Shredding Prime Ministers

I just shredded three Prime Ministers and two Monarchs.

It was an exceptional session. Every winter we need lots of shredded newspaper which is moistened and packed around the roots of bare-rooted trees and shrubs we have sold and are despatching to customers.  

We have a number of people who keep piles of newspapers for us. You might think one paper is as good as another for shredding, but that’s not so. By far the best for shredding is the Daily Telegraph. It’s the size that does it, giving longer shreds that wrap around roots better. And all the better that we’re shredding a mass of sycophantic right wing waffle.

A normal shredding session encompasses one PM and one Queen, so that’s what made this exceptional. Political instability is a recent innovation in England, unlike some other parts of the world, but it’s something we might all have to get used to.

The almost complete failure of COP27 last week indicates what is in store for us. Not only dangerous levels of climate heating, with the risk of hitting cascades of climate tipping points, but everything that flows from that, including increasing political instability as people either choose radical action in frustration at Government failure, or near-fascist responses to preserve the status quo.

How to stay sane and positive in an age of the breakdown of climate and civilisation?

Different people find positivity in different responses. But ultimately I think that the need to be doing something positive in your own life is really important, so you can say (if only to yourself) that despite the failure of Governments, big business etc, you’re not part of the problem, but part of the solution.

For me, positivity comes from growing trees and perennial plants, forest gardens and food forests, and educating about them too. We have a carbon negative footprint and advocate growing diverse perennial growing systems that are more likely to withstand the climate chaos coming our way. It’s a drop in the (acidifying) ocean but if you’re expecting to be able to be more than a drop then I think you’ll be heading for disappointment.

So get outside and get planting … you’ll feel a whole lot better for it.

Enough waffling from me. I think it’s time to get out the limecello. I made this using Thai limes from our subtropical (glasshouse) forest garden and using Mark Diacono’s recipe for limoncello substituting Thai limes for lemons. It’s come out rather well and is an excellent booster if you feel your positivity dipping. Cheers!