The Jungle at Chez Tigs - a photographic summary

This is a fairly long and rambling blog about the ins and outs of my growings at home - in many ways I've used it as my own personal growing diary so if gardening's not your thing, you may want to skim / skip this one!

Sunday lunchtime
Today was a day without plans but with lots of potential - and after breakfast on the beach I fancied "getting on and doing" - and what took my fancy first of all was playing with my various plants at home. And having played with them, I fancied doing a bit of a summary!

The biggest challenge is knowing where to start. With the plants that have been here the longest? From the top of the house down? From the bottom of the house up? Inside to out? Outside to in? I have a true delight with my house in that I experience it in different ways - coming in through different doors, different "journeys" through the house on different days and at different times, and even things like temporarily forgetting part of the jungle (in this case, the outside plants at the front - how I could forget those when I see them every time I come in and out of the house I have no idea!). And I'm still at a loss as to where to start...so I'll just start and see where it takes me.

Spider Plants

One of two tubs that "came
with the house" up on the
second floor landing

So, spider plants are a bit marmite-esque in people's response to them - folk seem either to love 'em or hate 'em. But the truth of the matter for me was that they were the only thing that survived the neglect any plants in my home were subjected to when I wasn't living here full time.

Most rooms have at least one
spider plant if nothing else!

They also seemed to work in some kind of symbiosis with one of the house plants that was here when I moved in (the stick in the photo on the left) which resurrected itself quite successful...although has since given up the ghost again. But given their seeming ability to grow through any amount of neglect (and mainly desertification) makes them somewhat of a staple in my house.

I love these shelves but have
been on such a clear out that
I don't yet have gazillions of
books to fill them - so spider
plants it is

In addition, while I'm still cultivating other more "useful" (edible etc.) plants, they're still doing their photosynthesising and bringing a bit of (plant) life to rooms which otherwise would be empty of such growing.

A useful spider-plant
nook in the hallway

I occasionally take to composting the odd one (another fine use for spider plants - although I'm not sure of the quality of compost they produce...) but the general plan at the moment is to cultivate some more large-ish plants which I may then be able to use as ornamental plants at work - while they're small, spider plants just look a little pathetic!

I must confess I also do rather like the way they cascade from high shelves and the like so for now, the spider plants will be staying. In if you're a spider plant hater, there will be a few more creeping into later photos but they'll be hiding amongst other plants - so do persevere!

Currently cropping...with the spider plants out of the way, on to my current grand success! I got myself some troughs which I had always planned on using as salad window boxes and which are coming on a treat - and also my main source of leafy greens at the moment. That all three of the said troughs are up on the second floor simply adds to their healthiness - the odd bit of running up and down the stairs to furnish myself with some spinach or lettuce doesn't go amiss!

My plant identification skills are pretty shocking at the moment (I'm working on it...slowly!) but when I originally planted the troughs they had a combination of lettuce, spinach, perpetual spinach and rocket in them. At least - I think they did!

The lettuce and spinach have been growing well for a while now and I'm beginning to really see the difference between the perpetual spinach and the "normal" spinach as well. However, the rocket was nowhere in sight.

There's one "weed" (for weed read "plant I haven't yet identified and therefore don't know what to use it for so for the time being am eliminating it to focus on the things I do know how to use") which I think the troughs picked up seeds for when they were outside (in anticipation of the drip trays I'd ordered for them) and which have been particularly fertile - and are now merrily composting.

Thinning out those has definitely helped the target-edible-leaves but today I attacked one of the troughs with a plastic fork (I don't have a small thinning out tool - but said fork worked rather well) and potted on some of the plants that were crowding out the others. I'll be intrigued to see how this trough does compared to the others but in addition to having a whole bunch of plants which hopefully do better with more space, I also found my first rocket plant! Hurrah!

Spinach and lettuce line the ledge in
front of the largest window, with 4 little
tomato plants just starting out to the
left (oh, and a spider plant, of course)

I've also hit my weeks-long target of having exhausted my pot supply - this will not in any way prevent me from cracking on with new projects (my favourite tricks of turning plastic water bottles into pots and using empty tetrapaks as drip trays will soon net me more containers I'm sure) but has been a bit a milestone. And milestones deserve celebration - so huzzah huzzah :)

A related milestone, of filling every window ledge of space, is still in progress and it looks like my plan of having mini shelves going up the side of windows may be coming to fruition sooner than I'd anticipated which may put that milestone somewhat further off again - but increases the jungle-potential rather dramatically which is very exciting.

My kitchen window ledge - not the
sunniest spot in the house but enough
light to keep things ticking over - and
the site of many a carrot seed sprouting!
The low tray is home to some thyme
seeds, then there's a lettuce plant, a
spinach and a pot I planted with "some
seeds" (I knew what they were at the time.
Not any more) and which keeps showing
signs of some sprouting but never
quite coming to fruition...

One thing Grow the House Down is really bringing home for me is the desireability for starting early. In my case, early may mean several years as the plan is to get a bunch of perennials going so when I find bits of open-air space I could use I've got established plants I could put straight in. But it also means my expectations for harvesting this year are very modest given many of the plants had their growing seasons rather limited by when I actually planted them (the tomatoes being a case in point).

The second herb pot getting
some growing in (the other
tub has purple sprouting
broccoli and carrot seedlings)

Another "currently cropping" are my herb pots. I have two (one which is in my kitchen ready for use and another which lives in a sunnier spot to do some more vigorous growing - and then they get swapped over) and although I'm in an ongoing battle with some whitefly, regular spraying with soapy water seems to be helping a lot. Parsley and chives are the main staples in the pot, with some spinach and coriander doing the best they can. Snip snip and the garnish is done = genius.

A whole variety - tomatoes, mint, spinach
aloe vera, jasmine, geranium and coriander

Other ground-floor growings While we're down in the kitchen seems like a good time to look at the living room and back room window ledges. I love having lots of plants in my living room and the geranium plant feels like one of my "oldest friends" when it comes to plants (I somehow don't have the same affection for the spider plants). My Mum got it for me when I was in Halifax and it was one of the few plants that really thrived over there - and being in a hanging basket makes it even better. The way it cascades over the side is wonderful. I'm still not convinced about the vigorous growing potential of the windows on the front of the house (which is north-east facing) but plants are able to survive which is a step in the right direction and the jasmine seems to be enjoying itself. I'm looking forward to putting some supports (possibly just some string) in to train it upwards. Space for lots more on this window ledge, too...

From left: purple sprouting broccoli,
first year asparagus plants and a
couple of cucumber plants

 The room at the back on the ground floor (which was originally a shop and still has the - rather dilapidated and currently boarded up - shop front) has until recently been the workshop for a local part-time guitar maker. Life's changed for him so he's moved out but I've yet to decide what to do with the room. But in the mean time, there are window ledges to be used!

My solo aubergine seedling, plus more
asparagus and purple sprouting broccoli

I'm cultivating a whole series of asparagus plants - I purchased some year old roots which in theory should have rehydrated and been growing away, but every single one I planted failed. Which was a shame - but is making the delicate fronds of my grown-from-seed asparagus even more exciting.

Next up: my back yard. For a long time this was the focus of my growing efforts because it had the highest chance of getting at least *some* watering (in the form of rain) in my absence. The bushiest greenery you'll see at the far end of the frame is a miniature tree I bought years ago which has continued to grow and be small. Along the back wall you can just make out three treelings - on the far left, a greengage that was a gift, then two apples. I think these are likely to end up at my office building next year, but for now they're merrily growing leaves and having a whale of a time.

Many of the plants that were also in the frame (an old divan base which just gave me a structure to start with) have now moved to the front yard or further afield, but there's still one lone gooseberry bush awaiting a new home, again, probably next year now. However, the other two highlights of the yard are my water butt (which I love - but note the not-yet-finished nature of its connection to the drainpipe top right- it's not actually lined up directly beneath the pipe due to the location of the drain in the ground and my plan for finishing off the piping) and two rather innocuous looking white tubs in the left foreground. Growing plants in containers is all well and good but fertiliser is going to be important - and this weekend I harvested myself some comfrey and nettles from the wonderful Middlewood Trust  and have started the festering process (given the smell it creates it can only be described as festering) of the mix with a healthy dose of water which, fingers crossed, will result in some great vegan low impact liquid fertiliser. That was one of this mornings jobs so I'm still feeling particularly pleased for having got it done (it's been on the list for quite some time!).

The front yard has, sadly, been subject to some vandalism so although the bathtub should be thriving and full of strong plants, it's actually just hanging on with much smaller plants than I'd hoped for. It's been a real disappointment that someone (or a group of someones) has decided to make my plants the target of their repeated vandalism (it's one of the reason I've got the apple trees in my back yard:  one of them had been pulled out of the soil and dumped exposing the roots to the air and leaving them to dry out. I was fairly convinced that would have well and truly killed it, but I try popping it back into some soil in a rather more protected spot and it's come back to life rather well) but I've decided just to get on with it and hope they cease. It's brought home the immense vulnerability of plants, even fairly established ones, but will not put a stop to the growing!

The part of the front yard which is down a set of steps has, to date, not been prone to the vandalism attacks the bathtub has experienced and has a range of plants growing, including broadbeans, some more chives, some of the ubiquitous purple sprouting broccoli, carrots, courgette, gooseberry and blackcurrant (which has some little green fruits on - hurrah!).

I've recently also added some plants in a very sheltered, but surprisingly sunny (in these summer mornings, at least) alcove between the steps and one of the windows - seen here along with my feet (a rather fun hark back to my photographs from Bolivia where my feet became a bit of an intentional theme...)

Which brings us to our penultimate location - my bathroom window ledge. The little cactus (one of two cacti I have - the second being a housewarming present from a friend which is down on my kitchen window ledge) and the "money tree" are two plants I wasn't quite sure where they should live - so they keep the toilet roll happy. The jasmine was a rather impulsive purchase (along with the other two I got) but when in flower brings a lovely distinctive smell to the room. Which is all rather nice.

And finally - the second floor landing. In many ways I thought I'd start the tour here, this being the first set of plants I generally see of a morning - and the last I see before going to bed (I do have a spider plant in my bedroom, but it somehow rarely catches my attention).

I love this view as I'm coming down from my room - a light, airy space with plenty of plants, the penguin mobile my sister got me for Christmas and my wonderful Whatnot. And no, it's not that I can't remember the name for the piece of furniture - it's actually called a Whatnot. Brilliant. This is one of the first pieces of furniture I ever bought - I think Whatnots are brilliant and when I saw one for sale very cheaply back in my teens I bought it. For a long time it lived in my bedroom at my parents' house, then on delivery to Morecambe it became my "stuff next to the shoe rack and coats" shelf but somehow didn't quite suit there. It then got relegated to the back room while I worked out where it should live - until it found its new home.

As odd as it may sound, I feel like this is the spot my Whatnot was bought for - over a decade after its initial purchase. I've never seen another Whatnot like it, it folds flat and just has a lovely sense of space to it - and fits perfectly in the corner of my landing. As you'll see there's still plenty of space to fill with more plants - although it doesn't get much direct sunlight (plenty of brightness, just not sunshine per se). I love it.

The two plant-jobs I started with today (which rather multiplied once I got started) where starting off the liquid fertiliser and potting on 11 little asparagus plants - who are now merrily living on the Whatnot, along with a cyclamen from my Mum, some more spider plants and another aloe plant (which has survived well but hasn't particularly grown - another result, I suspect, of my rather absent-minded care regime).

And that is the current state of play of the Jungle. It's very much a juvenile jungle (in fact, jungle's probably not the word for it at all, but that's the "end-game" picture I have in my mind) but it's terribly exciting and makes me happy.

If you have any tips on any of the plants I've mentioned - or, indeed, any suggestions for other edible plants that do particularly well indoors - please do let me know!

A Rather Belated Holiday Blog: Wales

This is a post I partly wrote while I was off on my Welsh sojourn (May 14th - 19th) and have partly written today, Sunday May 25th, having wanted to get on with enjoying my holiday rather than spending my time writing about it! 

Oh. My. Word. Wales is absolutely stunning! And specifically, North Wales. I've never visited this part of Wales before and have been bowled over by its absolute stunningness. Right now I'm sitting in a field [near Machynlleth], bird song all around, the wind in my hair, trees, greenery and hills as far as I can see and only the occasional dwelling. Stunning.

During my childhood I spent quite some time in South Wales and wasn't quite ready for what a difference there is between the two ends of Wales. Or, indeed, the middle! I'd also had a couple of brief visits to the North Wales coast, but travelling en voiture really does make a massive difference, especially in terms of impromptu diversions (one of which later in the week ended up with me getting my car locked into a sailing club car park! Thankfully it was on a combination lock and the chap who answered the sailing club phone number was very understanding and helpful).

I was incredibly lucky on the weather front - I think there was some occasional precipitation during the week, but I basically had sunshine and dry weather, which was awesome. That's not to say there wasn't some pretty impressive wind at times (I live in Morecambe. I understand wind. And I also am completely in love with my waterproof & walking boots - a decent set of those two makes for much more enjoyment, and much less cold / misery!) but wind when the sun is shining I can cope with.

Having started just near Rhyl (where I came across a pawn shop in a church - talk about money makers in the Temple) I made my way along to Llandudno and spend a wonderful couple of hours eating a very comprehensive cooked breakfast in a gorgeous little coffee shop / restaurant called Kava. I had been walking along the sea front enjoying the sunshine but getting VERY blown about (after the disappointing lack of wind in Hastings when I was there last November, Llandudno rather made up for it) and really wanting somewhere to pause. I was the first customer of the morning and took a table right in front of their huge plate glass window with the sunshine streaming in - warm, sunny, protected from the wind, and I even managed to get a wifi connection to catch up on some bits and bobs. The staff were lovely and I'd definitely go back.

Walking back to my car through the centre of Llandudno (having come out along the front) I was struck by the amazing Victorian (I think) buildings - old glass signage on the frontages and many buildings looking like they hadn't been altered (simply maintained) since they were first constructed. I find Llandudno quite fascinating but have never felt like I've got below the surface - but I had a very enjoyable time skimming the surface again on this visit!

As I started heading South my first stop was Bodnant Garden. One of the things I love most about my National Trust membership is that I'm never quite sure what I'll find when I arrive. The book of all the NT locations I get each year gives a brief description but given most locations have their own book, the write up in the summary book is but a taster. And my, is Bodnant Garden a beauty! I happened to be there on one of their late-opening days (which just meant I didn't need to hurry towards the end of the evening) but even mid-week in May they had a fair number of visitors. There number of blooms and blossoms throughout the gardens seemed innumerable, there was some high-octane gardening going on (at the end of ropes on a rather steep bank) and I found myself a sunny meadow-type area to lie in while I plotted various exciting possibilities with a friend. 

I had originally thought I'd spend a couple of hours at Bodnant then head on to some other stop off points in Snowdonia but having got completely entranced by Bodnant I simply enjoyed Snowdonia from the road as I meandered down to Machynlleth. What an area of the country! And, indeed, what an area of the country not to have explored yet! 

I knew I'd get on well with my host in Machynlleth when I discovered I'd be staying out in the wilds and we were having chips for tea on the first night! As well as some wonderful walks, I experienced my first Zumba class (not something I'll necessarily seek out again, but worth a try), spent a couple of hours at CAT and did lots of reading. Brilliant.

From there it was destination: Wedding! A good friend was getting married at the gorgeous Glan Usk Estate in the Brecon Beacons. Although I was staying in hostel-type accommodation above a pub in the centre of the local town, Crickhowell, I'd scouted out a hotel spa on the outskirts which did a rather reasonable day-pass rate, so Friday evening saw me indulging in some swimming and lounging about. Rest assured there was more lounging than swimming, but the set up they had was very much to my liking - pool, loungers, jacuzzi, plus decent sized sauna and steam. The following morning dawned incredibly sunny and with the wedding festivities not kicking off until lunchtime I went for a stomp up a local hill - I'm still not sure how much I was following footpaths or not on my ascent but I didn't get shot at, which is always a bonus. The craziest part of that particular walk was gazing around at the rolling hills and thinking "Well, they're nice, but they're not Snowdonia..." - I had clearly been VERY spoilt in my week of wandering around Wales! Unfortunately my occasional hayfever decided to kick in so after quick trip to get some anti-histamines and get changed, it was off to celebrate two friends getting married in gorgeous weather, in gorgeous surrounds, with a gaggle of friends and family to celebrate them doing so. It was a brilliant wedding but the over-riding memory for me (as is only right!) is of the happy couple being incredibly happy to BE the happy couple. Marvellous.

More sunshine on Sunday morning found me off up and out again fairly early and heading to The Weir, another National Trust garden. A beautiful garden but I must confess - the location that I spent most of my time in was the meadow by the river, having a bit of a snooze! I hadn't come as prepared as usual and caught the sun a little, but it was a lovely way to round off my adventures before heading back up the M6 and home.

Growing & Resources

Sunday lunchtime, May 25th

Bank Holiday weekends, especially unexpected ones, are brilliant. And yes, I know this particular Bank Holiday has come round every year that I can remember but I didn't have anything specific planned for this particular bank of 3 days off so I now find myself having a quiet Sunday and knowing I've got all of Monday to get stuff done too. Yippee!

That said, there's already been plenty going on. I hadn't realised quite how tired I'd got in the past week and it caught up with me yesterday - a very early night after a very "bimbling along in the clouds" day. But there is something strangely enjoyable about that kind of tiredness - the "I'm just going to curl up because anything else is just crazy" tiredness. It helped that I'd also been playing with Batala earlier in the day - so had some physical exhaustion to add into the mix. This was my second gig with them and felt infinitely better than the first! I've still a way to go (having only been in the band for a few months) but I'm getting much more confident with parading (drumming while moving) although yesterday I somehow managed to get myself some pretty sizeable bruises courtesy of not getting my drum straps in optimal position. Live and learn - and it's all good preparation for next Sunday's gig at the Manchester Day Parade. I've a feeling stamina will be the name of the game, time will tell!

Operation Grow the House Down is continuing well - 2013 seems to be the year for experimental planting, with the occasional bonus of eating produce which has worked out first try! This year I've primarily got annual plants growing from my various seeds but long term I'm hoping to have more perennials.

I've been musing on the investment of time and resources in my growings given, at least in the short term, buying the equivalent from shops wouldn't be hugely financially expensive. However, these days more than ever it's really not just about the money. I cannot fathom how food, especially fresh food, can be sold at the price it is - given the grower needs paying (and they'll need to pay for whatever they use in growing, from fertilisers to green house heating), the produce then usually ends up getting shipped around between various distribution points (fuel and storage cost) and almost invariably there's the packaging to factor in as well. The ubiquity of plastic is another story entirely, but even in brief, the amount of plastic packaging there is around and about is amazing. I produce relatively little waste each week (especially when I compare it to other inhabitants of my house, or the amount of waste produced by neighbours in homes I've lived in before) but most of it is plastic - the rest gets recycled or composted. And yesterday I spent about half an hour collecting rubbish that had blown into the outside area where I work - a bag or so of recyclables and three bags of non-recyclables, again, mainly plastic. But I'm getting distracted by waste (more another time, I'm sure!) - I may not be saving much money in growing my own food, but knowing this home grown produce is completely carbon neutral is brilliant. Knowing that I'm getting back in touch with how awesome plants are is great. And knowing that my experimenting is setting me up for future growing projects is probably the best outcome - knowledge through doing. Any other benefits (I've heard that fresh produce retains more vitamins and the like) are bonuses, but marvellous ones at that.

Another aspect of my growings which I'm finding incredibly exciting is that of finding new uses for "waste" resources. The three Rs of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle have really started coming into their own - plant pots are generally now being generated out of the bottoms of plastic bottles, drip trays are generally tetrapak cartons with one side removed, I'm viewing the winter trimmings from my folks' hedge in an entirely new light (leave them to dry out then use them for stakes, or weave them into fence panels, or, well, whatever else takes my fancy!) and cardboard is now a potential moisture store for larger planting containers (by burying it in the soil). Oooh! And I don't know if it'll work but the idea of creating plaster-board-type boards out of papier-mache for projects like adding internal wall insulation was an on-holiday idea but one which is still lurking for when I might try it out. I'm in the wonderful position of having access to loads of resources and I'm out to make the most of all of 'em!

Operation Grow the House Down is ON

Monday evening

Now, don't let the title confuse you. I'm not ACTUALLY trying to grow so much plant matter in my house that it pulls the thing down. It was just a catching sounding title in my head. For ages I've been repeating the "if only I had a garden at home...I've only got a very shady yard". And yet I've a GAZILLION window ledges, and generally lots of Space. It's not the same as outside - but it's definitely space to grow! I'm continuing to try some outside pots in different spaces (sadly the biggest space I have is currently prone to destructive behaviour from person or persons unknown - but I'm contemplating options for there as well. Spiky type options which are less appealing from an interference perspective) but am now on a mission to have every window ledge and light-enough-space occupied by edibles at various stages of growing.

At the moment, as I've mentioned previously, I'm churning through various packets of annual seeds to get things moving but I'm also, slowly slowly catchy monkey, getting closer to planning what perennial plants I want to get started with. I'm anticipating many of these (including the asparagus I've already started) will remain on my window ledges for a while as they get established, even if they will ultimately end up in one of the outside spaces I have access to - and I look forward to having to solve the problem of how to fit all my pots and plants in! I've already started thinking about window-shelving (although I'm aware that'll impact light getting into the rooms) and options for hanging plants. Today I was inside for most of the day on a curtain creating mission (which was entirely successful - even to the point of discovering that the top of the Sewing Chest is a much better location for using my sewing machine from AND finishing off by packing everything away again so my bedroom became my bedroom again!) but I kept noticing all the places in my house which DO get direct sunshine - even if it's only for an hour or two. Many possibilities...

I'm also getting more and more fond of my Garage-Basement. I have a massive luxury space-wise in this house and my basement is basically just an expansive garage without level access but with a lot more nooks and crannies! I'm currently aspiring to go through the last few corners of the basement to check for some drainage pipe (which I don't think I'll find, but can guarantee will be hiding somewhere if I DON'T hunt for it, and will appear just after I've bought and made unreturnable identical new bits) but the mood hasn't yet taken me. Although my desire to maximise use of my water-butt is increasing...

And the existing growings are already proving invaluable - today I was completely lacking in veg so ended up scavenging parsley, chives and a couple of spinach leaves. Nowhere near the quantity of veg I ideally wanted to have with my pasta, but a significant increase on the Zero I had in otherwise!

Strange World (and another Tigger-style book review)

Late Sunday night / into Monday morning
Life remains unpredictable. Tonight's particularly brilliant weirdness was the magic of cars - which almost took me on an impromptu visit to a friend because cars can do that and instead delivered me to the end of a van unload which I lent both physical and moral support to. A van unload that was completely off my radar but which I was glad to be able to lend a paw with - given I was in the right place at the right time!

Last week, for reasons that still remain somewhat vague, was utterly exhausting and more stressful than I've experienced for a while. It ended with my first even gig with Batala Lancaster, the Brazilian samba drumming band I joined earlier in the year. Although I've had moments in rehearsal of feeling really "in the rhythm", this gig was not one of those experiences! The first challenge playing in the band was getting used to hitting my drum at the right time. The next, enjoying myself (or looking like I was enjoying myself, at least!). I was just about getting there with those two when Boom! Next challenge: doing all of the above AND walking! Suffice to say I've loads of room for improvement and lots to learn. Onwards!

I've also fallen in love with polytunnels as a kind of living room. I spent some time at Middlewood this weekend and was amazed by how hot the polytunnel got - despite not being completely sealed! A new polytunnel was under construction elsewhere on site which gave me some more insight into some of the engineering factors to consider (especially in relation to watering) but the light and warmth of a polytunnel is truly awesome. It's on The List.

I also utterly devoured How to Make a Forest Garden by Patrick Whitefield. Middlewood has a variety of books and this was one which I knew I wanted to take a look at. And in the end I got right the way through it - and realised that as much as I'd love to start planting oodles of fruiting trees (do nut trees "nut"?) right now any forest-garden style gardening I want to implement will be about shrubs and herbaceous, rather than including the tree aspect. Unless I managed to get more actively involved in the design of a certain expanse in the South of England... But actually, limiting myself to those two layers of the forest garden will be great experience of trying out different types of plants so I can get familiar with what will grow, and what I like to eat! Anyway, the book itself was really well written, very informative and a really interesting way of viewing growing systems. One I'd recommend however you choose to garden.

A book review of sorts - Building a Low Impact Roundhouse

Friday afternoon, May 3rd
Low impact living is increasingly becoming an active interest of mine and by great good fortune a dear old friend of mine was clearing out a whole bunch of sustainable building related books which I am, gradually, reading and then planning on taking along to the Middlewood Trust to add to their informal library with the idea they'll be more accessible to more people sharing a similar interest there than hiding on one of my bookshelves! In the mean time, however, I'm going to use my blog as a good place to keep track of the key aspects I enjoyed or valued about said books so if I need to get hold of the books again I will at least have the title and author to start me off...

So! The first book that I got through was Tony Wrench's Building a Low Impact Roundhouse - he also has a website which I've yet to investigate fully. This is an incredibly practical book covering Tony's experience building his house in Wales - I confess that when it got into the calculations of how many supports there were etc. I started skimming. I'm not yet at the stage of needing that detail - but if you are, this may well be a book to read! It is not intended as an expansive tract on all the different options available, merely a sharing of knowledge of what Tony used and learned along the way. It also includes reflections along the lines of "in hindsight..." - always useful when assessing different options.

Being as practical as it is, I'm quite happy to pass it on for others as I'm not in any way at the stage of being ready to design my own home from scratch (aside from anything else, I have a wonderful home I'm getting to enjoy full time as it is). But it definitely provided food for thought - how much space is enough? What's critical? What's a nice to have? Considerations like how far the site of their house was from the rest of the community they were part of. I'm still convinced that there's a way to build an awesome sauna / hot tub / maybe steam room building into my future low impact living land experiment but I haven't quite got it sussed yet - there's always time!

Anyways, useful book, very practical but definitely one mainly for you if you're at the "and now I need to get down to the nuts and bolts" (or straw bales and wood stoves, as the case may be).

Could this be the most Energy Rich period ever for humanity?

Wednesday, May 1st - morning

May Day. International Workers unite. Welcome in Spring and the May Queen. And also, the day for this particular bit of writing.

Since my early teens I've had a level of environmental consciousness - sometimes at the forefront of my mind, sometimes lurking in the background, but certainly there. The past decade or so has seen it predominantly as a subplot to my life rather than The Main Event but what with somewhat of an overload of thought provoking media on the subject of global warming in the past few weeks, it's come back to the fore again.

Am I living sustainably? I suspect not - although I haven't done the sums. I do what I feel able to in terms of lifestyle choices and hope that by my choices others may see something they could do themselves. Everyone has different priorities and pressures on their life in terms of what they can do, but the one thing that has been metaphorically hitting me in the face recently has been the rather unique energy situation we find ourselves in.

For now, forget about energy efficiency. Forget about renewable energy. The reality of now is that the "Western" lifestyle is only made possible by thousands of years worth of harnessed sunlight being burnt every day.

Photo credit: Ben Kimball

That "reframing" - that we're using a non-renewal-battery-supply of sunlight to support our lifestyles was a real revelation. We've got the technology to utilise all sorts of different forms of this stored sunlight, there are even controversial efforts to get to the "harder to reach" stored sunlight (fracking, drilling in sensitive areas, the list goes on). And life is really exciting! Space travel, international holidays, complicated machines for almost anything you can think of - I've totally been seduced by this amazing luxury and I think much of the population living this lifestyle has as well.

But. This is a non-renewal supply of trapped sunlight. And by releasing back into the atmosphere the elements tied up in fossil fuels we're creating a rate of change in the atmosphere greater than has been seen in recorded history. The planet is awesome - and it's survived an awful lot longer than most of the species inhabiting it. How will it respond? Now, there's a million dollar question. But churning through these fossil fuels in the misplaced hope that someone else will solve the problem, or that it simply won't become an issue in your own lifetime, seems rather ostrich-like to me. An attractive option, I grant you (thinking about how to address the issue - from the global to the personal levels - I find incredibly daunting). And change is never easy. But for me the reflection of the amazing realities of this era must be taken in the context of "what next".

I certainly haven't got all of the answers, but I'm committed to keep hunting. My most recent step was starting the process to change to a renewable energy supplier. Does that mean all the electricity in my house will come from renewable sources? No - the grid simply doesn't work like that. But it DOES mean that I'm taking another step towards a more sustainable lifestyle. Is it enough? No. Can I now sit on my laurels and feel smug? Absolutely not/ But it's what I feel able to do just now - while I keep working on the rest of it...

So why not take a moment to revel in this amazing period of Energy richness. Isn't it incredible?