NATURE KNOWS BEST!

It's funny how sometimes you don't make connections between one thing and another; then the penny drops and all of a sudden obstacles disperse before your very eyes and everything flows more freely.

I mentioned in one of my previous blog posts that I had been 'missing a trick' when it came to feeding myself on my Off-Grid Sundays.

Having sorted out ways to boil water and heat up food without using electricity or gas, the next thing I wanted to address was the actual food itself. It seemed a bit silly to be making such an effort trying to wean myself off the 'system' whilst still relying on that same system (shopping) for most of what I eat.

I am able to grow small amounts of fruit and vegetables in my tiny garden and on my shared allotment, but most of what I eat still comes from a shop. Ok, so it's a small, local, independent organic shop.... but it still involves food miles, a trip into Malvern, small amounts of packaging and of course 'money'!

WILD FOOD
For as long as I can remember I have been interested in using plants for medicine and to supplement my diet but I've never really thought of it as anything more than an 'interest'.  If I want a green salad, for instance, I grow as much as space permits, purchase what I can't grow myself from a local organic producer and then add the odd leaf of sorrel, chickweed or dandelion picked from the hill behind my house. But I have never made a concerted effort to try and feed myself on as much wild food as possible.

How on earth did I not put two and two together months ago and add 'foraged food' to the list of precepts I follow on Sundays?! Too focussed on the disparate elements of what I was trying to achieve instead of good old fashioned joined up thinking perhaps...

Anyway, since the penny finally dropped I have made every effort to gather as much food as possible from the wild and have especially enjoyed the enormous variety of leaves available within walking distance from my house. So far, I've eaten wild sorrel, wood sorrel, hairy bittercress, hawthorn, beech, lime, comfrey, rosebay willow, chickweed, dandelion, ramsons, stinging nettles and pennywort.... all freshly harvested, absolutely delicious and, of course, free.

UNEXPECTED BONUS
I haven't tried any fungi yet (apart from jews ears) and it's been too early for nuts and berries, so I'm nowhere near relying on wild food for my Off-grid Sundays, but there's been an unexpected bonus.... as well as enjoying all these new foraged greens, I'm learning more each day about all the incredible plants growing on the hills and woods around Malvern and I'm loving it!

The thing about foraging is that it makes you notice, and want to identify, every single little plant you come across - on the off chance that some part of it might be edible or useful in some way or another. This has opened the door into a whole new world for me; a world full of surprises that fill me every day with absolute wonder. I just love the fact that I can now recognise (and identify) so many plants I would previously have walked straight past without even registering. Not only this, but I have started to notice and understand some of the symbiotic relationships between certain trees and fungi which I never even knew existed before (the trees, the fungi AND the symbiotic relationships that is!)

It's all so fascinating that I wish I could spend every waking moment learning more about our amazing flora and fauna; I really can't believe how lucky I am to have discovered this whole new world on the other side of the little gate which leads from my patio onto the Malvern Hills.

DISCONNECTION AND RECONNECTION
I know I must sound like a long playing record that's got stuck, but I really do believe that most of the problems we are experiencing today are directly linked to our disconnection from the natural world. Since I started going off-grid on Sundays I've become so much more aware of my natural surroundings and my relationship with those surroundings, that I couldn't possibly knowingly cause any harm or damage to that which I now know I am a part of.

Does that make sense? It's quite difficult to explain in a blog, but what I'm trying to say is that everything we do to nature we do to ourselves. We and nature are one. We cannot continue to control, dominate, exploit and destroy that which nurtures and sustains us without destroying ourselves too.  The symbiotic relationship between trees and fungi, or flowers and bees is a perfect example of nature in balance. However, we humans have become so far removed from the natural world that we no longer understand 'balance'. We don't even notice the destruction we are causing. We walk (or drive) around in our own little bubbles and are oblivious to what is going on around us on both micro and macro levels.

The solution? Reconnection with nature.

Why? Because when we remember that we are 'a part of' nature instead of 'apart from' her we will want to heal that which we have hurt and the destruction will stop.

How? Get outside and spend quality time with nature! Take your shoes off, feel the earth beneath your feet, the wind in your hair, the rain on your skin and the sun on your back. Breath in the fresh air, smell some wild honeysuckle, chew some sorrel, hug a tree (and I mean really hug it!). Lie in the grass with your eyes closed and listen to the birds, the bees, the leaves, the wind.... and reconnect!

If you take the time to get back in touch with Mother Earth she will respond and your life will never be the same again :)

Love and hugs from me to whoever reads this blog xxxx


P.S....Huge thanks to a very special lady.....my friend Carol.... for all your inspiration and for sharing everything you know with me and anyone else who has an interest in learning about wild food.


Useful links....

Natural Bushcraft; great site and lovely friendly forum - http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/

Super forager and friend Fergus Drennan - http://www.wildmanwildfood.com/

Everything about nettles - http://www.nettlesoup.info/index.htm

Time to ROAR FOR THE EARTH!!!

I didn’t sleep much last night. The plight of the indigenous people of Brazil whose lives will be turned upside down by the building of the Belo Monte Dam is breaking my heart - and I’m finding it difficult to know how to digest and process the knowledge that whilst I’m living my safe and comfortable existence on the Malvern Hills, preparing a talk about bees for a local garden festival this weekend, these people (and others around the world) are fighting for their home, their land, their culture, their future....

Everything in me wants to travel to Brazil so that I can stand in solidarity with the people of the Amazonian rainforest whose land (an area the size of Wales) will be flooded to facilitate the monstrous and insatiable greed of those who already have ‘enough’.  My soul is crying out to join with the souls of my fellow human beings to help make their voices heard so that this terrible thing will not happen - and I would gladly exchange my comfortable little home and all my material belongings tomorrow for news that the dam is not going to be built after all.

Petition to stop Belo Monte Dam - http://amazonwatch.org/take-action/stop-the-belo-monte-monster-dam?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4dec37b40ee918aa%2C0

This is not the only issue I feel strongly about. There are so many ‘wrongs’ we need to put ‘right’ that I find it difficult sometimes to know which way to turn and which campaign to put my energies into. I am deeply concerned about the oceans, trees, food poverty & GM crops, climate change, bees and loss of biodiversity to name but a few – and I want to help everything and everyone who is suffering. But I can’t.

So how do I reconcile these thoughts and get out of bed in the morning? What can I do? Are my efforts making any difference or is it all a complete waste of time?

The answer I keep coming back to is that I am not alone and that together we can make a difference.  It’s ok to feel the pain, the fear, the desperation and the horror. It’s ok to acknowledge our weaknesses, our limitations, our fragility and our humanity - in fact these feelings are all part of the process that brings about real, lasting change. 

Having accepted and acknowledged that this is where we are, it is easier to begin the journey forward. It’s not going to be an easy journey, but it’s our journey. It must surely be no accident that we have been born into one of the most challenging times in human history; a time where great changes are needed to bring us back into kilt with Mother Earth; a time where each and every one of us has a role to play – no matter how small and insignificant that role may seem. 

So, it’s time for us to look within and search for that spark of light that we all have but which some of us have not yet discovered or are afraid to tap into. What is your passion? What makes you feel most alive and energises you? What turns your light on.......?

The most important thing for us to accept is that we cannot/must not attach ourselves to the ‘outcome’ or the ‘destination’.  This is very difficult for us human beings because we usually like to plan our journeys around a destination, but what we’re facing now is far beyond any journey we have ever undertaken before. This is humanity’s collective journey and maybe 'life-as-we-know-it' needs to break down completely before we can build a new paradigm. It’s time for the great turning, so choose your cause (or causes) replace fear, anger and frustration with love, joy and optimism - and do whatever you can to help because together we can and will make a difference.

As my inspirational friend Hen says.....it's time for us to ROAR FOR THE EARTH!!!!

Some beautiful and inspiring words from the Hopi Elders - http://www.spiritofmaat.com/messages/oct28/hopi.htm

I will be a humming bird - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGMW6YWjMxw

The Great Turning; Joanna Macy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwlXTAT8rLk

Challenges, Solutions and Reduced Utility Bills

Five months on.....
I'm into my 5th month of spending Sundays 'off-grid' now, and as it gets easier I’ve noticed it’s having a knock on effect in how I do things for the rest of the week. I’ve always taken as much care as possible to keep my energy use to a minimum but it’s very easy to rest on your laurels. You can always reduce further if you want to; it’s just down to making new choices and changing a few old habits.

Over winter, my main challenge was keeping warm. This wasn't too difficult as I’m fortunate enough to have a wood burner. Upstairs is a bit chilly sometimes, but it’s nothing you can't sort out with a hot water bottle or two - and so much healthier than gas central heating! In fact, since I’ve become more used to using the wood burner as my primary heat source, my habits have changed and my overall gas consumption has been massively reduced; I still use gas central heating occasionally, but nowhere near as much as I used to.

My electricity usage has reduced too... so much so that when I got my recent bill from 'Good Energy', it turned out that the £7 direct debit I’ve been paying for the last year has left me in credit... I have overpaid so much that my monthly direct debit has been adjusted this year to just £1 a month!!!

Reducing my utility bills is great, but the thing I’ve enjoyed most over winter has been learning how to cook on/in the wood burner. Although mine's only a small burner there's still enough space to boil a kettle, cook soup/casseroles and bake a few potatoes. It’s involved a bit of 'trial and error' to get the potatoes just right, but it was worth persevering as they knock spots off anything baked in a conventional oven. I seem to get the best results when I wrap them in a double layer of silver foil (reuse same piece each time), pop them around the edge of the logs amongst the embers, and turn them frequently. They come out with crispy jackets and lovely fluffy insides....

Cooking and boiling water on the wood burner when it’s already lit really is a ‘no-brainer’ and I can’t believe, in retrospect, that I used to use the oven or electric kettle when I had a free source of heat just crying out to be multi-tasked. I occasionally forget and boil water in the kettle whilst the wood burner is lit, but not often.

Ooh! I should also point out, before I forget, that I struggled at first with lots of burned casseroles and soups. My saucepans were designed for use on gas or electric hobs and are far too thin-bottomed to cope with heat that can’t be turned down to ‘simmer’ at the flick of a switch. I can’t afford to invest in new heavy based pans especially for my wood burner, so have solved the problem with a ‘heat diffuser’. It cost me around £6 and stops whatever I’m cooking from getting burned. Link at bottom of blog

Warmer weather challenges

More recently the weather has been far too warm for me to need any space heating in the house and this has presented some new challenges; namely how to cook or make a cup of tea when I can't justify lighting the wood burner! I know, I could just go without tea, but I’m a firm believer in the adage 'where there's a will there's a way'....

So, given the fact that I hadn’t had a cuppa on a Sunday for over 4 weeks, you can imagine how excited I was when my son, James, gave me a 'Kelly Kettle' for my birthday. The Kelly Kettle is an amazing invention - and is exactly what I need to boil water for tea and to wash dishes (and myself) during the warmer months. Instead of trying to explain what it is or how it works in this blog, I've made a little video about it here...... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWIAXHIVcIA 

What next? 

Having sorted out a way to boil water, the next thing I want to address is the food I eat on my off-grid days. It seems a bit silly to be making such an effort trying to wean myself off the 'system' whilst still relying on that same system (shopping) for most of what I eat.

I have a tiny garden and a shared allotment so already grow as much as space permits - then buy whatever else I need from small, organic food shops in Malvern and Ledbury.  

But I've been missing a trick.....

Back soon! 


Here's a link to the Kelly Kettle people http://www.kellykettle.com/

And a link to heat diffuser http://www.lakeland.co.uk/10426/Large-Heat-Diffuser 

Frustrated with local council

I'm feeling a bit frustrated with local government policies and bureaucracy in general at the moment.

Last week, I went for a lovely walk along the banks of the River Severn just outside Worcester. It was a beautiful sunny day and I felt blessed to have such a habitat rich environment on my doorstep. It supports such an amazing range of flora and fauna and I notice something new every single time I walk there.

On this particular day I saw at least 5 different species of bumblebee, numerous different solitary mining bees and more honey bees than I ever see on the nearby Malvern Hills. So...definitely an important habitat for bees!


There were dozens of wild flowers coming into bloom; including Comfrey, Jacob's Ladder, Lady's Smock and White Campion - and the Willows (too many different varieties to list here) were alive with the sound of bird song. As well as the Woodpeckers, Robins, Blackbirds and Great Tits I usually see or hear when I'm walking this path, I also heard Black Caps, White Throats, Chiff Chaffs and Willow Warblers. But the icing on the cake was spotting this stunning butterfly (above) who kept perfectly still for at least ten minutes whilst I photographed her from every possible angle. I had no idea at the time what species she was, but was absolutely enchanted by her. I discovered later that she was a female Orange Tip and that the Cuckoo Flower  she was sitting on (sometimes known as Lady's Smock) is one of her favourite sources of food.

I came home brimming over with the joys of nature and spent a few happy hours thumbing through my bird/butterfly/wild flower books trying to identify everything I'd seen and heard.

The very next day I heard that the council had come along and strimmed the verges alongside the river path and that the little patch of Lady's Smock where the Orange Tip had been feeding, along with many of the other wild flowers I'd seen, had been completely wiped out.

Ok, so the council have a duty to maintain this public footpath for human access, but where's the balance? Why no moderation? Do the council not recognise the ecological importance of this particular habitat? Perhaps I'm missing something, but it seems to me that the majority of the area they strimmed was set well back from the footpath and was causing absolutely no problems whatsoever to human walkers. It's not as if this was an area overgrown with brambles and nettles; it was a beautiful wildlife rich verge - and now it is no more.

The grasses and wild flowers will of course grow back, but as soon as they do they will be strimmed again. In the mean time, food will be more scarce for local fauna.

We have lost 97% of our grassland and wild flower meadows since the 1940s so surely we should be protecting what little remains rather than strimming it to within an inch of it's existence...

I'm going to contact Worcsestershire Council to see if I can find out more about their 'strimming' policy, but in the mean time here are a few useful links for anyone who wants to know more about our ever diminishing grasslands, wildflowers and butterflies ....

The Grassland Trust - http://www.grasslands-trust.org/

Buglife - http://www.buglife.org.uk/


Butterfly identification - http://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/index.php

Challenging times...time to wake up!

We live in extremely challenging times, and many of those who put all their energies and efforts into trying to turn things around are beginning to feel exhausted. There are so many sad and horrific things happening in the world that it's hard sometimes to know how to deal with it all - let alone stay positive.

I was chatting with a friend yesterday about this. We were discussing a blog we had both read, written by Mark Boyle - who puts his whole heart and soul into 'walking his talk'. Mark was writing about the difficulties he's been experiencing recently trying to make sense of what he sees going on around him in the English countryside. Wherever he looks, instead of seeing nature in all it's beauty, he sees the damage and destruction caused by mankind as we encroach more and more upon the natural world in our efforts to "kill everything that we think wants a piece of the human pie".

I can completely identify with Mark's sentiments. There are times when I sit on the hills, or in the woods, surrounded by so much natural beauty that my heart could burst with joy, only to be jolted back to reality when I remember in a flash that it is all under threat. I struggle so much so understand why the majority of people living on this planet are oblivious to the fact that they/we are destroying the very things that sustain and nurture us. How can we be so blind???!!!

Instead of competing with the incredible and diverse flora and fauna we are lucky enough to share the earth with, we should be putting our efforts into living alongside nature; co-operating with her; compromising; and establishing symbiotic relationships. Surely that's what co-habiting is all about? But the human race, for all it's so called intelligence, doesn't seem to have understood these very basic and natural laws of survival. Rather than live in harmony alongside nature, we prefer to 'control', to 'use', to 'harness', to 'rule', to 'own'. So, as masters of all we survey, we plunder and pollute the earth's resources as though they were put there entirely for our own use and as if they were in limitless supply. Now, even though the consequences of our actions are staring us in the face, we completely ignore the warning signs. Bizzare and dangerous behaviour.

It's exhausting just thinking about the amount of problems in the world. It's not only the environmental and ecological issues that we need to face and deal with, but also the unprecedented scale of social injustice. I read yesterday that of the 6 billion people living on this planet, over 1 billion are hungry. That's one in six.... and that's just the hunger issue ....never mind all the atrocities that less fortunate beings than ourselves are forced to deal with. How on earth do you decide where to start when there is so much to do? Maybe it's not such a surprise that the majority of us more 'fortunate' beings are still in denial. It takes courage to face up to what's happening in the world and it's much easier to switch off and carry on with 'business as normal'.

Unfortunately, nothing will change if we keep burying our heads in the sand. Facing up to what's going on is imperative if we are to effect change. It's not going to be an easy ride, but I truly believe the universe will support us if we wake up and have the courage to say "enough".  It's time to stand up and be counted, to face the music, to go cold turkey, or whatever it takes to be part of the change.

You don't need to take it all in at once... just open your eyes a little more each day and start looking around to see where you could begin to make changes. Get out some time this week for a walk in nature and allow yourself to be filled with awe by her abundance. Also, allow yourself to feel sad about what we've done to the planet, because out of this sadness will come the will to change. It's ok to be sad....to cry or to weep even. There's a movement known as 'Deep Ecology' that is all about feeling the pain of the earth and coming through the other side.  I'll put a link about it below....

This is a great and wonderful time to be alive! We would not have been put on this planet at this time if we were not able to deal with what life is throwing at us. This is the time of 'The Great Turning' and we all have a part to play .... no matter how small that part might be.

Wishing you a day full of wonderment and positive energy.

B xxx

Here's a beautiful message from the Hopi Elders to inspire you;
'We are the ones we have been waiting for' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrPDQeNo52M&feature=related


Mark's blog - http://www.justfortheloveofit.org/blog

Deep Ecology - http://www.joannamacy.net/deepecology/deep-ecology-links.html

Today I woke up - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XzKDou7FCU

Daylight

Mmmmm.... having just switched on again after another deliciously slow and simple off-grid Sunday, I'm feeling completely recharged and ready to take on the world. I wish everyone could tap into the kind of energy I'm filled with after a full 24 hours away from the machine.  It's not like the kind of energy you need to run a 100 metre sprint;  more like the energy you need to run a marathon. I feel calm, clear headed and fully recharged rather than just 'topped up' - if that makes sense? I also feel more at peace, have regained my perspective and am less likely to be flustered by the stresses and worries of everyday modern life. It really is a great way to start the week!

One of the things I'm really starting to to appreciate and tune into more is 'daylight'. I've started to notice the different qualities of light at different times of the day and have become especially fascinated by the twilight hours around dusk and sunset.  I have no idea, need or desire to know what time it is. Measured time is becoming irrelevant, unimportant, even alien to me. Nature doesn't need a clock to make decisions about what to do and when to do it; she just 'is'.  When the sun is shining the woodland flowers open; when it disappears behind a cloud or goes to sleep they close. Bees wake up and start foraging when there's sufficient daylight and warmth for them to fly, and moths and other nocturnal creatures manage very well without a clock to tell them that night has fallen; they just 'know'. Erkhart Tolle would call this being 'fully present'.

If we all just took the time to watch, observe and learn from nature, we surely wouldn't need self help books!

I can't help wishing I could transport myself back to a time before human beings learned to measure everything in a linear way; to a time when we didn't have appointments, meetings and deadlines - all precisely arranged to take place at 'exactly something o'clock' and all having absolutely nothing to do with what time of day or night it really is in natural terms. We must be the only creatures on earth that go against our natural body clocks and I'm sure it's not a healthy way to exist. Some cultures manage at least to take siestas in the middle of the day - and seem to function better for having succumbed to their body's needs and requirements. Maybe we should all listen more to our bodies instead of ignoring them the way we do...

Yesterday I spent hours walking on the hills and in the woodlands. I listened to birds whose calls I didn't recognise and thought it rather odd that I know more about the French Revolution than I do about our native bird songs. I'm so glad that our primary education system is starting to include things like 'forest school' these days.

I could write for hours about the new things I'm experiencing through reclaiming these precious hours away from the merry-go-round of modern life, but they'd just be my own thoughts and experiences - so  wouldn't be the same as if you experienced it for yourself.

I'll write another post later about the beautiful solitary mining bees I watched for a few hours yesterday, but in the mean time here's a link to a short video about the Piraha, an amazing Amazonian tribe who's lives are still completely immersed in nature...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr3q6Cid1po

Have a beautiful week!

B x

Bees

I've been thinking a lot about bees today...

Bees are amazing!!! They pollinate a THIRD of all the food we eat, as well as half of our wild flowers. Not only do they pollinate many fruits and vegetables, but they also pollinate crops like alfalfa which are used for animal feed... so the consequences of mass bee extinction would be enormous. A world without bees is unimaginable, but the unimaginable could happen if we don't get our act together and work harder to stop the decline. We're simply not doing enough.

It's not just honey bees that are in decline; we're losing bumblebee species at an equally alarming rate and although I haven't seen any figures on declining 'solitary' bee populations I'm sure they must be suffering too.

There are numerous different reasons for the decline in honeybee and bumblebee bee populations, but two issues stand out above all others; namely 'pesticides' and 'loss of habitat'.

PESTICIDES
Pesticides kill bees.  So, we must stop using them!!!  I get incredibly frustrated when I people say things like "I'd like to stop using pesticides, but what about my roses?" We must be living in some kind of weird blinkered bubble if we believe having perfect looking roses is more important than looking after the bees that pollinate them in the first place. We really do need to start getting our priorities right before it's too late.

Bees and other insects are exposed to a whole range of pesticides and herbicides, but a new group of pesticides has appeared recently that are particularly dangerous to bees. They are called 'neonicotinoids' and they are 'systemic'. 'Systemic' means the seed is coated with the pesticide so that it infuses the whole plant. Any insect feeding on the stem, leaves, flowers or roots of the plant will ingest these pesticides that will, at the very least, cause damage to their central nervous system. At worst it will kill the unfortunate 'non target' insect. These pesticides have been restricted in many European countries... but have not yet been restricted in the UK.

This is a very complicated issue; the most up-to-date information on the pesticide/neonicotinoid issue can be found on this site -  http://www.buzzaboutbees.net/missingbees.html 

I'll include more links at the bottom of this post for anyone interested in reading more generally about pesticides and how to avoid them.

LOSS OF HABITAT
Since the 1940's we have lost 97% of our UK grasslands and wildflower meadows. That's a pretty staggering loss.

Along with the meadows and grasslands we have also lost most of our hedgerows and many of the roadside verges that used to be brimming with wildflowers. This loss has had a devastating effect on bees and other wildlife.

There are many initiatives in place now to encourage farmers to increase the amount of land they set aside for wildflowers and grasses, but increasing habitat and foraging for wildlife is also something that we, as individuals, can help with. It couldn't be simpler. All we need to do is provide a few wild patches in our gardens where bees can nest and hibernate - and plant more nectar and pollen rich flowers.

The difference you can make by planting more flowers cannot be overstated. Whatever size garden you have - even if it's just a couple of window boxes - it will provide valuable and vital food sources for bees of all species.

Before I add links to sites containing information about which flowers are best for bees, I should mention that it's important to make sure you plant a selection of plants to flower in succession from early spring through to late autumn. It's also important to choose organic plants and seeds wherever possible.

Thank you so much for reading this. Bees need all the help they can get.

Further information

Which flowers to plant - http://www.buzzaboutbees.net/bee-plants.html
Gardening for wildlife - http://www.foxleas.com/
Info about Neonicotinoids - http://www.buzzaboutbees.net/missingbees.html 
Pesticide Action Network - http://www.pan-uk.org/ 
The Grasslands Trust - http://www.grasslands-trust.org/

P.S......If you only have room for one flower; plant Borage!