Thanks to VWHDC for a press release this evening.

From now on the citizens of Abingdon will be allowed to use thin plastic bags to line food waste bins. That includes shopping bags, bread wrappers, and white bin liners. Up until now only pale green compostable bags have been allowed and they are expensive and can easily tear.

Food waste is collected weekly from Abingdon and taken to a processing plant near Wallingford to be turned into fertilizer and gas. The processing plant is now able to remove the plastic bags and send them to another energy recovery facility.

This new freedom is not a license to put half a pack of bacon – still in its packaging – into the food waste bin.

Last year (in 2015) Edible Abingdon took root behind the Outdoor Pool kiosk.

This year the vegetable plot moved to some old-style recycling boxes beside Old Station House.

Four months on from the first picture there are carrots, a lot of tomatoes, various herbs, beans, possibly courgettes, and a few I cannot identify. All part of a Carbon Cutter Initiative called ‘Edible Abingdon’. The aim is to create a herb and vegetable garden that is attractive and productive, organic, and wildlife-friendly, and in the longer term to reduce dependence on imported food, and encourage community growing.

This evening, at St Ethelwold’s House, there was a talk about ‘Incredible Edible Abingdon’, and discussions where to take the vegetable plot next year.

At about 8:30pm we got a call from our daughter, who lives in St Helens Mill, saying they had a powercut. We were not affected, but stepping outside I was in darkness and nearly bumped into somebody coming up the path.

Walking round I found the powercut affected most of the town centre roads with St Helen in their name, below the Co-op.

Candles lit up some evening meals, and pedestrians found there way using mobile phone torches. The old anchor had lamps outside.

It was strange that it did not affect our house. Shows we can all be wired differently.