Eat the view – White House lawn set for radical makeover?

Check out the website of an American campaign group who would like to see Obama dig up the White House lawn and plant it up with vegetables. Who knows it could happen. Obama hasn’t proposed any radical gardening policies yet but he (being a lover of history) must know that some of his great predecessors were gardeners.

Carol Klein defends organics in Guardian article

Carol Klein has spoken out against those who do down organics in order to promote chemicals. Her comments appeared in her regular column in the guardian which you can view on-line at http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/10/carol-klein-gardens-organics-lifestyle and come as the back lash against organics gathers pace in the gardening media. The attacks on organics seem to have got worse since the European Union announced that they wanted to ban many commonly used chemical garden remedies. As I’ve mentioned before on this blog most gardening magazines rely on the advertising revenues provided by chemical companies but it seems that the editors of some magazines have decided to take a hard line editorial stance against organics to support the chemical companies in their time of ‘crisis’. Don’t they know that the chemical companies will simply switch the attention of their sales teams to developing world nations, where safety regimes are less demanding. I think its time Europe insisted that all the food it imports is grown with the same rigorous safety standards and worker rights standards it sets for its own people. There should be a universal right to be free from poison.

Take a look at the new Guardian blog

Jane Perrone has set up a new blog on the Guardian website. Check it out. She already has a regular blog of her own but this one will be bringing lots of new material from authors associated with the Guardian and some old material from writers such as Christopher Lloyd, which would otherwise be locked away in an archive somewhere. I think it will be another great on-line gardening resource. As you can see through this link the blog already has plenty of users http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gardening-blog/2008/dec/03/1.

Babs2Brisbane – book on overland journey to Australia published soon

Check out the website of my friend Barbara Haddrill, who took an overland journey to Brisbane Australia from Wales to avoid taking the plane to her best friends’ wedding. She was dubbed the low carbon bridesmaid by the press and kick started a media debate about the environmental impact of aviation. With a decision about the third runway at Heathrow due to be announced today the book she has written about her experiences is extremely current and relevant. It is published by Centre for Alternative Technology Publications on February 12th but you can see extracts and details of the book on Barbara’s website at www.babs2brisbane.com.