We've now put online a directory of local food producers, suppliers, and retailers in or near Mole Valley who take care to source their produce locally and/or ethically.
You can find it here
If you think we are missing someone fron the list, please contact us.
Wednesday July 8th 2009 at 7.30pm in Capel Memorial Hall.
Permaculture (a contraction of the words - permanent + agriculture) seeks to follow practices that do not damage and exhaust the soil, nor to rely on fertilisers and pesticides.
Its principles are based on close observation of natural systems, and on studying farming traditions in countries where crops continue to be abundant despite growing year-on-year on the same soil.
A speaker from the flourishing permaculture movement in Brighton will describe in detail these basic principles and show how they can be applied to gardening and vegetable-growing.
Learn how to enrich your soil, reduce the hard work of digging, increase your mulching and conserve moisture.
Refreshments available. All welcome.
Tickets £4.00; members of Capel Goes Green £2.00
www.capelgoesgreen.org.uk
Green Mole Garden
On Sunday we opened our garden to the public within the Bookham Open Garden days and it was a very successful day. About 250 people walked trough our fairly small patch during the day and we had so many positive comments about what we were trying to do that we felt all the efforts were well worth it.
The write-up on the garden (about wildlife, savings water, organic treatments, introducing edible plants, flowers for the bees, ornaments and composting) was very well received and people gave me lots of tips, some of which I shall definitely try out in future.
I had heard about the properties of Comfrey (you macerate the leaves and they provide both an insecticide and a fertilizer) before, my mum used to use nettles to the same effect.
The other interesting tips were the slug repellents (copper bands apparently do work very well, ground coffee, but also most interestingly garlic spray – the Lady had picked that one up at the Chelsea Flower show and now her Hostas are doing fantastically). Now being French I probably had my first dose of garlic via breast milk, I love the stuff and I also know how many medicinal properties it has.
So apparently you crush garlic, boil it and then use the water – diluted but I don’t know in how many parts – as a spray that repels the slugs. Might not work with French slugs but apparently it works a treat over here.
One Lady has resolved the beer problem (our hubbys generally don’t like it when we pinch their beer and give it to the slugs to make theirs a happy demise) by sending her hub to the pub with an empty milk bottle. The nice bar tender lets him have the dregs at the end of the evening…
Also a big thank you to those who helped and to those who offered. We raised nearly £100 for the Bookham Community Association.
Happy Green Gardening!
Esther
Open seminar this Thursdar.
The Green Belt in Surrey is under greater threat than ever before due to the government's 'South East Plan' seeking to impose a minimum target of 59.160 new homes in Surrey. In the Mole Valley District, three quarters of which is Metropolitan Green Belt, land has to be found for nearly 4,000 homes.
Present at this 'question time' style seminar will be:
-
John Howell MP from the Conservative shadow local government and planning team
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Baroness Thomas of Walliswood, Lib Dem spokesperson for planning affairs
-
Sir Paul Beresford, MP for Mole Valley
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John Cheston, Deputy Director of Government Office for the South East
-
CPRE's expoert on planning matters, Paul Miner
Tickets £10 to include excellent buffet.
- Thursday 25th June 2009 from 6.30pm
- Supper 7.4
- Seminar 7.45 - 9.15
- Denbies Sports Hall
- Ranmore Common, Dorking
Recycle week is an annual event to kick-start new habits that can help us all to all waste less and recycle more.
More at RecyleNow
What are you going to pledge?
Aiming to 'hit that standby'. Many devices use virtually as much power on standby as 'on'. Turn them off at the wall!
On Sunday 7th June 2009, the Green Mole Forum took part in the River Mole Discovery Day run by the Lower Mole Countryside Management Project.
Despite ominous clouds the weather held up beautifully, and all who came were treated to a range of stands from different organisations and walks and talks about the wildlife surrounding this precious resource.
The Green Mole Forum started putting names on the waiting list for loan of Home Energy Monitors. Interested? Contact us. More details will appear here soon.
Playing a solar powered dexterity test
The Environment Agency collecting samples of the amazing range of fish in the river.
The events season is getting under way. Don't forget to take a look at our events page
here.
You may have read on this site before about DEFRA's proposals to introduce a charge to register to be exempt from certain forthcoming composting regulations (?!)
Well, DEFRA have had so many responses to this and to other proposals that they've had to postpone their conclusions from October 2009 to April 2010. Almost all are against the proposal. Well done everyone who wrote in, and thanks.
(The comment deadline was Thursday 23 October 2008. Comments were to be sent exemptions@defra.gsi.gov.uk. Perhaps they will still accept comments becuase of their extension, who knows...)
They have published a summary of responses (here).
Here are some excepts of the excepts:
3.6 Proposal 6 – To introduce a charge for the registration of all registerable exemptions
- 'Unlike most other proposals, the vast majority of respondents to proposal six did not agree with the proposal'
- 'Many suggested that the introduction of a fee for registration would be to the detriment of the environment as many of the activities currently in operation which work to the benefit of the environment (e.g. community composting activities) would be forced to stop, or would not start in the first place.'
- 'LARAC is concerned about the effect of the introduction of charges on charitable organisations and community organisations, including community composting projects'
- 'The overwhelming response from these groups [Individuals and the Community and Third Sector] was to reject proposal six. Almost unanimous opposition for the proposal was received, with only two respondents supporting the proposal'
- 'Respondents highlighted the disparity in Government policy, whereby on one hand, they are being encouraged to recycle, and on the other hand, with this proposal, the Government wishes to impose new charges on the activities which they seek to promote. One respondent stated: “I have recently heard of the proposal to charge schools and charities an exemption fee of £50 if they wish to have a compost heap. I understand the need to control the collection and disposal of waste and can accept that industrial scale composting operations require control. However, to charge schools for the privilege of educating children in caring for the environment seems ludicrous and, I am sure, contrary to information from other sections of government.”'
- 'We cannot express strongly enough the impact that the introduction of a charge for charities and not-for-profit organisations will have, however even further the impact this would have on the number of schools composting. There are various Government supported projects that are encouraging schools to grow their own and make children see the connection between what they grow and what they eat, and compost is an essential ingredient to help the growing process. Yet DEFRA‟s suggestion of charging a £50 registration fee would be a disincentive to start or potentially continue composting. Schools often operate this type of activity on a seriously stretched budget, and if the charge was introduced, this would be a reason not to even start composting. As CCN have stated “introducing a charge for a no-risk to very low risk activity seems to go against the „polluter pays‟ principle, as there is no pollution or environmental risk to pay for.'
How much could you save?
This year, National liftshare Day (NLSD) takes place on Tuesday 9 June. The popular event aims to raise the profile of car-sharing and encourage and enable more people give it a try.
And in view of the economic climate, the focus this year is on the many hundreds of pounds that regular car-sharers can save every year. How much could you save?
Read on for ideas and inspiration!
The Green Mole Forum was established in Spring 2008 to bring together individuals and
groups interested in sustainability and concerned with environmental issues in Mole Valley. We aim to be a hub connecting people and groups together for the benefit of all.
We have had a busy and successful first year. We meet monthly, alternating between various locations within Mole Valley, and we regularly invite local groups to the meetings to tell us about their activities.
During the year we have set up our website with many useful
links and the chance to blog and
comment. We have held a
public meeting about environmentally friendly building projects which was well attended and led to a follow up visit to a house illustrating the various energy saving methods. We've been to local Village Days with a stall offering eco-friendly
games and informative quizzes. Members have helped local Chambers of Commerce with a survey on
plastic bag use - which is now very much reduced.
Some members have decided to take part in a
CRAG for 2009. This is a
Carbon Rationing scheme in which we monitor our energy use at home and in personal travel and see whether we can live within a set allowance for the year. This exercise is designed to help us discover our individual energy "weaknesses" and where we can reduce them.
Most recently there has been a growing interest in the
Transition Towns movement within the group and some members, joining with others from the local community, have already formed Transition Dorking. Transition Ashtead is also under way.
Come and join us - you will be most welcome! Our next meeting will be at the end of April in Dorking -
contact us for details.
Margaret Hibbert