The greener, greener grass...

Lawns are great for allowing water to soak away (important given potential flooding of rivers in a warmer climate), but traditional lawn maintenance can be quite resource intensive in terms of energy for mowing, water and fertiliser. For the first, we've got a push mower and the second hasn't been a problem yet - that wet August last year watered it in without intervention from us and the garden is reasonably shaded.

For the last one we got some organic lawn food (see above). This is not one for the veggies - it seems to mainly consist of by-products from the meat industry (blood, hoof and feathers) and it does have a faint whiff the day you put it down. But a week later and the grass really is looking thicker and greener. Nice one.

Weekly Tip #19: Get an organic veg box

Organic veg (and meat!) box schemes have come a long way in the last year or so. We've just swapped to a scheme where we get doorstep delivery (rather than to a volunteer pick up point which can be a real pain) and internet orders the night before. Look around and find a scheme that suits you.

Orange Green Babies

No, I'm not dipping a toe into the cauldron that is Norn Iron politics (I was brought up there, I know better).

Rather, with organic baby food hitting a whopping 70% of the whole market, you may have noticed a wee side effect. Tomato based meals often have carrot added to keep them a nice rosy red colour while avoiding the evil E numbers. If your little pixie eats too much, they start to take on a distinct, but harmless, orange tinge. Apparently GPs have been besieged by worried parents and their glowing Munchkins. The solution is simple - switch from pasta bolognese to macaroni cheese for a while.

BTW I've found that having a little'un saves on food waste from our main meals - any leftovers are bagged, labelled and in the freezer in the blink of an eye. No orange glow either.

Organic Food "Better For You"

I'm a big fan of organic food, mainly because it causes less environmental damage rather than human health benefits such as not having pesticide residues. Now a study carried out by Newcastle University, backs claims that organic food is intrinsically better for you.

This shouldn't come as a big surprise - nature is full of very complex processes and working with it is much more likely to produce a better outcome than the quick fixes of intensive agriculture. Man-made fertilisers consist of just three components: Nitrogen (N), Phosphates (P) and Potassium (K) as these minerals boost plant growth - does anyone really think that such an unbalanced diet will result in healthier crops?

BTW: Someone once told me that a certain household plant food, despite having the letters 'bio' in its name, is just a solution of N, P and K with some caramel to give it a brown, more "organic" colour. Just goes to show you can't trust anyone!

You can say what you like about Prince Charles...

...but he makes bloody good food.

I love the Duchy Originals jams and lemonade (sorry, lemon freshener), but the oaten biscuits are close to true heaven. Try 'em with a sliver of strong cheddar and a dollop of onion marmalade and... oooooh! OK so they're all bloody expensive, but, trust me, it's worth it and they're locally produced and organic to boot.

Unfortunately Sainsbury's don't agree, as they've just sacked poor Chuck as a supplier.

The Green, Green Shoots of Spring

Given the now not so new arrival, we hadn't been to our allotment this year, but I went down yesterday and planted a blackcurrant bush a neighbour had donated. It wasn't as overgrown as I expected to be and the fruit trees were blossoming nicely. We're roping in a couple of friends to share the effort and spoils so hopefully it will soon be back on track.

Growing your own food is probably the single most effective and easiest thing to do to reduce your ecological footprint. The Guardian is reporting today that there has been a huge increase in vegetable seed sales so it seems to be becoming trendy too.

You don't need an allotment or even a garden as many crops can be grown in containers and window boxes. There are many, many books, magazines, TV/radio programmes and websites on gardening and most of them take a reasonably eco-friendly approach. The Centre for Alternative Technology has some good tipsheets for download at just 50p if you want to be even greener.

My top tips are:

- Use organic fertiliser/plant food (horse manure, worm juice, or commercial organic products)
- Don't use toxic pesticides like slug pellets (use beer traps, mixed planting and other organic tricks instead)
- Get a water butt
- Build a compost heap

But most of all, enjoy it!