So today is 10/10/10, when we should get out and actually do something for the earth, and our climate crisis. And I’ve been at home for most of it working (day job stuff – big deadlines looming, and an imminent business trip, and I am NOT ready). But anyway, I’ve been trying to follow some of the day’s events as they unfold globally, and I tried, in a brief trip to Wholefoods, to do my bit by buying locally. I had noticed one 10/10/10 participant was trying to get everyone to buy their produce from within a 50 mile radius… I can do that, I thought! So there I was at the tomatoes, maybe six or seven different kinds – heirlooms, cherry, grape, on-the-vine, yellow, orange, red, deep brown…. There shouldn’t have been a problem finding something local – I mean OK it’s October, but it’s still really warm here. As a transplanted Brit, I can tell you that summers don’t get better than this in England. So anyway, the tomatoes… Arizona, Mexico, California… I am not near to any of these places. Finally I spotted them, some slightly less appealing looking local hot-house tomatoes. I bought them anyway, and they taste great of course, but if I had tried to source the whole meal from local produce I don’t know what I’d have come away with. I know, I *know*, I should have done my shopping at the farmers’ market, or be ordering in a box of veg from a local grower. If I wasn’t all fired up with the plan to grow my own favourite veg on the land next year, I’d be signing up for a veggie box for sure… had already done my homework there before I found my woodland.
to survey or not to survey
OK, so right now there seems to be some delicate negotiation going on between the agent for the seller and the people prepared to give me a loan for the land. The former wants an appraisal before he orders the survey, the latter want a survey before they can do the appraisal. Hmm. I’m sure it’ll all work out somehow. I’m wearing a Ganesh tied round my neck at the moment to help with any obstacles, so how can it NOT all work out? For myself, I’d love to have the survey done, because then my bit of land will be clearly demarcated from the larger piece the seller has for sale. Despite the hours I spent walking it a couple of weeks ago, I *know* we were straying into areas that weren’t part of the piece I was planning to buy. It’s just one big, lovely piece of woodland!