking asparagus this year for the first time (April). I hope the cherry plums will flower early - we can harvest rhubarb too.

It suddenly dawned on me that the time to start raising seedlings at home for the plot is a mere SIX WEEKS away. I'm really glad that my approach has been 'little and often' - Spring really seems like something to look forward to now. Hope you'll still be reading then to share it with us...

Transition Town Chester. Events NEXT weekend.

Very glad to see "Transition Town" Chester supporters have been working hard to put on varied events NEXT (not this) weekend. (Although it's a shame I was somehow missed off the news email list - I might have been able to publicise this earlier...). There isn't a creche and no child care offered - for that reason I'm not sure I'll be able to make it. So apologies in advance if you don't see me...

(The following information comes to you courtesy of Transition Wiki). Events include a session on "Successful Gardening". Look out for fellow "plotter" Mary Gillie...Here's the list of dates, times and events:

1) A Sustainable Future for Cheshire West and Chester?

A series of presentations by members of Chester Climate Change and Sustainability Ginger Group and others.
14:00 to 17:00pm Friday 22nd January, 2010
Room CBB115, Best Building, University of Chester

"Radical changes to society, economy and lifestyles will be necessary to mitigate and adapt to the combined impacts of climate change, peak oil and international inequalities. Planning for a more sustainable future requires the integration of long term vision with identification and communication of the steps by which we may get there. This event attempts to provide an outline of both with an emphasis on communication and awareness raising."

14:00 -14:10 Arrival and registration.
14:10 - 14:40 Keynote presentation: Tom Barker Vision2050 A Sustainable Future for Cheshire West and Chester
14:40 - 15:10 Bob McCombe and Stefan Nicholls. Developing resilience in a small urban community
15:10 -15:40 Opportunity to get refreshments and network in the nearby Westminster Building cafeteria.
15:40 - 16:00 Roy Alexander. Ashton Hayes Going Carbon Neutral
16:00 -16:20 Mary Gillie. Chester Cycling Demonstration Town
16:20 - 16:40 Ged Edwards. Sustainable Blacon
16:40 -17:00 General discussion/debate and opportunity to identify projects for the local and wider area.
Each of the speakers will cross-reference to the others to demonstrate how the examples link closely to the vision.

17:00 - 21:30 Food and Film Age of Stupid ( . Wesley Church Centre (WCC).

SATURDAY: WCC - Stands for Wesley Church Centre

10:30 - 15:30.BTCV- Environmental information and display. (WCC).
10:30 - 15:30. Continuous showing of Eco-Education short films.(WCC).
10:30 - 15:30.Composting Information/Advice available fromCheshire Composting Team.

(WCC).
10:30 - 11:00. Solar Power presentation by Solar Twin.(WCC).
11:00 - 12:00. DrawingWorkshop led by Mary Hill.(WCC).
11:30 - 12:15. Bike MaintenanceWorkshop presented by The Bike Factory.(WCC).
12:30 - 13:30. Succesful GardeningWorkshop led by AndrewLambie and Ester Sloggett.(WCC).
12:30 - 13:30. Yoga/Meditation by Lisa Foden.(WCC).
13:45 - 14:15. Solar Power presentation by Solar Twin.(WCC).
14:00 - 15:00. DrawingWorkshop led byMary Hill.(WCC).
14:15 - 15:00. The Importance of Bees presentation by Cheshire Beekeepers Association.(WCC).
15:00 - 15:45. Bike MaintenanceWorkshop presented by The Bike Factory.(WCC).
15:30 - 16:30. Yoga/Meditation by Lisa Foden.(WCC).
15:30 - 17:30. Energy Descent Action Plan presented by Stefan Nicholls.(WCC).

Throughout the day there will be information, displays and advice available from Solar Twin, Cheshire Beekeepers Association, BTCV, TheBike Factory and CheshireComposting Team.

19:00 - Late. Ceilidh at All Saints Church, Hoole. Organised by Diana Wilderspin-Jones

Sunday

11:00 Cycle Rides: (a) 23 miles (b) 10 miles. Meet Northgate Arena. Contact Simon Brown: 01244 403960 simonwbrown@dsl.pipex.com

13:00 – 17:30. Be the Change Symposium presented by Andrew Herbert, Diana Wilderspin – Jones, Mike Arundale and Cliodhna Mulhern
followed by soup, bread and cake, suggested donation £5pp. (WCC).

Composting Toilet Saga Continues

The saga of our composting toilet continues. Sigh. News of our site's supposedly subversive efforts has hit the local press. See this link.

Meanwhile a very nice chappie from a lovely local composting toilets company has seen this blog and contacted me with an offer to come and talk to our local council and try to convince them to do the right thing. They say they've never had a council refuse them yet. These composting toilets seem super efficient, very attractive and are wheel-chair friendly. It's worth a shot, have a look for yourself at how lovely these nifty models are these days - see NATSOL

And if that doesn't work, please tell your friends and sign our petition at this link:

Thanks very much.

Garden Organic For Schools

We made it. We're still alive. It's the fourth week of school. Two hours a day so far. Time to start exploring the 'Garden Organic for Schools initiative'. Before we delve into how it is relevant to the National Curriculum - let's start with how it came about. See this link:

As readers may remember - Garden Organic and their wonderful staff have accompanied us (in spirit) on our family's 'Organic Food Journey' since my daughter was born. I breastfed my daughter - so she had a great start in life. When she was six months old - I attended a 'Garden Organic For All' training weekend in Ryton, near Coventry. I'll never forget the help and support I experienced there, it really helped set our family up for life. (I have particularly fond memories of the first class restaurant and the chocolate bread and butter pudding - they really pampered us). The 'Organic Food for All' programme has ended now, I think but it existed to reach out to people with limited resources to help them get growing.

Anyone reading this blog who looks at our allotment plot now might get the impression we've been growing food organically all our lives. Not so people. Four years ago, when my daughter was born I was on a very fast learning curve. On the training course Garden Organic taught us about crop rotation and tested us on the main vegetable families - in the fog of new parenthood, I recall my embarrassment as I didn't know any of them properly. Four years on, things are different and I feel a lot more confident about how to grow organic food. So there is hope for all you newbies! Writing this blog has helped too.

Our school choice was heavily influenced by access issues and the fact that the building is close to our allotment site. Some of the parents (and staff) we meet at the school gate are fellow plot holders. So, hello folks. I know that some of you subscribe to the posts on this blog, I'm always really glad to know that someone is actually reading this stuff! And thanks for all your hard work in our allotment community.

Allotments and growing spaces are sometimes hard to come by round here and lots of households don't have any access to them. People think our city is quite rich - but the recession affects the leafy-laned schools too - there are two main industries here: finance and retail - and both of these industries have been hit hard. There are masses of two-up-two-down houses in our district which only have a courtyard and no growing space. Tourism is all very well - but tourist facilities often benefit only large companies based elsewhere and not the local council-tax payers who actually live here.

Our school used to have an allotment on our site, but recently I understand they've had to give it up. I was told by a fellow plot holder that although the allotment was just across the road from the school - they couldn't spare the time away from the curriculum to ship all the children over there and back again. Just shows what sort of target-driven pressures they must be under these days (see: A Parent's Guide to the Early Years Foundation Stage) http://www.parentsguidetoeyfs.wordpress.com/

All things are connected. At any rate, we have a school garden - that's a start.

The baseline is: although our school has a food policy - we feel they have not yet made the connection between growing and eating. We're due to start school meals next week - but as far as we know - although the food is fairly balanced - none of it is organically grown or locally produced. Our parental assessment tells us there's definitely room for improvement there.

There would be plenty of scope for a community composting initiative. Let's hope they're reading this.

And then there is Climate Change. As a family - we started measuring our household carbon emissions years ago and our child will grow up with an awareness of social and environmental responsibility - with the knowledge that although the situation is critical, there are things that can be done. NOW. See: The Carbon Trust site for ways in which schools and small and medium-sized enterprises can save energy and money.

But it all comes down to a question of listening doesn't it? I'd like to say our allotment was a gift. But it wasn't. It was completely derelict when we took it on. Due to my other half's disability I've done all the heavy manual work on it single-handedly for years. That's getting easier now the soil is better but it was really tough at first and without the support of Garden Organic I'm sure I would have given up a long time ago. I've seen people throw in the towel because they made mistakes, underestimating the work involved or didn't know anything about labour saving techniques.

I've also seen newbies give up because our council doesn't seem to know much about horticulture. They cleared the plots opposite ours with bulldozers - removing all the top soil and not realising what they were doing. These plots were plagued with flooding problems for years.

It's very clear to me that local authorities (and schools) should be making growing easier for people. There should be proper access and consultation (not just lip service) for people with disabilities to empower and enable. And the council should adhere to the statutory equal opportunities policy. If they want people to live healthily - combat food insecurity and cut carbon emissions - then they have to make it easier for people to 'grow their own'.

I was once criticised by someone who reckoned that instead of 'complaining' about conditions in society - I should just 'get on with it'. As our allotment - and the rest of our decades of voluntary activities - (including our contributions to the local committees we are a part of) show: the truth of that is: we've been 'getting on with it' all along...

Battle for composting toilet on site rages on

There has been some controversy about our site's plan to build a composting toilet (just one!). Our site is one of the largest in the U.K., I believe.

One brave Liberal Democrat councillor I talked to has agreed to donate £500 of his expenses allowance to support the plan. In a street surgery he told me that some other councillors refused to support the project saying it was 'too political'. (Obviously there is a revolutionary plot behind the idea isn't there?) No seriously, given the diversity of social standing of our plot holders - we've got everyone from people with flash cars and huge gardens at home to people on the breadline - I can't think of anything which would be less political - and if you ask me, the phrase 'it's too political' is just a poor excuse to do nothing.

On the ground, as an organic gardener - I'm well aware we have less than basic facilities which don't appear to be anywhere near the national standards or best practice seen on other allotment sites.

Dozens of plots are off the mains altogether. Watering is often a problem for this reason - as organic gardeners we mulch a great deal, according to Organic guidelines to save water - but at present we have one small corporation water butt between thirty-odd plot holders - no stand pipe - and this butt is often unusable - in hot weather the water pressure is non-existent and you turn up at the plot with a few hours to spare only to find there is no water because the butt isn't refilling fast enough. Many of us have installed extra butts to collect water from our sheds, but the situation still represents a difficulty for anyone with any sort of health challenge as all this often means carrying water for quite a distance.

Our lack of basic facilities also affects our ability to reach out to the community. One fellow parent remarked in exasperation one day: "They ought to try toilet training a toddler on a site with no hand-washing facilities - a mile or more from the nearest loo..." I couldn't agree more.

So much for local and national government rhetoric about healthy living and encouraging people (and children) to take more exercise and eat more fruit and veg. Much of it seems to be nothing more than lip-service.

We have disabilities in the family - and whilst if you are able-bodied, squatting behind the shed or over a bucket may be an ( adventurous) option - for anyone with a disability - it presents problems. When we have an Open Day, or visitors to the site - I lose visitors. As soon as they find out the toilets are so far away, many with 'toileting challenges' have to head for home.

It's time our Council shifted their priorities and started to understand the true meaning of the word 'sustainable development' . They've just spent £15 million odd on new headquarters for themselves which allow them to sup champagne whilst overlooking the racecourse in comfort. See this link: Still - what can you expect - it's only a few years since they they tried to sell our site off to build a tennis court....plot holders have got long memories, thank goodness.

Attitudes to people with disabilities could do with a shake-up too. After attempting a discussion about disability rights with a council representative on Friday I was told that 'disabled people' needed plots 'near the road'. I had to point out the Equal Opportunities basics here: that not everyone has a disability you can see for starters - (what about mental health issues?) - and not everyone is in a wheelchair(so access requirements are different).

Finally - surely what we should be aiming towards is empowering people - not shunting them off in some sort of car park ghetto. We have no intention of moving to be 'near the road' - when we've put in sustained effort to convert our plot from derelict for the past four years and are just beginning to reap the benefits.

So - readers of this blog - who WOULD like to learn more about the benefits of composting toilets and recognise their advantages in terms of saving costs - and water - I'm enclosing this link - there is a wealth of information out there if you search for 'Composting Toilets' but this link is good to start - click here.

AND dear readers - don't log off without signing our petition please! You don't need to put your postal address down, and you can click the options to hide your email address too, if you wish. Thanks very much fellow plotters - we really appreciate your help. Sign the petition here.

Sweetcorn, Pumpkins, Main Crop Potatoes

Before the leaves start to fade - I wanted to share these photographs with you all, my readership. The mass of leaves - sweetcorn in the foreground - pumpkins and courgettes - main crop potatoes and raspberries behind show just how fruitful the allotment has been this year.

Time for a break between shifts. There were so many bumble bees on these clumps of lavender today.

Is the food industry 'playing' with our lives? Food Inc.

'Food Inc' (the documentary) is making waves in the U.S. Not least amongst the major 'players' of the food industry. This clip shows a mother who lost her son because he ate contaminated food. She's fighting for new food safety legislation. Lots more about Food Inc on YouTube. See also BBC's Radio 4's The Food Programme for a discussion: Food and Film.

U.N. World Environment Day (this Friday)

Organic gardeners have a carbon footprint a third smaller than regular gardeners. That's one reason why Garden Organic is urging more of us to go organic in the garden. And if you follow the link on their site which tells you about UN World Environment Day (this Friday) you'll find more tips.

We've done lots of these things already on our plot - including creating a mini pond. And here's the best news - three froglets emerged from our washing up bowl pond yesterday!

This picture qualifies as the WORST photograph on the planet - I've got the best excuse though. My daughter was so excited about the frogs she was jumping up and down on my back at the time. Sigh. Maybe I'll get another chance to do a better one. That's 'reality' blogging for you...

To see the posts with pictures and descriptions of how we constructed the pond - scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the 'mini-pond' section of the archive...

Our tiny, tiny froglet has just emerged from the water and is resting on a stone. Note the subtle ambience created by the curve of our recycled washing up bowl in the background...

Child Development and Gardening

This is the first photograph readers have seen of my beautiful daughter, aged three and a half. After a long discussion with fellow Green Parent readers I've been inspired to come out and share something of my parenting philosophy with the world. Forgive me for being a bit slow on the uptake here, folks, but I've suddenly realised that being VISIBLE as a green parent, may help others who are trying to do things differently too.

As far as child development is concerned, we know that pretty much all the important stuff happens between birth and the age of three. You don't need expensive complicated toys to keep little ones amused.

In this photo my daughter is playing with a coir compost brick which I put into a bucket of water. She was fascinated by the process of watching the brick expand into compost and this provided no less than THREE HOURS of entertainment on one particularly wet day, when we were both confined indoors. But then daughter has been filling pots with compost and putting seeds in them since the age of one and a half.

If you analyse all this in terms of motor skills and sensory development - there's probably the meat and two veg there for quite a few 'Early Learning' educational assignments...

Readers will know that we don't have a garden. I'm sure lots of other families are in this situation. We're lucky enough to have an allotment - and I know these are difficult to come by right now. As you may remember, I started converting our plot from derelict soon after having my daughter. It was really hard work and I believe EVERYONE, including families with small children ought to be given a lot more support when they take on a plot, in terms of access to information, networks, tools, childcare even. I've seen many people give up because they find it too difficult.

As parents we're constantly told to keep our children away from junk food, get them to exercise more and give them creative possiblities. Providing growing spaces is a way of doing all these things. My daughter's attitude to food has been shaped by a very practical relationship to the origins of food - and the progress of our veg patch. We've already spent so many happy days together on our plot - putting down roots with other plot holders (small and large) in our community.

I was outraged yesterday when a taxi driver told me he had tried to get an allotment and his local council had sold off the site. The council hadn't maintained the plots - and had allowed them to become so derelict that they had become really difficult to cultivate. Of course no-one wanted to take them up then, and the council had the perfect excuse to sell off the land. This shouldn't be allowed to happen.

I'm adding my voice to the many others calling for a huge increase in the land that is available for people to grow fruit and vegetables. We're all in for a tough time in the recession and I honestly believe a growing space can make a big difference to communities. It's good for people's mental health and helps them link up with each other. Governments and councils can achieve this food vision if they want to. Like everything else it is a matter of political will. We need more growing spaces, simple as that. Check out the Landshare scheme. It's a 'place linking people who want to grow their own fruit & veg to space where they can grow it'. Let me know how you're getting on with it via the comments box.

Okay, I'm getting off my soap box now to get on with watering my seedlings...

Olive oil and apricots. Where do yours come from?

I love fresh tomatoes and lettuce with olive oil in the salad dressing. My daughter enjoys dried apricots as a snack. If you buy these, watch this video and you'll be prompted to go through your kitchen cupboards and check packets and bottles to make sure the transport and production of them are not harming hard working fruit and veg growers like ourselves.



Added later:
I know readers are interested in this (see the comments below) - so am posting this extract from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign about labelling. Copy follows:

Decisions are being taken in April on the labelling of goods in supermarkets from illegal Israeli settlements - write to Hilary Benn TODAY

Lawyers from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs the Food Standards Agency (Minister- Hilary Benn) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Minister- David Miliband) are right now drafting new guidelines on how goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian Occupied Territories are labelled and sold in the UK. These guidelines are crucial in that they determine how supermarkets label produce form the illegal West Bank settlements.

Feedback from the supermarkets makes it clear that consumer action is having a significant effect on their attitude towards settlement goods. It is therefore urgent that we keep up the pressure on the government during the next 2 weeks. In particular we must pressure the Government to obtain, and publish, an expert legal opinion on whether or not trading with the settlements is itself legal.

Please write immediately to Hilary Benn (Hilary.Benn @defra.gsi.gov.uk), copying your letter to your MP, demanding that the labelling of settlement produce clearly indicates its illegal origins. There is a model letter available which includes the postal address. See Palestine Solidarity Campaign

New dedicated international organic page at Helium

Big News. Karyn Sparks has just finished building a Certified Organics Zone at Helium and has placed my article "Assessing the success of the organic food movement" on there.

Helium is a web-based writing community which is attracting a huge global audience right now. Hope readers like it and thanks Karyn. It is really good to know that we're a global movement!

Spring fruit, vegetable, plant and flower inventory

Victoria Rhubarb. Two crowns planted last year. Peeping through their mulch.

Asparagus bed. Twelve Crowns. Planted as mini-plants in spring 2007. Can't remember which variety I planted, so I'll have to look it up, but that's another useful post perhaps...I've used modular raised beds fitted together to make a large unit and various kinds of mulches. Cocoa shells. Rabbit manure last year. Seems to be doing well. It's always slow to show itself in spring. Some say the mulch means the soil is slower to warm. A small trench at one edge and reclaimed fabric I found when I renovated the plot keeps the couch grass from the old path at bay.

Our favourite Autumn Gold raspberries ready to do their stuff. I'm going to wait for a good spot of rain and then mulch them again to keep the moisture in the soil.

Our lovely peach tree (Avalon Pride) made it through the frosts with buds (so far) intact. Compost heaps for perennial weeds directly behind it and on our half plot behind that we have onions, garlic (planted in autumn last year). Shallots planted a few weeks ago. First early Lady Christl potatoes went in last week. One bed on the half plot and two on the main plot. I haven't bothered watering these yet, that's my low maintenance approach, so hoping for some rain soon. Some broad beans under a cloche. Two comfrey beds in all. One on the half plot and one by the shed.

The large square structures on the right don't belong to us. Once the cherry plum bushes which frame the half plot come into leaf, I'm hoping you won't see them so much. I'll have to prune these cherry plums during the summer (they say if you do them in the winter there's a risk of silverleaf which is a fungal disease). There's a wild heap of rough twigs at either end of the full plot, good for ladybirds to overwinter and the occasional fox. I'm not going to remove this pile now until next autumn as spring is a busy time on the plot.

The smallish bed in front of the posh wooden compost heap is destined for Globe Artichokes, which are growing nicely in our mini-greenhouses at home. Blackcurrant bushes on the left, (you can't really see them yet as they've not come into leaf.

So that leaves the black plastic beds in the foreground, six of them if I remember rightly. I've just planted out some Chanteney carrots in the bed in the foreground. The blue pellets are organic slug pellets which I occasionally use for special things. Hoping I won't need these though, once the frogs are up and running! I'm chancing it a bit planting these out now, but there's a bit of a traffic jam at home with all the plug plants I'm raising, and since we've got serious kitchen gardening ambitions this year, there's no room for slackers!

Four more compost heaps. That's six heaps in total plus two huge 'wild' ones. An indication of the huge amounts of green waste we've composted so far on our plot. In three years we haven't burnt anything. We're not allowed to as far as I know.

This is the view I have when I sit on my deck chair in front of my shed. The plants on the left are lavender, majoram and sage. Majoram for pizza toppings. Sage for that wonderful sage and onion stuffing. And lavender for the bees. I'm so looking forward to seeing them again...

Building a Mini-Pond Part III

Pond plus frogspawn safely installed. Will post soon about ongoing fruit and vegetable activities!

Building a Mini-Pond Part II

First construction phase of mini-pond Mark 2. Two washing up bowls side by side. Some nettles (for the sake of wildlife) and a little chickweed visible.

The bowls contain a little washed gravel. We chose a light colour for the bowls so that we could see the frogspawn better.

Used some woodchip to surround the bowls, with some stones round. The two flat stones at the front form a small seat for my daughter to sit on whilst she watches the pond life.
There are flowers planted round the outside and on the outer edge of the wildlife corner the heap is framed by a some beautiful, fairly low informal copper beech bushes.


As you can see, there is no 'fence' at the front of this arrangement. I wonder if the Parks and Gardens department are going to insist that we have one. With two washing up bowl size mini-ponds? It would seem ridiculous to me. We're meeting them at 2.p.m. I'll keep you posted.

International Womens' Day - More pics

Here's a picture of the 'Make Gardens Not War' stall before the crowds started coming.

A selection of wild flower seeds displayed by another stall holder.

The Garden Organic Master Composters were in evidence too. There was a constant stream of people until three coming and viewing the Gaza film: 'Living without a bathroom' discussing the issues and taking leaflets. Lots of interest in Rod's blog, Joan's blog and the rest of the materials. The last picture is of a signing choir.

International Women's Day Part Two

The time is 12.a.m. and I'm blogging from International Women's Day, sitting on the 'Make Gardens Not War' stall.

I'm listening to Christine Russell, M.P. for Chester making the introductory speech. So far she has mentioned the following issues: childcare, equal pay, part-time workers rights, maternity pay, flexible working hours for carers. She's also referred to the Millenium Development Goals. The fact that many women die in childbirth every year worldwide.

She's now finished. She has made no mention of the impact of war on women's lives globally. No mention of peace, no mention of food and water issues.

There are lots of people coming up to he stall to talk about Gaza, the film from Gaza I'm showing on my lap top and peace issues. Will report as the day goes on.

International Women's Day - Make Gardens Not War

I'm making an appearance at International Women's Day today with a stall. I've called it:

'Make Gardens Not War'.

Half the stall is going to be advice on organic fruit and veg growing (with lots of brilliant info. from Garden Organic and my own experience.

The other half reflects the situations of people in war zones, who can't grow their own food - or can only do so with difficulty. Because their water supplies are contaminated, or because they live in a conflict zone and the supplies don't get through. We know that women tend and produce much of the food on this planet.

A young film maker from Gaza has contacted me and sent greetings on International Women's Day and a link to his film which I'm hoping to show today on my lap top - he makes the humanitarian case under siege with his documentary called simply: 'Living without a bathroom'

Ayman T. Quader says: 'This is a story I made about the impact of Israeli siege over Gazans. He describes his film like this:

Shaban El-Bobali is a 47-year- old man living in EL-Maghzi refugee camp in Gaza strip. Shaban represents one of many families that living in the same situation or even worst because of the drastic Israeli siege on Gaza Strip. Shaban and his family are living in a very miserable situation where they live in a 45-meter house without bathroom and without any resources.
"Death, Destruction, Casualties, Martyrs, and Siege also" Words chosen by Shaban's wife to describe the suffering they are living. Due to the imposed Israeli siege that has been continuing for almost 11 months, Shaban El-Bobali was left unemployed and unable to support his family as many Palestinians citizens'.

I'm going to have a section of the stall devoted to 'Bloggers for Peace' too. Rod Cox is from Chester and he is currently on his way to Gaza with aid supplies in the convoy. http://www.rodcoxandgaza.blogspot.com/

Last but not least, there is my friend and blogger Joan Meredith, she is currently on her way to Court to be tried for her protest at Aldermaston last year. She's a grandmother, 78 years old and has lost count of the number of times she has been arrested for her beliefs. We all know that the nuclear threat threatens us all, with or without a garden.

Follow her progress on http://www.joanmeredithsblog.blogspot.com/

The slogan 'Make Gardens Not War' has been used throughout the years by different organisations. I ordered t-shirts with the logo on from fellow blogger at apifera farm but they haven't arrived yet, that's a shame.

The proceedings on International Women's Day are usually opened by our M.P. Christine Russell. Hoole Community Centre in Chester from 11.a.m. I'm going to try and post again with reactions, photos and comments.

Information and leaflets kindly provided by Chester Stop the War Coalition, Trident Ploughshares and many others.

Sustainable Development Policy and Your Council?

When I had a call from Parks and Gardens today I was still holding out some hope that local government might be paying more than lip service to the UNCED agreements (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development including Local Agenda 21) the spirit of which at least should have filtered down to elected representatives and our civil servants. How wrong I was.

The issue at hand was the planned wildlife pond. We met in the car park on site to discuss it. As you'll remember, my plans for this were featured in blog posts recently, together with a photograph.

Since we were dealing with health and safety issues, as we were walking up to the plot I thought I would take the opportunity of explaining to Parks and Gardens how I had removed around three hundred bags of broken glass and rubble from my plot in the past three years. Single handedly. So I know something about health and safety. When I referred to the history of the plot Parks 'lady' said: 'Did you inspect the plot when you took it on?'. At first I wondered why she was asking this question - then I realised it seemed she was trying to spell it out to me that she felt the council had no liability (or indeed any interest) whatsoever in issues like this.

While this may be true legally (I don't know at this point) - it seems to bypass the issue that with peak oil and food shortages (and given the fact that as Tim Lang said in his video in a previous post - Britain is only growing 5 per cent of it's own fruit) local government should be doing all that it can to encourage people to grow their own. Offering plots which are derelict as mine was (unused for fifteen years at least) does not fit this particular bill.

On the way to my plot Parks 'lady' then proceeds to explain to me what Health and Safety issues are, and what my tenancy agreement means. I nod my head at first but then realise how incredibly patronising she is, and tell her so.

We're walking past a huge water butt which I had always been worried about when my daughter was smaller. It's quite clearly a death trap for small children. The last time I mentioned it to the council they came back with the unhelpful comment that parents were responsible for the safety of their children at all times. Gosh. As if we didn't know that, eh?

Parks lady was taking great pains to emphasise that she was only interested in 'my child's safety'. So I took the opportunity of asking her what she though of above mentioned water butt. I don't think she liked what I was saying so far and labelled me as 'aggressive'. Funny that. My friends call me 'feisty'. I'm assertive, I emphasised. (As soon as you disagree with them they label you as 'aggressive'. A good way of dismissing what you are saying? ASSERTIVE, I said again.

Then she said the death trap water butt was the 'City Council's responsibility'. My first thought at hearing this was 'I thought you WERE the City Council and even if you're not, you're still council...how about passing the message on...?) Then I realised of course they were passing the buck. In 25 days time round here there is a restructuring of the whole thing to create a new unitary authority so the City Council will no longer exist anyway.

So, we get to my plot-and-a-half, I take them round a bit, show them all the small trees, neat beds ready to go. On the way I point out an apparently derelict plot next to ours and the difficulties this will cause us this season as all the seeds on it are going to blow over. According to the council there are no derelict plots right now. What about this one, I say:

Rosebay Willow herb. The lot. More 'non-derelict and used plots in the background'. We have a huge waiting list and I've raised this issue too.

Then we come to my wildlife patch at the front. I explain how I plan to recycle an old paddling pool and edge it with available materials. As you can see from my previous posts it doesn't look amazing at the moment, but that's because it's a WILD LIFE corner. It isn't supposed to be TIDY.

So, it was Parks 'gentlemen' turn to speak. He was wearing a sweatshirt which said 'recycle' on the front and back. I had already explained how I had salvaged the wee paddling pool from a skip. He actually stood there and asked me accusingly (and I felt in a bullying and aggressive tone) 'Why didn't you use pond liner?'

Things went downhill from there, I feel. I proceeded to point out the the basic tenants of sound environmental policy i.e. 1. Reduce 2. Re-use and 3. Recycle. I don't think he liked my highlighting the logo on his sweatshirt either.

Then he challenged my use of 'available' materials (i.e. branches and twigs) - 'Why didn't I use willow? he said' there is plenty of willow growing over there (and pointed). I had to set him straight on allotment policy, I'm afraid and said I wouldn't dream of picking other people's crops without asking, and anyway, I didn't see what was wrong with using materials that had been generated on my plot.

Park gent's next objection was that 'it didn't look very nice'. (I had thought the visit was about health and safety issues and not aesthetics, but there you go). Park gent knew the person who had had the plot before...Yes, I said, so do I - obviously I said, there aren't many flowers to see at this point but explained anyway about the brightly coloured flowers that edged the pile, and the carefully selected copper beech bushes which framed it (bought those at BTCV).

Next, the said pair wanted a 'plan' of the proposed pond. (I've sent the council three emails about it this week - they already had a photograph and measurements - but they still want a 'plan'. Maybe I should think about an architect?

What more do you need? I said, whipping my tape measure out, and measuring up. Shall I draw you one? (searching for the back of an envelope in my bag). There's not much to add, I said. Did a quick drawing and put the measurements on it, in front of them.

We need a 'fence' they said so that your child can't fall in. (Remember what the council said on past occasions about parents taking responsibility for their children at all times and the death trap water butt?). Well I said pointing to the twigs and branches pile - I was planning to sink the small paddling pool into the ground and draw the branches around it as a barrier. Would that be alright? No, they said.

Well then, I said, if I can't do it like that, will you tell me how I CAN do it. Well, said Park lady, picking up a stout twig, if they were sort of bending OVER the pond like this...'Can I take a photograph, I said, so that I will know how to do this). 'No' she said. 'You will only use it against us'. ?

Right, I said, there are some adaptations to be made, and as I said already it is not finished. So I'll finish it, won't fill it with water yet and we'll meet again, shall we, so that you can tell me what you think? They okayed this suggestion reluctantly and are coming again next week. I'll keep readers posted.

The shame of all this is, I wanted to get the frog spawn and plants in soon, otherwise it's going to be another whole year.

As my daughter and I rushed away for an appointment - I was still fuming but felt slightly better after meeting a fellow allotmenteer who said he'd exactly the same experiences (with those two from the council).

The joke of it is, there are loads of people on the site who already have bucket sized ponds not much smaller than the one I have, and even some people's drainage ditches are more of a health and safety risk than our proposal.

When will they realise that they should be enabling and assisting people instead of creating barriers at every opportunity. At the end of the meeting my daughter said: 'I didn't like them very much, mummy'. No, I said. I didn't either.