Stop Global Warming

I just visited this website and found a list of tips for reducing carbon emissions. The list is long, but I have picked out things that are do-able for me and my lifestyle (or are, in fact, things I'm already doing).

I have always felt fairly powerless to make significant changes, as I live in rented accomodation so cannot do the major things our house needs like double-glazing or draught-proofing etc. But I was amazed by how many of the things on the list didn't apply to me in a POSITIVE way.. for example, the fact that I don't use a car or a dishwasher. And we don't have central heating. So it turns out I'm doing better than I thought, after all, which is heartening!

One day I'll hopefully live in an eco-house with solar panels, but until then, here are my little contributions..

Use Recycled Paper
Make sure your printer paper is 100% post consumer recycled paper. Save 5 lbs. of carbon dioxide per ream of paper.

This is something I've been working on recently .. I have found an affordable supplier and from now on all Hedgewitch information sheets and newsletters will be printed on 100% recycled paper.

Buy Products Locally
Buy locally and reduce the amount of energy required to drive your products to your store.

This is a tough one in the city, but I am planning a visit to that local farmers' market I found so that hopefully I can buy less food from Tescos. I already get my fruit and veg in a box, which is delivered by van, but I know they source things as locally as they can within the UK.

Buy Minimally Packaged Goods
Less packaging could reduce your garbage by about 10%. Save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide and $1,000 per year.

My fruit and veg box comes in a cardboard box which you return for re-use the following week. I re-use the corrugated card dividers to pack the ceramic pieces in Hedgewitch parcels and I re-use the string for tying up plants in the garden.

Am generally horrified how much packaging everything comes in! I recycle all the card sleeves and re-use the plastic trays for plant saucers and incubators. But finding places to buy less packaged products is something I really want to work on.

Reduce Garbage
Buy products with less packaging and recycle paper, plastic and glass. Save 1,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year.

You know, since I've stepped up my recycling/re-using/composting, we've been amazed how little garbage we are putting out now. One black sack a week, rather than one every other day.

Plant a Tree
Trees suck up carbon dioxide and make clean air for us to breathe. Save 2,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year.

Hmmmm.. maybe I could think of giving the gift of planting a tree via The Woodland Trust for special occasions?

Unplug Un-Used Electronics
Even when electronic devices are turned off, they use energy. Save over 1,000 lbs of carbon dioxide and $256 per year.

I could (and must) do this!

Buy Organic Food
The chemicals used in modern agriculture pollute the water supply, and require energy to produce.

I do as much as I can, for health reasons, but this is an added incentive.

Bring Cloth Bags to the Market
Using your own cloth bag instead of plastic or paper bags reduces waste and requires no additional energy.

I was given the most fabulous cloth bag by friends of mine for Christmas.. it is tongue-in-cheek and features 'typical London wildlife' (a one-legged pigeon, a large rat etc!) Its great because it folds up small and weighs nothing, so I just keep it stashed in my handbag for any shopping I pick up while I'm out.

Ditch the Plastic
2.5 million individual plastic water bottles are thrown away every hour in the US. Start using a reusable water bottle and just say no to plastic!

I could DEFINITELY do this, as I do sometimes buy small bottles of water when I'm out. I need to drink more water .. I'm really bad at this. I think I will fill a bottle with tap water each morning (whether I'm home or out) for use during the day. When its hot in the summer, I sometimes fill a water bottle with tap water and add a couple of ice-cubes with lemon balm or pineapple sage leaves in them, which is really refreshing.

Lemon Balm

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) has been cultivated for over 2000 years and has a long history as a bee plant – the Romans placed sprigs in their hives to attract swarms and the name ‘melissa’ is from the Greek word for ‘bee’. The name ‘balm’ is an abbreviation of ‘balsam’ which denotes sweet-smelling oils.

Its therapeutic uses were promoted by Arab physicians of the 10th and 11th centuries and many writers praise its ability to reduce swelling and close wounds. However, historically, greatest praise is reserved for its supposed ability to revivify or renew and was a favourite ingredient in medieval elixirs of youth.

A relaxing restorative for the nervous system, this herb is also credited with strengthening memory and relieving melancholy. Nowadays and infusion made from the fresh leaves might be taken for depression or nervous exhaustion, as well as indigestion and nausea, and a pad soaked in the infusion is still used to relieve painful swellings. The leaves are used externally to treat bites and stings – and the ointment will also repel insects.
The herb induces a mild perspiration, and makes a cooling tea for feverish patients in catarrh or influenza.

An aromatic, cooling, sedative herb with carminative, diaphoretic and febrifuge properties. Cold and dry in character. Cut the plants as flowering begins.



PLEASE NOTE: These notes on the history and use of herbs have been compiled for general interest and are not intended as medical advice, for which you should consult a professional herbalist.

BIBLIOGRAPY:
'A Modern Herbal' Mrs M. Grieve FRHS ed. Mrs C. F. Leyel (1973)
'The Herb Society's Complete Medicinal Herbal' Penelope Ody MNIMH (1993)
'RHS Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses' Deni Brown (2002)

Gardening

Despite the weather forecast for extreme cold and possible snow even as far south as London this weekend, yesterday found me on the roof in a tshirt in glorious sunshine!

This was my first visit to my garden this year.. and I spent several very happy hours making a tour of inspection, tidying up, and re-aquainting myself with old and valued friends.

I was so excited to see nearly everything looking green and verdant and full of life and potential. I lost my rose-scented geranium and my thyme this winter, but that was entirely my fault as they should have been got in .. they're not hardy enough to tough it out up there.

I also had a great time building my self-assembly mini-growhouse which I got very marked down in a sale at B&Q! I'm usually pretty DIY in my garden, making cloches and cold frames out of anything to hand rather than spending money on purpose-built things (watch out for my shower-cap wearing carrot troughs later this month!) But I'm glad I rescued this from the 'unloved' shelf at B&Q .. I'm so please with it and it means I can put out my taller seedlings for acclimatising. One of the problems of gardening on the roof is that it can be pretty blowy.. I'm continually amazed how some of my taller herbs stand up to it! But the new guys need a little help ... so my sunflowers and dwarf beans are zipped up safely in their new home.

I was particularly pleased with the lemon balm and yarrow and have been able to get some really good leaves for ceramic impressions. I'd never had much luck with getting yarrow to grow before last summer, so I was so pleased to see it looking healthy .. and I found its little babies everywhere too! And Lemon Balm is a big favourite of mine because its a lovely tea, you can put it in cooking and I make and use the tincture, which is invaluable.

Another lovely surprise was finding that the little clary and sage seedlings of last spring are now enormous healthy plants. I'm a proud mama! I can't believe how well they've come on and they are both in bud. The clary is a particular favourite of mine .. I only grew it once before, from a plug plant I bought at a herb stall. It just took off!

It had these amazing huge leaves and then threw up a great strong spike which was covered in purple flowers which exuded the most incredible scent (its where the essential oil Clary Sage comes from, which is a favourite of mine). I have really missed it from the garden, so I tried growing some seed last year and am really pleased I did.

I noticed a ladybird on the clary when I went up into the garden, and later discovered loads of little baby ladybirds (or I should say BIG baby ladybirds, because the grubs are a lot bigger than the adults, which always amazes me!) So they must like this plant and this bodes well for the year, as you can never have too many ladybirds in a garden.

When I first go up into the garden each spring its always nice to find the rosemary in flower to welcome me. I like how there's always something happening and something new flowering and this is the first thing in the chain. I was also happy to discover little edible things! The kitchen garden area was looking pretty good and I should be able to put together a nice salad with chives, garlic chives, sorrel leaves.. I also appear to have a life-time's supply of parsley .. don't understand it, because I can never keep parsley alive for longer than 5 minutes in the summer, but found 4 pots of it looking fresh and appetising. Think the judicious use of drip trays may have helped enormously.












This morning I had the great pleasure of going up first thing and seeing how it was all looking (I always have a quick chat with my plants and ask them how they're doing!)... happy Hedgewitch.