The kitchen drawer

Wriggly worms live at the bottom of my garden.  Oh yes!  I am talking about recycling worms, NOT earthworms.  Did you realise that there might be a difference?

 

And why am I interested?

 

Well, in mid-March, Woman’s Hour on Radio 4 featured readings  from a blog called ‘The Rubbish Diet.' The blogger, identified as ‘Almost Mrs Average’ lives in the borough of St Edmondsbury in Suffolk, which threw out a challenge to local residents to reduce their household waste to zero during the week of March 10th-17th.

 

She did it.  The only item she had to throw out for the dustmen at the end of the week was a sticking plaster, which you can see on the wheel of her black wheelie bin. She used to throw out 3 x 50 litre bags of rubbish a week.
 
Her story so inspired me, that I went online immediately to order another compost bin, a bokashi bin and a wormery.  More on these a little later.

 

I’m annoyed enough that my local council is hyper-selective about the types of plastic waste it will take.  The environmental department accepts only plastic milk cartons and drinks bottles.

 

What about all those plastic containers for meat and vegetables and dairy products?  As far as Charnwood Borough Council is concerned, they’re fit only for the landfill. 

 

I tried writing to the council to complain, but ended up with a reply from a Junior official, tantamount to ‘The Computer Says No!’

 

Shepshed Recycling and Household Waste Site, run by Leicestershire County Council, has come to the rescue.  It is infinitely more progressive than the borough council. 

 

I’ve already cut my black bag rubbish output by more than half, mostly by recycling all that other plastic into a special skip at the Recycling site.

 

You can sort your booze bottles into different coloured glass skips at the recycling centre, whereas the council dustmen just tip the whole lot together into the collection lorry.

 

I diligently wash my milk bottle tops and aluminium foil when I can, and put it all into a sack for aluminium waste.

 

The site accepts old rags, although I prefer to put unwanted clothes out in those plastic sacks for charity collections. 

 

This year, I’ve also discovered Freecycle.  Freecycle is a worldwide network which enables you to give away the stuff you don’t want in your home, but somebody else locally, does.  Since Len cleared out the loft 3 weeks ago, we’ve given away an old microwave oven, unwanted music cassette tapes from the 70s that we haven’t listened to in years, a box of VHS tape with Rosie’s recordings of 'Most Haunted,' and a Sky digibox.

 

Back to Shepshed Recycling Centre. All the garden waste – lawn mowing, weeds, tree clippings, plunges into the composting skip.

 

You don’t have to take all your vegetable waste to the recycling site though.  You can do that at home.  Hence the compost bin, the bokashi bin and the wormery.

 

What’s a bokashi bin?  Bokashi is Japanese for “fermented organic matter.”  I use the bokashi bin for all the stuff that won’t break down easily in a compost bin or wormery, such as bones and cheese and that chilli that you made last week and nobody’s had time to eat.  Food waste basically.  Just tip the waste in, cover it with a layer of wheat bran specially treated with molasses and composting micro-organisms, press a cover over the top, like a shopping bag, replace the lid, and leave it to ferment.

 

Once your bin is full, and honestly, it doesn’t smell, leave it for 10-12 days, then tip the contents into the compost bin to finish off decomposing.  One word of caution, the bokashi liquid made in the process, does smell totally vile although it’s supposed to be a superb fertilizer.

 

Vegetable trimmings, banana skins, rotten fruit, egg shells,  those hard bits of cauliflower and bread, paper and cardboard for roughage can all go to the wormery.  Remember those recycling worms?

 

Worms love vegetable waste.  They eat it and poo it and it’s their poo that makes a lovely rich compost for the garden.   There’s loads of advice on the web on how to set up a wormery.  It seems to be a favourite activity for schools to do.

 

You can even get wormeries specially designed to treat dog poo.

 

I leave you with the image of me chasing around my patio at 1am one wet April morning chasing the worms that had managed to escape from their box.  They are now strictly confined and chomping happily away at my vegetable waste.

 

You too, can enjoy wriggly worms. 

 

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This is the text of my Level 4 speech prepared for Toastmasters International - Competent Communicator.

Last May, I wrote about Agflation, the phenomenon by which the switching of crops to biofuels would diminish the supply of basic foodstuff and drive up the price of food.

 

It's happening.  Today's Financial Times from London warns of an increased risk of malnutrition because of growing shortages in wheat, corn and soya, which feed not only people but animals which provide meat.

 

A farming programme on BBC radio broadcast that a farmer had had to destroy half his herd of rare breed pigs because he couldn't afford to feed them.  Even the meat was wasted because there was no demand for it at that time of year.

 

Wheat prices rose 25% in just one day yesterday, because Kazakhstan announced export tariffs to prevent sales overseas which would enable prices and supply to stabilise within its borders.  Russia and Argentina already have similar export controls.

 

Coupled with drought in Australia and poor harvests in the US and Europe, supplies of wheat are declining.

 

The FT remained upbeat about longer term adjustments to the market although there will be short-term suffering.  The World Food Programme is having to contemplate cutting its food aid unless it receives higher donations to meet increased grain prices.

 

Nevertheless, the FT called for the repeal of subsidies which have moved four per cent of global coarse grain production to biofuels.  "The environmental benefits of maize biofuel are ambiguous at best and it should not be favoured over growing maize for food."

Poor blog!  And I used to enjoy writing in it so much.  I think it must be age, as I have found over the last three months that it really isn't possible for me to push myself that extra inch to make sure it's updated.  That might also be because my thyroid levels have been decreasing and I've just learnt that I have to boost my thyroxin dosage, at least for a couple of months.

 

Life does not seem to have calmed down much since the frenetic activity of last year.  After my Betjeman Show, I took my Open University exam in Economics, barely passing because I hadn't devoted the time that I should have spent on the subject, and since then have been on holiday to Morocco and Jordan.  See the photos on Flickr.

 

And I've also joined the East Midlands Toastmasters' Club, to support two friends of mine who wanted to get it off the ground. We  meet on the first and third Monday of each month. I could write a whole lot more about Toastmasters, but not tonight.

 

Tonight I am going to cheat.  Well, all that effort to prepare a speech for Toastmasters should not necessarily be wasted.  I'm going to paste in the text of my prepared speech.  It is, after all, on a subject in which I'm interested.

 

Why Pain? Pain?  When I started acupuncture nine months ago, I seemed to have knots in every muscle of my body.  Dr Tao would probe, and I would jump.  "Pain? Pain?" she would enquire. 

 

 

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While I was driving to choir rehearsal in Leicester last Wednesday, I thought to myself, “Oh Bother!”, or words to that effect, “I’ve got to deliver a speech next Monday!”

 

At which my mind progressed speedily to the other reason I make the trek into Leicester, which is for weekly acupuncture sessions in The Shires.

 

And that gave me an idea for this speech.  Does Traditional  Chinese Medicine have a place in Western healthcare?

 

My own view is that it all rather depends on what your own experience is.  On the whole, my own experience is positive.  You could say that I have anecdotal evidence of other people’s experience as a result of lying, punctured by many needles, at weekly intervals on a couch in a small cubicle at the back of the HerbMedic  stall in The Shires.  Over the last nine months, this has enabled me to overhear not only what the manager tells potential customers, but also the complaints that some customers make and the symptoms they describe.

 

Let’s consider what Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, is.

 

According to tradition, the Chinese began compiling their first medical treatise, called the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine almost 5,000 years ago.  However, the earliest known manuscripts date from around 2,500 years ago, which is when the theories of Yin and Yang and the role that the five elements play in the physiology and pathology were developed.

 

Chinese medicine has always been based on pragmatism.  This happened partly as a rejection of shamanistic beliefs that disease was caused by external events.  Instead, TCM recognized that natural effects of diet, lifestyle, emotions, environment, age and heredity caused disease. 

 

The system grew by trial and error.  But it’s still pragmatic.  Nobody can say definitively how TCM works, yet work it does.  It can help to control nausea and to treat chronic back pain, neck pain and headache. A friend told me last week that weekly acupuncture helped quell his asthma during his annual hay fever season.

 

So when you get accosted by a Chinese person in a shopping centre, as I did, what might you expect?  You’ll be told that you need acupuncture, and to get the full benefit, you’ll also need cupping or moxibustion and acupressure as well as a course of herbal medicine tailored to your needs.  This works out very expensive, but I suggest that you bargain, because the price comes down fairly easily – except for the pills.  It’s still not cheap, especially when a course of treatment extends over months.

 

What are the techniques used in TCM?  Acupuncture is a system of inserting fine needles into points along the meridians which are believed to channel the Qi or basic energy through the body.  Ill health or rather, general lack of wellness, is thought to be caused by blockages in the qi, combined with poor circulation of the blood.  The blockages can be relieved by acupuncture.  Amazingly, it doesn’t hurt, except if a needle hits a nerve, and then only in passing.  Chinese people want to feel penetration of the nerves to convince themselves that the treatment is working.  English people want the treatment to be painless.

 

Moxibustion, also known as cupping, is the firing of mugwort fluff into a glass bowl or cup and then placing the cup over points on the meridians of the body creating a vacuum.

 

Finally, acupressure is basically massage.  I’ve had good and indifferent Chinese massage.  When it’s good, it’s very, VERY good.

The acupuncturist rarely speaks English and you have to have an interpreter with you in the consulting room.  There you will have your pulse taken in a number of ways, your face and your tongue will be examined.

 

The doctor will infer observations of your heart, your liver, your kidney and spleen simply from feeling your pulse.  Your tongue, believe it or not, is a good indicator of general health.  It should not be coated or discoloured or dark.  A dark tongue can indicate stress.

 

The Chinese take the spiritual nature of TCM very seriously.  As a Chinese saying goes, “Chinese medicine treats humans while western medicine treats diseases.” 

 

The very first time I had acupuncture I came away with an immense sense of well-being.  I usually walk much better after a TCM session.  I rarely have to take ibuprofen to take away the pain of arthritis.  TCM doesn’t cure the arthritis but it makes me better able to cope with it.

 

I can concur with the Chinese who use Western medicine for emergency and acute disease and trauma, while resorting to TCM as a preventative health measure and a means of recovering more quickly from illness and surgery. 

 

After all, medical techniques that have evolved over thousands of years and which are judged to work by many who use it, should not be ignored.  I invite you to keep an open mind on Traditional Chinese Medicine.

 

How lax I have been.  It's over 3 months since I last wrote anything here, but I can justifiably claim that I have been otherwise occupied.  For evidence of that alternative occupation, go to see Gothla.UK and Gage's JoGLE, both of which demanded a lot of time and energy to organise. 

 

Gothla was Rosie's project.  I mucked in to help her and some Goth BD friends organise it.  The event was a great success, despite fears less than a month previously that we might lose the venue.  We didn't lose any money.  Didn't make any either, but the experience was good.

 

No sooner was Gothla over, than it was time to set up George's bike ride from John O' Groats to Lands' End with four of his mates.  Len was home for that and he and I drove Bertha the camper van as support vehicle.  The photos show us at John O' Groats at the start of the trip on 16th July.  You should be able to spot the famous signpost in the background.  You have to pay a photographer folding cash to get a photo taken there.  We were too mean.  Besides, the photo of the boys at Lands' End was a rip-off.  There was a fault with the picture, the colour was far too saturated, and head office conveniently overlooked the promise at the site that a spare photo was always given in a pack for a JoGLE undertaken for charity.  Fortunately, I had been inside the enclosure while the lads were having their photo taken, and was able to take better ones myself. QV.  Please consider donating online to their sponsorship charity, Cancer Research, at Just Giving.

 

So what has happened in my absence from this space?  The most positive news is that the Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor who had been condemned to death in Libya for allegedly infecting Libyan children with HIV/AIDS, were eventually released.  Colonel Gaddafi's son is said to have revealed that they were tortured while in custody.  The Bulgarian government is conducting an enquiry.  Thank goodness they are free.

 

Dreadful floods happened in Sheffield and environs, and in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.  The JoGLE took us through Gloucester on a day when the rain started once more.  Sandbags were still in the streets, the Severn was brimming and drinking water bottles were being distributed from a large lorry in Tesco's car park.  Tesco's cafe was close for health and safety reasons.  The drinking water supply had been cut off.  Water bowsers were a regular feature along the road.

 

But I'm back today because an article in the Financial Times has reminded me that "The vast majority of blogs in the UK and the US are abandoned after a relatively short period of time or read by only a handful of friends or contacts."  Yes, I suppose that I write mainly for myself. 

 

However, that wasn't the main gist of the article.  The British government now wants departments to review British blogs which might impact on policy decisions.  The Central Office of Information (COI) is working out how to add blog monitoring to coverage of press, radio and TV. 

 

"Pilot studies have looked at pensioners’ online reactions to a recent budget and internet opinions on counter-terrorism measures. They have tracked web traffic generated as well as the tone of discussions." 

 

That means, dear reader, that anything you or I might say on Windows Live Spaces could be taken down and used in evidence against us.

 

I don't think it's that bad at all really.  It does show that the government recognises that some self-publicists can actually influence other people's points of view.  Blog monitoring could act as an early warning system and inform our representatives of what we are really thinking and wanting. 

 

Must go.  An Open University assignment awaits closure.  And I suppose I had better change my age in my profile.  I celebrated my 59th birthday on a lovely day at John O' Groats campsite.

 

 

'Agflation' is a word used to describe the phenomenon of the rising price of food.  The Economist tells me that Merrill Lynch introduced the term to account for the fact that "The prices of rice, wheat, corn, barley, cattle and pork are all up by more than 30% since March 2005."

 

In an almost facetious take on the possibility of food scarcity and insecurity, Bedlam Asset Management created the headline: "NUNS mug disabled orphan for bag of crisps."  But the reality is potentially much more serious.  Food prices are rising faster than at any time since the early 1980s.

 

Normally, farmers would just grow more food to increase supply to meet demand.  But there are conflicting requirements for crops on available land.  Climate change is cited as the primary factor.  Where there is no water, you can't grow more crops.  Australia, which has been a cereals and meat exporter, is being hit hard by an intense drought which shows no sign of breaking.

 

Land once used to grow animal feed is now being used to grow corn to create ethanol in America.  Corn is fetching higher prices as a result so cropping has changed from soybean to corn production.  Since the price of corn is higher, so is the price of animal feed.  A major American agricultural company, Tyson Foods, claimed it had suffered a 41% drop in profits on poultry in the first quarter of this year as a result.  The costs are passed on to the consumer.  The same goes for beef and pork.

 

Americans would be better off importing Brazilian sugar to make ethanol rather than paying Midwest farmers to grow corn, but tariffs on sugar imports are high.

 

The EU is positively encouraging farmers to remove land from cultivation.

 

The Economist, being a free market proponent, hints that regulation should be removed to encourage producers to respond to the simpler laws of supply and demand.

 

After all, bread riots have brought down governments in the past, or at the least, caused serious political tensions. Bristol in 1753.  UK in 1847.  Jordan in 1996.  Bakers strike in Morocco against government refusal to increase bread prices, 2004.  And so on.

 

It seems a far cry from picking up your individual salad or sandwich in a British supermarket.  How much are you willing to pay for food?