Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week, with a little background and my thoughts and other things that I’ve been up to in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.

So the first permission for fracking shale gas has been granted in North Yorkshire. I don’t think this is the right way to go for a sustainable future energy supply, I think the costs and potential risks are just too great for the reward on offer, and I’m not alone in that thinking. I think the costs involved could be better spent on true low carbon solutions rather than the frequently touted “bridge” to low carbon that promoters of shale gas trot out. There’s one thing for sure however, the progress of this recently permitted operation will be scrutinised very closely, to see what the longer term prospects for shale gas in the UK really are, the true impacts on the community and environment, and the general safety record in the UK of an industry that has had a slightly dubious one in other parts of the world.

I have a lot of sympathy for the views stated by Chris Packham regarding nature reserves. They are an important resource, but I really think we are at risk of neglecting what is right in front of many of us in favour of growth, consumerism and selfishness. I love my local “patch”, it’s not the most rich area in terms of biodiversity, but I love it for what it is. I often wonder though whether it will outlive me or whether I’ll see it’s decline or decimation in my life time because of other pressures. As a species we seem to be on a course of self-destruction one way or another, and we seem to be intent on taking everything else on this planet with us. If we have to rely on a small patchwork of nature reserves to get our “natural fix”, it’s likely that the patchwork will be unsustainable, and then the developers will move in to those areas too. We cannot keep taking without giving a return, our account is too much in debt.

The Week In Wildlife – In Pictures doesn’t really need much commentary from me, as it’s here every week, although I particularly liked the money spider pic.

Currently reading: “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer [Amazon UK / US / CA]

Each week I’ll try and post quick links to things that I’ve seen, read or just sparked my interest in the previous week. Mostly gardening, cooking and environmental stuff but not always.

This week I’m going to try something a little new, and give a little background to why I’ve included the link, and maybe cover some of the other things that I’ve been up to in the previous week. A bit more newsletter style than just a list of links for you to click. (I’d appreciate any feedback, good or bad)!

My garden birdlist has reached a new record of 25 species in a year, I suspect that this is because I’m around more during the day than I have been before and therefore see more, particularly as my “office” looks out over the garden, something I have yet to see though is this new arrival to UK shores (assuming it’s not one that’s escaped from it’s falconer) Spectacular bearded vulture spotted for first time in UK [The Guardian].

I posted a couple of videos by Dave Goulson last week, he’s written a couple of books [Amazon link], but he’s made me much more aware of the plight of bees and other insects. I’m not sure though whether we have a problem with hive thefts in the UK, like the ones reported here Sticky fingers: The rise of the bee thieves [The Guardian]. Dave Goulson has also posted another video this week:

I regularly read “The Last Word on Nothing” website, this post, Environmentalism Lost set me thinking though about whether it really is too late to save our planet though. I damn if I’m going to stop trying in my own way though. Although I’m not going to get started on what I really think about politicians and governments that just don’t give a 5h1t and aren’t prepared to lead, even where that might mean doing the right thing for everyone.

I also like this list on Michelle Cushatt’s website. There’s no rocket science involved in some of the things you can do to help someone who really needs it, but sometimes it helps to have a few ideas!

I’m not particularly in favour of nuclear power, but I’ve posted quite a few links in the past about the proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. I’ve even questioned whether it would go ahead if the UK votes to leave the EU. So interesting to read that President Hollande of France is all for it! Although I wonder if he sees it as a way of getting energy without having to build a new plant in France (via the UK-France inter-connector)? It works both ways after all! Also interesting to see that there is now a rival bid to build a plant in Wales [The Guardian].

It’s the time of year when I see carpets of Wych Elm leaves and their “fruits” lying on the path in the woods. This reminds me of the loss of our English Elms from the 1970’s to 1990’s – the two are different species and although the Wych elm can be infected by Dutch Elm disease it is a little resistant, and the trees in the woods where I walk are quite young.

That said we are seeing many different pest species spreading, including new infections to other species, such as Ash die back, but I was disappointed to read [The Guardian] that pest eradication is being cited as a reason to clear fell in Europe’s last primeval forest, Białowieża. There’s something that doesn’t quite ring true, it almost seeming like an excuse to make money (£124m) from an environmental issue. If a targeted felling was being proposed, i.e. only those species infected or vulnerable, whilst still regrettable it would make more sense. This may after all be the only way to tackle Ash die back in the UK, but clear felling and removing all trees is just plain wrong, and hints at corruption.

I’ve just come in from the potting shed and have filled the last two troughs out there with soil, and planted some more sweet pepper plants and tomato plants, and then on looking through my emails I saw this guide [Gardeners World] on how to look after your tomatoes.

I post The Week In Wildlife – In Pictures [The Guardian] every week. It is one of my weekly highlights and there are always some amazing pictures. I don’t think it really needs much more of an introduction or explanation than that.

I sometimes feel like I have a target painted on my back, as I frequently find myself on the receiving end of bird poo – looks like I’m not the only unlucky one [Last Word on Nothing Blog].

Usually have an egg for breakfast? Check out this one that one of my friends David’s hens laid. Enough for breakfast and lunch.

I hope you liked this new version of Quick Links – if you have any feedback for me, either good or bad, then do please leave me a comment. Thanks for reading!

If you come by here often, you’ll notice that I publish a “Quick Links” each week. I’ve been thinking about changing this a little, as there’s often a bit of background to why I’ve included a particular link but I rarely say why. So this got me thinking as to whether I should include this or whether I should convert this to a weekly newsletter which could be sent directly to peoples email inboxes rather than having to always come here to read it.

I’d welcome your thoughts, but also let me know whether you would subscribe to a newsletter (it would be done using something like mailchimp so that email addresses would be secure and you could subscribe or unsubscribe directly). If you have a preference let me know in the poll below.