For those of us concerned about food miles, there's wonderful news this month as good old British asparagus is back on the menu. During May and June you can turn your back on South American incomers, and opt instead for home grown green goodness!
Packed full of nutrients, and not to mention the aphrodisiac qualities, it truly is a super food. If you are stuck thinking of new ways to cook it, check out the fabulous British Asparagus website. It has lots of recipe ideas, along with a map of local growers. Great stuff!
Related: Review: Riverford Organic | Waitrose, Sainsburys and Marks are great (boo hiss: Asda, Tesco, Morrisons) | Agree or Disagree: People who won't eat vegetables are stupid
It's that time of year again when the fields are ablaze with brilliant yellow rapeseed flowers, and at our local farmer's market on Saturday I got to try some cold pressed rapeseed oil first hand. Borderfields' Oleifera Rapeseed Oil is produced in the Scottish Borders and only travels a maximum of 35 miles to get from the fields to the production press in Northumberland. Oleifera contains only 6% saturated fat, whereas most olive oils contain 14% and sunflower oils have about 10%, so not only is it great for keeping food miles low, it will also help keep your cholesterol low too! It's flavour is very different from olive oil, tasting very much like the flowers smell, but it is very pleasant and I will definitely be opting for it when my regular olive oil runs out!
Related: Ben Keningale on oil and orangutans | River Cottage reinvents olive oil with hemp | The Olive Oil Store
With many local authorities now offering a recycling service along with the refuse collection, we all need to make sure we are recycling our organic waste, such as fruit and vegetable scraps as well as the other more obvious things, like glass, paper, metal…etc. The only problem is, where to keep the stuff. I used to use a little bin by the sink, but after a few days the bin would smell rancid and the whole kitchen would reek of rotting vegetables – not pleasant I can assure you. The only thing I could do was take the bin outside and keep going outside to the bin throughout the day. Again, not a pleasant prospect for someone as lazy as I am. I was torn between doing the right thing and the easier option of putting everything in the bin. Obviously I did the right thing!
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If you're sick of flushing all those valuable nutrients down the loo and want to reclaim them as your own, then you could spend a lot of money on a composting toilet by one of the increasing specialist companies, or you could follow the likes of Dick Strawbridge and make your own.
Low Luckens Organic Resource Centre are hosting a six day residential course, starting on 28th May. It will provide you with the history of composting your waste, plus some 'hands on' experience of building your own composting toilet. The course (including accommodation) is totally free and all you have to pay for is your organic food, which will cost £50.
Related: Sitting Pretty: the international green bathroom hunt | Green Building Company's one stop shop for water saving
Terraces and rood gardens are a growing trend especially if you're living in a city like London where space is limited. Apparently if all the flat roofs in London were joined up, the space gained would be 24 times the size of Richmond Park! The good news is you don't have to live in a swish mansion flat to get a green roof either as it may be possibly to grow a lawn even on your pitched roof.
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I have a confession...I'm an amateur twitcher! I never leave home without my binoculars, and my garden is fast turning into a wild bird sanctuary.
I've experimented with lots of different bird foods, but have come to the conclusion that my birds definitely prefer Bill Oddie's Bird Food Recipes range. They go crazy for the Garden Friendly Combo, a delicious mix of sunflower hearts, peanut granules, oatmeal, maize and maize oil..yum! As you would expect, Bill has created a large range of quality foods and feeders which are specifically designed to attract different types of birds, depending on the recipe. The quality of the feed is reflected in the price, with the smallest (1kg) bag costing about £3.25. I find the bigger the bag, the better the value, and Bill's 'Big Bag's' are £12.95 for 13kg. Proceeds from certain varieties goes to the Woodland Trust.
Available in garden centres or online at Haith's
Related: Popoutz recycled plastic bird feeders in glam colours | Nest Box Challenge - who's sleeping in your garden?
I don't like gyms. I really can't see the point of spending hundreds of pounds on a membership you probably won't use, and if you do, why would you want to be stuck indoors on a static bike or treadmill when you can go outside and enjoy the real thing? The BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers obviously agree and have created the 'Green gym' scheme which is a way of improving your health and the environment at the same time.
During a weekly three hour session you will undertake some form of gardening or environmental conservation work, under the close supervision of a trained leader. It's a great opportunity to get fit while helping out with local projects, such as building community gardens, renewing overgrown railway paths or tree planting, and unlike your local health club, this is totally free! The scheme runs nationwide and you can find details of how to join in here.
Related: Campaign to save Manor Garden allotments | The Organic Gardening Catalogue
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