The Mousehunter website's almost finished

Further to that last post, I've almost finished The Mousehunter website - it'll be fully running in about 2 weeks hopefully, but in the meantime there's a taster page to give an idea!

The Mousehunter is almost out!

It's been a horrendously long time since I posted anything here, but there's a few pretty good reasons - first and foremost being that I've been writing my second book. And the other reasons all stem round that fact that my first is soon to be out.

I must admit, it's not about gardens, or veg, or anything slightly organic. It's an adventure set in a world where people collect expensive species of crazy mice - although I'm sure there a few of the mice that inhabit people's allotments.

I had a slight rush of nerves when I spotted this a few days ago - my first review. It's only a few months until it'll be in the shops (Jan 17th 2008), and I can't believe that the wait is almost over.

Storm over Battersea Power Station

I've just returned from a meeting in town and came through some amazing storm fronts. This one had just visited Crystal Palace and was on its way central when i snapped it. It was the prettiest train ride home I've ever had.

But this rain shows no sign of abating! I'm almost too scared to venture into my garden for fear of being eaten by all the slugs that are now permanent residents out there. They've already destroyed two runner bean plants... but I guess they're only hungry.

However, all is not lost, for there's a new coffee machine in my kitchen. It goes whirrr, and woosh, and cost a little bit more than the last, but it's the most wonderful thing. I love it more than life itself.

Aujord'hui ma machine de café est mort.

Aujord'hui ma machine de café est mort. And it's a sad, sad day. So many cappucinos, so few years. Although to be fair, it was my brother's originally, and I've now had it at least four years, so i shouldn't complain. The worst part of it, though, is that it's only died through neglect. I just didn't even consider the fact that limescale would build up inside and ruin it like any good kettle. And now I find that there's a descaler solution that you should run through these machines every few months...

I even became a maintenance man, and in the true spirit of allotmenteering, unscrewed it all and sat each piece in coca cola for hours in the vain hope that some of the blocked tubes might be cleaned. But it just made the matter worse, as I think it shifted a load of gunk and doubled the blockage somewhere in its bowels. I can still froth milk happily enough, but it's no replacement...

Oh woe is me...

The Gotheborg

Last week I left the comfort of the Sprouts plot to see the Swedish ship Gotheborg, a recreation of the 18th century East Indiaman sailing ship. It was incredible, and looked thoroughly out of place amongst the modern, soulless grandeur of Canary Wharf. You don't see things of such handmade beauty very often these days - and with the potential to sail without any power source whatsoever other than the wind.

It has an engine - to conform to modern safety regulations – but how long will it be before we have to start sailing in ships like this once more? With the oncoming shortage of natural resources, they might have to make a comeback... I hope so.

Runners in Crystal Palace

Known for its Athletics track, Crystal Palace is now host to a few more permanent runners in the shape of my beans, which got a good planting out yesterday. There's a definite 'Allotment Chic' look coming to the Sprouts garden now, with a wall of bamboo canes and bits of string standing tall and making it look incredibly ramshackle. I like the look though. Kind of a zen garden gone british, if you see what I mean - although my patch is a bit too lumpy to create rake patterns. The closest I get to them is when cats use my plot as a toilet and dig me nice little holes.

I'm a petrolhead. It's official

I became a petrolhead last week. Ok, so it was only for about 15 mins, but even so it was exciting. I used the petrol strimmer to trim our garden around the Sprouts plot, and suddenly I was away, loving the throttle and the smell of burning fuel. What a feeling power is!

Of course, I left a nice patch of tall grass and wilderness as a little wildlife sanctuary, so it wasn't all death and destruction. Even so, i was ready to get out the chainsaw, find myself a monster truck, and become a bona fide ROAD HOG.

And then I woke up with a spot on the end of my nose. My new found ability to wreak shock and awe was cut down in a second...

From sprouts to Volkswagens

In our efforts to be green, we've taken the next step up the ladder and bought a camper van. It's an early 80s VW - in green, of course - and will have us pootling around England over the coming year. Now, in all honesty, it does eat petrol like a total fiend, but I think it's better in many ways than flying all over the shop just to hang out on a beach with lots of annoying english folk. Might as well camp with them in Britain and be shot of it, that's what i say.

So with all the greenness that now exists out the front of my house, what's been going on out the back? The rhubarb, raspberries and blueberries are all coming along a treat. I've got rows of lettuce seedlings and rocket sprouting up too. Very little else has made its way into the ground, but that will soon change with the planting of courgettes and tomatoes.

And finally we've had some rain! So probably, next time i pop out the slugs and snails will have stripped my plot bare. I guess you have to give them their due, if they can cope with the horrid conditions, then they're better men than me. Or gastropods... or hermaphrodites... or whatever they are...

Organic food report

I've just been catching up on the government report about the production of organic food and its effects on the environment. It makes for peculiar reading, particularly when you read that the production of organic tomatoes, milk and chicken is much worse for the environment than 'conventional', ie, non organic food. Many of the points link to the energy efficiency of growing organic produce and how it takes so much more energy to come to fruition than the other 'conventional' food produce. Also, it's not necessarily the case that organic food is better for you either.

I'm sorry to sound so obvious, but of course it will take more energy and land to grow organic tomatoes, to sustain herds of cows for organic milk, and to keep chickens alive longer and so that they naturally grow properly. I could have told the government that for nothing. Unfortunately, that's the natural way of things, and it's only because we've become so hooked on quick and easy food, sold in bulk and grown artificially, that the report could consider the process of growing organic food as having bad energy efficiency.

I think it's important to know how much impact the growth of food produce has on the world, particularly with the blossoming world populous, but it's more important to be realistic about our future. We need to be realistic about what we need to eat week in week out and where we get it from; and we need to be realistic and ethical about the way we live and interact with the environment.

If the carbon footprint of growing natural, organic food is larger than 'conventional' food, then that's something we have to live and deal with. So walk to the supermarket instead of driving there to counter it's effect.

If the energy efficiency of natural and organic animal husbandry is worse than 'conventional' animal husbandry techniques (such as battery farming), don't fly to Thailand for your holiday this year - instead get the Eurostar to Paris.

I don't see how we can determine these food issues in relation to how energy efficient, or nutritionally beneficient they are - it's the ethics that count, and our principles. And they're the only thing that matter, in the end.

I lost the plot...

...but now it is found.

This weekend, I finally got into the garden. I dug over the plot, fed the birds, and even worked up a sweat, which led to me having to take off my jumper! I don't know what came over me. But it looks great out there now, kind of like discovering an old friend and seeing them every morning when I look out the window. I can't wait to get sowing...