Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!

I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.

We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.


To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!


Thursday 19 July 2012

Time To Power Down? by John Walker - a really thought provoking post

A timely reminder from John Walker

As concern over Western ‘energy obesity’ moves up the agenda, can we really afford, financially or morally, to continue switching on our propagators and greenhouse heaters?

John Walker is one of my favourite writers. I used to really look forward to reading his column in Organic Gardening Magazine - and am really pleased to follow him on Twitter.  As he suggests in his article, I use our home generated electricity to run my heated propagators in Feb and March - and any shortfall is provided by Good Energy
I also follow his advice about utilising the power of the Sun to germinate seeds and get crops growing.

Even if it was originally published 5 years ago, in the much missed Organic Gardening Magazine, his article is still timely advice.
“John reminds all gardeners that there are some hard choices ahead, and changes we all need to make in the battle to keep the world cool. He writes of what he calls our Western ‘energy obesity’ and outlines a ‘diet’ to address it. There’s much individuals can achieve – how about switching off propagators and greenhouse heaters for a start? Those who throw their green fingers up in horror would do well to read John’s article to understand that a cooler greenhouse need not be the end of the world. In fact, it could help save it."

Judges’ citation, Garden Media Guild Environmental Award 2007.
Original article published in Organic Gardening, January 2007. John is the winner of the Garden Media Guild Environmental Award 2007.



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