sime42

I listened to an interesting program about this the other week, turning co² into rock. People are taking it one step further and actually using the process to make building materials, a vast improvement.on conventional concrete blocks that are very carbon intensive to manufacture. 39 Ways to Save the Planet - Better Blocks - BBC Sounds WWW.BBC.CO.UK Concrete blocks are the foundations of the modern world. But they could be greener.

Is it just for Blackbirds that meal worms need to be rehydrated? I have them in the bird feeders quite often, always dried, and they always disappear. As has been said already the blackbirds aren't at all interested in the feeders.

I think I noticed a bluetit prospecting for a nest yesterday. It was investigating an open steel pipe that forms the top of my lads garden swing.. Seemed early to me.

Good old Crow Scarers are far better anyway. Plus made in Britain, the last lot I bought.

Really? Pretty niche humour, if that was really what it was. Each to their own.

Exactly.

There seems to be a degree of ignorance, (wilful or not we'll never know), creeping into this discussion. Whilst wiping out the population of Africa and other third world countries may satisfy one person's more odious personal agendas it'll do very little to reduce global carbon emissions. Whilst third world population growth rates are obviously a big problem, they're more of a localised issue, and not the immediate global problem. That's the CO2 driven climate change; CO2 produced largely by industrial activities that feed consumption by us in the developed world. It hardly needs pointing out but there ain't much industry in Africa, aside from a few countries like Nigeria and S.A.

Yep, consumption is key I think. In the short term it's not so much about searching for the silver bullet of a completely free and clean energy source, as just consuming less energy/ fuel/raw materials in the first place. There's a long list of small things to be done, if everyone joined in it would add up to a significant saving. Lots of ideas mentioned on here already; walk to the local shop or school rather than driving, turn the CH down a bit, skip meat for a couple of meals, insulate the loft, don't but too much food and then waste some, keep your smart phone and car for at least a couple of years, etc etc. Non of these seem that much of a sacrifice. Since most "stuff" that we buy is made in China we are actually paying them to be the biggest environmental vandals. A lot of their rise to economic power is funded by us in the western world. Raw materials get pillaged and pollution gets pumped out, to make the stuff that then gets shipped around the world for us to "consume ". So if we could just stop buying all the crap, from Amazon, I think it would have a big positive impact in terms of CO2 emissions.

Ai, it's funny. Just a bit tragic that it's more or less true.

Some people have different priorities then I guess. The current global pandemic pales into insignificance in comparison to Climate Change. The numbers are sobering. Hence why it's more newsworthy. You should have a look at the COP26 discussion on here.

[emoji23][emoji23] [emoji23] Not really, when you consider what the global priorities are right now.

Man announces he will quit drinking by 2050

On the theme of bottom up, small scale personal changes. There's been an awful lot of noise recently about everyone having to phase out gas boilers and move to cleaner alternatives. Fair enough. However, I wish people would be encouraged to turn down the thermostat on their CH a degree or two, in the first instance. I don't know why it's not talked about more, it's hardly ever suggested. If it is it's often turned into a joke about wearing an extra wooly jumper or something. You often see people come out of their house in only shorts and t-shirts, even in the depths of winter. That doesn't seem right to me. Wearing more cloths in winter is not really a hardship.

I think this is the crux of the matter; Consumption. And worse still Over Consumption. Amazon, and similar outfits, are major facilitators and encouragers of this.

I don't think it makes much difference, flowering or fruiting type cherry trees. They're very similar really just a question of taste! All Prunus are susceptible apparently. It would be interesting to get an idea of the actual risk. I've no idea how likely or not it is that you would get silver leaf if you pruned at the wrong time. Surely if there were no other infected trees nearby then it should be ok. Unless the fungus has other host plant species. You're meant to disinfect all tools before you start as well to prevent cross contamination .........

According to what I've read and heard the fungal spores that cause silver leaf spread in damp, humid air. Hence why it's not good to do it over winter. Better done between May and September, preferably during a hot dry spell. I get what you mean about the extended summer but in this instance it might actually be the worst time to do it! Damp and unseasonably warm. I'd leave it until next year.

Done! I made about 8 jars of chutney a month or so ago. Had a few outdoor plants and it got to the stage where there was a rook of green tomatoes going bad or attacked by slugs before they went red. It's great with cheese in a sandwich. I made a load of marrow pickle last week as well. Using a couple of monster courgettes from a glut in the summer.

Yep, does seem very late for tomatoes. We've still got some slowly ripening. They're sweet and taste good but the skins are very tough, too tough really.

I think it might all be a case of swings and roundabouts. Things like poplar, willow, Leylandi etc all burn rapidly so could be construed as not good firewood, but on the plus side they all grow rapidly and dry rapidly. All that said I'd rather have a nice solid stack of oak or ash, but beggars can't be choosers! Since I don't have to grow it, and have time and space to season it as required. It's a bit of an arse to have to keep reloading the fire with quick burning stuff, but that's mainly what I've been cutting down these last couple of years.

Beauties. Are they as sweet as they look?

Nah, too tasty! Golden Delicious must be my least favourite apple, so little flavour.

Cheers gents. Some good suggestions here. I'm still favouring the first one, the Pitmaston Pineapple, as the strongest contender. All others are not the right size, colour or shape. (I agree Stere; I'm looking at a roundish conical verging on oblong). I think the Mrs has already pre-ordered a PP for early next year anyway, so that's the decision pretty much made! This little IDing exercise has piqued my interest in heritage apple varieties. I'll try to make it along to an Apple Day somewhere next year.

Another great name! There really are some fantastic names amoungst old apple varieties. It doesn't look like what I'm after though, a bit too big and there was no red in mine. Thanks anyway.

Nice, thanks. Good suggestion, that's a strong contender certainly. Visually it seems spot on. Taste wise though not such a good match; we didn't detect any hints of pineapple. Though these things are obviously subjective and also some descriptions of PP say the pineapple flavour is a fallacy anyway. I salute your Googling prowess!

Are any of you out there knowledgeable on obscure or old apple varieties? We scrumpted some at the weekend that turned out to be absolutely delicious. I want to grow my own so hoping to procure a tree or some scions to graft with. Only problem being that I've no idea of the name I'm looking for!They've got a very definite vanilla flavour, strange but nice. They're small and yellow so quite unusual. I've looked through a couple of apple databases but not found it yet. Any ideas please? Or recommendations for websites to check? Thanks. Simon