Talking to students off to uni there is a general fear of cooking. Which is a shame given the expense of takeaways, and the general poor quality of the food. Soups and stir fry’s are quick easy and nutritious and cheap. Roast chicken, or roast anything is easy, just a matter of timing. http://www.jamieoliver.com/videos/jamie-s-perfect-roast-potatoes/
COVID-19
North Somerset
Number of cases in the last week is now 14 per 100000. (UK average is 11). This is up from 2/3 a couple of weeks ago! 03.09.2020
Covid-19
Covid-19
Things the government got wrong. Basically everything! Too late to shut down, PPE debacle, care homes, masks, quarantine, test and trace, exams. And still it does not realise that bombast and bluster from No.10 means absolutely nothing on the streets of Manchester or Leeds.
What is needed is a devolution of restrictions and incentives to regional level authorities. The South-West could probably have relaxed most restrictions weeks earlier, Parts of the North should never have restricted anything yet.
REWILDING
Tens of millions of gardens across the UK have a large area devoted to mono culture. i.e. grass. Much of this is never sat on or played upon. Just cutting the grass once every 10-14 days. Benefit to wildlife = zero.
So I have rewilded my front lawn (and the back one too!). It started up with raised beds for herbs (mint, sage, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, Jerusalem artichoke, fennel, anise hyssop), but has now spread to the whole former lawn. I have planted some bush roses and salvias, marigolds, poppy, chicory, and many other wildflowers (some donated by Di Redfern – thank you). I have put in 100 bulbs, and have 200 more coming. Some plants do well others do not – it will sort itself out with a little help from me.
Hopefully the increase in insects of all kinds will be beneficial to the environment.
I am much heartened to see a couple of other people leaving the flowers in their lawns alone.
It is not neat and tidy – nature does not ‘DO’ straight lines.