Two topics in the news have been the UK government's struggle to meet their obligations to the Kyoto Agreement and government sleaze allegations with regards to corporate funding of political parties. They are related stories in that big business funds the political parties whose job it is to uphold good governance of the environment.
A politician in power makes more money than in opposition so common sense tells us that the corporations wield a lot of power when a politician is desperate to keep their job. A society based solely on financial worth and economic growth is beholden to the ways of commerce. We need new radical ideas to eradicate poverty.
Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the UK, once said of her political doctrine that "Thatcherism is the only ism that isn't a wasm." Well, it is now. Maybe capitalism and socialism will have to follow communism and fascism into the wasm bin. Capitalism widens the divide between rich and power. Socialism drags us all down to the lowest common denominator.
Always there appears to be inertia from governments with regards to climate change, renewable energy and sustainable economies. The intertia is more so from old industry and fossil fuel corporations. If governments and corporations are hand in hand then their only consideration is make sure that they continue to tax and continue to profit. New technologies and ways of living could radically change taxation and old industry profits so the inertia is understandable if very reprehensible.
BBC - Blair demands green 'revolution'
BBC - Home power plan 'disappointment'
Daily Telegraph - Prescott predicts state funding for political parties
Willow propagation 2
After just 4 weeks many buds have sprouted on my willow cuttings. This is the first year that I've attempted to plant cuttings and transplant them in the same year.
I was very surprised to see so much root growth there was (just to the right of my hand in the following photograph) after such a short space of time. So unaware of the growth was I that I could hear some tearing as I worked the cutting loose. Hopefully this won't result in the death of the cutting.
Compare with the photo from last month.
The cutting was then planted outside. I dug a small hole with a mattock and filled around the cutting with some compost from my heap.
I shall have to plant out all the cuttings as soon as possible before their root systems develop to a level that will result in damage if I move them.
See Willow propagation for how to plant the cuttings.
I was very surprised to see so much root growth there was (just to the right of my hand in the following photograph) after such a short space of time. So unaware of the growth was I that I could hear some tearing as I worked the cutting loose. Hopefully this won't result in the death of the cutting.
Compare with the photo from last month.
The cutting was then planted outside. I dug a small hole with a mattock and filled around the cutting with some compost from my heap.
I shall have to plant out all the cuttings as soon as possible before their root systems develop to a level that will result in damage if I move them.See Willow propagation for how to plant the cuttings.
An end to unsustainable economic growth?
Whilst the Labour Party's green policies are failing and won't achieve the lowering of carbon emissions to Kyoto Agreement levels, an All-Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group is calling for an end to constant economic growth and carbon rationing.
Labor MP Colin Challen said, "... the phenomenon of economic growth means that there are more and more plants [factories and power stations], and the cuts are swamped by the growth."
In other words it doesn't matter how much you pollution levels because a growing economy using fossil fuels will catch up and overtake previous pollution levels.
The MP then went on to say, "... that the pursuit of growth, which essentially has not changed since Victorian times, is misleading, and the terms need to be redefined. Instead, we need a different policy which looks at how much carbon we can afford to emit."
And then, "Domestically, we will need to introduce carbon rationing," he said. "Individuals would get an allowance each year, which would gradually come down ... Contraction and Convergence, developed by Aubrey Meyer of the Global Commons Institute. That would cut emissions of carbon-rich countries, while allowing those of carbon-poor countries to rise, until everyone has the same quota."
It's good to hear this. Seeing it happen is another thing. In other news stories we can read about corporate donations to political parties, which are the largest form of income for political parties in the west. The ideal world would be one of sustainable economic growth and political parties funded not by businesses whose only wish is to plunder the planet.
The Independent - Global Warming: Your chance to change the climate
Labor MP Colin Challen said, "... the phenomenon of economic growth means that there are more and more plants [factories and power stations], and the cuts are swamped by the growth."
In other words it doesn't matter how much you pollution levels because a growing economy using fossil fuels will catch up and overtake previous pollution levels.
The MP then went on to say, "... that the pursuit of growth, which essentially has not changed since Victorian times, is misleading, and the terms need to be redefined. Instead, we need a different policy which looks at how much carbon we can afford to emit."
And then, "Domestically, we will need to introduce carbon rationing," he said. "Individuals would get an allowance each year, which would gradually come down ... Contraction and Convergence, developed by Aubrey Meyer of the Global Commons Institute. That would cut emissions of carbon-rich countries, while allowing those of carbon-poor countries to rise, until everyone has the same quota."
It's good to hear this. Seeing it happen is another thing. In other news stories we can read about corporate donations to political parties, which are the largest form of income for political parties in the west. The ideal world would be one of sustainable economic growth and political parties funded not by businesses whose only wish is to plunder the planet.
The Independent - Global Warming: Your chance to change the climate
Beachcombing
I passed eight blissfully deserted holiday homes on my way to a shingle beach nearby where I beachcombed for driftwood. I have a nice pile of wood waiting for when I next take out the boat. There are a few beaches and inlets with piles of wood I've been collecting over the weeks. I also found a tyre innertube and will try pump it full of hydrogen when I get round it.
The polytunnel is alive with growing willow cuttings. I also chipped some willow to see how it dries using air, sun and heat. I'll have a few photos of the willow and chips when the weather gets better and will update my coppicing and willow propagation sections.
The polytunnel is alive with growing willow cuttings. I also chipped some willow to see how it dries using air, sun and heat. I'll have a few photos of the willow and chips when the weather gets better and will update my coppicing and willow propagation sections.
Electricity consumption
Every Wednesday, at noon, I go to our electricity meter and take a weekly reading. I do it on a Wednesday because that is the day we first moved in. The graph below is a plot of average weekly consumption in kWh per month. So in our first month here (June '04) we were using an average of 18 kWh per week.
At first we used little power as we weren't running the freezer at the recommended -18C. As soon as we did so the power consumption increased and I was charging around looking for phantom loads and getting ready to accuse the neighbours of running underground cables from our house. Eventually, I realised the cause. A degree in maths and computing doesn't necessarily result in rational thought.
Our first winter here in 2004/5 was very cold. I had not built the partition keeping the warm air from heading straight upstairs and windows had not been checked for draughts. Consequently the oil boiler was working overtime to heat the radiators and the pump was on for many hours of the day pumping hot water around the house.
This winter has seen less electricity usage. The partition is keeping hot air in the day living space, the windows have all been draught excluded and the wood stove is doing most of the heating. The oil boiler still heats one or two radiators in the morning for Rosie as she gets up earlier than I and it heats the hot water.
We are quite comfortable with a house temperature between 16 and 17 C. I don't know where people get the idea that 20 C is the ideal room temperature. A friend of ours keeps his bedroom window open the whole year round so his wood heated room often goes down to 10 C during the night. I guess other people like to wear their summer collection as their winter wardrobe. I prefer to put on a jumper, sit by the fire and read.
In the summer months the sun beating down on the roof warms the water tank so the oil boiler has to do less work heating the water up, hence the lower electricity usage. If the sun can do that with a tank of water shielded by a pan tiled roof then I had better get a move on and build a solar hot water system this year.
Our average weekly electricity consumption since we moved here has been 23.7 kWh.
At first we used little power as we weren't running the freezer at the recommended -18C. As soon as we did so the power consumption increased and I was charging around looking for phantom loads and getting ready to accuse the neighbours of running underground cables from our house. Eventually, I realised the cause. A degree in maths and computing doesn't necessarily result in rational thought.
Our first winter here in 2004/5 was very cold. I had not built the partition keeping the warm air from heading straight upstairs and windows had not been checked for draughts. Consequently the oil boiler was working overtime to heat the radiators and the pump was on for many hours of the day pumping hot water around the house.
This winter has seen less electricity usage. The partition is keeping hot air in the day living space, the windows have all been draught excluded and the wood stove is doing most of the heating. The oil boiler still heats one or two radiators in the morning for Rosie as she gets up earlier than I and it heats the hot water.
We are quite comfortable with a house temperature between 16 and 17 C. I don't know where people get the idea that 20 C is the ideal room temperature. A friend of ours keeps his bedroom window open the whole year round so his wood heated room often goes down to 10 C during the night. I guess other people like to wear their summer collection as their winter wardrobe. I prefer to put on a jumper, sit by the fire and read.
In the summer months the sun beating down on the roof warms the water tank so the oil boiler has to do less work heating the water up, hence the lower electricity usage. If the sun can do that with a tank of water shielded by a pan tiled roof then I had better get a move on and build a solar hot water system this year.
Our average weekly electricity consumption since we moved here has been 23.7 kWh.
Calories in and calories out
Just finished reading about "caloric input". You are probably familiar with food miles, the number of miles your food has travelled before travelling the short distance from mouth to stomach. Rosie and I like to see how many "Made in Ireland"tags our food bill gets at the checkout of the supermarket. We did well today, the majority of what we bought was Irish made.
Another measure of how sustainable your foodstuff is can be given by the ratio of caloric input to caloric output. What with the thousands of miles food travels, the oil used to package and distribute your food often results in more calories of oil being used to produce your meal than the calories you get out of eating it. For the average urbanite 7 calories of energy are used to produce food yielding the 1 calorie of energy they get from their food.
If your calorific demands for the day require you to eat 3000 calories of food then as many as 21,000 calories of energy will have to be burnt elsewhere to fill your belly. Not in the least sustainable is it? All the more reason to a) grow your own, b) buy local food, c) buy raw ingredients and process your own. If your answer is d) I'm too busy, then sorry but your lifestyle is unsustainble and doomed to failure.
Another measure of how sustainable your foodstuff is can be given by the ratio of caloric input to caloric output. What with the thousands of miles food travels, the oil used to package and distribute your food often results in more calories of oil being used to produce your meal than the calories you get out of eating it. For the average urbanite 7 calories of energy are used to produce food yielding the 1 calorie of energy they get from their food.
If your calorific demands for the day require you to eat 3000 calories of food then as many as 21,000 calories of energy will have to be burnt elsewhere to fill your belly. Not in the least sustainable is it? All the more reason to a) grow your own, b) buy local food, c) buy raw ingredients and process your own. If your answer is d) I'm too busy, then sorry but your lifestyle is unsustainble and doomed to failure.
Glad I did that
Just back from the supermarket. Whilst there I went to the orange juice section to see if there were any 4 packs that had been reduced from 3.97 to 3.00 euros. They have now gone up to 4.45! I think we can say goodbye to 3 euro packs of juice.
I'm glad I stocked up last year as I have enough juice to last until the end of May. I will then have to hope for offers in the 3.50 range. I don't like the juice in Tesco, which is the another supermarket we visit once a month. Their juice is just water with orange peel wrung into it. I like the taste of SuperValu orange juice but I guess I'll have to shop around for an alternative. It's actually cheaper to drink coke! Remember James, coke is only value added water. Repeat the mantra.
I'm glad I stocked up last year as I have enough juice to last until the end of May. I will then have to hope for offers in the 3.50 range. I don't like the juice in Tesco, which is the another supermarket we visit once a month. Their juice is just water with orange peel wrung into it. I like the taste of SuperValu orange juice but I guess I'll have to shop around for an alternative. It's actually cheaper to drink coke! Remember James, coke is only value added water. Repeat the mantra.
I really could do with kindling flown in from Latin America
Just tearing up a cardboard box for the stove. It's from the supermarket and held grapes. Chilean grapes! Even the UK can grow grapes. It's a mad world that transports food around the globe.
Today sees a battle amongst EU leaders. Germany, France and Italy have high unemployment. France is breaking all the EU rules and enacting protectionist policies. The UK has relatively low unemployment and is trumpetting labour reforms and globalisation.
I wonder which country will leave the EU first. The UK because the EU hamstrings it so much or France because it can't make Europe into a socialist workers paradise. Both sides are on the extremes. Globalisation and protectionism are both wrong.
EU markets row overshadows summit
Today sees a battle amongst EU leaders. Germany, France and Italy have high unemployment. France is breaking all the EU rules and enacting protectionist policies. The UK has relatively low unemployment and is trumpetting labour reforms and globalisation.
I wonder which country will leave the EU first. The UK because the EU hamstrings it so much or France because it can't make Europe into a socialist workers paradise. Both sides are on the extremes. Globalisation and protectionism are both wrong.
EU markets row overshadows summit
Thoughts on pellet stoves
Lots of people are buying them to replace oil or gas boilers. I wouldn't mind one myself but thinking about them leaves me with some reservations. When you think about the operation of a pellet stove you begin to realise that it's not that sustainable.
In my case I want to produce my own pellets by growing willow whips and guillotining them into pellets. Commercial pellet manufacturers either use sawdust from the various wood industries or they do as I do and pelletise willow. However, commercial enterprises do everything on a large scale and need to cut corners.
There is a lot of energy used in making pellets from wood waste and that energy has to come from power stations fired with oil and gas. If the pellets are made from willow then a tractor carrying a cutting and chipping machine has to cut the willow. The willow chips are then placed in silos where hot air is blown through the piles of chips to season them otherwise they will start to rot as in a compost heap. Where does the heat come from? Natural gas so not very sustainable either.
Commercially produced pellets are bagged and distributed using oil. Then, when you finally get your pellets into your bunker, it takes an electrically powered auger to feed them into your electrically controlled stove. More oil and gas generated electricity. So there you have it, your little pellet has had an awful lot of energy expended already before you fire it in your stove.
It would appear that a pellet stove is just pushing sustainability issues to one side. If I do get a pellet stove then it will be fired by my own willow pellets, dried in the sun, carried in a wheelbarrow to the bunker and augered in using electricity that I generated myself.
In my case I want to produce my own pellets by growing willow whips and guillotining them into pellets. Commercial pellet manufacturers either use sawdust from the various wood industries or they do as I do and pelletise willow. However, commercial enterprises do everything on a large scale and need to cut corners.
There is a lot of energy used in making pellets from wood waste and that energy has to come from power stations fired with oil and gas. If the pellets are made from willow then a tractor carrying a cutting and chipping machine has to cut the willow. The willow chips are then placed in silos where hot air is blown through the piles of chips to season them otherwise they will start to rot as in a compost heap. Where does the heat come from? Natural gas so not very sustainable either.
Commercially produced pellets are bagged and distributed using oil. Then, when you finally get your pellets into your bunker, it takes an electrically powered auger to feed them into your electrically controlled stove. More oil and gas generated electricity. So there you have it, your little pellet has had an awful lot of energy expended already before you fire it in your stove.
It would appear that a pellet stove is just pushing sustainability issues to one side. If I do get a pellet stove then it will be fired by my own willow pellets, dried in the sun, carried in a wheelbarrow to the bunker and augered in using electricity that I generated myself.
Do I really need a coke?
One of my favourite tipples. Ice cold. Refreshing. I better stop writing positively about it as it could send me up the wall, not having drunk one for over a week. As I wrote in an article about orange juice, I can now get good quality and healthy orange juice for less than the price of a coke. So that's one nail in the caffeine coffin. But is there anything else wrong with coke other than caffeine addiction?
Recently, I have been reading about the effects of Coca Cola production on the world. It takes 2.7 litres of water to make a litre of coke. That's 1 litre of coke and 1.7 litres of dirty water that could have done something more useful, like growing vegetable. Essentially, I'm just drinking value added water. I would never go to a supermarket and buy water like the image conscious half-wit that do so. Drinking coke is not much different to drinking the latest Di-hydrogen Monoxide marketing trick.
Oh and before you say it, if you put a tooth in a glass of coke overnight it will still be there in the morning. I had that argument with a nicotinic acid addict who never drinks coke but whose teeth are in far worse condition than mine. My teeth maybe a little on the yellow side but they are intact.
In parts of India farmers are struggling to irrigate their farms because local Coca Cola plants are using up all the water. Meanwhile, in Zimbabwe, economic mismanagement resulting in failing infrastructure means no coke there either.
It's not a bad drink in moderation. I always wash my mouth out with water or brush my teeth after drinking it, as you should after any meal. Drinking too much and getting a coke head if you try to stop for just one day is not good though. However, what I've been reading has me thinking that coke is not sustainable in a world of depleting resources and is overpriced for what is mostly water. Looks like coke will fall into the same "very occasional drink" category as champagne, which I also drank like a fish during my corporate life.
Guardian - Coke 'drinks India dry'
Guardian - Coca Cola dries up in Zimbabwe
Recently, I have been reading about the effects of Coca Cola production on the world. It takes 2.7 litres of water to make a litre of coke. That's 1 litre of coke and 1.7 litres of dirty water that could have done something more useful, like growing vegetable. Essentially, I'm just drinking value added water. I would never go to a supermarket and buy water like the image conscious half-wit that do so. Drinking coke is not much different to drinking the latest Di-hydrogen Monoxide marketing trick.
Oh and before you say it, if you put a tooth in a glass of coke overnight it will still be there in the morning. I had that argument with a nicotinic acid addict who never drinks coke but whose teeth are in far worse condition than mine. My teeth maybe a little on the yellow side but they are intact.
In parts of India farmers are struggling to irrigate their farms because local Coca Cola plants are using up all the water. Meanwhile, in Zimbabwe, economic mismanagement resulting in failing infrastructure means no coke there either.
It's not a bad drink in moderation. I always wash my mouth out with water or brush my teeth after drinking it, as you should after any meal. Drinking too much and getting a coke head if you try to stop for just one day is not good though. However, what I've been reading has me thinking that coke is not sustainable in a world of depleting resources and is overpriced for what is mostly water. Looks like coke will fall into the same "very occasional drink" category as champagne, which I also drank like a fish during my corporate life.
Guardian - Coke 'drinks India dry'
Guardian - Coca Cola dries up in Zimbabwe
Last of the potatoes
Not bad seeing as we started harvesting them in July of last year. Rosie cooked her as per usual delicious Spanish omelette and that saw the last of the potatoes. To be honest, it is not such a feat as we also eat pasta and rice too, which we don't produce ourselves.
We do intend eating a lot more potatoes in the second half of this year than last. For now, we shall be eating the bulk Thai rice we buy from an oriental supermarket. Just 22 euros for a 20 kilo sack, which lasts for over a year. Much cheaper than the revolting Uncle Benn's at over 4 euro per kilo. We also buy kilo bags of pasta from the no frills Lidl supermareket for 80 cents a kilo. Cheaper per kilo than Tesco's 5 kilo bag.
Rosie and I don't have a large variety of foodstuffs. What we do have is plenty of cooking know-how and some cheaply bought or grown herbs and spices. A chicken can be cooked five days in a row using Chinese, Indian, Italian, Mexican and Spanish styles without ever getting tired of chicken. We do have other meat though. I catch fish in the bay. We are sometimes given meat as payment for computer work. Eating pigs is a joy. Pork, bacon, ham and chorizo. I'm beginning to feel hungry.
We either grow or buy raw ingredients as much as possible to guarantee freshness, low cost and good taste. More often than not, the more expensive the food the less it is good for you. Either it is heavily processed or the expensive ingredients are just plain bad for you. If you want to live a healthy life then get plenty of exercise growing and cooking your own fresh food.
We do intend eating a lot more potatoes in the second half of this year than last. For now, we shall be eating the bulk Thai rice we buy from an oriental supermarket. Just 22 euros for a 20 kilo sack, which lasts for over a year. Much cheaper than the revolting Uncle Benn's at over 4 euro per kilo. We also buy kilo bags of pasta from the no frills Lidl supermareket for 80 cents a kilo. Cheaper per kilo than Tesco's 5 kilo bag.
Rosie and I don't have a large variety of foodstuffs. What we do have is plenty of cooking know-how and some cheaply bought or grown herbs and spices. A chicken can be cooked five days in a row using Chinese, Indian, Italian, Mexican and Spanish styles without ever getting tired of chicken. We do have other meat though. I catch fish in the bay. We are sometimes given meat as payment for computer work. Eating pigs is a joy. Pork, bacon, ham and chorizo. I'm beginning to feel hungry.
We either grow or buy raw ingredients as much as possible to guarantee freshness, low cost and good taste. More often than not, the more expensive the food the less it is good for you. Either it is heavily processed or the expensive ingredients are just plain bad for you. If you want to live a healthy life then get plenty of exercise growing and cooking your own fresh food.
That's more like it
As I have said before, to tax is to burden. We should always burden people by taxing them for things we prefer them not to do.
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, has changed car tax to reflect how much a car pollutes. The worst offenders paying £210 per annum and certain low emission cars paying no car tax at all. Still, if you can afford to drive a tank-like SUV then £210 is probably nothing.
BBC - Brown targets polluting vehicles
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, has changed car tax to reflect how much a car pollutes. The worst offenders paying £210 per annum and certain low emission cars paying no car tax at all. Still, if you can afford to drive a tank-like SUV then £210 is probably nothing.
BBC - Brown targets polluting vehicles
The Good Life goes mainstream
Everyday the newspapers are full of articles about Peak Oil and living Self-Sufficiently. Mainstream political parties are now trumpeting micro generation of power and living in a more self-reliant manner. The general public is seeing higher energy prices and are beginning to wonder if they can rely on corporations to supply their most basic of needs.
It is said that home generation of power "could potentially provide 30%-40% of the UK's total electricity needs by 2050". That's a lot of oil and gas that doesn't need to be imported.
Guardian - Alternative energy inspires new power generation
It is said that home generation of power "could potentially provide 30%-40% of the UK's total electricity needs by 2050". That's a lot of oil and gas that doesn't need to be imported.
Guardian - Alternative energy inspires new power generation
More juice!
I can't remember exactly when I last bought orange juice. It was sometime last year. Maybe November or possibly October. SuperValu dropped the price on their 4 pack of 1 litre cartons from 3.97 to 3.00 euros. I didn't need to be told twice.
Like most Irish supermarkets these days the staff are mostly eastern European. Apparently, working in supermarkets is beneath the average Irish person. I'm sure the Irish will rediscover a fondness for such jobs when globalisation is replaced with good ol' fashioned localisation in the years to come.
Ireland likes to boast about its localisation service industry. Part of that mythical Celtic Tiger economy. Translating Microsoft user manuals from English into Arabic is what Ireland thinks localisation is all about. With Ireland being the 7th most oil dependent nation on the planet good old fashioned "grow your own spuds and carry the surplus down to the market on a donkey" is not too far into the future. Anyway, back to the OJ story.
Well, there I was filling my trolley full of orange juice to last me 6 months until the expiry date on the cartons. Whilst loading up I was getting smirks from the eastern Europeans for whom minimum wage is a godsend compared to what they had back home. They too are in for a rude awakening. For the time being EU admission brings untold wealth. Fill your boots there fellas. It won't last. Once global capital has had you up against the wall too then it will move on again, looking for new victims.
I drink more orange juice than anything else. It's good for you. It doesn't lead to addiction problems like tea, coffee, coca cola or alcohol. I like a nice Armagnac or Calvados every now and again but juice is my everyday drink. It therefore makes a large hole in my food bill.
After emptying SuperValu of its offer I then went to Lidl and bought some of their juice. Quite foul it is too. Only 50% juice with a good dollop of added sugar. Still, at 45c a litre in 2 litre cartons it does have its uses as a mixer. I now drink "half and half". Half a glass of SuperValu and half of Lidl juice. It tastes okay. So, what was once costing 99.25 cents a litre per day is now just costing me 60 cents a litre per day. That's a saving of 143.26 euros per year.
SuperValu have a regular orange juice offer. I guess Florida has a bumper crop and cheap juice gets dumped onto the market. I'm sure the orange farmers of Florida all have futures brokers making sure they don't lose any money so it's win/win for all of us.
Like most Irish supermarkets these days the staff are mostly eastern European. Apparently, working in supermarkets is beneath the average Irish person. I'm sure the Irish will rediscover a fondness for such jobs when globalisation is replaced with good ol' fashioned localisation in the years to come.
Ireland likes to boast about its localisation service industry. Part of that mythical Celtic Tiger economy. Translating Microsoft user manuals from English into Arabic is what Ireland thinks localisation is all about. With Ireland being the 7th most oil dependent nation on the planet good old fashioned "grow your own spuds and carry the surplus down to the market on a donkey" is not too far into the future. Anyway, back to the OJ story.
Well, there I was filling my trolley full of orange juice to last me 6 months until the expiry date on the cartons. Whilst loading up I was getting smirks from the eastern Europeans for whom minimum wage is a godsend compared to what they had back home. They too are in for a rude awakening. For the time being EU admission brings untold wealth. Fill your boots there fellas. It won't last. Once global capital has had you up against the wall too then it will move on again, looking for new victims.
I drink more orange juice than anything else. It's good for you. It doesn't lead to addiction problems like tea, coffee, coca cola or alcohol. I like a nice Armagnac or Calvados every now and again but juice is my everyday drink. It therefore makes a large hole in my food bill.
After emptying SuperValu of its offer I then went to Lidl and bought some of their juice. Quite foul it is too. Only 50% juice with a good dollop of added sugar. Still, at 45c a litre in 2 litre cartons it does have its uses as a mixer. I now drink "half and half". Half a glass of SuperValu and half of Lidl juice. It tastes okay. So, what was once costing 99.25 cents a litre per day is now just costing me 60 cents a litre per day. That's a saving of 143.26 euros per year.
SuperValu have a regular orange juice offer. I guess Florida has a bumper crop and cheap juice gets dumped onto the market. I'm sure the orange farmers of Florida all have futures brokers making sure they don't lose any money so it's win/win for all of us.
Fill your boots
Just back from a drive around the local national park with Rosie. It was snowing up on The Reeks and we only just made it to a petrol station before the tank ran dry. Forestry workers are digging up rhododendron trees, cutting them up and leaving them by the road side.
Rhododendron is not a native tree and is removed from the national park. It is almost as hard as birch and makes for good firewood. Thinner sticks catch light easily and make good kindling. We brought a boot load back in the car. Enough to replace all the wood we burnt this week. It'll all be put away to season for next year.
Rhododendron is not a native tree and is removed from the national park. It is almost as hard as birch and makes for good firewood. Thinner sticks catch light easily and make good kindling. We brought a boot load back in the car. Enough to replace all the wood we burnt this week. It'll all be put away to season for next year.
Wood chip stoves
Had a look inside my polytunnel today and many of my willow cuttings are starting to sprout shoots. I shall be taking more cuttings from my donor trees on Sunday.
In the meantime I am looking into wood chip stoves. I wouldn't be interested in one if I had to buy the wood chips. If I can produce my own wood chips then an automated heating system would be of use to me.
An ordinary wood stove or kitchen range has to be fed by hand with logs. This requires someone to be in attendance all the time. A wood chip stove uses an electrically powered auger to feed chips into the stove. This is ideal for heating water whilst everyone is asleep. At the moment we are still using the oil boiler to heat a few radiators and the hot water cylinder in the morning.
A wood chip stove would be programmed to provide hot water and heat the radiators when needed. Our current wood stove would still be used in the evening to heat the downstairs using logs too large to be chipped. Thermostatic valves would switch off radiators downstairs as the wood stove heats up.
In the meantime I am looking into wood chip stoves. I wouldn't be interested in one if I had to buy the wood chips. If I can produce my own wood chips then an automated heating system would be of use to me.
An ordinary wood stove or kitchen range has to be fed by hand with logs. This requires someone to be in attendance all the time. A wood chip stove uses an electrically powered auger to feed chips into the stove. This is ideal for heating water whilst everyone is asleep. At the moment we are still using the oil boiler to heat a few radiators and the hot water cylinder in the morning.
A wood chip stove would be programmed to provide hot water and heat the radiators when needed. Our current wood stove would still be used in the evening to heat the downstairs using logs too large to be chipped. Thermostatic valves would switch off radiators downstairs as the wood stove heats up.
Recommended Reading
Self-Sufficiency
The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency
Owned by many and regarded as the bible of self-sufficiency. Throughout the year there is much to do. Be it planting, looking after livestock, renewable energy or rural trades and crafts, this book covers it all.
Self Reliance: A Recipe for the New Millennium
Even townies can live a partially self-sufficient lifestyle with this book. From making do to living off wild food.
Wind Power
Windpower Workshop
Written by Hugh Piggott, an authority on wind power. He covers all aspects of generating electricity with a wind turbine. From shaping the blades, to winding your own generator coils, this book takes you from start to finish.
Peak Oil
Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy
Matthew Simmons is an authority on peak oil and discusses the belief that the world's largest oil producers are on the road to decreased oil supply.
Hubbert's Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage
M King Hubbert correctly predicted that the United States would reach a peak of oil production in the late 60s. His work, applied to world oil supply, makes for a wake-up call to humanity.
The End of Oil: The Decline of the Petroleum Economy and the Rise of a New Energy Order
What is to become of us and our lifestyles with the decline of oil? Read about the alternatives in The End of Oil.
Half Gone: Oil, Gas, Hot Air and the Global Energy Crisis
Half Gone refers to both halves of the book. The fact that we have used up half the crude oil available to us and to half the world we've destroyed using it. Read about peak oil and climate change in this excellent book.
The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency
Owned by many and regarded as the bible of self-sufficiency. Throughout the year there is much to do. Be it planting, looking after livestock, renewable energy or rural trades and crafts, this book covers it all.
Self Reliance: A Recipe for the New Millennium
Even townies can live a partially self-sufficient lifestyle with this book. From making do to living off wild food.
Wind Power
Windpower Workshop
Written by Hugh Piggott, an authority on wind power. He covers all aspects of generating electricity with a wind turbine. From shaping the blades, to winding your own generator coils, this book takes you from start to finish.
Peak Oil
Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy
Matthew Simmons is an authority on peak oil and discusses the belief that the world's largest oil producers are on the road to decreased oil supply.
Hubbert's Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage
M King Hubbert correctly predicted that the United States would reach a peak of oil production in the late 60s. His work, applied to world oil supply, makes for a wake-up call to humanity.
The End of Oil: The Decline of the Petroleum Economy and the Rise of a New Energy Order
What is to become of us and our lifestyles with the decline of oil? Read about the alternatives in The End of Oil.
Half Gone: Oil, Gas, Hot Air and the Global Energy Crisis
Half Gone refers to both halves of the book. The fact that we have used up half the crude oil available to us and to half the world we've destroyed using it. Read about peak oil and climate change in this excellent book.
In the news
The year so far has seen news stories about peak oil and renewable energy virtually everyday. Quietly, in the background, something is being done about our energy problems. Alternative fuels, micro-power generation and renewable energy are on tips of every eco-conscious tongue.
However, it doesn't address the fact that although we in the developed world may find alternatives to fueling our lifestyles, the majority of people in the rest of the world are energy poor regardless of how that energy is provided.
When we get round to providing energy for all then we will be back to square one as the world can't sustain the current human population size with renewable or fossil energy at the level we in the developed world enjoy. Not unless the world's population really wants to live in a crowded, battery farm style, industrialised landscape with no room on the planet for anything other than humans.
As I like to say, "There are hundreds, there are thousands, there are millions. But billions are just far too many millions."
However, it doesn't address the fact that although we in the developed world may find alternatives to fueling our lifestyles, the majority of people in the rest of the world are energy poor regardless of how that energy is provided.
When we get round to providing energy for all then we will be back to square one as the world can't sustain the current human population size with renewable or fossil energy at the level we in the developed world enjoy. Not unless the world's population really wants to live in a crowded, battery farm style, industrialised landscape with no room on the planet for anything other than humans.
As I like to say, "There are hundreds, there are thousands, there are millions. But billions are just far too many millions."
E85 in the UK
The Morrison's supermarket chain has opened the UK's first E85 petrol pump. It delivers 85% ethanol 15% petrol mixture to suitably adapted flex fuel vehicles.
It will probably be marketed at a premium for the eco-conscious so don't expect it to be available at the same price, let alone cheaper, than regular unleaded.
BBC - UK's first bioethanol pump opens
It will probably be marketed at a premium for the eco-conscious so don't expect it to be available at the same price, let alone cheaper, than regular unleaded.
BBC - UK's first bioethanol pump opens
Back from beyond
Spent the weekend near Mizen Head, the most south-western point in Ireland. It was mostly wet and I had to be dragged from the snooker table to go for walks by the rest of the sailing gang. It was too windy for sailing.
Today I had a look in the polytunnel and many of my willow cuttings are beginning to sprout leaves. Some more onions are beginning to show themselves too. My seed potatoes are chitting nicely with the eyes sprouting by a few millimetres.
Friday will see Saint Patrick's Day and the traditional date for planting early potatoes. However, I shan't be doing so. It is far too cold this year and there may be a few more frosts to come. The middle of April looks to be the time when I shall be planting my seed potatoes.
Today I had a look in the polytunnel and many of my willow cuttings are beginning to sprout leaves. Some more onions are beginning to show themselves too. My seed potatoes are chitting nicely with the eyes sprouting by a few millimetres.
Friday will see Saint Patrick's Day and the traditional date for planting early potatoes. However, I shan't be doing so. It is far too cold this year and there may be a few more frosts to come. The middle of April looks to be the time when I shall be planting my seed potatoes.
Sound insulation
I received an interesting e-mail today about using seaweed as a sound insulator. That got me thinking so I will intimate my thoughts about it here.
I haven't heard of seaweed's sound proofing property before but it wouldn't surprise me as I have heard of sea shells being used. Once visiting Hampton Court Palace near London, I read in the tour guide that all the spaces between the floors are insulated using sea shells and I never heard anyone on the floors above and below.
I'm sure seaweed would do a similar job. One of the larger species like kelp or bladderwrack, dried and cut into small lengths of 2 inches or so would seem right in my mind. It's all about having a multiple reflective surface so that sound waves cancel each other out rather than muffling like a softer material would. Seaweed is light when dry though it might be a fire hazard being a biomass.
In the case of sea shells then large shells like scallops would be broken up taking care not to reduce everything to a powder. Remember, it's all about reflections. For my own house I took a different route using rockwool for muffling rather than reflecting, then an OSB board sub-floor on top of the joists and then the wood floor on top of that. There is a marked sound reduction.
As all the rooms above are bedrooms I didn't want the heat from below going upstairs. What's the point of heating the space between the floors? We are quite comfortable with lower temperatures upstairs as we are just sleeping there and a thick duvet keeps you warm at night. 16-17C is what we like. Slightly above downstairs.
I haven't heard of seaweed's sound proofing property before but it wouldn't surprise me as I have heard of sea shells being used. Once visiting Hampton Court Palace near London, I read in the tour guide that all the spaces between the floors are insulated using sea shells and I never heard anyone on the floors above and below.
I'm sure seaweed would do a similar job. One of the larger species like kelp or bladderwrack, dried and cut into small lengths of 2 inches or so would seem right in my mind. It's all about having a multiple reflective surface so that sound waves cancel each other out rather than muffling like a softer material would. Seaweed is light when dry though it might be a fire hazard being a biomass.
In the case of sea shells then large shells like scallops would be broken up taking care not to reduce everything to a powder. Remember, it's all about reflections. For my own house I took a different route using rockwool for muffling rather than reflecting, then an OSB board sub-floor on top of the joists and then the wood floor on top of that. There is a marked sound reduction.
As all the rooms above are bedrooms I didn't want the heat from below going upstairs. What's the point of heating the space between the floors? We are quite comfortable with lower temperatures upstairs as we are just sleeping there and a thick duvet keeps you warm at night. 16-17C is what we like. Slightly above downstairs.
Wood stove cleaning tip
You wake up in the morning, go to put some wood in the stove and the glass fronted door is covered in soot so you can't see if the fire is alight with the door shut.
It's hard work cleaning the glass on a wood stove. Well, I just discovered that when the stove is still hot from today's burning you can clean the glass with a rolled up newspaper.
The stove glass will still be hot so make sure the paper roll is long enough that you don't burn your fingers. All you need to do is rub the end of the roll over the glass and all the soot will come off. I suppose it's the heat of the stove that makes the soot easier to remove.
Now, altogether, "We know that one!" Okay, back to bed with me.
It's hard work cleaning the glass on a wood stove. Well, I just discovered that when the stove is still hot from today's burning you can clean the glass with a rolled up newspaper.
The stove glass will still be hot so make sure the paper roll is long enough that you don't burn your fingers. All you need to do is rub the end of the roll over the glass and all the soot will come off. I suppose it's the heat of the stove that makes the soot easier to remove.
Now, altogether, "We know that one!" Okay, back to bed with me.
This doesn't make good reading
"IBEC Director of Enterprise Brendan Butler said that 'given the short three month timeframe in which this policy was produced by the European Commission, it is unacceptable that the Irish Government has not yet produced a National policy now six years overdue'.
Butler said Ireland is around 90% dependent on imported energy and that by 2007 over 60% of electricity generation will be fuelled by gas."
RTE - Ireland vulnerable to energy crisis - IBEC
Well, I've reduced my dependence through burning wood but what if everyone in the country did that? Ireland has some of the lowest tree cover in Europe. It's getting worse with all the holiday homes and hotels being built.
Electricity prices will increase a lot if it is to be generated mostly through gas. The peat fired power stations will shut when the peat bogs are emptied in less than 20 years. I don't see any rush to get the population to produce its own micro-generated power and less to pay people for their excess supply. The Irish government is always slow to react.
I always get the feeling that the government only looks at schemes that can enrich the ruling party's personal wealth. I'm always amused when they start going on about the Celtic Tiger (esp. see 4.3 Over-reliance on foreign energy sources). Technologically this country is still very backward. In general attitude towards life there is a lot of inertia.
Butler said Ireland is around 90% dependent on imported energy and that by 2007 over 60% of electricity generation will be fuelled by gas."
RTE - Ireland vulnerable to energy crisis - IBEC
Well, I've reduced my dependence through burning wood but what if everyone in the country did that? Ireland has some of the lowest tree cover in Europe. It's getting worse with all the holiday homes and hotels being built.
Electricity prices will increase a lot if it is to be generated mostly through gas. The peat fired power stations will shut when the peat bogs are emptied in less than 20 years. I don't see any rush to get the population to produce its own micro-generated power and less to pay people for their excess supply. The Irish government is always slow to react.
I always get the feeling that the government only looks at schemes that can enrich the ruling party's personal wealth. I'm always amused when they start going on about the Celtic Tiger (esp. see 4.3 Over-reliance on foreign energy sources). Technologically this country is still very backward. In general attitude towards life there is a lot of inertia.
More micro-generation
More debate in the UK about people wishing to generate their own power and allowing them to sell excess power to the utilities. The selling back has yet to be implemented in Ireland. If the UK implements it then you can be sure that the Irish government will want to copy it, as they do with everything else.
In these changing times what better way to farm than to farm your own energy instead of struggling against cheap beef and wheat imports. Do leave some space though for normal farming when we need to start localising again.
BBC - Power from the people
In these changing times what better way to farm than to farm your own energy instead of struggling against cheap beef and wheat imports. Do leave some space though for normal farming when we need to start localising again.
BBC - Power from the people
Carbon sequestration
Oil companies in the UK and Norway are looking at pumping carbon dioxide from power stations into their ailing oil fields. This will increase the pressure so permitting more oil to be pumped out. It will also be a way of preventing carbon dioxide from getting into the atmosphere by keeping it deep underground.
I remain to be convinced about the second reason. I've seen lots of documentaries about vents under the sea and volcanism to know that the bottom of the sea is not a placid place. What is to stop all this carbon dioxide leaking out? I hope the scientists working on this have the answer, I just haven't read about it yet.
BBC - Carbon burial plan for the North Sea
Okay, it's in Wikipedia under Carbon Sequestration. Quite a tome, I'll read it later.
I remain to be convinced about the second reason. I've seen lots of documentaries about vents under the sea and volcanism to know that the bottom of the sea is not a placid place. What is to stop all this carbon dioxide leaking out? I hope the scientists working on this have the answer, I just haven't read about it yet.
BBC - Carbon burial plan for the North Sea
Okay, it's in Wikipedia under Carbon Sequestration. Quite a tome, I'll read it later.
Decentralised power generation
"The Tories want every home to have a gas-powered generator, solar cells on the roof or a heat-pump in the lawn."
Nice to see a mainstream political party espousing sustainable technologies in power generation. As a child I remember my town's own power station being demolished. There was town gas generation too before I was born. All that went in favour of massive centralised power stations.
Now, with micro-generation and communal initiatives like BedZed we might be seeing a return to localisation, at least with regards to power generation. If BedZed is anything to go by the community will thrive when it pulls together.
I may live in a "rural idyll" but with 75% of the houses in my area owned by townies there is not much of a community. Holiday homers come from far away, drive in at speed in their SUVs, dash into the house without an "hello" and slam the door behind them.
Those of us who do live here permanently do their own thing. Our house is one of only three growing their own food. Energy comes through the grid. Water comes from a scheme but that could well fail when a few hundred more holiday homes are built in the area during the coming years.
Ireland will eventually suffer from the energy problems the UK is having. I doubt that it will concentrate the minds of those looking for a quick euro in the housing market. It might though awaken fractured communities who will pull together when they realise that they are not benefiting from any of this construction.
Daily Telegraph - Tories focus their energy on solar panels and home generators
Nice to see a mainstream political party espousing sustainable technologies in power generation. As a child I remember my town's own power station being demolished. There was town gas generation too before I was born. All that went in favour of massive centralised power stations.
Now, with micro-generation and communal initiatives like BedZed we might be seeing a return to localisation, at least with regards to power generation. If BedZed is anything to go by the community will thrive when it pulls together.
I may live in a "rural idyll" but with 75% of the houses in my area owned by townies there is not much of a community. Holiday homers come from far away, drive in at speed in their SUVs, dash into the house without an "hello" and slam the door behind them.
Those of us who do live here permanently do their own thing. Our house is one of only three growing their own food. Energy comes through the grid. Water comes from a scheme but that could well fail when a few hundred more holiday homes are built in the area during the coming years.
Ireland will eventually suffer from the energy problems the UK is having. I doubt that it will concentrate the minds of those looking for a quick euro in the housing market. It might though awaken fractured communities who will pull together when they realise that they are not benefiting from any of this construction.
Daily Telegraph - Tories focus their energy on solar panels and home generators
Feels warmer
I went outside to close the polytunnel door this morning, after accidentally leaving it open all night. It felt a lot warmer outside with the wind coming from the south. Friday will see sub-zero temperatures again. After that it will warm up with maybe some double figure temperatures next week.
I still won't plant anything outside until April. There's still a chance of some frost throughout March. When I do plant out I will have all the joys of seeing some of it eaten by slugs so before I forget, I shall write "slug pellets" on my shopping list.
I still won't plant anything outside until April. There's still a chance of some frost throughout March. When I do plant out I will have all the joys of seeing some of it eaten by slugs so before I forget, I shall write "slug pellets" on my shopping list.
A frightening future
An article in the Guardian paints a picture of declining western economies but with emerging economies that will more than stretch our ability to sustain our lifetyles. A world with a billion or more cars than there are now. More roads, more parking spaces, less clean air.
We can't go on living like this. Indeed we won't. There are not enough resources in the world to permit it. We shall all be dragged down to some median level. How far down, we are yet to see.
World gears up for tension as emerging nations threaten to put G7 countries in the back seat
We can't go on living like this. Indeed we won't. There are not enough resources in the world to permit it. We shall all be dragged down to some median level. How far down, we are yet to see.
World gears up for tension as emerging nations threaten to put G7 countries in the back seat
Making the most of your money - the telephone
The telephone is quite a drain on your finances. Especially if you have a bird with some beak. Translation - a woman who likes to talk too much on the phone. Quite often the same people she has been talking to all day in the office!
To help cut down on expenditure I took all the cost cutting measures I could.
1) We use BT Ireland as our dial-up ISP. The Anytime rate is 26.99 euros per month for 180 hours online.
2) We use BT Ireland telephone rental as they offered a 4 euro discount on the monthly dial-up charge so the 26.99 is now 22.99 per month.
3) Viewing BT bills online rather than having them delivered gets a 5 euros a month discount.
4) We use Skype to call our parents, friends and anyone outside of our telephone exchange. At 0.17 cents per minute that is a big saving on calls.
With the savings listed above we should reduce the phone/Internet bill from last year's 1000 to just 500 euros. A 50% saving!
When Wireless broadband comes to this part of Ireland (and it's very close now) we shall do away with the phone altogether. All calls will go through WiMAX and if anyone wishes to contact us then they can call our mobile or text us and we will call them back through Skype.
The WiMAX connection will cost about 360 euros per year. We spend about 40 euros per year on Skype. So we will get a further reduction of 100 euros and a much faster Internet connection in return.
Tips
* Make the most of your discounts.
* Look at getting rid of your phone and using an alternative.
To help cut down on expenditure I took all the cost cutting measures I could.
1) We use BT Ireland as our dial-up ISP. The Anytime rate is 26.99 euros per month for 180 hours online.
2) We use BT Ireland telephone rental as they offered a 4 euro discount on the monthly dial-up charge so the 26.99 is now 22.99 per month.
3) Viewing BT bills online rather than having them delivered gets a 5 euros a month discount.
4) We use Skype to call our parents, friends and anyone outside of our telephone exchange. At 0.17 cents per minute that is a big saving on calls.
With the savings listed above we should reduce the phone/Internet bill from last year's 1000 to just 500 euros. A 50% saving!
When Wireless broadband comes to this part of Ireland (and it's very close now) we shall do away with the phone altogether. All calls will go through WiMAX and if anyone wishes to contact us then they can call our mobile or text us and we will call them back through Skype.
The WiMAX connection will cost about 360 euros per year. We spend about 40 euros per year on Skype. So we will get a further reduction of 100 euros and a much faster Internet connection in return.
Tips
* Make the most of your discounts.
* Look at getting rid of your phone and using an alternative.
I feel a great sadness
After reading that the UK has at least 20,000 child heroin users I feel a deep sadness. I came to Kerry to get away from the madness taking over the UK. But I hear about similar stories in the small towns and villages in Kerry too. I wonder what will kill off western civilisation first. Consumerism, energy usage, drugs, a lack of spirituality, the multicult that believes in everything and nothing at the same time, or more likely a mixture of all these problems. I sometimes wonder why I bother trying, in my small way, to battle against it. I will have to battle if a child enters our home. Others may have worried in the past as their civilsations waned. Hopefully, better times are yet to come.
Reducing your footprint
An article in the The Observer about the ways in which we can increase the sustainabilty of our lifestyles reveals how much I have and haven't achieved.
I score well in producing much of our food, reducing the amount of processed food bought and decreasing the distance traveled. I haven't been out of counties Kerry and Cork for over a year now and I only went to County Cork twice. Rosie had to travel to Hong Kong to see her parents after 4 years.
Reducing the amount of processed food and increasing the amount of local food (most of it grown by myself) means that our food bill will be 2000 euros cheaper this year and maybe 2000% healthier.
Where we don't score well is with electricity, water and some of our heating. Most heating is with firewood but until I reconfigure the heating system then rooms will remain heated with oil. We use far less electricity than most people so going off-grid is a possibility. Rainwater harvesting would eliminate are dependence on others pumping water to our house. As I have mentioned before, we do have a well but the quality of the water is not as good as the free (for now) pumped water.
Plenty to do but it needs planning otherwise nothing will get done. I need to install radiators upstairs and integrate them with the current oil heating system for now. Then I will put in a solar cylinder to replace the current hot water cylinder. The new cylinder will be used as a heat store so the radiators will be heated from its store of heat rather than directly through a boiler.
Methods to heat the heat store rather than the oil boiler will be sought. A wood burning range, solar panels and immersion heaters powered by renewable sources on my own land (wind, solar and ICE generators).
All these plans will reduce my footprint further. It's not some weird hippy fetish, it's sound economics. If you can do it yourself more cheaply then you win through cheaper bills and you have security of service too. The "modern" convenience lifestyle has its price. Unsustainable and increasingly intermittent. Flick a switch and you pay for the power, the workforce and the shareholders.
Can our way of living really save the planet?
I score well in producing much of our food, reducing the amount of processed food bought and decreasing the distance traveled. I haven't been out of counties Kerry and Cork for over a year now and I only went to County Cork twice. Rosie had to travel to Hong Kong to see her parents after 4 years.
Reducing the amount of processed food and increasing the amount of local food (most of it grown by myself) means that our food bill will be 2000 euros cheaper this year and maybe 2000% healthier.
Where we don't score well is with electricity, water and some of our heating. Most heating is with firewood but until I reconfigure the heating system then rooms will remain heated with oil. We use far less electricity than most people so going off-grid is a possibility. Rainwater harvesting would eliminate are dependence on others pumping water to our house. As I have mentioned before, we do have a well but the quality of the water is not as good as the free (for now) pumped water.
Plenty to do but it needs planning otherwise nothing will get done. I need to install radiators upstairs and integrate them with the current oil heating system for now. Then I will put in a solar cylinder to replace the current hot water cylinder. The new cylinder will be used as a heat store so the radiators will be heated from its store of heat rather than directly through a boiler.
Methods to heat the heat store rather than the oil boiler will be sought. A wood burning range, solar panels and immersion heaters powered by renewable sources on my own land (wind, solar and ICE generators).
All these plans will reduce my footprint further. It's not some weird hippy fetish, it's sound economics. If you can do it yourself more cheaply then you win through cheaper bills and you have security of service too. The "modern" convenience lifestyle has its price. Unsustainable and increasingly intermittent. Flick a switch and you pay for the power, the workforce and the shareholders.
Can our way of living really save the planet?
The tree fella
Went to a place where I knew I would find some Osier willow trees. Took 6 whips, cut them down to 20 cuttings and left the tips for 6 longer cuttings.
This takes my year-to-date tree planting to
15 Alder
13 Golden Willow
26 Osier
3 Grey Willow
2 Silver Birch
3 Apple Trees
62 trees in total, with more to come. I hope to plant over 100 trees this year.
I have more willow, birch, beech, horse chestnut, walnut and oak in the tunnel but I won't plant them out until they are capable of withstanding hare attacks.
This takes my year-to-date tree planting to
15 Alder
13 Golden Willow
26 Osier
3 Grey Willow
2 Silver Birch
3 Apple Trees
62 trees in total, with more to come. I hope to plant over 100 trees this year.
I have more willow, birch, beech, horse chestnut, walnut and oak in the tunnel but I won't plant them out until they are capable of withstanding hare attacks.
I'm glad I did that
The potatoes from last year that I left to grow in the tunnel were found covered in blight spores and very much dead today. I'm glad I left them as it has alerted me to the fact that the whole of the tunnel is not suitable for potato growing for the next few seasons.
At least this will concentrate my mind towards growing potatoes in tubs and tyres this year, as well as a few plants in a deep bed. We shall compare how they all get on at the end of this year. This year's seed potatoes are still chitting. With the cold weather and nightly frosts they won't be planted until April.
Today, I planted 20 San Marzano passata tomatoes and 10 Jalapeno pepper seeds. The evening was spent watching a neighbouring farmer scurrying across his field damping down the fire he started to burn off all the gorse bushes. He only just managed to put out the fire on a wooden power line pole and then managed to stop the flames heading towards his brother's house. I walked down for a look and on arrival said, "Are we having a barbeque?" I'm not one for mutton anyway.
At least this will concentrate my mind towards growing potatoes in tubs and tyres this year, as well as a few plants in a deep bed. We shall compare how they all get on at the end of this year. This year's seed potatoes are still chitting. With the cold weather and nightly frosts they won't be planted until April.
Today, I planted 20 San Marzano passata tomatoes and 10 Jalapeno pepper seeds. The evening was spent watching a neighbouring farmer scurrying across his field damping down the fire he started to burn off all the gorse bushes. He only just managed to put out the fire on a wooden power line pole and then managed to stop the flames heading towards his brother's house. I walked down for a look and on arrival said, "Are we having a barbeque?" I'm not one for mutton anyway.
No to wind turbines in Cumbria
I mentioned yesterday about seeing nine more wind turbines in Kerry. In the north of the county there are about thirty or so. There is not much in the way of Nimbyism towards wind turbines here as there appears to be in the UK. Regular power cuts will put an end to that.
BBC - Giant windfarm plan thrown out
I also read in the news about Russian authorities wanting to extradite Boris Berezovsky from the UK to face charges of a coup plot. As far as I can see he only said that he would like President Putin replaced. The prisons would be overcrowded if we were all arrested for voicing our democratic wishes. The UK home secretary said he might review Mr Berezovsky's refugee status. I guess there's no connection between that and the UK's need for Russian natural gas.
'Coup' charge for Russian tycoon
BBC - Giant windfarm plan thrown out
I also read in the news about Russian authorities wanting to extradite Boris Berezovsky from the UK to face charges of a coup plot. As far as I can see he only said that he would like President Putin replaced. The prisons would be overcrowded if we were all arrested for voicing our democratic wishes. The UK home secretary said he might review Mr Berezovsky's refugee status. I guess there's no connection between that and the UK's need for Russian natural gas.
'Coup' charge for Russian tycoon
Eco Eye
This week's Eco Eye on RTÉ 1 consisted of news about water conservation and bio-fuels. The average Irish person is said to use over 100 litres of water per day. We use the washing machine just once a fortnight. Bath water is shared. And, I don't use the toilet as much as I could as my urine goes into a bottle and onto the compost heap.
We have a connection to a local water scheme. It's free, for the time being. Occasionally it fails when there is a big flood of water off the mountains and all kinds of rubbish jam up the filters. We have a well too but that produces peat and iron along with water so I want an alternative to my alternative. I am quite interesting in rainwater harvesting.
One of the many things I want to do is save all our grey water for watering the vegetables. That will put a lot less pressure on our septic tank. A rainwater harvesting system would provide untreated water for flushing the toilet and a (as has been insisted upon!) UV treated connection for the water tank. When the water system is off, it is usually off for a whole day. Very annoying. Would be nice to have a clean back up.
The second half of Eco Eye was about bio-fuels. Teagasc (pronounced Tyu-gask or Chu-gask depending on dialect) is an agricultural establishment that is researching uses for myscanthus grass for creating wood chips for pellet stoves and oil seed rape for use in diesel cars.
Myscanthus grows a couple of metres per year. It is a grass so it will just go on growing forever, in poor soil and with no fertlising. It does have to be processed for burning in stoves so it is not for the ordinary individual. A second best option is the one I'm taking. That is the growing of willow. Not quite as prolific a grower as Myscanthus but it will produce logs that can be burnt in the stove without further processing.
About 2 acres of oil seed would feed the average Irish person's driving needs though there would not be much room for food crops after that. As I suspect, either we will have to reduce our profligate lifestyles or the population needs to decrease. One solution has a less than 50% of succeeding the other risks being called a Hitler and has no chance of succeeding unless Mother Nature takes care of the task for us.
Still, Eco Eye is a good programme and hopefully has opened a few eco eyes over the past few weeks. It manages to inform without scaring. I think scaring the average member of the public would give them a feeling of "There's nothing I can do so I will just carry on as I am." Unfortunately, I think a lot of the Green choices people can make might be too little and too late.
We have a connection to a local water scheme. It's free, for the time being. Occasionally it fails when there is a big flood of water off the mountains and all kinds of rubbish jam up the filters. We have a well too but that produces peat and iron along with water so I want an alternative to my alternative. I am quite interesting in rainwater harvesting.
One of the many things I want to do is save all our grey water for watering the vegetables. That will put a lot less pressure on our septic tank. A rainwater harvesting system would provide untreated water for flushing the toilet and a (as has been insisted upon!) UV treated connection for the water tank. When the water system is off, it is usually off for a whole day. Very annoying. Would be nice to have a clean back up.
The second half of Eco Eye was about bio-fuels. Teagasc (pronounced Tyu-gask or Chu-gask depending on dialect) is an agricultural establishment that is researching uses for myscanthus grass for creating wood chips for pellet stoves and oil seed rape for use in diesel cars.
Myscanthus grows a couple of metres per year. It is a grass so it will just go on growing forever, in poor soil and with no fertlising. It does have to be processed for burning in stoves so it is not for the ordinary individual. A second best option is the one I'm taking. That is the growing of willow. Not quite as prolific a grower as Myscanthus but it will produce logs that can be burnt in the stove without further processing.
About 2 acres of oil seed would feed the average Irish person's driving needs though there would not be much room for food crops after that. As I suspect, either we will have to reduce our profligate lifestyles or the population needs to decrease. One solution has a less than 50% of succeeding the other risks being called a Hitler and has no chance of succeeding unless Mother Nature takes care of the task for us.
Still, Eco Eye is a good programme and hopefully has opened a few eco eyes over the past few weeks. It manages to inform without scaring. I think scaring the average member of the public would give them a feeling of "There's nothing I can do so I will just carry on as I am." Unfortunately, I think a lot of the Green choices people can make might be too little and too late.
Electrifying
Our electricity usage jumped from 26kWh per week to 34kWh for this week. All due to our using the electric immersion heater to heat the hot water cylinder instead of the oil boiler, which is now permanently off. That will add about 1 euro a week to the electricity bill. For water heating that is cheaper than using oil.
The oil boiler is really for heating the home with the added bonus of heating the hot water cylinder too. But, as we now heat the home with wood, it is cheaper to heat the cylinder with electricity. The oil boiler is inefficient for that purpose alone. In due course, free renewable energy will heat the hot water cylinder.
The stove has been kept alight with wood off-cuts from the work I am doing upstairs. The sub-floor is almost done. A bit of corridor and the sixth and final room to complete and I'm done.
Sub 0C temperatures all week. It actually snowed here today though it didn't settle. The mountains surrounding us all have snow on their peaks. I scanned the mountains with my binoculars and saw that in the past 6 months someone has erected 9 wind turbines on some hills about 25 miles away. Must be the ones in Inchees that people have mentioned. They weren't turning though it was windy. Mustn't be online yet. Glad I didn't buy the land that was for sale up there. Yes, NIMBY I am.
The oil boiler is really for heating the home with the added bonus of heating the hot water cylinder too. But, as we now heat the home with wood, it is cheaper to heat the cylinder with electricity. The oil boiler is inefficient for that purpose alone. In due course, free renewable energy will heat the hot water cylinder.
The stove has been kept alight with wood off-cuts from the work I am doing upstairs. The sub-floor is almost done. A bit of corridor and the sixth and final room to complete and I'm done.
Sub 0C temperatures all week. It actually snowed here today though it didn't settle. The mountains surrounding us all have snow on their peaks. I scanned the mountains with my binoculars and saw that in the past 6 months someone has erected 9 wind turbines on some hills about 25 miles away. Must be the ones in Inchees that people have mentioned. They weren't turning though it was windy. Mustn't be online yet. Glad I didn't buy the land that was for sale up there. Yes, NIMBY I am.
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