Snow record

My father Dr George Middleton is 88 and in rude health, cycling and body surfing most days in summer. His memory may ot be as sharp as it was when he was a youth, but is still works well. The other day, we was talking about the winter ahead and relating it to snow that he remembers in St Davids in the past:

1925: 6' drifts

1946-7: heavy snow and a blizzard in March

1962-3: Snow from Boxing Day through to March

1981: Snow storms in December

1982: 2' drifts in January

1991: Drifts up to 10' for 10 days in February

2010: Snow on the roads for two weeks.

Three generation farming

St. Davids, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK. April 2010.

A new community supported agriculture scheme was launched in Wales on the weekend thanks to the tireless hard work of organic farmer and GM-free campaigner Gerald Miles, Gill Lewis, Ailsa, Adam, Wyn & Val Buick and Darren & Rupert from regeneration agency PLANED.

The first day's work involved planting potatoes, onion, artichokes and comfrey. Members signed with an £18 donation that will be followed with a £30 a month food payment from July or so when the harvest starts.

Gerald Miles reckons that for each 50 or so households that sign up, a full time job can be created on one of the areas' organic farms. There are 800 houses in St Davids...

The most fun thing since the invention of football

Great couple of quotes on TYF's famous coasteering in this neat article from the Guardian:

"...generally make your way around the fabulous Pembrokeshire coast just as nature intended (assuming nature intended you and your children to be some sort of unhinged amphibious climbing creatures). It is the most fun thing since the invention of football..."

St Davids in the Washington Post

A recent visit by Washington Post journalist Pamela Petro produced this homage to St Davids, which all helps us green our little city:

"Wales has harnessed the tides since medieval times, as I discovered on a quick side trip to the restored tidal mill at Carew Castle, a magnificent hunk of crenellated rock on a bluff overlooking the Carew estuary, less than an hour's drive southeast of St. David's. Today's high-tech version takes ship propulsion technology and reverses it: It uses seawater to turn propeller blades to create electricity, rather than using power to turn blades to move seawater. The turbine is the green jewel in the crown of this little city, founded by a 6th-century saint, where cars run on recycled vegetable oil, the primary school operates entirely on solar power and all the town's homes are being fitted with solar panels or solar shingles...

TYF Adventure, which calls itself "the world's first carbon-neutral adventure company," aims to introduce visitors to the Welsh coast with as little impact on the environment as possible. It wasn't the season for sea kayaking, rock climbing, surfing or coasteering -- too cold -- but on previous trips, I've learned that those are the best ways to investigate the coast, from its trademark gray seals (population about 5,000) to its fossil-rich rocks and white-sand beaches.

A word about coasteering: I haven't done it (yet), but my friends Annie and Caroline claim that it's like "extreme rock pooling," referring to the British love of poking around in tidal pools. "When the sea gets rough, it's like being swirled in a benevolent washing machine," says Annie. Wearing wet suits and crash helmets, they alternately swam in Cardigan Bay, scrambled over rocks and up sea cliffs, shimmied down ropes and hiked cliff-top paths. They swore that it was exhilarating and "toe-tinglingly edgy," and that nothing has ever made them hungrier."

CSA dividends

CSA, Community Supported Agriculture has been around long enough for reasonable people to ask themselves "why isn't more of this happening", a feeling that was picked up at today's Soil Association conference in Birmingham:

"People are sick of being told to worry about food. They need to feel empowered. We know of lots of alternative local food systems that are sustainable, resilient, viable and principled. They may not be able to solve the global problem, but they can say: 'Nothing we are doing will stand people in worse stead.'"
Bonnie Hewson, Soil Association CSA Project Manager. The Guardian, 3 February 2010

Having just attended the monthly St Davids Eco City Project meeting, where food and CSA was a big part of our discussions, Bonnie Hewson't comments have even more resonance. Gerald Miles, one of our excellent local organic farmers (we have a good share of them down here) talked passionately about the change from his early days of farming when he employed 25 people part time on the farm to now, when he employs none, and farms holiday makers instead. A St Davids based CSA scheme with as little as 20 households paying £30 a month could make enough difference and certainty of income for Gerald's son to become a farmer rather than leave the farm to find work elsewhere. Nine households at the meeting last night said they'd sign the dooted line. We feel empowered.