A charity that works in Bulgaria and the UK is encouraging people to buy an extra tin or packet of food when they visit the supermarket and then donate it to a food bank so it can be given out to someone in crisis or with insufficient benefits, with a Christian message or two.



The charity, Trussell Trust, point out that 13 million people live below the poverty line in the UK and that UK Foodbanks fed 128,697 in 2011-12,…

Dear all,

I’ve posted a photo I took recently of the Lea at Bow Locks, in Bromley-by-Bow.

The river is already looking green. That’s because of the high levels of phosphates in the water. It acts like a fertilizer. As the weather gets warmer the soup-like water gives plants like Floating Pennywort and Duckweed the perfect conditions to flourish. Spreading over…

Having wanted to do this for years but been put off by the difficulty of installing the older, barrel-shaped tanks in a restricted space where we'd have had to dig too deep, too close for comfort to this old house's non-existent foundations, I jumped at the chance to buy one of the new shallow tanks this spring.

Of course, the weather made it impossible to finish digging out the pit for most of the first few weeks after the tank arrived but I'm now almost there - just a bit of…

DECC has announced changes to the feed-in tariff for solar PV which will give some clarity for the future:

• The next tariff reduction has been delayed until 1st August, giving wavering householders another month to install and qualify for the current tariff of 21p/unit.  Installers have been offering discounts to stimulate householders to make up their minds after the uncertainty of…

Tree bumble bees (Bombus hypnorum) have moved into a disused bird box at the Hackney Marshes Community Tree Nursery.  This is a worker heading home loaded with pollen.

The small colony (maybe 50-100 bees) have taken up residence in a bird…

Cool

This is awesome

I love this space…

As expected Hackney's cabinet decided to accept the recommendation from the recycling team to move to commingled recycling collections, starting next spring.  This will mean an end to the green box collections and the introduction of recycling sacks instead.  Instead of being sorted by hand at the roadside the recycling will be sorted by machine at Bywaters MRF (Material Recycling Facility) in Leyton.…

Master Gardeners volunteer 30 hours a year offering food growing advice and support to local households and the wider community in Islington, Camden, Haringey and Hackney. They get active support, ongoing training and become part of the master gardener network - plus the pleasure of seeing people bloom!



The next free two-day training course is on 19 and 20 May 2012 (you don’t have to be an expert to…

Just seven says to go before we vote on our next mayor!

FOE and Greenpeace have done a great bit of analysis, looking at the the four main candidates’ records and commitments on the environment. They've ranked the candidates on air pollution, aviation, energy and energy efficiency, green spaces, climate change and transport.…

(Pic: R Miller)

Following on from Katherine Pitt's bee…

"No Hackney High Rise" the campaign group opposing the development of a 10 storey tower block at 22-44 London Lane, is delighted that the application was refused by Hackney Council at the planning meeting on 18th April.  In an email to supporters they say:

"We are delighted that the council has listened to local residents. We have worked on our objection to this development for the last three years and our campaign…

This afternoon, when the arb contractor dumped a mountain of wood chip in the car park in front of our community garden, the sky was leaden and it was pouring with rain. Everyone else on my estate was dry indoors, and I felt pretty miserable as I started shoveling the chippings into a barrow on my own...but within ten minutes the rain had stopped, the sun was out, and…

This is a girdled mining bee (Andrena labiata).  First seen at Abney last April I was delighted to re-acquaint myself with these little wonders on Wednesday. Even more delighted that the 3 on Weds had become 20 by today! They all appear to be males anxiously awaiting females. The males were loitering in the area in front of the…

This Week

Saturday

Potting up the last of the trees at the Tree Nursery.…

Easter weekend was dreich but I managed to round up a few people on Friday to work outdoors: planted potatoes in trenches in a bed (leaving hillocks for later earthing up), and in a large green recycling bag, and transplanted lettuces (poking a stick through the…

It's April and it's all go: picked up some soft fruit bushes from Hackney Marshes Tree Nursery today, getting free topsoil delivered on Friday (thanks to a combination of the people at Good Gym and the Master Gardeners network) and next week will get a pile of wood chip delivered free from a Hackney Parks contractor...

I have been running food growing workshops on my small housing estate in north Hackney, with the help of a neighbour, since the beginning of March, funded by a grant…

Trade School London at FARM:shop Dalston throughout April

Trade School London

www.tradeschool.coop/london

At Trade School anyone can offer to teach a class, and students barter items, resources and skills to attend. Equal value is placed on big ideas, practical skills and experiential knowledge. No money changes hands as we revalue what we own or know, and can share with others.

Classes include:

Thu 19…

There is an exciting opportunity to join the People's Kitchen Team, we are recruiting for a People’s Kitchen coordinator role. This will be a paid position for 1 day a week.



Here is a bit more about the role.



People’s Kitchen Co-ordinator



People’s Kitchen is looking for a friendly individual to join us a co-ordinator. We are a small team of core volunteers that work with a…

‘Radical Gardening: Politics, Idealism and Rebellion in the Garden’ with George McKay @ HOUSMANS Wednesday18th April, 7pm

http://www.housmans.com/events.php

It’s been going great guns for the Dalston Energy Angels, over a hundred enquiries and around fifty surveys booked in. We’ve been so pleased with the level of local interest and have really enjoyed visiting people’s homes and giving advice on how they can make things more energy efficient. We’ve also had success with engaging local builders about how they can get involved with the Green Deal and hope to deliver a training session next week on the proper installation of…