Eco Friendly House And Garden

In the UK you can buy meat products that are from a known source.

So you can rest assured that the animals were treated with the basic standards we would expect, received medication when necessary and were not cooped up alone for weeks on end.

So what does the Freedom Food label actually tell you?  It’s not organic, it’s not fair trade - so what is it for?  It has been in place since 1994 so it is obviously here to stay and is taken seriously.

Below I have summarised the 5 main points from their own leaflet, so that you can be sure of these things when choosing this type of meat product over the other similar products on the shelf that don’t have the RSPCA Freedom Foods logo, (or those that are certified organic as this has a similar set of criteria).

Labelling in all countries allows for certain words and images to be used on meat products that are not a true representation of how the animals were treated or where they were kept. 

For example the words ‘natural’ and ‘fresh’ mean absolutely nothing with regards to how the animals were reared or lived, and ‘produced in the UK’ doesn’t mean the animals ever saw the UK while alive - they could have been factory farmed in any other country in the world and shipped here after slaughter.

In addition, this RSPCA label (among others) is not connected to any food brands or food manufacturers, so you know it is only the animals they have in mind rather than profits!

So, here are the summarised points that mean that you could be making a difference to how your food is farmed:

1) Freedom From Hunger & Thirst:
These animals will have had access to fresh water and a suitable diet that maintains health and vigour.

2) Freedom From Discomfort:
These animals will be provided with an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area.

3) Freedom From Pain, Injury Or Disease:
These animals will be living in an environment that helps prevent accidents and illnesses and offers rapid diagnosis and treatment if any of these are found.

4) Freedom To Express Normal Behaviour:
These animals are provided with sufficient space, proper facilities and the company of other animals of their own kind.

5) Freedom From Fear And Distress:
These animals will live in conditions that avoid mental suffering and offer a certain level of respect and care.

And due to this continuity of checks, Freedom Foods can be traced from their farm, through to their haulier, the abattoir and even right to the store!  So you know that the animal you are about to eat has been cared for through it whole life.

The meats included in this scheme cover everything you could imagine, from eggs to beef, pork to duck and salmon to cheese!  All meats and animal products are covered by this, so you can rest assured when buying any of them.

Just look for the label!

Trying alternative remedies to cure a medical problem can be better for you - and the environment!

If you regularly get pain, either as headaches, leg pain or whatever else, you can find that you need to constantly keep a supply of painkillers in your home and sometimes even carry them with you all the time - just in case!

Well, it is possible that an alternative remedy could get rid of your dependency on traditional tablets, caplets and dis-solvable potions - and save all those chemicals from being made, transported, packaged and disposed of.

Why Alternative?
Not everyone believes that alternative remedies such as acupuncture, hypnotherapy and homoeopathy will help them with their issues - but they never really give them a chance.

Mainly, people assume that these alternative treatment will be too expensive  - but many do not really compare this one-off cost with the amount they spend on tablets over a period of months and how much time they lose from work or play while being in pain in the first place!

There are also those people who listen to their friends without getting all the best information or not thinking properly. 

For example, person A may well be able to get rid of headaches with just paracetamol, where as their friend, person B, needs something stronger.  So if person B gets a headache and person A gives them a paracetamol - it ‘won’t work’.

Then when person C gets a headache and wants to buy paracetamol - their friend - person B - will tell them not to buy them as they ‘don’t work’ and the ‘myth’ moves on through the population.

It’s the same with alternative remedies.  One person didn’t get the result they wanted, or didn’t follow the practitioners advice and so pass on the opinion that it ‘doesn’t work’ - possibly preventing them and their friends and colleagues from ending their own  pain or discomfort naturally, and so leaving them dependant on medication.

Other Benefits:
Not only could it leave you pain free and a lot happier, curing illnesses with alternative remedies has many other benefits to the person involved and the environment too!

Firstly, this type of treatment usually involves a holistic approach, which means that everything about the patient is treated rather than just the actual pain.  This means that other lifestyle and dietary issues are addressed to get to the cause of the pain.

Imagine if your headaches were caused by too much cheese but you didn’t know this.  And the directions on a packet of Anadin certainly won’t consider the cause of the headache, so you will just keep taking tablets.

But, cut out the cheese and cut out the pain completely!  No tablets needed!

And, if the tablets aren’t needed, then you won’t be needing all their packaging either.  So not need to throw away the plastic, and recycle the cardboard everytime.  And if you don’t need them then the store needs to order less and all the way back to the raw ingredients there will be less - total impact reduction!

And one more And - if people are less reliant on curing common ailments with tablets, maybe pharmaceutical companies can start spending their research money on more important illness and diseases rather than just tablets for headaches and cream for itchy skin!

The RGS are hosting a fantastic EcoFair on the 5th and 6th of December in London.

They are bringing together some fantastic international eco friendly companies and charities to fill your day with excitement and fill your bags with great goodies!

Stalls include some of the old favourites like the RSPB selling wildlife gifts, memberships and information for your gardens and great days out and the CO-OP will be promoting their eco friendly and fair trade clothing ranges.

There are also products available from around the world, with alpaca clothing from Peru, ethical accessories from Nepal, hand-made silks from Cambodia and Luxury fabrics from India.

There are also creations from the UK, including recycled household goods, hand-made bespoke jewelry, fair trade organic babywear and luxurious oils and soaps.

There is also a free puppet show being performed at the show just after lunch time - called the Forest of Fables, and is performed using Japanese style puppets (made from recycled materials) to African music depicting well known Greek fables!

In addition, there is even a puppet making session beforehand - so your children can make their own recycled puppet like those from the show and learn how the show is put together - including a sneak preview at some of the songs - and they get to keep their puppet!

The whole show is free entry to all - with free fairtrade wine for all RGS members and guests - see the RGS website for more details……..

I don’t mean badgers and sparrows - I mean plant diseases and pests!

We know that the quickest way to kill off diseases and pests in our gardens is to use chemicals - but that isn’t very eco friendly or organic.

There are alternative treatments, but they normally involve a lot of your time or money or result in dead or dying plants.

So, why not plan to never have the pests or diseases in the first place?

Planning Ahead.
Why not follow these simple guidelines to reducing the chances of anything untoward getting into your garden from the start!

The most likely way to infect your garden is to bring in plants from elsewhere. If you buy plants from garden fetes or charity shops etc, or find them in skips, you have got to expect the worst.

If they were loved and cared for in pristine conditions - people wouldn’t be selling them cheap or throwing them away, would they? So:

1) Use only local and reputable suppliers and nurseries
2) Only use the neighbours you know who care for their plants properly
3) Make sure the supplier or neighbour has been organic too!
4) Avoid semi-mature specimens from overseas - you just never know!

Plants on arrival:
Any plants, seeds or bulbs arriving in your yard should be carefully inspected to make sure they are healthy, especially if they are from a friend/fete/garden show/etc.

If you buy plants that are not looking healthy, you can’t expect them to be healthy - so only take on with care. If you are receiving a delivery of plants - check them too: don’t just look at a few - check them all - you are paying for them. There is no point paying for a plant that is diseased or infested.

Buying dodgy looking plants may be a cheaper way to get them - but won’t be so cheap if they need chemicals to recover, take an extra year to establish or flower, or worse: cause damage your existing plants!

Quarantine the new plants in a specific area away from any other plants or gardens for at least 2 but preferably 6 weeks. Many bugs and diseases can travel short distances so could easily infect neighboring plants if planted too soon.

And finally, make sure you don’t cross-contaminate the tools and equipment used for new plants. Disease can be carried on your tools and hands - so be fussy and make sure you clean everything.

I recently moved my plants to a new home and picked up a strange mite - which has all but killed a tropical plant of mine that took 6 months to germinate last year!

So Finally:
Find out what the common pests and diseases look like and what plants and conditions they prefer so you can spot the first signs of trouble - hopefully before you buy them!

Also, knowing the visual identification of garden pests and preferred conditions of certain diseases means that you can act fast at the first sign of trouble and save your plants - and all your hard work!

I just took my nephews out on a fungal foray in the local woods!

What a great idea for a day trip with the family that is only a short walk from home!  And, as mushrooms only really come out for a few weeks of the year - chances are your kids will see something different every year.

And, mushrooms are so bright - particularly the wax caps - that they are great to photograph too!

Bright Yellow Mushrooms

Where To Look:

Well, you don’t always need to head out to the woods - as many mushrooms prefer old lawns, particularly lawns that haven’t been treated with chemicals or have been dug up a lot.  So maybe you know someone with a large ornamental organic garden you can trawl for fungus!

They are not a easy to see as you might expect from afar - so don’t just look across a lawn of woodland and expect to see them sticking out - you have to walk the land and look at the ground.

You can come across all sorts of delights, including bright pink, red, orange, green and even blue ones - and there was more than one occasion where I thought a lawn was clear until I quite literally stepped on them!

There are also ‘mushrooms’ that look like little yellow, white or pink worms coming out of the lawn which you definitely can’t see from afar.  And of course there are plenty of mushrooms that only grow on trees and old logs - great for the kids to find!

Yellow Finger Mushrooms

And, the fun thing is you don’t even need to know exactly what type they are - you can just enjoy them as they are - and take only pictures home with you.

So, get yourself a camera, a basic guide book, a warm thermos of coffee and go get wet knees taking some great pictures!

I know it’s still 2009, but like your veg - you need to plan ahead!

The Royal Agricultural Society of England and the National Society of Allotment & Leisure Gardeners Limited are sponsoring an event that you won’t want to miss. 

In March 2010, there will be the first ever ‘grow your own’ event in Warwickshire, UK. For 3 days, you can learn about everything from chickens to cabbage, bee-keeping to bread-making and even a sausage seminar!

Even if you have already been growing your own fruit and veg - you can still learn some more.  All those things you have been doing for years could be getting results - but what if someone else’s tip could double your production or half your growing time!

What if you have been thinking about baking your own bread, making your own honey or rearing your own livestock and just need to speak to someone who has already been there and done that?  Well, here is the perfect place to visit.

They even offer advice on what to do with all your food when you have grown it!  There are plenty of stalls and seminars about culinary delights.

So, whether you grow it, feed it, brew it, bake it, or just love it - you want this show!

Want to know more?  Then sign up for their newsletter to keep on top of things as the show gets closer…..

Maybe I’ll see you there?

Bad vegetable planning results in more food that you will want to eat!

I’ve seen it over and over again when people start growing their own food - they grow too much.  There is a fear that there may not be enough of something - so over-planting is widespread.  Please don’t make that mistake yourself.

Even on my tiny allotment, I wanted to sow in rows like all the other people were doing, and this resulted in far too many radishes to harvest!  What a waste of the earth resources!  I was using up all it’s vitamins and other nutrients in my soil to grow a crop I just couldn’t face even eating! 

There was also the continuous begging of other people on nearby allotments for me to take some of their courgettes/seedlings/rhubarb/cuttings or runner-beans!  They just had too many too!

I totally agree that it is great of others to share their bumper crops rather than let them go to waste - but why spend your time, effort and resources growing food you have to give away?

Wouldn’t it be better to control your growing and have a better variety than before?

Surely it is better to run out of courgettes but have had some squash and pumpkins too!
Wouldn’t you rather tend smaller areas of crops than have row after row to weed and harvest?

There are many reasons why it is better to start small and learn from last year than to plunge straight in - and here are a few of them:

1) I can’t eat another courgette!
Most important to someone new to growing vegetables is that they need to find it fun.  They need to enjoy preparing, tending and then eating their crops.  And that can’t happen if you take on too much.

There is no need to grow loads and loads of the same things because it’s easy to grow, like potatoes, or because you got loads of seeds or seedlings.  Crops need energy and water to grow successfully - the earth in your vegetable plot on raised beds isn’t self regenerating - it gets used by everything you grow on it - so grow with care.

Also, if you find yourself harvesting a bumper crop of courgettes, it will be fun at first and you will try new dishes with them and tell your friends how yummy they are - then it will become apparent that you have been eating courgettes for dinner nearly every day for the past 2 weeks - yet there are still more in the fridge and even more ripening in your garden.

Soon, you will actually try to avoid eating courgettes at all because you are sick of the site of them and will no doubt end up throwing a few away as you picked them before you needed them and they have ‘gone off’.

Then you will run out of people to give your spare one’s too.  You will have asked the neighbors and friends at work or down the local club, and they will love it at first but then you might get embarrassed to turn up with a carrier bag of yet more courgettes to be palmed off to whoever will take them, or you might just get fed up with trying to find homes for them….

Basically, if you grow too much of something - it’s not fun anymore!

So, join me in a few days for Part 2 of this article for some more reasons to start small - if that wasn’t reason enough!

Thanks for coming back - and I hope the first few tips have been of help to you.

Now lets look at the final 2 tips which include; Choosing the right variety of fruit or vegetable for your needs, and thinking about growing food organically.

4) Variety Is The Spice Of Life:
There are now so many varieties of each fruit or vegetable to account for your tastes and for the locations they thrive in - so pick yours wisely.

Don’t just buy the one that has the cheapest seeds in the store - pick the one you are going to enjoy the taste of and that will grow in the place and in the time you want it to.

If you are busy at work during the summer or going away for a few week in spring, then make sure your variety don’t need too much attention at that point. If you have an alkali soil - then make sure you don’t buy a variety that loves acidic ground. I know it all sounds a bit technical - but just ask the experts where you live.

Take time to visit a local fruit grower near to where you live (same soil and same weather) and find out what they grow - then buy their seeds and take their advice.

Tell them your requirements too, for example there is no need to buy a product that gives off tonnes of fruit or veg at the same time if you are living alone as you will never be able to eat it all yourself (unless you want to learn about preserving it as well).

At the other end of the scale, you don’t want a rarer vegetable that only produces one or 2 edible parts if you have a family of 4 to feed! Plan your seasonal needs way ahead, and then link these up with the types and cycles of the plants that are available.

5) Growing Organic?
Don’t forget that the seeds you buy, or the plants you purchase might not have been grown organically - it’s a very complex chain. Decide how far back you want to be ‘organic’ for or how strict you are going to be.

And, unless you test it - how do you know that your yard isn’t full or chemical residues from previous land-use? You can’t, so you need to start from scratch and apply no more chemicals at all to it.

And, most importantly; how do you even know that the soil you wish to use is even full of nutrients? It is possible that the type of soil is not suitable for retaining nutrients or has been completely drained or natural resources over the years.

If you are on a purpose built housing estate (even if it is 100 years old), it is possible that just below your topsoil is a layer of industrial waste like broken bricks, wooden poles, or previous garden waste from past owners? I found and entire flat tarpaulin sheet and a concrete pillar buried in my back yard!

So, if you want to grow healthy and organic crops yourself, it may be wise to install raised beds for your plants so you can control the soil yourself.

Once the sides are up (obviously using chemical free and naturally strong materials) I would dig over the existing soil (not too deep) and remove any large stones or other objects. Then mix in a few cms of well rotted horse manure (or organic alternative) - then completely cover with alfalfa, clover or mustard.

These fast growing plants are great for pulling nutrients back into the soil ready to grow something worth eating! When they are fully grown and covering the inside of your raised bed, then dig them back in to the existing soil and add more organically sourced soil or horse manure to raise the beds to the top.

Then you can get started knowing that from now on you are growing your fruit and vegetables organically!

Everyone is thinking about home-grown food now - so here are a few less thought of tips to help you on your way!

We all know to get a water butt and to not use a powerful sprinkler during the heat of the day, so I thought of some less obvious one that can really make a difference.

1) Why Grow Potatoes?
You can grow just about anything these days after a bit of reading up, so why just grow anything?

There are certain vegetables that are very easy to buy at stores and very reasonably priced local foods - so why grow them yourself? Why not focus your time and energy on the foods that you can’t easily get hold of or that are very expensive to buy.

For example a lot of berries and currents are extraordinarily expensive to buy, but you can easily grow your own in a corner of your yard and pick them when you need them. And if you have a small greenhouse or poly-tunnel you could easily be growing things that are not normally found in your local area but are suitable for this environment.

2) Will They Grow Themselves?
There are many crops that need a lot of care and attention to grow from seed or when potting on. There are also many plants that are energy or water intensive.

Think about these restraints on your time and the environmental costs before taking on a demanding crop - don’t just think about the end result.

It is probably a lot less energy-intensive for a large farm to grow such crops and ship them to your store than for every household to try to grow their own. Increasing the scale of production always lowers costs and resources.

Also, out of season crops need more attention as do out-of-environment crops. Out-of-environment crops are those that can’t be grown without plenty or extras - like protection, fertilisers (natural or not) and other considerations.

Basically they are fruits and vegetables that are perfectly suited to a particular environment - which isn’t where you live! So, if you want to try something different that needs more resources, then make sure you put every effort in to nurturing it; hitting a bumper crop and then eating every last piece of edible material it produces!

Seriously, if you are going to be putting 3 months or more of intensive effort into growing vegetable A, then you had better make sure you follow that care through to the end. What a waste it would be if you started off ok and then went on holiday or got ‘too busy’ and let them die. What an even worse waste of resources that would be!

3) Are They Attractive To Bugs?
Make sure you find out which fruits and veg are less attractive to pests and disease before you start planting.  And when they are less atrractive to pests - pests all have their own ‘cycle’ so avoiding this can sometimes be advantageous and plant-saving!

There is nothing worse than getting a problem with your crops and then finding the only solution is to apply chemical cures or simply to start over! What a waste!

Sometimes it’s just a matter of choosing the right planting dates or using the right natural protection. For example, the first round of runner beans I planted when I first started growing veg got totally destroyed by hungry slugs (regardless of my organic slug repellent) whereas some I planted much later in the season never even got one bite to them - the whole crop survived!

Make sure you do your research in advance so that you know all the info before you lose your first crop!

Join me in a few days for Part 2 , bringing you some more unusual but extremely helpful tips…..

Is Your Favorite Supermarket Pulling It’s Eco Weight?

This month (August 2009) BBC Wildlife Magazine reviewed certain aspects of our favorite shops and rated them on the same criteria - and it made an interesting read.

For example- all 6 stores were rated on 8 hot environmental issues - giving them the chance to earn a total of 40 points.  The highest scoring store only got 29 of them - so that means that even the best performing eco friendly store was missing about 27% of the points - not so good really.

But then we sort of already know that supermarkets can’t ever really be ‘green’ anyway.

The Criteria:
There were 8 ways in which the stores were offered up to 5 points, these ranged from Air Miles through Fair Trade and on to highly contentious Palm Oil.

I will summarise each catagory mentioning the best and worst stores as judged by BBC Wildlife.

Air Miles:
Sainsbury’s came out worse here with only 2/5 as although they do source local food where possible they don’t label air-freighted foods.  However M&S do label their products - plus they also source all their in-season vegetables from farms in the UK.

Animal Welfare:
An issue we all have an opinion on, but did you know that Asda and Tesco still sell eggs from battery-caged hens!  After all this time - people are still buying them from 2 of our largest stores - and they are still supplying them!

Climate Change:
When asked if they have specific targets for reducing carbon emissions M&S said that they are due to become carbon neutral by 2012 and has 4 eco-factories that currently save 50% of the standard energy needed elsewhere.  Asda however has said that they will try to cut their emissions by 10% but have set no dates at all!

Fair Trade:
Co-Op wins here as they were one of the first stores ever to convert to Fair Trade products in many different areas and are still one of the market leaders and currently has over 260 Fair Trade lines in their stores.  Morrisons however have just 10 Fair Trade Lines in their huge stores - and none of them are own-label!

Sustainable Fish:
Carrying a huge 56 lines of MSC labelled fish is Sainsbury’s who stock their own brands of MSC labelled foods - but Tesco filed to provide full details of MSC products, apart from the fact that their own-brand foods are not labelled as MSC certified.

GM Feeds:
Whether cattle are being fed GM feeds is also an area that concerns consumers, and as a result the M&S have made sure that all their own label meat and dairy is GM free - although they haven’t been labelled as such.  Generally all the other stores use GM feeds forr their meat and dairy products unless they are certified as Organic (meaning that they legally can’t be).

Organic Foods:
Over 70% of fruit and vegetables in M&S have an organic alternative as opposed to only 5% organic products in the Co-Op (only 22 lines).  How can we be making changes to our shopping habits if we aren’t being offered a suitable alternative?

Use Of Pesticides:
Asda & Morrisons declined to mention whether they still used hazardous chemicals to treat their food or areas in which food was stored - whereas the other stores have put limits or bans in place for some well known chemicals.

Palm Oil:
A hot topic at the moment - although Asda and Sainsbury’s are the only ones that have actually done something about it that they are advertising.  Morrisons says some products are but won’t tell consumers which products they are, M&S use 7 lines that should get certification soon but so far are not listed as sustainable and Tesco and Co-Op are ‘looking to switch’ but not for another 5 years or so!

Frightening stuff really - that we aren’t really pushing hard enough for these obvious changes to occur in our favorite stores.

We aren’t creating the demand needed to get a reaction out of these large companies.  Whether we are making the wrong choices in our shopping - or we are making incorrect decisions based on little or misleading information - something isn’t working.

So either we need to start paying more attention to our shopping habits and the effect they are having on the animals and countryside around us or we may as well waste all the effort that has gone into the changes that people have brought around already!