Rudd winked at us

Kevin Rudd has been taking up a lot of our time as of late. We attended a community cabinet last Wednesday. It was held in the South Australian electorate of Sturt, a marginal electorate that includes our suburb Norwood.

We dressed up and I shaved because we figured that we would have more of a chance to ask a question. We had been pre-briefed by Anna that we would have to have a clean cut look to be picked to ask a question.


Shoes and hair are always the activist giveaways. These sneakers were swapped for a sensible black pair.



Cass' op-shop outfit.



Young Labor.

When we arrived the cops ushered us up to the building where there was a metal detector and registration. Not having pre-registered we were placed on a bench marked "Group W" (not really) while they did a police check. Once they had established we were not wanted criminals they gave us each a button marked "CC10" and sent us into the main hall.


Cass nervously awaits the Cabinet's arrival.

The proceedings inside were very well attended and lot more informal than I was expecting. Not only by the 200 strong public section but by 10 ministers representing the front bench. I was expecting a more round table kind of thing but it was more of a panel talk with Kevin Rudd presiding.


Presiding...

Kevin Rudd himself picked audience members to ask their questions and there was a sea of raised hands. Cass did some strategic eye-catching and was horrified to find herself winked at by Kev, but thrilled to be up next. The whole thing was on the fly, so we'd only had time to work out a question on the bus on the way there. It was based on the FoE action call-out, but as Cass said in her letter to the editor, below, he never really answered.

I asked him if he would bring an emissions reduction target to the Copenhagen Accord of 45% by 2020, to avoid catastrophic climate change, which the head of the IPCC has said we only have until 2012 to achieve.

Kevin Rudd's response, though lengthy and designed to pacify, was, in essence, a cool "No."

The message was clear. Climate scientists and half the world's nations agree that warming must be kept below 1.5 degrees celcius, and 350 CO2 ppm, but the Prime Minister talked about 2 degrees and 450 ppm.

How he plans to meet even these irrelevant targets is a mystery, given that he went on to explain his plans to "do no more than other countries."

This line is a cop-out that will see Adelaide fry and the Pacific Islands deluged.

Based on current assessments of country promises, the 2020 targets will head us towards 3.5-4 degrees warming, which would be a catastrophe.

Several other attendees came up afterwards and expressed their disappointment at the PM's response.


The blur that is Kevin Rudd dodging the issue.

After Cass asked her question I felt inspired and a lot more confident to ask one. I wanted to take him to task for not answering properly and follow on into an question about clean energy technology. I started to leave my hand up obviously and was soon winked at in a "you're next" way, until he saw me saying something to Cass (we were sitting seperately) and so refused to make eye contact with me again until the meeting was over. I felt very proud of Cass for asking her question and very disappointed in the wishy-washy answer as many other people seemed to be judging by the people who came up after.

After the main question time was over some people had pre-booked to talk to individual ministers but we were set to go to town to do another thing on the list of 31, number 23. go to an escapist movie. Unfortunately we couldn't make it as the community cabinet ran over time.


Made it! Almost. The way out was patrolled by nervous police, and was a less than ideal place to roll an ankle.


Celebratory beer at the Cranker. The only time we have ever been overdressed for a venue.

PS From Cass -
Here's how we went calling Rudd and Wong.

John called on Tuesday, but Rudd's secretary was pretty short. She let him finish, but advised, "I've got phone calls and work galore today, everyone's calling about this, so put it in writing."

The phone was off the hook when it was my turn to call on Tuesday night, so on Wednesday morning I tried again. Rudd's secretary was still having a bad week. I asked if I could read her out a message I'd written and she let me get a certain way in, even noting down the figure of 45% (as if she'd heard it before), before cutting me off with, "So it's a climate change issue, well I can certainly pass that on for you Cassie, bye bye." I agreed.

Following this I revised my cheat-sheet to make it more succinct, so that I could make sure Penny Wong's office took down the points I really wanted to make.

The person at Wong's office told John to send an email instead. I was told the same thing, but with the option to proceed.
"To be honest the best way is for you to send an email, but I can take down a message as well if you like."
"Would you mind? It's just a couple of points."
I read out my little spiel and thanked the secretary for taking it down.

After the Rudd winking incident I adapted the FoE pro-forma letter to include the community cabinet question and response and sent it to the Advertiser. It hasn't appeared, but in checking for it on Thursday I noticed a short article about Rudd possibly talking to the Greens about their plan to get a greener version of his ETS scheme through the Senate. Onya Kev!

12a. Let's call Rudd!

Following on from John's post yesterday. In the face of frustration at our leaders' half-arsed job on climate change, it is empowering to do what you can at home, where you have control over your immediate actions and can change the world for the better from the backyard out.

I believe that taking political action is equally important and empowering.

I know that there's a cynicism that goes along with the idea of engaging with political processes ("it won't change anything"). There's also the intimidation of not knowing what to say, or all the facts, or at the idea of criticising authority. Somehow it's easier to believe that we have no personal power over the huge global issues, and to knuckle down to making our own lives ethical and sustainable, than to agitate for change.

There are many good reasons people avoid political activity - from our cultural backgrounds, to the disappointment we feel if we push, but don't see immediate results (as opposed to, say, the satisfaction of rigging up a greywater system this weekend, here, now). Maybe we want our leaders to do the right thing without being told. Maybe they've encouraged us to hand over our power to them - after all, if we don't complain, they can do exactly what they want. Or maybe we feel abandoned and alienated from politics and prefer to make our own way.

Here's a confronting realisation - we do have power. Weird as it might sound, if we're going to give things our best shot on the home front, if we're ticking all the boxes for sustainable behaviour in our lives and communities, why not have a go on the political front as well? I see political engagement as part of a suite of positive behaviours - insulate the house, tick, bucket in the shower, tick, go to the farmer's market, tick, letter to the PM, tick.

I mentioned cultural reasons that people steer clear of politics. For people from cultural backgrounds that have a history of state persecution, taking political action can seem incredibly foolish and dangerous. In this regard I know I'm lucky - I grew up being taken to peaceful demonstrations, so the culture feels more familiar to me.

Even so I get intimidated by the thought of calling Kevin Rudd today (or rather, his secretary). I'll feel stupid, it's embarrassing, maybe it's not really "allowed".... And the worst self-inhibitor - it won't do any good. On the other hand, when I save water, recycle, buy my clothes from op-shops, or even write this blog, I don't tell myself that it won't do any good. I think positive things like "that's one more bucket of water for the Murray".

It will help. Slowly. The more people who push at the door will force it to give way.

I was thinking about my Grandmother this morning, and how she told me once about a demonstration against changes in the education system she went to in Sydney. She must have been in her late 70s at the time, and she said how excited she was to go to her first demo.

Check out this photo from 350.org of an Iraqi girl who took part in the global climate protests leading up to Copenhagen last year.

"I'm thinking particularly of that one of the lone girl in Iraq, standing by herself at the Ishtar Gate in Babylon. She walked through security check point after security check point to take that photo, even after her friends went home because they were (rightfully) too afraid to continue."

And here are me and John in the same action, a tiny thumbnail of solidarity among the millions of people who have joined the climate justice movement. It's much harder and less effective to act alone than it is to join an existing movement. If you're interested, there are plenty of groups to join up to online - this just means following along on their websites, or signing their petitions, or joining in on global actions like the 350.org one above. Or there are local groups like Friends of the Earth, Sustainable Communities or Greenpeace you can become part of, that hold regular meetings and plan events and activities that tie in with the global movement.

There's one final reason to call, and to send a letter to the editor. The climate skeptics, and the big business interests, are organised, and not afraid to make themselves heard. They are the ones writing to the papers, and lobbying the government.

Now that's scary...let's call Rudd!

Step 1
Make a cup of tea while you decide which action you're going to do.
It's a big step to get political for the first time (or even the 500th). If calling seems too intense, an email could be the way to go. On the other hand, if you don't have much time, a phonecall takes a minute or two. If you're in a hurry, use a pro-forma email or letter. If you want to write from a personal point of view, you can draft your own letter. All of these actions help, and while a phone call carries more weight than an email, they all get counted, and passed on. The point is to make contact in some way, today, or as soon as possible.

We're going to join the Friends of the Earth action and call Rudd about his voluntary emissions targets, email Tony Abbott to say we don't agree with his views on climate change, and email members of the Alliance of Island States to tell them we support their position.
We're also going to send a letter to the Advertiser and our local Messenger newspaper.
Everything you need to know to make these calls and emails is here.

Step 2.
Work out what the phone call is going to be about. The phonecall we are making is in response to a callout from Friends of the Earth, as part of a campaign about the targets Kevin Rudd has to bring to a meeting on February 1st, so it has a deadline of ASAP. We're asking him to commit to deep emissions cuts in the Copenhagen Accord. Having a specific ask as part of a coordinated campaign is more effective than a general request to "do something about climate change", to which the response could be, "We are." (If you become a member or follow the big organisations online, you can receive alerts about actions as they come up.)
It's fine to read or ad-lib from a script that you have adapted yourself, or even to read out a pro-forma. When we called Penny Wong's office during Copenhagen, her very helpful secretaries took down everything we said and emailed it to her.

Step 3.
Make the call!

You'll get a secretary, or a switchboard at parliament house, but not the actual politician you're calling. Just ask for their office, and when the secretary answers, ask to leave a message for them.
Give your name and postcode. This proves you are a real person and not the same person from whichever organisation calling over and over. Be friendly. I like to think that the person on the other end is just someone at work, who may well agree with everything I'm saying.

To contact Kevin Rudd's office, call:
(02) 6277 7700

To contact Senator Penny Wong, Minister for Climate Change and Water
(02) 6277 7920

Step 3.
That's it. You've done it!
Tell your friends what you did (via Facebook for example). We made calling Kevin Rudd an event on Facebook during Copenhagen and posted photos of ourselves and friends making the call.

Ok, we're up!
We'll let you know how we went soon!

12. call Rudd etc.

My dad and the atmosphere
My father is an environmentalist. He has been for my entire life. He's not "political" beyond voting, but works on the philosophy "think globally act locally".
He once told me of a revelation he had when seeing a photo of the earth as seen from space. He was struck with the realisation, "The earth is a closed system and the energy going into it is far greater than the energy coming out." I've never really known how the science works beyond simple physics and chemistry (and a little chaos theory) but I think there is truth in what my father said. The earth is a closed system. Every planet is, really, beyond the collision of heavenly bodies. What we free up from a store in the system stays in the system. That energy stays here on earth. There is no edge of the world for the sea and the air to fall into eternally. There isn't even leaching of carbon into space from the upper atmosphere.
Here's a Wiki of some basics on atmosphere.


http://facilities.pps.k12.or.us/.docs/pg/10516

Now to politics
While the climate change conference, COP15, was on there was there was a lot of stuff going on. Groups from around the world were taking action to pressure leaders. But there seemed to be a huge loss of momentum when it ended. The outcomes of COP15 did seem like a failure on the face of things. No binding targets were set and nothing seemed to have been accomplished.
But looking at COP15 from a different perspective the fact that it happened at all is proof of success of the climate justice movement. Added to that the unprecedented actions of the alliance of island states. Further, 350.org, tcktcktck.org, avaaz.org and many others have brought some of the science language into the political discussion and provided a rallying point for thousands of people all over the world. Here's some more reasons to be hopeful from tcktcktck.org. The leaders of the world are being held accountable. They are not done yet.
Cassie's last post talked about movement sustainability and having a long term strategy to maintain momentum.
So where to from here? The Friends of the Earth have put out an action alert to call Kevin Rudd before the first of February when he is set to place his voluntary emissions reduction targets on the table. You can see their page here.
Here's a step by step guide on how to make the call!

http://www.greenpeace.org.au/blog/?p=1255

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

And thank you to Trina who wrote this wonderful note on Facebook last night. You are a star!

This my list of things to do to help climate change, for the month of January and beyond!

It is inspired by Cass and John's blog http://alltheresthave31.blogspot.com/

If we only have 2 years before climate change is beyond our control, then I want to give it the best shot that I can. We all know that governments and big business need to be taking immediate action, but we often forget that change also starts at home. As our weather gets increasingly erratic and extreme, it's easy to be overcome by feelings of helplessness.

But even if we can't afford to buy solar panels or a hybrid car, everything, no matter how small, does count. They are all choices we are making that may also influence others to be more aware of our impact on climate change.

I hope to see some other lists and ideas.... :)

1. Only buy bio-degrable garbage bags from now on.

2. Always carry re-usable bag in my handbag even when I don't plan to go shopping.

3. Plant more herbs to add to the basil, plant lettuce and maybe some other kind of vegie that grows easily.

4. Get a better compost bin for easier usage.

5. Get my bike fixed so I can go back to riding it more.

6. Ride to the markets.

7. Walk and catch public transport instead of driving whenever possible, especially on weekends.

8. Only buy organic meat.

9. Only buy locally grown fresh produce.

10. Get a clock for the shower... 5-10 minute showers max!

11. Put a bucket in the shower and use for watering the garden.

12. Try to buy only secondhand or locally made furniture, clothes, books, for myself and as presents.

13. Buy stuff from food co-op to minimise food packaging.

14. Write a letter / call Rudd about climate change.

15. Save up for solar panels and an electric car ;)

Running a little behind schedule with the 31 Things, John and I held a late night meeting on Saturday with our dairies, and worked out when we can do what for the rest of the month. All going to plan, we'll fit all the "things" (actual blog posts is another story) into the month of January as well as uni, work experience and prep for our shows. It's going to be doable and busy.

Sadly housework has not made the cut. We did damage control this morning - I cleaned the sink, toilet and catbox and made another batch of dahl (not in that order!). Meanwhile poor John is back on the endless dishes after putting on a load of washing and fixing a gap in Anna and Lily's gate. This is to stop our lovely cat Larshy repeating last night's midnight adventure (picture us roaming the neighbourhood in pyjamas, rattling a bag of catfood).

Meanwhile, what a good day to call Kevin Rudd!
It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day today, and after freaking out in the last post, I am inspired again by the past, the present and the future. While it's important not to keep the grief and fear and tiredness about climate change bottled up, it's equally important to keep feeding our hearts and spirits with encouragement and the real examples of positive social change we can all draw strength from. And to remember our own contributions.

Here are some links, articles and videos to inspire you too.

From the past...

This is today's editorial from the Washington Post. I took note of the parts about the liberal northerners not being out-and-out racists, but being comfortably well-off with the status quo of segregation, and also the way that the historic March on Washington where Dr. King gave his "I have a dream" speech "not [all at once] chang[ed] history but, rather, confirmed that it was on a new course."

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Monday, January 18, 2010

THIS DAY has become, like most of our holidays, more an occasion for rest, recreation and celebration than for reflection. But our national regard for all things decimal suggests that Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2010 is a good time to do a little looking back and sizing up.

Fifty years ago, and just across the river from the nation's capital, children of African descent (including many whose ancestors worked the land for George Washington) were being bused far from their neighborhoods to maintain segregated school systems. Black people in Virginia were discouraged from registering to vote, interracial marriage was prohibited -- in Arlington and Fairfax counties -- and lunch counters generally expected black customers to order carry-out only. In parts of the District (where public schools had been desegregated for only a few years) and its Maryland suburbs, housing discrimination created what civil rights activists called a "white noose" around the inner city. The Washington Redskins had not a single black player.

All this unpleasant history is, of course, well known, but not really all that well remembered, even by many of those who lived it. Then as now, the concrete, day-to-day realities of segregation were put out of mind by many who weren't its victims. There were places, especially farther south, where elemental emotions of fear and hatred were what sustained the system, but in this generally tolerant and well-educated region, it was more a matter of accepting an arrangement that most could see was unfair but that didn't seem to work too badly -- at least not for them.

In 1963 blacks and whites came together in a great congregation on this city's Mall that did not change history but, rather, confirmed that it was on a new course. The nation was not wired or pre-informed then -- each sentence that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. uttered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial was new to most Americans -- "I have a dream," "the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners" and the exultant conclusion: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

It was perhaps the most powerful, authentic speech delivered in this city of oratorical winds during the 20th century. As always happens after such occasions, there have followed many setbacks and side trips, discouragements and disillusionments. Yet one need look back only five decades, not that long a time, really, to understand how much was accomplished that day.

America today still has deep problems with racism, even under the administration of its first African American president. But it can also be argued that in the past half-century the country has undergone a sort of conversion experience similar to that of Abraham Lincoln. In 1862 he told a group of black leaders invited to the White House: "You and we are different races. It is better for us both to be separated." Yet, less than three years later, he invoked an almost biblical vision of the Civil War as divine punishment for the sin of slavery. He had changed in important ways. So has this country. Look around now and look back 50 years. There's been backsliding and wandering, but that was not a fleeting conversion that Dr. King helped bring about.

Here is the speech.

Why remember Martin Luther King Jr. on a blog about climate change?
Like the civil rights movement and so many other people's movements for positive change that lasted for years, it is so important to view the climate justice movement as a lengthy campaign, and therefore to pace ourselves and not get overly swayed by the highs and lows of the different events along the way. We need to push hard at those points, but also keep breathing in between.

I think my last post gave in to a bit of post-Copenhagen despair, because I forgot the fact that the movement had built and was building and that, though the door still remained closed (literally to many activists at the conference) we were continuing to push against it, and that it would eventually give way. Hence the long-term perspective and the looking backwards to lengthy movements such as the Civil Rights, anti-apartheid and so on. In fact, Lester Brown mentioned his hope in this regard at the end of the interview I linked to last time, but unfortunately I had tuned out by this stage and was already too busy panicking and eating cupcakes to take it in.

So, from the present...

Here is the Movement Action Plan
It was written by Bill Moyer and describes the stages of change in a long-term movement for positive social change. The fifth stage, which I believe we have entered now, is the "Perception of Failure", and this usually comes after a big push from below and no immediately obvious change from above. Activist burn-out, disinterest and depression is common at this stage, however when you read on to stages 6-8, you realise that, though you can't see it, the snowball has started to roll by now, and that it is time to celebrate, and keep pushing!
(Snowballs, barred doors, tortoises and hares - I notice when I write about the climate justice movement the metaphors abound. I think my favourite one is the birth metaphor. No one expects labour to be over in minutes, but I can't wait to see this baby.)

Do check out the Movement Action Plan if you have a chance - it really transforms those feelings of powerlessness and despair into a sense of excitement and energy.

I found the MAP available as a resource on the website of The Change Agency, a group who provide practical skills and tools for progressive activists. I've done some training with them and they are bloody fantastic.

I also found another article on the Change Agency site, by Anthony Kelly, and reading it was like an energy bar, stabilising the chemicals in my body after the rollercoaster workout of the Copenhagen highs and lows. I wish all activists could read this article today. You can read it in the title link in its entirety, and I've pasted the most relevant bit below that.

Anticipating and Avoiding Demobilisation

Perception of failure

U.S. activist-educator Bill Moyer's Movement Action Plan or MAP has provided valuable insights into key trajectories, trigger events, factors and influences impacting upon grassroots social movements. It is based upon the analysis of dozens of contemporary social movements and has been widely utilised as a training and analysis tool by movements throughout the developed world.

If the second or third post COP 'Outcome' outlined above come to pass, the Australian climate movement's may find itself in what could be called a 'Perception of Failure’ stage. This is often cited as a ‘Stage 5’ following a movement 'take-off' period' and often seen to be preceding a period of mainstream acceptance of movement goals.[4]

According to Moyer, the characteristics inherent in this stage include: the widely held belief amongst movement activists that its goals remain un-achieved and power-holders remain unchallenged. Numbers are down at demonstrations as people feel that repetitive and formulaic actions are ineffective. Despair, hopelessness, burnout, dropout are common, membership, particularity active membership of groups declines. Numbers of 'negative rebels', those activists willing to take high risk actions without movement support emerge and garner negative public attention, which further alienates concerned people.

MAP as a whole seeks to alert activists to the common dynamic which Moyer labels a 'culture of failure' within social movements. In The Practical Strategist[3], Moyer writes:

Belief in movement failure creates a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure and produce the following unhealthy movement conditions:

Discouragement, despair and movement dissipation

Movement participants and leaders who believe their movement is failing become increasingly discouraged, hopeless, despairing and burned out. This leads to a high drop out rate and lower levels of energy to carry out projects.

Reduction in recruitment of new members

The depressed state of the movement discourages new people from joining. No one wants to join a group which is negative and in a state of collective depression.

Getting stuck in “protest” mode

When activists believe they cannot achieve change, they can get stuck in the role of the protestor or dissident, without balancing this role with strategies and programs for positive change and alternatives.

Attitudes of anger, hostility and frustration lead to activities that turn the public against the movement

When activists believe that their movement is having no effect, frustration and anger at injustice can spill over into acts of desperation, without realising that such activities hurt the movement by alienating the public.

Inability to acknowledge and take credit for success

Failing to take credit for success deprives activists of a major resource for energy, enthusiasm and hope. It also allows opponents to claim movement-created changes for themselves, furthering the perception that the movement is powerless and that opponents control everything.

It appears likely, if not somewhat inevitable, that the Australian Climate movement will experience aspects of this perception of failure in the months following the Copenhagen conference. Whether these dynamics appear immediately or whether they exist for months or years depends somewhat upon how the movement prepares for and responds to the dynamic.

The Australian grassroots climate movement may be perfectly able to minimise the negative consequences of a post COP demobilisation, however it would be extremely difficult to avoid it altogether. Moyer's MAP pays scant attention to the pervasive role of the mainstream media in highlighting and shaping public opinion.

How the international and Australian media frame and portray COP and its eventual outcomes will largely determine public perceptions of success or failure of the climate movement in Australia. The intense media interpretation and framing of COP outcomes will also shape and influence the perceptions of new and even experienced movement activists. The role then of movement leadership, communicators and activist educators is to provide alternative, realistic and long-term movement views for engaged activists, new recruits and the interested public.

What can climate groups do to avoid the doldrums?All the action groups, networks, organisations, and institutions that make up the ‘climate movement’ in Australia are diverse and operate in different contexts. Each of the suggestions below may be more or less relevant depending upon those differences. Groups should be able to analyze their own post-COP situation and develop unique approaches to avoid de-mobilisation. Ideally, maintaining and building upon the past decade of movement building would be a widely shared and mutually reinforcing goal.

Don't put all our eggs in one basket:

Campaigners can be forgiven for trying to get everyone to focus on their action or initiative but in this context placing all our resources and garnering the efforts of so many people on a single event is potentially dangerous.

Campaigners need to develop and communicate realistic outcomes of COP and refuse to paint it as the ‘last, best hope’. It’s not, and to get people to think that is self-defeating. Despite the urgency around the climate science, movement leadership has the responsibility to provide clear, realistic and untainted information to its membership and constituents particularly of the long term nature of social change struggles.

Whilst providing an opportunity to mobilise people, immediate issues and one-of events such as international conferences can divert and diffuse efforts towards longer term structural change aiming to transform economies and institutions. Making sure other campaign strategies, projects or initiatives are kicking along is vital in the lead-up to December.

Highlight genuine successes:

It is vital that we celebrate what we have done, not what political elites have told us we should be celebrating. In the context of the Australian climate movement trajectory over recent years, the mainstreaming of climate science and media coverage of climate science events and news, the emergence of Australia wide grassroots climate activist networks, the first nationally organised direct actions and events, the coal industry's own admittance that coal is a 'now a much maligned product', all point to tangible and strategically relevant 'successes' for the movement.

These represent real successes but not dependent upon political statements, policy positions or as yet unfulfilled promises by elites. Clear strategy and planning helps groups to indentify these objectives and recognise them when they are achieved. In this way the movement maintains control of successes and refutes elite attempts to paint successes as theirs and the movement as less or not responsible for it. Each movement success identified can be highlighted in a variety of ways. Although articles, news stories, positive reports and other pro-active communication strategies are important, in particular, large public and participatory celebrations are most effective for challenging negative attitudes of movement failure.

Celebrating anniversaries, (“Ten years since the first climate action arrest in Australia”, “12 months since Australia’s first Climate Camp”) are one such way of marking progress and successes.

Locate the movement:

Movement leadership and spokespeople need to encourage and assist people to locate themselves along a movement trajectory that is longer than 2009 and goes far beyond Copenhagen in December.

At conferences, rallies and within all internal communication systems, movement spokespeople need to highlight the years of struggle behind and in the years ahead. Spokespeople should deliberately highlight the fact that the climate will not be 'saved' by an international agreement and it is only a large and viable social movement that wields enormous political power that will. Key movement figures should place more realistic timelines on movement activities.‘10 years to continue the campaign’; ‘This organisation has a 15 year goal’.

Plan and act beyond COP:

Already, movement groups should be speaking about, planning and highlighting actions, events and initiatives in 2010, sending a clear message that the movement continues after COP. Although it appears important to mobilise all available resources to target COP delegations and influence the outcome, having people actively planning and preparing for 2010 activities is equally important at this stage. It is strategically vital that planning and resources goes into viable and effective initiatives in 2010 and beyond that will inspire and maintain momentum in the post COP period. Activists who are engaged about future post COP events will provide much needed enthusiasm for other activists.

Develop tactics and strategies that don't rely on elites:

Numerous activists have highlighted how the climate movement in Australia has been heavily dependant upon lobbying strategies aimed at influencing policy and government action. Postcards, online petitions, office occupations or vigils, hunger strikes, marches, rallies, human signs, bike rides and other tactics adopted by the movement have all largely sought to generate public concern in order to influence decision-makers. Even the majority of coal infrastructure direct actions have focused upon influencing government policy. The development of tactics and a strategic framework that does not rely upon elite endorsement of the movements’ policy objectives is a vital process, particularly in the context of a widespread perception of failure in a post COP period. As Brian Martin and others have often pointed out, the limiting impact of relying purely on lobbying tactics can lead to movement entropy by itself.

This does not mean that movement's actions do not influence government policy. In fact the tactics deployed within a framework of strategic nonviolence should aim to undermine the both the power and will of an opponent in order to make it impossible to actually carry out a negative policy objective and force the adoption of favourable policies and behaviour.[5]

Lobbying and associated protest actions are a form of political action that seeks the 'conversion' of officials and decision-makers with logical or moral arguments without any tangible threat, beyond those of the ballot box. Strategic nonviolence, however, recognises that opponents often do not change their policies unless 'coerced' to do so economically or politically. Nonviolent tactics are designed to provide that coercion.[6]

The historically demonstrated insights of strategic nonviolence can play an increasingly influential role in movement strategy over the coming years. Large scale tactics of non-cooperation and intervention can gradually replace pure protest and lobbying action as movement activists become more experienced and the engaged and concerned citizens become more willing to take higher levels of risk. History has demonstrated that mass-based movements rise most powerfully when there is a widespread recognition that elites and mainstream institutional processes have failed to bring about the necessary changes.

It may be that the widespread perception of the failure of international institutions after COP could generate a renewed urgency and more effective political action. Hopefully we may see the Australian Climate movement develop effective tactics such as boycotts, strikes, mass occupations and interventions that will mobilise and engage the renewed activist energy in the years and decades after COP 15.

Anthony Kelly, June 2009

From the future!

Finally here is a beautiful video from our favourite climate justice organisation 350.org

If you haven't been to their website, you'll love the hard campaigning and heartening documentary work they do in facilitating the global movement for climate justice. This video is a summary of the last few days of Copenhagen and the need to continue the push from a 20 year old English climate youth delegate. It'll make you cry and feel good about the efforts you're making.



I dedicate this post to the lovely John. xxx

Things are good!

My journeying/travelling analogy from the last post seems to be ringing true.

The 31 Things "journey", if you will, really is generating all these positive changes or spin-offs in just the same way that a trip away from home opens up new perspectives, behaviour, brings epiphanies and insights and gives you energy to change for the better, and the space and insight to set new goals and be more like the person you really are underneath the daily distractions and crap.

The main changes we've noticed are these:

• We are having all these adventures, and I know why - it's from being open to trying new things.

• We're more open to talking to strangers in the community, more observant of everyone around us and everything, more curious and interested in them.

• We're spending more time being active in the present, rather than procrastinating, ruminating and being anxious or depressed.

• Ticking things off the list and the wonderful feedback from people we know, as well as others that one or the other of us have never even met, is giving us a fantastic sense of momentum.

• We've got past the initial "Christ, we've overcommitted!" freakout and have worked out how to fit the 31 Things challenge into the rest of our lives.

• Other people are getting inspired!

• Being in something together is bringing out the best in both of us.

Meanwhile, it's hot.

Most people who are following the blog are our friends in Adelaide, so you all will be very much aware that we're having another heatwave. Interstaters will have seen the weather reports too, but for Nicole, Chris, Em and anyone else in the northern hemisphere, it's so hot here.

Doing the challenge is helping us keep empowered while the evidence of climate change is melting our senses.

The heatwaves are coming in a pattern of on-again-off-again, around every ten or so days. By heatwave, I mean a few days over 40 degrees Celsius at a time. In between, it can be anything from low twenties to high 30s. Anyway, it's new and weird and messing up things like vegetable gardens and orchards, not to mention causing distress to the entire population, human, animal and vegetable. It's also starting to feel normal, as we adjust to the extreme weather patterns ("Oh, it's only 37 today, perfect picnic weather"). I resist this adaptability, even as I pride myself on my physical acclimatisation and crafty heat-repellent household routines, because this shouldn't be normal and I don't want us to slow-cook like the frog in the bath and suddenly realise it's 50 degrees out there for 3 months of the year.


The cat door snake attempting to keep the heat from the western sun at bay. All the same insulating techniques that you use in winter apply equally well to summer heat.

For the last two years, we've had record-breaking two week heatwaves over 40 degrees, and I dread a repeat of this this summer. I guess we'll see.

We have an air conditioner as of this (very hot) spring. The serious alternative was going to be evacuating our two cats to my sister's place during extended heatwaves (last year one of them got heat stroke and had to be rushed away to safety!) and ourselves to Tasmania on a WWOOFING holiday. We were hoping to get housesitters to water our garden, but who would volunteer to live in an inferno?


Thanks for trying to kill my cat, Rudd.

The aircon is a strange wonder. We're trying to use it as efficiently and sparingly as possible, but for me it literally means the difference between being able to live here functionally or basically having to move away. Obviously it's not a long-term strategy.

Something for a near-future list has to be investigating insulation. Apparently there are government rebates that apply to rental properties (for example). We could also look at ceiling fans as a good alternative to aircon.

Longer-term we need to think about living somewhere else (either house-wise or geographically) that doesn't require aircon. A massive shout-out to those who are enduring this climatic craziness without aircon. Come visit.

For people without aircon or houses, the heatwave is just unbearable. We met a guy today collecting cans who was railing at the government spending on the Tour Town Under cycling race, as opposed to homeless shelters. He said that there are only three men's shelters in Adelaide and not enough places. All we could do was agree as we stood together on the sweltering footpath. I wish I'd got it together in time to offer him some money but he'd already stormed off down the street by the time my heat-slowed brain had thought of it.

I remember reading during the heatwave in 2007 about how terrible it was for homeless people. I hope there's at least some sort of van driving round with bottled water and sunscreen, and hats if there aren't enough places in shelters. Does anyone know?


Still high 30s at 7.30pm.

Even with aircon, our house is pretty bad. Last night, after a 40 degree day - with predictions for three consecutive days of 43 degrees to follow), John and I decided to get in a walk while we could.

We meant just to go around the block, but with our new 31 Things-inspired energy and openness to giving things a go, we soon found we'd wandered right into town. A nice adventure would have been to run into a random friend and maybe be shouted a beer! (we'd set out without any cash), but we didn't, so we picked up some information about massages, some cheap movie ticket vouchers and then, like animals drawn to water, wandered through the uni and down to the River Torrens.

Night walks! The ducks and carp swam towards us, hoping for a snack. We sat on the springy lush grass and talked about the way the river has been regulated since European settlement.

We've become interested in urban watercourses because they feature so heavily in our local area, where five heavily modified creeks cross under roads and through backyards to join the Torrens and eventually reach the sea.

The night before last, on the way home from dinner with John's parents, we took a short detour along one of the creeks. It was currently empty, concreted over and graffiti-ed with beautiful colourful pieces. Again the 31 Days Sense of Adventure, as well as some amazing lit up sunset colours, pushed us to check out a small section of this route that had, unbeknownst at least to me (John kindly didn't spoil the excitement by revealing he'd known about it for years until we were on the way home) co-existed the whole time with our usual walk between Norwood and St Peters. We turned back at a tunnel with no source of light visible at the end, that turned out on subsequent Google maps investigation to disappear under suburbia. (We couldn't actually find where it reappeared; it must have been after a long way).


The heavily modified creek. Don't try this at home because you can't get out the sides in the case of flash floods! (But we felt pretty safe given the current weather (we kept out of the tunnels).)

On the way home we met Kelly, from the Sustainable Communities group. Then yesterday we met Rapsodie in Foodland, shopping to keep cool. Eleanor, where are you??

While walking last night, we devised the best adventure yet. We needed to work out a way to integrate the 31 Things, especially blog posting, into our crazy January and February schedules, which are of the sort that make you so avoidant you...devise challenges for yourselves for the month of January that preclude you from addressing any of them.

Not this time! We decided to Face the Stuff We Have To Do.

Step 1.
Check weather. Discover that it is predicted to be hellish until next Tuesday.


Wait. How hot?

Step 2.
Call an emergency meeting for the following day, to simultaneously avoid the heatwave-induced household languishing/cabin fever and address the serious priority imbalance you have got going.

Step 3.
(Next day)
Get up early to avoid the heat. Make it fun by dressing appropriately.
Oops, this one didn't go as planned, and we found ourselves at the busstop at midday, a time where only mad dogs and descendants of colonial Englishmen go out in the midday sun.


Cass wills the bus to appear, but it is on the Saturday timetable.

Step 5.
Hold your breath as the bus breaks down due to a heat-related computer error, but restarts. Arrive in town. Walk a few city blocks in your finery, complete with sun-shielding parasol, and arrive at your destination...

The Hilton Hotel Adelaide!


Chin chin! Still a little pink, John declares the meeting open.

Why didn't we think of this before? Ensconced in comfy chairs by a delightful fountain, we immediately ordered G&Ts and settled in for a serious planning meeting and the rest of the day.

Actually we made some really good schedules and plans, proper meeting style (thanks TWS for all the on the job experience in strategic planning and facilitation). I think we were slightly nuts; we did the whole meeting thing in our hippie-ish attempted dressed-up outfits (at different times we decided we had been mistaken for part of a wedding party, or the entourage of the Tour Down Under, or perhaps not for anything other than the eccentrically innovative climate refugees we were. (I think the drinks waiter smirked when he said goodbye).)


Booze was confined to the initial G&T and this very tasty local beer from the Barossa Valley, that somehow involved shiraz grapes.

We stayed til 6pm, resisted the urge to put our drinks on the wedding party's tab, were assisted in infiltrating the 18th floor of the hotel to check out the view by a friendly guest with a swipe card, and worked out among other things that I need to spend 3-4 days a week on uni work, 1 on everything else (a zine, this blog, and a photography show for the Fringe), and the weekend on leisure (and overhang, I guess). John has to go to a course, do work experience at the Science Exchange, make work for 3 art shows in the Fringe (this one, this one and this one) and do the blog.

So there'll be some changes around here!, but we're not stopping the challenge. We'll do a "thing" every day or so, but probably report less frequently, or maybe as frequently but much more briefly. Hurray for balance, and thanks to the philosophy of permaculture for realising that, as I paraphrased in the gym post, your own house has to be in order first before you can functionally tackle the outside world.

Please stay tuned for follow-up posts on the shower timer, the gym (yes! we went back on Friday), and new, teed-up or started "things" we haven't had time yet to blog about (research peak oil and the depression, Tiny Towns, Peter Singer, the smoke alarm, worm poo, John's haircut and have a meal at Stirling Organic).

And thank you again for your wonderful feedback. It was a factor in us wanting to keep going with the challenge. That and the fact that it's SUCH GOOD FUN!


Adelaide bakes. From the 18th floor of the Hilton Hotel.
CLIMATE ACTION NOW!

9. get shower timer and use it

A dry creek bed near our house.

I've been reading about water in South Australia. As a state South Australia is often touted as "The driest state in the driest country in the world". As such, Adelaide is heavily dependent on the River Murray for our water needs. With lower rainfall in many catchments, including the Murray-Darling, and increased demand from farming and domestic water users, our state's water use is far from sustainable. Meanwhile the aquifer under us is, in some parts of the state, running dry while others have to deal with rising salt. Mining requires a huge percentage of this. There are plans for a desalination plant to clean seawater but that's at least four years off and has many environmental and social impacts.

Help me! I am a giant Australian Cuttlefish! (image from here)

While it will supply domestic users, the desalination plant is basically being made to keep the world's largest uranium mine in water. The environmental impacts have been sidelined and South Australia is in danger of making a big mistake.

Cass sending a letter to the Mike Rann about uranium mining.

Stormwater recycling is an under-examined option with a great deal of potential. On the domestic front, we're interested in grey water systems and rain harvesting and storage tanks. As we are renting this gets a little more tricky but not impossible. Inspired by Cass' defacto sister-in-law Em, we've done some rain water harvesting into a spare green wheelie bin in the last few big rains we've had. Em is the executive director of Riversides, a Torontonian water conservation NGO.


This is a picture of Em impersonating a kangaroo on her recent visit to Adelaide.

It was taken on the rooftop garden at Christie Walk, Adelaide's inner city eco-housing community. When she and Cass' brother Chris were here we got all fired up to build a mudbrick rain water tank but time only permitted us to wheel a green bin into position under the overflow from our shared backyard neighbour/housemates Anna and Lily's gutter. If you do have the dosh to get something done right rebates are available, and it's not too expensive.


Our system isn't the most glamorous in the land but it works.

Another lo-fi watering measure is to place a hole in the lid of a bottle and put it upside down in the soil at the base of a tree. That way the tree gets water all day long.

A hole in the lid

This is great for plants that are establishing themselves as it gives a good steady supply. I got the idea from the bottles near the meeting the other day.

Also good for plants in recovery, the lemon tree's leaves are getting greener by the day.

Alison giving us some info.

The Water Wise Communities initiative which Cass' sister Alison put us onto seems like a good place to take some action. She saw number 9 on our list and said there are Water Wise kits available which include a shower timer. As our council is not yet on board with this we are going to try to get one from someone in another council area. I'll post an update with a bit more when we can get our hands on one. The pack will be most useful but till we get it we'll just have to rely on being late to give us the incentive for short showers.


Water wise communities


We've sent them an email and stopped round.

And finally here's something a little bit educational. The game is very cute.
Savewater.com.au

27. make Moroccan lentils and send others a recipe

This post is epic, but it's central to the whole 31 Days Challenge, as it features among other things lentil shopping, our monthly Sustainable Communities meeting where the challenge originated, numerous photos and links, a book review and three recipes.

Bon Appetit!

The lentils are still soaking and may by now have reached gigantic proportions (if anyone's seen the Young Ones episode where Vyvyan's hamster gets soaked overnight and blows up like a giant farty balloon, you'll know why I am slightly afraid to check on their progress after all this time submerged.)

No, actually, we're going to eat them for tea tonight to complete the number 27. "make Moroccan lentils and send others a recipe" challenge, but sadly not entirely Moroccan-ised as per Kelly's recipe as we are nearing the end of a pay fortnight and so will be substituting some of the ingredients we don't have for others that we do. Plums or apple instead of fresh ginger?

Here is the original recipe from Kelly, the founding member of our Norwood-Stepney Sustainable Communities Group (I finally found out the name last night at the meeting.)

This is one of my favourite recipes of late - sooo yummy and good for you.
I cook up a batch then freeze some. Happy cooking!

2 cups brown/reddish lentils (soak them overnight first in a large bowl of water)
(2 or) 3 fresh tomatoes grated or finely chopped
1 medium onion chopped
3 - 4 cloves fresh garlic crushed or finely chopped
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or coriander (fresh coriander is best, and put it in near the end so it doesn't go too mushy)
2.5 teaspoons cumin powder
2.5 teaspoons paprika
1.5 teaspoons fresh chopped ginger
1/2 teaspoon black pepper 2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup olive oil (or thereabouts)

In a large soup pot, fry onion, garlic and ginger for 2 mins or so then add spices and continue to fry for another minute.
Add lentils and stir in.
Add 2 litres water and fresh tomatoes and bring to simmer.
Simmer lentils over medium heat about 1.5 hours, or until lentils tender and sauce is not watery. Add extra water if required to prevent lentils burning.
Add coriander or parsley near the end.
Adjust seasoning if desired and serve with rice or bread.

And this is Kelly!


While I'm at it, let me introduce the others in our little group. These pics are from the meeting last night at Rapsodie's place.

Rapsodie.


and Eleanor.


But to backtrack to yesterday's lentil mission. I don't know if the aforementioned Young Ones conditioned me at an impressionable age, but until recently I always associated lentils with the character Neil and his giant vats of bland, brown slop, a props department's dream.

My sister became a vegetarian as early as she was allowed to, which was 15, and I joined in when we moved out of home together when I was 20, due to a combination of the example she set, having to cook all our own food and so chop up a lot of meat, and reading Peter Singer.

I've been vegetarian for years now so I love beans, tempeh, hummous and so on, but I never really got lentils. Hippie friends would wax lyrical about the virtues of their dahl, but I continued to carry this prejudice towards lentils as a desperate last resort, a source of protein for the last few days before pay. This meant that I have actually hardly ever tried them.

Which brings us to challenge 27. make Moroccan lentils and send others a recipe!

I was excited when the N-SSCG (the Norwood-Stepney Sustainable Communities local group) decided to share recipes and Kelly mentioned her Moroccan lentils. Would we finally learn the secret mysteries of dahl? If I can get into lentils, they are such a good cheap food.
Let's do it!

Step one
Plan to eat the lentil meal a day in advance to incorporate the overnight soaking. I'm not sure if the soak is just to soften the lentils for cooking and make them less farty or if it's also to remove toxins in the way that for soaking beans is an absolute health requirement. So we'll soak overnight until further clarification.

Step two
Head to the market, bulk food store, food co-op or other place of dry goods. We're trying to use less cans, to save money, waste and because they have a plastic lining that isn't so great for your health, but this means allowing enough time for the soak. When we first started with beans I found it a real hassle, but now it seems pretty simple (and even fun) to whack them in a bowl and cover with water overnight (and there's always the cans or the falafel house if you forget or don't feel like it).

This is us at the Adelaide Central Market, the repository of all things fresh, preserved and delicious.
About to grab a chai. But not with Bonsoy!


Despite the drought, Adelaide is blessed with an abundance of good, local food - anything that grows in a Mediterranean climate, plus a few adaptable varieties of produce that really thrive in more tropical or temperate places - like our tough little banana tree (half the size of its Queensland cousins), or apples and berries in the cooler pockets of the Adelaide Hills.
Unfortunately I was so busy taking a photo of John and me in the mirror that I forgot to take a shot of the market stalls - another time!
Actually it was Monday, which is not a market day, but a few shops stay open all week, including...Goodies and Grains.
Here we bought red, South Australian lentils for $2.50/kg. We bought 500 grams and I think it's going to make left-overs.

There were about five different varieties of lentils, some local and one organic. We went for the local.


Step 3. Soak lentils overnight, then next day follow Kelly's recipe!
(Later tonight.)

While we were in Goodies and Grains we also checked out the eggs. We've recently stopped being vegan and become ovo-vegetarians - with specific requirements for the eggs to be genuinely free range. We're really looking for eggs from chickens living as pets in suburbia (close to us) so we can buy or trade them regularly (zucchinis anyone?), visit the chickens ourselves to make sure they get to run around the garden permaculture style, and have no rooster to fertilise the eggs.

Our objections to commercial free range set ups are that even free range commercial hens can be the offspring of battery hens, and the male chicks in these operations are killed as unproductive (this is why we're not eating free range dairy, because of the male calves). It was hard to figure out this decision, which was for health-convenience reasons - strict veganism is a lot easier to follow than this nuanced version - but we don't think unfertilised pet hen eggs are dodgy, for us.

Anyway, more of this in a forthcoming egg post (and thanks Leticia for the "egg route" suggestion - we'll make that excursion part of the challenge!)

Meanwhile, here is a weirdly shaped biodynamic freerange jumbo egg at Goodies and Grains!


We bought some as backup before we find the pet hen eggs, but later heard at the meeting (from Kelly, who's doing a vegan challenge for January) that if they don't have an Animal Liberation sticker on them, they're not kosher free range. Does anyone else know more about this?

Soap.


Ghee. What is ghee? Is it vegan?


We also bought some organic wine from the market bottle-o, as planned for the meeting. I had hoped to take photos of the delights of the institution that is Wilson's Organics, where we first discovered these gorgeous wines and much more wonderful organic goodness, but it was closed for the holidays.

Here's the wine.


I might add that yesterday's excursion was undertaken with 10 kilogram weights strapped to our legs, or rather what felt like 10 kilogram weights due to the 48 hour post-exercise rule - that you will feel it the worst two days afterwards. We were crippled after the Mt Lofty bushwalk - the bracing to walk 4k down the hill. But we want to go back (it can only get easier, right?)

We borrowed John's parents' car and drove to the meeting, which was one suburb over. We rarely drive anywhere, yet we've driven to 2 out of 3 meetings, one of which was about 1km down the road. I don't know if it's some sort of balance redressing thing ("We're doing something good so we can "afford" to drive there") or a rebellion ("We're sick of being righteous all the time, let's just drive!").

More likely it's that we're running short of time. I want to write a post about juggling environmentally sustainable behaviour with full-time work (we're studying and creating stuff using savings and government pensions for money, so we have more flexible schedules, but I'm starting to realise not much more time than people with jobs).

Last night, I was fighting a cold (which has now gone), we had to get to the meeting, and we remembered that we needed to water my folk's garden before the next hot weather period, which has started today. (I want to write another post about enviros and feeling the need to make excuses. Whatever - our legs hurt!) So we borrowed the car and made it home after everything at about 11pm. I don't feel bad. Absolutism can kill any enthusiasm for trying to change.

We had a good night. Here are some pics.
Rapsodie's cute little street seemed to have a fashion for painted garbage bins.




The house we assumed was hers due to the shade cloth and lemon tree watering systems.


Check it out. I'd been wondering how to water our own four trees effectively and now we know!


Rapsodie's actual house, or rather, garden, built on top of a former swimming pool!


Rocket gone to seed.


Rainwater tank!


Slightly hijacked by the wine, the one we brought plus a bottle of organic red of Rapsodie's, we nevertheless made plans to attend a screening of the movie "Fresh", which will be put on by another sustainable communities group in western Adelaide, for John and me to have our soil tested for toxins from our railway sleeper garden bed (Rapsodie lent us a soil testing kit to check out the PH, too), and heard about the other's January challenges - Kelly to go vegan, Eleanor to cook a vego meal once a month for 2010 and Rapsodie to try for no waste for a month.

We found out that the soft plastics waste recycling depot is no longer taking household plastic, and planned to contact Zero Waste SA to demand an alternative, that I have been overwatering our tomatoes and tomato-related veggies and need to give them tough love so they'll fruit, what people's eco footprints are in hectares and what's making them that size, various details about government rebates for solar, insulation and water tanks, and more that I'll remember when I see the minutes.

We also invited Kelly, Eleanor and Rapsodie to contribute to this blog about their January challenges, so hopefully we'll feature some of their posts in the next couple of weeks.

Meantime here is Eleanor's recipe, this time a dahl soup option. Don't forget the lemon!

Madhur Jaffrey recipe.

Serves 8 people

275gm green or yellow split peas (washed)
1.5L of vegetarian stock
24 peppercorns and 15 whole cloves (tied in cheesecloth)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2-3/4 tsp salt to taste

Garnish
8 lemon wedges
croutons

Combine the split peas and stock in a pot and bring to the boil. Remove scum from the top.
Add the spices in the cheesecloth, the turmeric, and the salt. Cover, lower heat, and simmer gently for 1-1.5 hours or until the peas are tender. Remove cheesecloth from soup, squeeze its juices into soup, and discard.
Press the soup through a strainer (well worth it guys), using the back of a wooden spoon, or put it through a food mill.

Serve with lemon

Freezes well - just make sure you use the lemon!


And here is our recipe. I realised at the meeting that my current infatuation with eggs would leave Kelly hungry throughout January, so pancakes are off the menu and a garden salad (literally, woo!) is on.

You will need:

One salad plot.


You could also use ingredients from the market - super, farmers or whatever, but I have to rave about growing salad because it is so amazingly rewardingly fun I want to share it! So, even if this is the lengthiest recipe you've ever followed, if you some time make it from your own salad plot it'll blow your mind, your tastebuds and make you happy.

This is a revolutionary, invaluable book:
One Magic Square
After reading the introduction you are basically inspired to go outside and make a 1 metre square garden bed on the spot. (The author is a local woman, Lolo Houbein and she is appearing at a session at the Friends of the Earth Reclaim the Food Chain convergence on all things food, From Plains to Plate, this February in Adelaide.)

Magic squares are great, but large pots are good too. You can even pick up ready to eat herb pots already containing chives, basil, lettuce etc etc, or some cheap seedlings from a nursery to transplant into a big pot, or keep in several small ones. Then just pick the ingredients for the salad leaf by leaf. So good!

I made this salad while John was pulling up weeds for the weed tea the other night. You can use anything that's to hand for the greens. Our salad plot is an old bathtub gleaned from down the street (the one that drains onto the lemon tree).

Summer Bathtub Salad



Ingredients

a handful of various greens (in this case cos and other lettuce leaves, basil, baby rainbow chard and beetroot leaves)

4 small zucchini, preferably with flowers attached (we have 4 zucchinis and admittedly the plants are enormous, but you could grow just one in a big pot, or substitute zucchini for tomatoes that are very pot-friendly.)

handful of walnuts

Dressing -
1/8 glass olive oil
1/7 glass balsamic vinegar
teaspoon mustard
teaspoon honey/brown sugar/maple syrup - anything dark and sweet
herbs finely chopped (we had chives, marjoram, sage and basil in the bathtub)
1 clove of garlic, very finely chopped

Steam the zucchs until tender but still crunchy (about 10 minutes) (or slice up 3 tomatoes) and arrange on top of a bed of the various greens.
Sprinkle walnuts on top and toss.
Mix dressing together with a fork til mustard and sweetner dissolve and pour over raw salad.
Toss salad and taste, adding another batch of dressing if needed to coat all the salad with a generous amount of delicious dressing.

Ok John's home and I think it's time for the Moroccan lentils.

Here's some Kelly made earlier.


I'll post a pic of our version later, and email the link to this page to the rest of the group to fullfill the "send others a recipe part", but having got this far I think I can say that we're already converts to the way of dahl.

Neil would be proud.