Nottingham Evening Post Women in Business Awards

Yes another award, but I promise it is the last one

The Nottingham Evening Post hosted the Women in Business Awards Thursday  22 November at the Nottinghamshire Golf Course, Cotgrave. The Awards, sponsored by Nottingham Trent University were attended by women who have made their mark on the Nottinghamshire business scene. The nominees represented micro start ups right up to 10m turnover companies, they also came with sometimes tragic life stories. It was a truly moving and memorable night.

I was surprised to be nominated at all, I'm just a sole trader and most of my time is taken up with looking after the family and voluntary work with Notts Nosh, a Groundwork Greater Nottingham initiative. So not exactly a thrusting executive! I didn't know what category I had been entered for until the morning before the event. I was put up for the Community Champion Award. After a lovely dinner, the nominees were called - each one an inspiration. I then discovered I'd been given the award and stumbled up from the table - I'd had a glass of wine which is my limit - to collect it.

My lovely friend Shona Munro, who is the project coordinator for Notts Nosh - and chanteuse par excellence - was my plus one for the evening. She was as moved as I by the women at the event.

Thank you Evening Post for organising the awards. Mike Sassi, editor gave a warm and heartfelt speech about the power of women to bring about economic and social change. I applaud the Post and all the companies that sponsored individual awards.

GabiH2O on Nickelodeon UK - Be Smarter About Water

Nottingham Ecohome and permaculture garden scoops national SWIG award!

Our ecohome and garden scooped another top national award in London 20 November. We were amongst the UK's leaders in water sustainability at a breakfast meeting, Greencoat Place. The nominees for all awards are at the top of their game, leading the fight to get WATER - our most precious resource, the respect needed to protect it for future generations. Amongst special mentions, an achievement award for our old friend, Cath Hassall, who is the Queen of Water!

More news on awards front

Nottingham Ecohome scoops more awards

Tonight was a very special night for me and Gil. We went along as guests to the Notts Wildlife Trusts Green Guardians environmental awards. The ceremony was held in the Albert Hall, Nottingham and the guests were treated to a lovely 4 course meal and wine. Our table included trustees - including the chair, sponsors and ourselves. Our table really shared the excitement with us, it was a lovely evening.

This year, the Trust celebrated 50 years of protecting and enhancing biodiversity in the county and 13 years of awards. Since the awards began in 2000, £70,000 has been given in prizes to award winners. The head judge of the awards panel, is David Bellamy, President of the Wildlife Trust. A range of sponsors give generously every year to support the event.

We knew we were short-listed for an award, but were amazed to find we had been short-listed in 3 out of 7 categories! 

We were named as Environmental Business Green Guardians 2013 and received a stunning bronze statue of a hare, which we look after for a year. We also received a business support package worth £1,000. The category was sponsored by Nottingham University - particularly poignant as Gil went there.

We were runners up in two other categories Protecting the Environment Through Innovation and Coping with Climate Change. 

Next week.... we are up for a national award 20 November. The Sustainable Water Industry Group host the SWIG (!) Awards and we are short-listed for an award.

In the space of a year we have received 8 awards, just fantastic to know that our lunacy has at last been taken seriously. It is not exactly an over-night success story, the house and garden retrofit has taken 14 years so far  and we still have much more to do. We are still experimenting, still learning, it is after all a living laboratory and we are very lucky to live and play here. We have met thousands of interesting people as a result of opening our doors - we highly recommend it!

Unripe Figs, unexpected joy!

FIGGY JOY

My back garden faces north and is not the obvious place for a fig tree, with their love of sunshine and all that. For the last couple of years, the harvest has been frankly pitiful, a dozen, delicious ripe figs in total. 

This year, despite lots of sun and huge amounts of growth by said tree, the numerous figs failed to ripen. For weeks, we have willed them to turn from green to purple, but to no avail. So faced with a treeful of inedible green bullets, I determined to find a use for them.

I asked Greek and Bulgarian friends if they knew of any recipes for unripe figs - which of course they did. This gave me the confidence to give it a go. I found a number of other recipes on line and the one I have come up with is inspired by them. During my research, I found that unripe fig jam is given as a gift to newborn babies in Turkey. I'm going to keep a couple of jars back to celebrate new arrivals.

Now I can't pretend that this is a quick or easy recipe. The preparation is long, the latex that comes out of unripe figs can be an irritant to sensitive skin and it sticks like a b******* to everything you put the things in - but trust me, it is worth it! Since I made it today, I haven't been able to stop eating it - a nibble of fig, a nibble of a thin slice of griddled halloumi.... trust me, it is heavenly.

Jam - actually, it is nothing like a traditional jam, it is almost like a dessert. Try it with Greek yogurt, nuts and seeds for breakfast, in pancakes, with cheese - fantastic with grilled halloumi or feta, with ice cream.... on ultra thin pizza with feta and rocket... or... 

HARVEST ELF AND SAFETY TIPS

The sap that oozes out of Fig trees is a natural latex and some people - including me, can find the sap irritating to the skin, it gave me a bit of a rash. Plus the latex - as latex tends to be - it is very, very sticky and a bit tricky to get off. I would recommend wearing your marigolds at every stage of the process up until the point when you have boiled them the second time.... see recipe.

Pans, sieves, bowls, they will all get sticky. After a bit of trial and error, I found that a scouring pad with about a teaspoon of baking soda/powder, got it off pretty well. The granules seem to gather up the latex, so all good! 

ADAPTING RECIPIES

I've come up with my own recipe and method. I read through quite a few and followed them but decided that I liked my own tweaked version better. Please experiment with it - I've put in warming spices but more citrus would also be lovely.


Ingredients

• 1 kilo (2,20 pounds) unripe fig
• 1 kilo sugar
• 2 pints water (add more water if thin syrup preferred)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 4 cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 vanilla pod
• Heaped dessertspoon each of cinnamon, turmeric, allspice,
• 2 squashed cardamons worth of seeds
• 2 dessertspoons honey

Instructions

1. Wash the figs and trim off the stems
2. Fill a large pot with water and boil the figs for about 10 minutes.
3. Let it cool.
4. When they are cool enough to touch, squeeze the figs gently to remove some liquid. I drain them and put them between two clean tea towels and gently squeeze.
5. Repeat steps 2 to 4.
6. Boil water and sugar together in another pan, add all spices.
7. Add the squeezed figs to it.
8. Boil them for about 25 minutes.
9. Finally, add lemon juice and boil it 5 minutes more.
10. Carefully fill jam jars will still warm, I put in a layer of figs then syrup, then figs and repeat until full.
11. Leave for 3 weeks then eat. Well that is what the other recipes said but I just ate them as soon as they were cool.

bargain bin halloumi, unripe fig jam, garnish of coriander and garlic chive flowers all from garden

WHOLE PLOT WATER RETROFIT

Project:          Radical Water Retrofit of Victorian Semi and Garden

Domestic:      Nottingham Ecohome and urban permaculture garden

Owners:         Penney Poyzer and Gil Schalom

vertical panorama showing green roofs and sustainable
urban drainage

The central aim of our radical eco retrofit of a Victorian semi and garden was to see how far we could reduce our environmental footprint through a systems approach to management of our energy, water and food requirements. Our privately funded, ‘Whole Plot’ experimental approach to retrofit led to the integration of water systems for the house and garden. Through a range of internal and external measures and behaviour change, our potable water use has been drastically reduced to around 55L pppd against UK average of 150L and rainfall outlets and other surface water, which formerly discharged to storm drains, is now 100% managed on site.

The whole site water management strategy was undertaken to determine whether it was possible for a building and the plot on which it sits to better manage the drought / deluge cycle that the UK faces. Rainwater harvesting potential was limited by roof area and size of garden meant soakaways were not feasible. Attenuation tanks were possible because of reduced run-off. Also, collection efficiency reduces in heavier rain (WISY filters).

Internal and external measures:

Internal

Rainwater harvesting system supplies toilets, washing machine and irrigation – estimated to meet 20% of total water demand. Saved 122m³  potable water over 14 years (note: the system was down for 2 years)

·       Ultra low flush (2/4L) Ifo Cera toilets (x3)

·       Low flow aerating shower heads  – Ecocamel ‘Halo’ restricted to 6 l/m

·       Low dead leg design using microbore pipes for hot and cold water and minimising distance to mains pressure cylinder

·       Water saving bath – 130L capacity

·       Highly efficient washing machine – 39L / 6 kg load

·       Dishwasher – Bosch 6L /cycle on eco setting (1820 l / year – the most water efficient model in EU), hot fill from solar and wood heat

·       Behaviour change

External measures

·       Installation of sustainable urban drainage systems including attenuation tanks to front and back gardens.

·       Porous surfaces throughout – 30m²  tarmac taken up

·       Installation of 4 edible green roofs for garden structures approx 8m²  delays and reduces run off

·       Innovative design of horizontal wall mounted water butt to collect run off from green roofs and use for irrigation

·       French drain around building

·       Pond for wildlife and aquatic food plants

House and garden work together - it's a whole plot approach to living

Rainwater harvesting is estimated to produce more CO2 than mains (due to pump energy, equipment and maintenance) but other measures have CO2 benefits from pure savings and better management.  Showers, hot fill dishwasher and low dead-leg designs save additional CO2 as they save hot water.

Assuming 50% of the saved water is cold and 50% hot, heated from 10ºC – 40ºC,

Hot water assumed to be generated by 50% electricity (cheap rate immersion) with remainder met by renewables,

For hot water, energy saved per year 50 L pppd x 365 x (40-10º) x 4.187 kJ/kg.K = 2,292,383 kJ = 637 kWh / year,

Assuming cheap rate electricity @ 7.55p/kWh gives a saving of £48.09 and assuming 0.56 kg CO2e/kWh on brown tariff, CO2 saved = 357 kg / year

Payback didn’t come into our strategy as water is so cheap, we wanted to test out a range of emerging measures. Some costs are integrated into other things such as hot water system.

Estimated cost of all water saving / management measures = £10,000

Surface water charges £60 / year saved

Cost of potable per m³ = £1.52

Saving 100L pppd x 4 people x 365 = 146m³

Saving is £1.52 x 146 = £222

Total saved / year = £60 + £222 = £282

Payback = all measures £10,000 / (water cost saving £282 + energy cost saving (hot) £48.09) = 30.3 years

(Does not account for pump electricity or maintenance costs for rain harvesting or fluctuations in charges - based on current charges.  Includes savings due to behaviour, which need no outlay.

Russell the Fire Brand

Russell Brand - new drug of the masses?

I've just watched what I felt was an astonishing interview. Russell Brand and Paxman in an incongruous, bland hotel bedroom were locked in a head to head where Russell came out clearly as a person of substance. I wondered if his previous life of substance abuse which he has heroically conquered, has given him clarity, that his near brushes with death, have made him even more fearless to say what he has to say. 

I salute you Russell - the revolution has to come and it might just bypass the Government.

Media Frenzy!

This week I will mostly be in the media

TV headshot check the airbrushing!

It's like buses - nothing for months then 3 in a row! Occasionally I'm a TV presenter and contributor on the radio. Last night I was on BBC Radio 5 Live in a head to head with the excellently monikered Tom Cheesewright - a tech head who appears regularly on TV. We had a lively discussion on having old stuff versus buying a lot of new stuff. We were well matched, no circulating round the issue for us - straight in. The presenter was perfectly happy sat doing nothing for 10 minutes whilst we sparred back and forth. I am delighted to say that Tom conceded defeat in the Twittersphere - good egg.

Today I was on “MacAulay & Co” with Fred MacAulay on BBC Radio Scotland. It was the first time I've done a live piece with sound effects! Fred and co-host Lesley Kay - pretended to be in a draughty house and, room by room with appropriate sound effects - such as flushing toilet, creaky doors - I took them through a number of money saving wheezes. It was a lot of fun.

For some reason, I'm quite popular as a media pundit in Scotland. This Wednesday and Thursday I'll be in Glasgow filming the second series of 'Too Good To Waste' for STV. I'm one of a few 'expert' presenters who attempt to green up Scottish celebrities such as Kay Adams - a very nice woman indeed. We have worked together a few times, including when I was a guest on Loose Women and Kay was at the helm. We even did Celebrity Weakest Link together! I was pregnant with Jasmine at the time and my brain had turned to candy floss - I was booted off straight after Piers Morgan - who was first sacrifice in view of the fact no one liked him....

This Thursday my lovely husband Gil Schalom and my eldest daughter Lucy Green will be at the Nottingham Evening Post Awards as I can't be there myself. I've been short-listed for an award which is AMAZING - they will either collect an award or go home with a full tummy and empty fist, either way it's all good.

Autumn Treats

Today I shall mostly be harvesting red and green things from my garden and eating them. Very delicious they were too! I made a spicy dish with chillis, onions, smoked garlic, red pepper, cabbage, fresh ginger, lemon juice, turmeric and coconut milk. AND a dash of The Post Office Garden Raspberry vinegar to which I admit addiction.

Beetroot, Frise Lettuce, Windsor Apple, Pepper

Our garden can only be described as compact and bijou, it really is a small garden but the flavours we pull out on a daily basis are big, big, big! Today was a feast for the heart, eyes and mouth - a culinary journey from seed to senses.

When you have nurtured a plant from a seed, seen it survive slugs and heat and hail, you come over all parental. Watching it day by day gives a deep appreciation of the time it takes to grow food. It is an investment of time and attention, the payback on the palate all too brief, logically - why bother? Because it is bloody lovely, that's why!

Simple, savoured things

...and baby cabbage, chills, spring onion

I was chatting with my friend Karina Wells the other day and we were talking about how as we get older, simplicity becomes more important. We agreed that the pleasure of picking fruit with friends on a sunny day felt joyful, childhood regained for a couple of hours before returning to the demands of home, work, etc etc etc. Karina is an amazing woman. Her energy and generosity has driven so many community initiatives like ABUNDANCE - a group of people collecting unwanted fruit from private gardens and juicing, jamming and scoffing. We've gathered, plums, pears, blackberries, elderberries, lots of apples. My hands are stiff from peeling and sieving but man, the rewards are worth it. 

Our lovely Sarah, lodger and friend has been enjoying toast and homemade jam - the ingredients for which we ABUNDANCED together.She says it is the breakfast of champions, I say, I like a big old dollop in a bowl of porridge. Hands off, Goldilocks...

Gil gets to grips with his plums

Here be treasure...

Garden Salad and foraged apple crumbles - secret dollop of elderberry and blackberry jelly in the middle

First Post!

URBAN GREENS

Nottingham ecohome and urban permaculture garden

I live with my family in West Bridgford Nottingham. We live in a Victorian semi outwardly typical of millions in the UK but that is where the similarity ends...

Our house has made a little stamp on history because it was the first Victorian house in the UK to undergo a complete radical ecological retrofit. We began our retrofit journey 15 years ago when we purchased a tumble down large Victorian villa in West Bridgford, just over the river from the City of Nottingham. 

Before I can go forward with an explanation of what we did, I need to explain why we did it.

Gil and I met at the Hockerton Housing Project, near Southwell. This was when the project was in the very early stages of what was to become the UK's first development of earth sheltered houses autonomous in energy and water and high levels of food production. The time came for us to leave the development and to set up in our own home in Burton Joyce where we lived in a little 18th century cottage in Burton Joyce.

We outgrew the cottage and fell out of love with the commute into the city centre to our work, so we decided on a whim to look at properties in West Bridgford. This area is stuffed with Victorian houses. We both loved period homes for their lofty ceilings and generous room sizes. 

In 1998 we bought our first home together. A 3 storey, Victorian semi with huge cellars and a dated, mouldy interior to slash your wrists by. It was perfect for our purpose. We had decided that we wanted to see if we could take this crumbling former student house and transform it into an eco home.  The obvious route was to look on the internet. That is where we hit the buffers, there wasn't any information. That was our eco lightbulb moment - a dim little light, more a glimmer of an idea that we could do something together that was mad and marvellous and that might make a difference.

We decided to undertake a huge experiment to see how far the two of us could take an existing building in an urban setting, with a tiny plot, along the principles of autonomy in energy, water and food. These principles were pioneered in a rural, new build development with 25 acres of land and 5 households to take it forward. It was a gamble to say the least. Our families and friends thought we were utterly nuts. We were naive, in love and full of high ideals. Deaf to the voices of reason we embarked on the biggest upcycling project of our lives.

Over 6 months, we developed a number of strategies to tackle our energy, water and food needs - our life support systems. We decided to undertake a radical ecological retrofit of the whole building and later the whole plot to make our use of natural resources as efficient as possible and to integrate our systems to maximise those efficiencies.

Some readers might wonder what a radical eco retrofit, it is taking a resource hungry building and applying new measures to the old fabric to enable the inhabitants to:

Efficiently use energy, water, and other resources

Benefit from a healthy home minimising the use of harmful man made materials

Reduce waste, pollution and other impacts on the environment

Aside from all that groovy altrustic stuff, we needed to make serious savings on household bills. Direct electric heating, an immersion tank naked of insulation and the wind whistling through gaps in the fabric of the building made ours a very badly behaved home with expensive habits.

We developed a number of strategies;

Thermal -  to include high levels of insulation and renewables

Water - to radically reduce our use of potable water and manage rainfall

Food - to grow as much food as possible on a small site using permaculture principles and new technologies.

Interior design - to use natural, breathable materials to create a healthy environment

Key to our ambition was to demonstrate that behaviour change could also be a valuable tool in achieving significant reductions in our use of resources.

We decided to use the house as a laboratory to test new ideas, new products and construction techniques and to share what we learnt with as wide an audience as possible. The greatest challenge that we faced back in 1998 was that there was no information available on eco retrofit. Therefore there were no products or techniques specifically designed for our needs so it meant we needed to employ a completely new philosophy and approach to the treatment of older houses. We had to train builders, explore new products and often to rely on our instincts and calculations that what we were doing would work.

At this time, Gil was not yet a fully qualified architect so he was cutting his teeth as a designer on a real project at a very early stage. I was moving into full time work on environmental projects and continuing to write on green subjects for a variety of publications.

Even though we were ignorant of how to achieve it, we quickly realised that unless we got eco retrofit onto the national housing agenda, that widespread reduction of emissions in the housing sector stood no chance if targets were reliant on low carbon new build. We set about sending out press releases and contacting our local authority to explain what we were up to.

Our efforts gained national attention, we were seen as loony greens. Our first news clipping was in the Financial Times and featured a cartoon of us gazing up at a ceiling light dangling out of a hole surrounded by insulation! But that first feature was followed by a flurry of interest and our mission to get eco retrofit on the national agenda ramped up.

As time went on, we realised that to retrofit the house was not enough, we needed to complete the eco retrofit of the entire plot in order to maximise resource efficiency. We call this a Whole Plot Approach to Retrofit. We have immersed our building in an edible urban landscape which manages all rainfall on site and supports biodiversity. We are of course a Bee Friendly garden.

So 15 years on and we are recognised as retrofit pioneers, we even got an award to say so!