6th February, 2015 - sustainable energy, forest conservation, ogham, local food

Almanac ...

Rooster Call :

Ice free misty morning at Carrowcrory, dry cloudy day I think.

Today in 'Almost Daily Blog' ...

• Coillte hoping Irish Government commands more forestry bio-fuels
• Gluten free Sweet Potato recipes
• The Ogham Stones of Ireland: The Complete & Illustrated Index
• SW Mull & Iona Development awarded £750K to buy Tiroran Forest

Continuing to distribute media stuff for USA tour arrangements. Gardening thoughts in my mind too. Are you a member of a community garden?

Weather :

Cool misty start at Carrowcrory, with no frost or ice. Looks like being cloudy all day. This afternoon reaching 6C, 43F and then back to freezing 0C tonight.

  

Tomorrow, Saturday, looks like warming and being mild then back to cool days but, maybe, with frost free nights. 

Valentines Day looking like being a mild day which may extend for a week after then, so the drop to cold weather at the end of the month is currently looking less likely.

Still no rain in the forecast for at least a week and hardly any rain in the forecast, yet, until early April. Meanwhile, we should see some more blue sky sunny days during this month. 

March is still currently looking good, warmer, with good sun. .   

  

Moon :

93% waning  ....  at Carrowcrory, Ireland ... sets 8:49 am,  rises 8:37 pm 

sunrise 8:12 am, sunset 5:23 pm  

News ...

Sustainable Energy :

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Coillte hoping Irish Government commands more forestry bio-fuels

Coillte, the public forestry agency of Ireland, hopes an Irish Government’s white paper on energy, due later this year, will include Ireland using its forestry resource for energy.

Coillte Enterprise managing director, Mark Foley, claims Ireland can move towards heat energy self-sufficiency by building a bio-energy industry around forestry. This will need a lot of private landowner's support and a guarantee of financial return for effort.

Mark Foley claims Ireland is close to reaching its renewable energy targets for electricity through wind power, but is very short on renewable heat energy targets. He says this success is dependan on biomass from wood.

My own concern is that this is pointing fingers ate the mass of forestry that was planted in the 80s that has matured ready for felling now. This means mass clearfelling, which to me, is another 'smash and grab' Ireland policy.

Maybe, this is the best option because these plantations are largely of unsustainable, monoculture, chemical dependent, Industrial tree farming. If clear felling is the only option, then a sustainable replacement must be put into gear right away.

This has to be a policy of mixed species native woodland planting. A Ireland's Woodland League says, this has to be native forestry managed by trained local community teams, using coppicing systems focused on firewood production, flood alleviation, soil fertility, and meaningful employment.

An immediate mix of willow and alder provides a crop for coppicing within 3 to 4 years.

My personal support is for forestry to be balanced for several uses

1) A life boosting leisure and recreational area for all of us humans than ranges from strolling and relaxation to assertive activities like biking and running.

2) Explorations and management in permaculture and forest food and medicines

3) Sustainable supplies of fuel through coppicing methods

4) Sustainable harvesting by thinning for construction and craft purposes

5) Better connection between forests, woodlands and hedging to sustain and improve biodiversity which is the forgotten essential for successful farming in fields that were once forests that ancient humans cleared to create food fields.

       

... more info, and article 

Local Food :

Gluten free Sweet Potato recipes

Not local food, I know, but I enjoy sweet potatoes and am working through these recipes myself :-)

       

... more info, and recipes 

Ogham  :

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The Ogham Stones of Ireland: The Complete & Illustrated Index

This looks like a lovely book, a kind of directory with photographs, available as paper and kindle. These days the kindle is handy on the phone as it does not need a signal if you store it on the phone and you make sure your phone is charged before your adventures. 

       

... more info, book on Amazon USA 

... more info, book on Amazon UK 

Forest Conservation  :

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SW Mull & Iona Development awarded £750K to buy Tiroran Forest

On the South West of the Isle Of Mull, an island of the Inner Hebrides, Scotland, the local forestry co-operative has been awarded £750,000 from the lottery fund to buy Tiroran Forest on the Isle Of Mull. I used to live there. See where the forest meets the sea to the right on the pic here, that's where I was living. This is a forest that sneakily went up for sale after Cameron announced that no forestry commission public forestry would be sold privately. But the local people have fought hardgot it for themselves !!! Almost causes me to want to go back and live at Tiroran again. Congratulations to all of those people on the Rhos of Mull for the efforts. Also makes the campaigns for community forestry provisions legislation that many of us engaged in during the 80s all worth while. I'm very excited about this.

       

... more info, and article 

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