The Transition Companion

I’ve had a busy week on the rails this week. First down to Totnes to interview Rob Hopkins for a chapter in my new book The Home Energy Handbook, then London for the RHS Autumn Show for a reading of Curious Incidents in the Garden at Night-time and then to Bristol for the amazing awe-inspiring Schumacher festival, which featured some world-class speakers. I’ll go on to talk about these in subsequent posts but I just wanted to talk about Rob Hopkins’ new book The Transition Companion. Those of you familiar with the Transition Town’s movement will probably know Rob’s work but either way I’d recommend you get hold of a copy of The Transition Companion. It’s really been written to help Transition Town groups to build a movement for social change in their neighbourhood but you could read it on its own as an inspirational text to move yourself in a new direction. Having had the opportunity to talk to Rob last week for a couple of hours I’ve certainly started to re-evaluate the direction in which I’ve been traveling and started to think about what I could do differently. Part of this process is a re-booting of my blog, which has been sadly dormant in recent years. Over the years I’ve had over 70,000 visitors to the blog so I know there’s an audience for what I’m writing. Time to get moving again! So, if you want to find out more about The Transition Companion click here. If you want to know more about The Transition Network here, and if you want to see Rob talk how about here. Meanwhile I’ll be back tomorrow with a run down of my favourite speakers at the Schumacher conference. Whilst I remember I’ll be launching The Home Energy Handbook around about the end of January. The book is a collaborative project with five other authors taking you from the basics of peak oil and climate change, through carbon calculation to the nuts and bolt practical details of taking action on energy in your home and community. It’s my first book for four years and I’m particularly excited to be part of this project.

My Garden, The City and Me

Just wanted to give Helen Babbs’ book another quick plug. It really is a lovely read. Check out my review and come and hear Helen read from the book at the RHS London Harvest Festival. She’s performing throughout both days (the 4th and the 5th October).

Come and hear me read from Curious Incidents in the Garden at Night-time

Along with Helen Babbs, author of My Garden, The City and Me (see my review here) I’ll be reading extracts from Curious Incidents in the Garden at Night-time at the RHS harvest festival in London next wednesday (5th October). Come and find us in the Harvest Hangout area and also enjoy the Herbarium poets. Come and chat to me after the performance. I’ll be signing books and will also have details of my new book The Home Energy Handbook (published by the Centre for Alternative Technology). This book has a strong focus on community energy projects so if you’ve got any questions about this I’ll try and point you in the right direction. Helen is performing at 2pm. I’ll be on with the Herbarium Poets at 3. For directions click here.

Zero Carbon Britain lectures and stall in Bristol this weekend

Free on saturday? Take part in the Schumacher Conference at the Council House, College Green in Bristol. This year the conference is called Zero Carbon Britain – from aspiration into action and features CAT’s Peter Harper, Paul Allen and Tobi Kellner. Tickets cost £35 and are available from www.schumacher.org.uk. There will also be a stall with CAT Publications, including some of my own.

Public Lending Right to close

I’ve just found out that the Public Lending Right is to be closed by the government. For those of you who don’t know the Public Lending Right supports authors by paying us a small fee when our books are borrowed from libraries. Closing the PLR is both pointless and worrying. They’re a very good organisation who distribute funds efficiently. I hold them in the highest regard and I send out my best wishes and support to the people who work there. If you have a chance to support the PLR then please do so. For authors like myself who do not expect to make a deal of money from our writing the PLR provides an essential service which helps us to carry on working.

What’s happening to Yalding Organic Gardens?

I’ve had various people asking me what’s happening to Yalding and at the moment I’m not sure but it is my understanding that Yalding is currently threatened with closure again. The best place to get up-to-date information is http://yaldingorganicgardens.info/.

And also see comment below from John who runs the website.

Forest gardening article in the guardian

I’m really pleased forest gardening is getting so much coverage at the moment. Here’s an article by Dominic Murphy in The Guardian.

Great new series from Alys Fowler features permaculture

It’s a great week for alternative gardening ideas on TV. Following on from her forest gardening slots on Gardeners World Alys Fowler has started a new TV series about edible gardening. It’s a real treat – both aspirational and practical – and really pleasing to watch. The first programme features permaculture pioneers Maddy Harland and family. They’ve been running Permanent Publications and the Permaculture magazine for years. The series will be running for several weeks and you can catch up with it on iplayer.

Green Books launch Forest Garden book by Martin Crawford

I was very excited to receive yesterday a copy of Martin Crawford’s long awaited guide to forest gardening – Creating A Forest Garden. Martin is the UK’s leading exponent of forest gardening – a style of gardening which concentrates on perennial food crops grown in layers. The book launch couldn’t have been timed better as Alys Fowler is currently planting a forest garden for the BBC Gardeners World TV programme. My friend – and co-author of The Organic Garden Chloe Ward – is also growing one at the Centre for Alternative Technology. It will be one of the few forest gardens you can get easy access to on a public visitor site. Forest gardens were developed by Robert Hart well over twenty years ago and it has been a long wait for them to get this sort of mainstream public recognition. It’s very exciting to see it finally come.

I haven’t had a chance to read it yet but it looks fantastic and I’m sure given Martin’s diligence and dedication to forest gardening it will be extremely informative and well researched.

CAT publishes first solar book to include details of new feed-in tariff incentive scheme

Next week sees the publication of the first solar PV book to include full details of feed-in tariff incentives – the new government scheme that encourages the installation of solar PV modules by providing householders, communities and businesses with a guaranteed fixed price for every unit of electricity they produce using small scale renewable technology.

The scheme is launched today by the government and the book – Choosing Solar Electricity: A guide to photovoltaic systems – is available now, from www.cat.org.uk, and from everyone else from April 8th. It is written by solar engineer and CAT lecturer Brian Goss and helps those who are fairly clueless about solar get to grips with the technology so they can talk to an installer without being bamboozled or talked into something that isn’t right for them.

The book costs £14.00 and is fully illustrated to help you understand how a solar PV system works. Click here to search inside.

Centre for Alternative Technology needs your help

The Centre for Alternative Technology has been left with an uncertain future following the liquidation of a construction company that owed it £530,000. It is now looking for financial support to finish its WISE building and continue teaching students, professionals and householders about environmental practices and technologies. The organisation – which has a 35 year history of implementing practical environmental change – needs your help right now. If you can help please read on below and visit the CAT WISE appeal website http://www2.cat.org.uk/wise/wiseappeal/ to donate. Any support at this difficult time would be greatly appreciated.

A message from CAT originally posted on their facebook page.

WISE’s original construction company went into liquidation owing CAT Charity £530,000. Please could you help us at this difficult time.

Originally a £5 million project, the building costs for WISE have risen because of a legal dispute between CAT and the main contractor, Frank Galliers Ltd. Formerly a family-run company the partnership we developed sadly deteriorated after the company was bought by a venture capitalist firm.

Following the dismissal of Galliers, after numerous difficulties, several defects were discovered in the building, some structural. Last month, in the High Court, CAT was awarded over £530,000 in costs and our actions in terminating Galliers’ contract were exonerated. Unfortunately, within a week of CAT obtaining judgment, Galliers went into administration and a short time later, liquidation. Given the magnitude of Galliers’ debts (almost £10m), it is unlikely that we will see a penny. This has left CAT as a company in an incredibly difficult position threatens to mar an otherwise amazing year in CAT’s unique history.

Thankfully, our new building firm, C. Sneade Construction, has a good track record in environmental building and is doing a fantastic job of repairing the damage. Unfortunately for us, we now have to meet the cost of this repair bill through no fault of our own.

The amount we need to raise is £530,000 and we have a short and challenging timescale in which to achieve this target. Please could you help us at this critical time.

All donations will be greatly appreciated. To donate please go to www.cat.org.uk/wiseappeal

Climate change denial gets dirtier by the day

This cold snap has brought out the climate change deniers in their droves. Unfortunately they happen to work for dangerously misguided national newspaper editors prepared to give a voice to their stupidity. Thankfully The Guardian – as its name suggests – is doing its best to protect us from the consequences of the creation of a climate of denial. Here’s a link to a recent blog post by George Monbiot and Leo Hickman. Useful for anyone who wants to counter arguments that the recent cold snap marks the end of global warming.

If you haven’t got a plot try landshare…

The biggest calamity of any gardening year is to have no garden at all but 2010 looks set to be the year that land share finally takes off so try www.yours2share.com, www.landshare.net and www.landshare.org to be part of the action.

New article in The Guardian

Happy New Year! Have you made your gardening New Years Resolutions yet? Check out my article in The Guardian this week for a few new ideas.

Two time finalist at Garden Media Awards – close but no cigar

I’ve just found out I was a finalist in two categories of The Garden Media Guild Awards. The two awards were for Inspirational Book of the Year – for The Organic Garden (which I wrote with Chloe Ward) – and Gardening Column of The Year – for my organic columns in Garden News magazine – all of which you can still read deep in the depths of the blog somewhere. The Organic Garden is of course a fantastic Christmas present and you can get a discounted copy from CAT. My fellow organic garden writer John Walker was a finalist in the environmental award for ‘We Shop, Planet Drops’ in Organic Garden & Home Magazine. For a full list of award winners and finalists view – http://www.gardenmediaguild.co.uk/awards/press.htmll.