Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
9th December 2023
Tree Trends
Statistics show that most people have put their Christmas trees up by now, with many people choosing to do so at the end of November to bring a bit of early festive spirit into the house. Bearing that in mind, it might be a bit late for you to follow this year’s Christmas tree trends, but just in case you are still deliberating over your ‘decs’, apparently a 2023 favourite is a space-saving ‘wall-tree’, which is a 2D option that can be mounted on the wall and often plugged into the mains to light up. Cox & Cox report that their best seller is the ‘geometric tree’ which is a ‘gloriously contemporary option, providing a fabulous blank canvas for any modern, minimalist scheme’. It sells for £125.
At the other end of the ‘trend scale’ is anything ‘seasonably sustainable’ – so think crafty, home made decorations, anything recycled or vintage and even foraged branches that can be decorated in any way you choose for a rustic festive effect.
If you have a ‘real’ tree, don’t forget that it will benefit from watering regularly whilst being displayed – whether it is a pot grown or cut, it will continue to absorb water whilst indoors. I am reliably informed that a spoonful of sugar in the water or lemonade (same thing, pretty much) will prevent the needles dropping for much longer. Make sure your tree is not likely to topple over though, as spilled sticky water could ruin everything from presents to Christmas!
Festive Forecasts
Well, Jack Frost punched all the late blooms in the petals last week then. Although I know it’s coming I am never really ready for it. It may all be part of nature’s cycle but I hate seeing the life knocked out of the enthusiastic ‘late bloomers’ which – without a calendar – were blissfully unaware of their impending doom.
The south east of England saw it’s earliest snowfall in 15 years. A sign of a hard winter some are saying, especially with the holly boughs laden with festive red berries.
I always keep an eye on David King’s ‘Weather without Technology’ website. He goes back through his extensive records to spot weather patterns, using them – and nature’s clues – to make his weather forecasts. They are not daily forecasts by any means but a general prediction for the outlook. Along with his unique no-nonsense style, he is accurate enough for me to keep checking his blogs.
Dave is saying there will be no white Christmas this year – as well as expressing how ridiculous the Met Office notion of a single snowflake falling on Christmas Day constitutes a ‘white Christmas’. He also reminds us that the 3rd to the 14th December is often a ‘warmer’ period than the days either side of it. This is called the Buchan Period, as discovered by Alexander Buchan the Victorian meteorologist.
The good news is that he predicts more ‘normal’ weather for next year and forecasts that the last week of June and first three weeks of July 2024 will be wonderfully warm and summery.
Reading through his latest blogs, I see that Dave is handing over the reins of his weather forecasting and website to Lesley Coyle, who will be carrying on the technology-free forecasting at www.indigenousUKweather.com A quick visit to that site is met with the introduction – ‘Following on from David King’s Weather Without Technology … Welcome to Indigenous UK Weather, where I will attempt to predict the weather 90 – 180 days ahead using established saws and sayings, proven data, and the most vital ingredient of all, nature.’
I for one will be following with interest and enthusiasm for this method of weather forecasting.
Veg Out
The media is already reporting a possible shortage of certain foods for Christmas – this year it is potatoes, Brussels sprouts and broccoli, with the last two probably not upsetting anyone under the age of 15. Apparently potatoes are just rotting in the ground due to the wet weather we have had, and where Brussels are available, they will be smaller than usual.
I recall most, if not all, of our Christmas vegetables coming out of the ground thanks to granddad and dad. So much nicer to rely on digging, than Deliveroo.
I have been told that Supermarkets will be ‘slashing’ the price of veg nearer to Christmas to entice people into stores. Popular veg will cost as little as 19p for a bag of parsnips, sprouts or potatoes. I’m not sure how this works out with the apparent ‘shortage’ but a lot of things don’t seem to make sense to me these days.
Despite any possible ‘parsnip and potato price wars’ or ‘sprout slashing’, don’t forget to use local Farmers Markets for your veg. The superior flavour will be well worth any additional cost and effort taken to source the fabulous fresh veg.
After all, we should all be eating good quality vegetables as though our lives depend on it – because they do.
Gift Trends
Polls show that Christmas gift trends this year are more about ‘experiences’ and gifts that last longer than the turkey does. Cookery and ‘food’ experiences, like sourdough baking courses, upskilling courses (like learning a language), charity donations and subscriptions (boxes or magazines) are all popular as are things like sky diving vouchers – apparently. Just make sure you don’t get the sky diving voucher mixed up with one for the garden centre.
And at last I’m on trend as ‘pimped up wrapping paper’ has finally caught on! I have been using the pages from old seed and flower catalogues to wrap presents for years. The pages are colourful and glossy and may even inspire a purchase or two for the garden.
And finally, two things to share that made me smile this week – I hope they do you too. Firstly, I read about walking through ‘clotted autumn leaves’ – what a wonderful description, and also that ‘apricity’ describes the warmth of the sun in winter – let’s hope for some of that then, it would be a lovely Christmas gift.
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