LEG December Newsletter
Wintering, Miyawakis, Low Carbon Bread and more.
Welcome to the Longridge Environment Group December Newsletter
Wishing all our members and readers a wonderful and eco Christmas and New Year, and Yes, let it snow :)
Our LEG Christmas Meal will be at the Derby Arms on the 12th of December. If you are interested in joining us please let us know by WhatsApp or Email (see contact details below)
And of course, we will pass through the winter equinox on Dec 21, when daylight slowly increases. But like with nature, this is a time for wintering, resting and looking after our health, the health of those close to us and the natural environment.
Winter Colour Challenge.
Here is a wonderful winter wildflower challenge for December and Christmas break. The Winter 10 is picked up from the #Wildflowerhour community on BlueSky. Can you find 10 wildflowers in colour? (and better if you can identify them, but we can help with that). Please share your images like the one below. And of course, you can share them on Wildflower Hour on Bluesky #Winter10, Sundays 8-9 pm. Happy wildflower hunting.
Low Carbon Bread
Those of us who home bake bread do so for many reasons, not least taste. Knowing what goes into our bread through choosing healthy ingredients (including Shipton Mill organic regenerative flour suggests Martin Brown) is vitally important. So being able to bake with low(er) carbon energy is an obvious choice.
The Baking Forecast is based on the percentage of current electricity supply coming from renewable sources. By baking only when renewable generation is high (at least a third of all generation), we can reduce our baking carbon emissions.
There is also a nice connection with nature here, in knowing that when the sun is shining or the wind blows as hard as it has here recently, the energy coming into the oven is from such renewables and bread is baked by sun and wind.
Miyawaki or Mini Forests In Longridge
Miyawaki forests are named after their creator, Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. He developed a method in the 1970s as a method to restore native forests. These forests use only native species that would naturally occur in the local ecosystem. The method typically involves planting a diverse mix of native species and can be created in urban or rural areas, even on small plots of land, the size of a tennis court.
We have been looking at possible sites in Longridge and hope to hear shortly where and when. At the moment it's a wait-and-see for what will be an exciting project for Longridge. We will issue a newsletter special with more details when we have them, and how you can get involved.
Key features of these mini forests include trees being planted very close together resulting in much faster growth than conventional tree planting. It has a multilayered structure with trees arranged in different vertical layers to mimic a natural forest structure. Miyawaki forests are wonderful for rapid biodiversity gain, and given the UK is one of the worst performing countries in the world on biodiversity loss, our local biodiversity needs all the gain it can get.
Climate Actions
We love hearing and sharing what organisations are doing for the climate crisis. If your organisation would like to be featured in our newsletter please get in touch.
Keep in Touch
A reminder that you can …
And we look forward to connecting at our next social Saturday on the 7th December, LTD, at 10am and active Sundays. Details shared via the LEG WhatsApp
Supporting LEG
For time and other reasons, we are aware that not all can join our activities, so we have made it easier to support us with a donation. Simply use the QR code below and you will be taken to our Stripe page where you can donate. All gratefully received, no matter how small.
Thank You.