Progress made at the orchard

Last Sunday a group of people came up to the Community Orchard at Trenoweth to help manage the orchard. We got some hedges cut, cleared brambles, weeded around the trees and pruned every tree. A good fire was a welcome source of heat and social focus on a quite cold day.

Most people hadn't got much experience of pruning, but under the guidance of two "pruning gurus" (not a self-proclaimed title!) everyone learned how to do some formative pruning - a good example of Transition facilitating some skills learning. Pruning is made out to be a quite complicated process when in fact it's not really.

When fruit trees are young they need minimal but important pruning. The shape and direction that trees grow when they're at this stage affects their structure when mature. So formative pruning is really important to try and get right as it aims to create the structure of a good strong and healthy tree.

Atmospheric carbon levels visual

This video, produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows how atmospheric carbon levels have changed over time, visualised in a startling and not previously seen manner.

Firstly it starts by looking at the rapid rise in carbon levels over the past 100 years. This is shocking enough, but when it's put in the context of the past 800,000 years (with it's multiple associated ice ages), this puts beyond any doubt that carbon levels now are at unprecedented levels, and that the rise has been so rapid that it cannot have been caused by anything other than human intervention.

These are first rate graphics that provide a startling wake up call.

Rescheduled work day

Due to poor weather forecast and lack of availability of organisers, the planned work day at the Community Orchard is being cancelled for Sunday 16th and rescheduled for Sunday 30th Jan. Again it will be from 11am to 3pm. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Work day at community orchard

On Sunday 16th January there will be a work day at Trenoweth Community Orchard on St Mary's (weather permitting). This will run from 11am to 3pm, but you can come and go as you please.

One key job will be pruning the fruit trees, so come and learn how to prune properly from experts. There will be other jobs to do also, such as hedge cutting, tidying up and wood cutting.

Bring some food and drink to share at lunchtime, bring suitable outdoor clothing and hope for some good weather!

The orchard field is the one bordered by red below: It's just north of the pine belt, on the path that runs down to Innisidgen:

The Crash Course

Chris Martenson lives in New England and is an analyst who studies trends in world issues concerning resources, climate, monetary factors and so on. His insight in to how these factors will come together and impact on our future (particularly to those of us in industrialised countries) is fascinating if quite worrying.

He has put all these together in to comprehensive but concise videos on You Tube and called it the Crash Course. Chris has recently reworked this presentation for a UK audience. In six parts, it has been made available free and is essential viewing. Part 1 is below:

Fossil fuel addiction

A great video by Richard Heinberg of the respected Post Carbon Institute called "300 years of fossil-fuel addiction in 5 minutes". Entertaining but very informative:

Sense of place

I've just been watching a brilliant piece of video from Diverse routes to belonging conference, by Alastair McIntosh. He is the author of Soil and Soul, and has done some great work on strengthening the resilience of local communities in the Scottish islands.

His talk is titled "Reconnecting with indigenous identity" and he makes some really deep comments about the Transition movement. He says a Transition initiative can be
"...like a drop of water - it moves rapidly sideways...it has lots of colours...but it doesn't have roots. It needs to become more like salt in the gravy, it needs to penetrate and permeate. It needs to go wide and deep. It should be about reconnection with what is already there."

Wow, powerful stuff and very true; he is a wise man indeed. Watch his video here: http://internationalconference.posterous.com/alastair-macintosh-reconnecting-with-the-indi

Local food is on the agenda

Transition Scilly and the AONB have joined forces to do some work on local food supply and demand on Scilly. It's been a while since a concerted effort has gone in to strengthening the local food sector, yet it is a critical factor of resilience in a future resource-constrained world.

Firstly we will canvas opinion about the state of local food here on Scilly, then hold a workshop with key producers and buyers of local food. Following this a report will be written by a local food consultant, surmising the current state of play and making recommendations for the future. This will be published before Christmas.

Then the hard work starts! Having assessed where we are and some possible ways forward, we have to come together to make those actions happen. Gardens and allotments are important here in providing food, but it is the farmers, growers and fishermen of these islands that the fate of food security really lies with.

Getting a concerted effort in creating a resilient food supply is critical, but not easy. But first steps are important and we hope to have some positive developments to bring you in the near future.

Prosperity without growth

In these times of economic recession and a seeming desire to have financial growth at any cost, perhaps it's worth taking a step back to examine the question "do we have to have growth in order to maintain our standard of living?"

Professor Tim Jackson makes a very persuasive argument that we can be prosperous without relentless growth. This excellent video from the TED talks in Oxford recently is well worth watching. Tim Jackson's book, Prosperity without Growth is available here.

10:10 events

The 10:10 campaign kicked off earlier this year to encourage people, organisations, businesses and governments to cut their carbon footprint by 10% in 2010.

On Sunday 10th October the date will be 10:10:10 and this is being celebrated by people organising international days of action to highlight skills and actions that help us cut our carbon footprint.

Here on Scilly we've gone one step further...co-organising with the Council a two day climate change and energy fair with fantastic workshops as well as drop in sessions on the Friday and Saturday. On the Sunday will be some fun freeskilling events.

All the events are free and happen between 8th and 10th October in the Town Hall on St Mary's. Details on the posters here: