Climate Crisis Thoughts

Sweet Pea Question Mark or Just Weather; it’s been a very wet day, and thankfully the polytunnel protects some of our flowers but while tying in the sweet peas I got thinking about weather, climate and the crisis we are starting to witness.

A symptom of climate change is that with more energy in the atmosphere there is more variation in the weather and we see more extreme weather events. Like what we’re seeing in Canada, the USA & Siberia. Our own weather has been erratic this year and our seasons seem increasingly topsy-turvey. I struggle to explain seasons in terms of weather now. Of course we’ve always had rain in July but when you grow things for a living you notice the changes and see how the erratic weather affects productivity.

As a country we need to be sourcing our food and perishables more locally because it’s unsustainable to fly things to us (and theres a massive question mark on how viable some of those countries can reliably grow in the future anyway) but the climate crisis is impacting on the productivity of British farmers, producers and growers now and it’s hard. As our Veg box testifies, filling the gaps with imported produce is an answer. But really it isn’t!! Adapting our consumption is critical; changing our expectations and consuming more seasonally, or perhaps I mean consciously, is vital to reducing our carbon emissions enough, in time.

How do we do that? £865 million is spent on flowers each year, of which 85% is imported. Buying British flowers will not only reduce your carbon footprint but supports a British industry that is increasing its capacity to supply more British flowers in incredibly difficult growing conditions! A very pretty bouquet is seemingly harmless, but made from imported flowers it has a carbon footprint equivalent of a flight to Europe. It’s ‘cost’ is way more than its price tag.

Question the provenance of your flowers. Sure they may be cheap, but what is their real cost?When we see the Arctic melting we need to act now, with urgency, and make small changes that move us in a better direction. It’s important that we put our money behind the game-changers and your choice of flowers can make a big difference…

Harriet x