Hackney Troubles – National Crisis – International Criminals

There is a lot of confusion about why people across London and the UK should suddenly run amok looting and setting fire to things. Naturally there is a lot of reactionary garbage in the media desperately trying to portray it as mindless violence, calling for more State repression and trying to make sure middle class England remains ignorant and asleep. Curiously little written about corrupt politicians, police and media moguls who have no moral authority to preach to anyone.

In reality money grabbing, soulless, psychopaths have been raping the planet and organising colossal fraud under the guise of 'free market' capitalism. Their greed, lies and criminality has recently bankrupted most of the Western World (not to mention everywhere else) and their puppet politicians and institutions are now demanding massive cuts to social infrastructure rather than political or social change. So the dictatorship of Capital (as the so called free market should be known) destroys lives, communities and the environment whilst anyone who objects faces police violence and State surveillance. Capitalism is out of control and a tiny elite of power crazed lunatics are literally threatening the survival of humanity.

The last 30 years of Neo Liberal political hegemony has seen a transition from social democratic bourgeois democracy to New World Order police state. Political dissent is outlawed, protesters brutalised, dissent defined as terrorism, and staged managed spectaculars facilitated to legitimise greater and greater State violence and repression. That repression takes many forms from the ubiquitous, intimidating surveillance of demonstrators, the direct physical violence of police, and the subversion and infiltration of opposition; to the more subtle design of schools as prisons, fingerprinting school children, Oyster card and mobile phone movement surveillance. This is not to mention the force of global, corporate insanity whereby nowadays everyone, including the customer, is always wrong.

We all experience this repression and internalise its violence. We all know we and those around us are angry. People may identify different reasons for their anger but the truth is more people are more angry and that is chiefly because we are all now slaves to Capital and the State. Nowhere is this expressed or articulated. Media control and censorship exacerbate the experience of isolation and confusion. Everyone suffers in the individual silence. Personal questions and insecurities hide structural causes and political agendas.

Young people grow up feeding on lies that their lives will be wondrous, celebrity fantasies of football heroes or pop stars. But by the time they reach their teens inner city youths have seen and experienced too much to cling to these myths. Instead many know their future is a choice between soulless, wage slavery in service of alien corporate greed (assuming they can get a job) or a life of crime where at least the opportunity of money and excitement has some tangible reality. Those without the benefit of a strong and loving family to guide them through the insanity of capitalist destruction have no role models or reason not to grab what they can, live fast and die young.

Like the rest of us our society fails young people. We should take some modest comfort in the fact that some still have enough fight in them to rebel. Sure that rebellion is dangerous and threatening for many, sure its more grab than give; but do you want to live in a world where young people passively accept slavery and repression whilst unelected, secret elites destroy them and the planet?

(A cauliflower on the day I should have picked it!)

It's so long since I last blogged and so much has happened on the growing front that I can't hope to cover it all, but here's a few thoughts...at the Woodberry Down community garden, where we are growing in large bags, my "three sisters" sweetcorn/squash/French bean bag looks impressive, but I'm worried that the tassles on the cobs may not have all been pollinated (each silky thread is attached to a grain of corn, and each one needs to be fertilized by pollen from the flowers at the top). I planted eight but one got destroyed by a squirrel, leaving seven. I planted them in a block as they rely on wind to blow the pollen from the flowers to the tassles...but is there a minimum number that works? Perhaps seven is not enough to ensure full pollination...anyone have experience of this? Or anyone tried doing it with a paint brush?

 (The Three Sisters -- sweetcorn, squash and French beans)

My squash is going mad but although there are loads of female flowers with swollen fruit, the fruit dont seem to be getting any bigger. They may end up a weird hybrid anyway, as I had saved the seed from a squash I had eaten, which could have been pollinated by a cucumber or another winter squash (they are all the same species, cucurbit pepo, so can cross pollinate).

(Parsnips and carrots at the Woodberry Down garden)

In the Lordship North edible garden things are growing well despite the frequent strong winds. My first attempt at growing cauliflower was a modest success...the first one I harvested was small and full of mealy cabbage aphids, which I spent an hour digging out with a toothpick! The other two were bigger (a pound each), but they had turned a bit yellow. Should I have protected them from the sun I wonder, or did I just harvest them a bit late (the day before they looked perfect though)? One also had loads of aphids but this time I decided not to be squeamish -- I just boiled them up and pretended the little black specs were ground pepper!

 (a common frog living between the bags in our edible garden)

That's all for now...I would love to hear other people's growing experiences, advice etc, if you want to comment, or write your own blog...?

(below: a solitary mason bee has layed eggs in our bug hotel, using mud to stop the holes) 

Abney Park Nature Reserve

Veteran Tree Project

Abney Park Cemetery Nature Reserve

Abney Park Cemetery was a visionary, Victorian masterpiece. In 1840 a new non-denominational garden cemetery was created in Stoke Newington. It also been planted as a world class arboretum with 2,500 species of trees and shrubs from Hackney's Loddiges nursery. A few of these old trees survive together with later plantings and an amazing secondary woodland made up of native and exotic progeny. Designated a local nature reserve and site of metropolitan importance Abney is now a woodland wildlife haven close to the centre of London.

The Veteran Tree Project

By 2008 it was realised that some of the old trees were at risk and others were dying. Old hawthorns were being shaded out by vigorous young ash whilst 100 year old poplar pollards were subject to windthrow and crown failure. I teamed up with Hackney's tree officer, Ian Graham, to try and save them and the Abney Veteran Tree Project was born. The idea was to manage the declining old trees as veterans. At the same time it was hoped to learn more about the wildlife these trees support and demonstrate ageing Victorian amenity trees have considerable enduring value as habitat.

Valuing Young Veterans

Veteran trees are often thought of as ancient oaks or beech pollards but a veteran need not be very old. Whilst very old oaks do provide unique specialist habitat for rare invertebrates many insects and fungi can exist on younger trees. The key is deadwood, damage and decay. As Victorian amenity trees age across the country it is vital land owners, especially in cities, grasp the significance of this process. Rather than fell and replant wholesale it is important to value the biodiversity potential of these ageing trees. For example, horse chestnuts are struggling with bleeding canker and leaf miner moths but the Abney project demonstrates chestnuts retrench well into manageable veterans with excellent wildlife habitat. At Abney black poplar pollards support many rare fungi including Silky Rosegill (Volvarialla bombycina), Orange Shield Cap (Pluteus aurantiorugosus) and Mealy Oyster (Ossicaulis lignatilis). The brown rot caused by the bracket fungi Rigidoporus ulmaruis creates ideal habitat for weevils, tree ants, millipedes and other invertebrates. Surveys inside the hollow trees also revealed an under recorded ink cap Coprinopsis spelaiophila which may play a much greater role in ripewood decay than currently recognised.

The Abney Veterans

Thanks to a small grant from the London Tree & Woodland Grant Scheme 170 old trees were surveyed for veteran characteristics. Over 60 were found and 30 of these were prioritised in the project. Work was done by the Hackney Parks Tree Unit to repollard old black poplars and halo prune around old thorns. Chestnuts, ash, a hornbeam and a bean tree also benefited from intervention. Since Abney is a secluded woodland rather than a busy amenity park decisions were made to retain some trees that in more public settings may have to have been felled for health and safety. A detailed Veteran Tree Management Plan has been written together with a draft Woodland Management Plan for the site.

Public Engagement

Small signs were created for many of the veterans to explain the works and the trees' value. The signs have been extremely popular and offer a crucial access point for people unfamiliar with trees and wildlife to understand and appreciate complexities of veteran ecology. A leaflet with a map of the trees has also been printed so that people can now guide themselves on an Abney veteran tree walk. Other engagement exercises included guided walks and woodland management workshops.

A Model for Other Sites?

The success of the project can be measured in numerous ways: trees surviving longer than they would have without intervention; wildlife discoveries and recording; greatly enhanced public awareness and participation; many health and safety tree issues resolved. The value for money and achievements of this low budget, locally led scheme contrast with the appalling tree damage and public relations mistakes of the huge capital lottery spend projects in neighbouring parks. The Abney Veteran Tree Project could be copied and adapted for many urban parks with ageing trees. Whether it will or not will depend upon the vision of land owners, availability of expert advice and modest funding.

You can view photographs of the trees and their associated species on this website.  Just choose 'veteran trees' in the tag cloud on the Home Page.

Thanks to a political decision to privatise Hackney's only remaining public tree gang, today one of the most experienced tree surgeon's in London leaves the council. Tree Gang Mark – even if I knew his surname I wouldn't print it in respect for the privacy of a quiet, unassuming family man, - leaves today after over 30 years caring for trees in North London (nearly 20 years in Hackney). That kind of experience and commitment is irreplaceable but Mark and his team have been discarded by a Council bent on revenge. Not satisfied with axing the already skeleton tree gang John Wade and his masters have been determined to force out their own tree officer and his assistant. In total around 60 years of knowledge and expertise in Hackney trees is being discarded under the guise of cuts and efficiency.

Contractors we are told will be cheaper and more efficient. Contractors like those who planted 4000 trees in Hackney this year, around 2,500 are dead already. The detail of that stupidity clouds the real story. Those who have given the best years of their lives to improving trees in the borough, men who literally risk their lives and manage the risk to ours, are cast-off by a regime whose obsession with power and control appears to know no limit.

I believe John Wade was encouraged to 'clear-out' Hackney Parks' Tree Team because of their close partnership with park user groups and Tree Musketeers. In true Ideology of Ignorance fashion, rather than address a problem – i.e. poor management of parks and repeated public complaints - Pipe's Mandleson (aka Jonathan McShane) has charted a course out of choppy popular engagement and into the safety of barricaded security. Hidden behind their armour Pipe's men hope to sit out the storm and hope people will not notice the dying trees.

Well will you? Write to Pipe and send a photo of your nearest dying tree (Main Marsh eastern fringe, Clissold Park, Main Marsh car park) - I'm sure you can find others. Better still do something useful like weed an orchard tree (Spring Hill, Millfields South, Daubeney Green, Hackney Downs) or water a new street tree.

And remember Mark and Dean and Freddy and Steve and Ian.

Read it, weep and then read what you can do.

Since my complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman in January - about 10 years of tree carnage in Hackney - LBH contractors have planted around 4,000 trees. The council's in house parks service have planted almost none thanks to a banker bailout spending freeze.

The rain today is very welcome for all trees but it comes too late to save any of those 4,000. They may  not all die - indeed given the survival power of life forces somehow a handful will retain a grasp on existence, at least long enough to try and set seed - but most will.

On Hackney Marshes (Main Marsh eastern fringe) 3,500 whips have been doomed to death since the ignorance of the landscape architect's planting specification was adopted in face of better advice. None of the trees was mulched, the simple cheap way to guarantee good survival rates whatever the weather. Instead money was wasted on rabbit guards and canes because Robert Camlin can see rabbits on Hackney Marshes from Cardiff when those who know it rarely do. So instead of being given a fighting chance the trees were condemned to a grassy grave as they were strangled and dessicated by vigorous grasses. I'd say around 2,500 are dead already. The rain might save a few hundred that were planted in cultivated bare earth areas. Loosing all the wild flower seed that cost another £30k (I'm guessing) to deliver is perhaps bad luck. The spring drought has been extraordinarily dry. However, as any tree planter would know, well planted trees will survive in numbers if mulched, these have died in their thousands.

The situation in HLF wonder Clissold Park is much the same. None of the 200 trees planted in 2011 has been watered yet. Indeed I spoke to Osbourne's site manager on Tuesday and he was about to meet the planting contractor to discuss a watering programme. I enlightened him as to the condition of his trees and said out I would be surprised if 100 survived. I told him they could be saved - the 100, not the rest - if watered twice a week until September. Rescuing half dead trees is a lot harder than establishing new trees. My guess is they've had over £50k for the planting and aftercare. No doubt Councillor McShane and his tree loving Mayor will do f all again to remedy the scandal. Lets call it £100k of trees down the pan. Meanwhile a man whose given his life to expert management of trees leaves the council today as part of John Wade's privatisation scam.

LBH's Anti-Tree Policy is but one example of the insanity that passes for rationality in the dictatorship of Capital. The insanity is complex. It is constantly justified and reinforced by power and stupidity. You are part of the answer. All you have to do is think.

Read more and THINK for a better future.

To whom do we give thanks?

Where do we pay our respects to the life force that sustains us on this planet? We are so ignorant we do not even begin to have an answer to these most fundamental of questions.

Drowning in an ideology of ignorance in a post-thinking age, like it or not we are still totally dependant upon the benevolence of ancient forces we have forgotten to respect or even notice.

Returning to some form of sanity will not be easy. For a start human existence has always been dominated by some degree of colossal ignorance. The difference now however is we choose to accept passivity, suffering and violence in return for our own personal pact with power. We keep quiet and hope things won't get any worse. Indeed many subscribe fully to the IoI and believe they are free agents. They are generally so removed from the destruction of Capital and its servants their personal pacts are rational, at least in their selfish calculation.

For those who believe in truth – and those who notice when it rains – those with spirit, such accommodations with evil are uncomfortable to the point of impossibility. A million Iraqi and Afghan dead, 1000s of children dying everyday for lack of water or food, bankers, politicians and generals raping the planet in ignorance of their crimes. To begin the long journey back to sanity a lot of us have to think. We have to think not just for ourselves and those without the time or comfort to think. We have to think for the abusers too. The evil men who dictate this obscene game are prisoners of their ignorance and fear too. That's not to say they are not culpable or equal; they are evil. The question is not their salvation but our path beyond their violence.

Well, sorry that's all I have for now. Enjoy the rain, feel your senses and train them better in every respect.

If you are ever sad or depressed do something good.  It's not a solution, I just find it helps.

All 4 Trees and Trees 4 All

Fourth instalment of my blog about growing in bags on a housing estate in Hackney -- I'm hoping other growers will add comments, answer some of my questions, add other questions of their own, and we can start a dialogue about urban food growing on the website.

April has been so busy on the seedling front that I am writing this blog in May!

A new thing I tried in April was making liquid feeds out of nettles and comfrey. I put half a kilo of nettles in a 5 litre water bottle, filled with water (it should be 1kg to 10litres water), then left for two weeks. Draining the liquid through a seive into a bucket was a smelly, messy business...I put the gunge in the compost bin, and diluted the "nettle tea" 1:10. As far as I know it should be used immediately.

With the comfrey I tried the concentrated method: I cut the bottom off a big water bottle (7l?), inverted it over a jug, and made some holes in the lid. I then stuffed the comfrey leaves into the bottle, put a plastic bag and then some bricks on top. The books say to leave for a month, but already after two weeks 400ml of dark brown liquid had dripped into the jug. This can be stored for a month apparently, and should be diluted 1:10-20.

I did this in April because I was told the young leaves are at their most nutritious then...the problem was, although I can store the comfrey liquid, I had to use the nettle tea before I really needed it. So I ended up using it in my brassica bag even though it didn't really need it. The nettle tea was also very stinky, so I'm not sure I will try it again. The concentrated comfrey is much less smelly. I will use it on my tomatoes (Garden Pearl), which are flowering....

In fact they had already started flowering by the end of April, even though I didn't sow them till 18th March (next year I will wait till the end of March). I had put the small seedlings in the light reflector I made from a cardboard box and kitchen foil, and of course there has been loads of sun. I am now hardening them off on the balcony, along with French beans (Aiguillon, a dwarf variety sown at beginning of April, already flowering, and in fact I have one small bean!) and sweetcorn.

I dug in the grazing rye on 6th April -- that was a difficult job! I have since been shown how to do it with a hoe, which I will try next time. Will transplant tomatoes and beans there in a week or so.

(Tomato, French beans and coriander in home-made light reflector on windowill, but beware sawdust mulch...)

I was very chuft with an idea I had to use sawdust as a mulch to deter fungus gnats (sciarid flies) -- they are small and black, like fruit flies, and you might notice them walking on the surface of the soil. They lay their eggs on the damp soil and the maggots eat the roots of your seedlings. They seem to particularly love basil. But I have since discovered that sawdust leaches nutrients from your soil unless it is a couple of years old, so I have had to scrape it all off! At Hawkwood nursery they use sand. Another way to deter the flies, apparently, is to water from below so the surface is not so damp.

I haven't really got my head around "companion planting" but I have made one small attempt at it, by planting dill among my brassicas...it is meant to deter something or other... The second batch of sprouts and cauliflower which I sowed in late February (I had to abandon the first batch sown at the beginning of the month because got too leggy) and planted out on 11th April are looking big and strong.

I have been harvesting radishes, kale, spring cabbage, winter lettuce and spinach -- although the spinach is now succumbing to leaf miners, so not sure how much longer it will last.

I hope this has been helpful -- I welcome any tips or comments.

The wonderful Dove Tree (Davidia involucrata) in Kynaston Gardens is in flower at the moment.  This tree is from China where it is endangered in the wild.

It has the most amazing flowers with big balls of anthers beneath huge white bracts. 

Each ball also has a small stigma hidden between the ball and the bract.  Presumably this is 'designed' for pollination by a Chinese insect, perhaps a bee.

The Kynaston Garden tree is the biggest in Hackney and I haven't seen a similar one outside of Kew Gardens.  There are two young trees in Abney Park Cemetery just south of the chapel.  These trees flowered for the first time this year.

Many plants are flowering early this year due to the very warm, dry spring weather.  It is very important to water newly planted trees during this time.

LEAF

Adela reaumurella - male

These amazing looking little moths are part of a group of micro moths called longhorns (for obvious reasons).  They can currently be found flapping around trees and shrubs in Abney on warm days.

The larvae feed on dead oak leaves.

For a full list of species recorded in Hackney see the most recent list produced by Hackney moth recorder Matthew Gandy.