City farming, SEE-Change and other innovations

I've been thinking about innovation in the way we grow produce and wondering what's happening around the world particularly in less developed countries. I am partly inspired, I guess, by Terence Conran's book A Chef's Garden - fresh produce from small spaces which is 11 years' old but started a trend and shows gardens growing masses of produce in small spaces using beautiful design techniques. Conran designed a chef's rooftop garden for the 1999 Chelsea Flower Show.


I've already copied his ideas with my new living table decoration of alfalfa sprouts in a blue glass urn. As an aside our first lot of alfalfa sprouts I blogged a couple of months ago were eventually a failure using the jam jar and muslin. They definitely need a soil medium to grow. I have also purchased a sprout kit which is a mini-innovation - the sprouts grow in a stack of four cylinders using a clever drainage system. In three days we had crunchy sprouts to snack on. The Dr Fothergill sprout kits are in all the hardware stores which are stocking an increasing array of herb and vegie starter kits for kids and grown-up gardeners alike.


Two great innovations are transforming people's lives in two completely different parts of the world. In India a new green revolution is taking place but instead of synthetic fertilisers boosting growth, the methods of Dr R T Doshi are using biomass such as sugarcane waste and household organic waste to grow gardens in the city. The methods are fascinating and use a method combining growth and composting waste in the bottom of specially adapted drums and bags with extensive tips on companion planting and general guidance for healthy organic fruit and vegetables in an urban space.


City farming workshops are currently being conducted in Australia and a workshop will be held in Canberra under the auspices of Real Food Canberra. The City Farming website is great and I recommend the video to see what people are growing and how quickly their crops get to harvest stage. The city farming system has been commended by the United Nations Development Fund.


Meanwhile in the United States another innovator has developed a 'freeware' approach to water wise fruit and vegetable containers called Earthtainers. I read the article in slate.com and the person who developed these amazing containers, Ray Newstead, regularly travels overseas leaving his bumper crops unattended with complete confidence due to the wicking properties of the containers he designed. I don't think I could build one but he claims anyone can use his plans and get the gear from the hardware store.

Newstead says on his website:

The EarthTainer is not a "Product" - - there are none for sale, thus it doesn't compete with Commercially available self-watering container products.  Rather, it is a "design concept" that is made available as "Freeware" for your private use and enjoyment.  Just remember to please make a donation to the Feeding America Organization if this design does bring you happiness.

This kind of innovation is probably featured in a film the Canberra organisation Real Food screened recently. I wasn't able to attend (it was tonight) but it sounds great. The movie Fresh by Anna Sofia Jones is billed as a new way of thinking about what we're eating. The Real Food organisation promotes real food that is sustainable and ethical for people and animals. I took my children to a photo shoot and soup meet for their children's sustainable cookbook currently in development.


We took one of our pumpkins and a few morsels of spinach and herbs. The girls were proud, nevertheless, that they could take their own homegrown vegies and donned aprons and wielded wooden spoons to help some of the Real Food people cook up a big pot of delicious soup. It was a great afternoon and the big people showed the littlies how to shell peas and chop onions wearing swimming goggles.

Look what I grew in our pumpkin patch!

The Crookwell connection


Our pumpkins seeded a bit too late and with the likely advent of tomorrow's first frost they might not be quite ripe when the vine withers. Peter and Dell Bungay dropped in for a lovely visit not long after I purchased some of their succulents from Wagga (see my earlier posts). Turns out Dell's family come from Crookwell and in fact are a well-known family of brick makers and bricklayers who literally laid the foundations for many of our beautiful heritage buildings including in the Southern Highlands (the exotic mushroom farm is in a brick tunnel built by one of Dell's forebears).


Dell told me Crookwell is so cold that any diseases or pests that would strike potatoes are unlikely to survive in that pure air. She sent me some beautiful photos of the early potato farming in the 1800s. Her husband Peter gave me some great gardening tips including the importance of removing lateral shoots from tomato and pumpkin vines to boost production. My big pumpkin patch, although impressive, is a Japanese pumpkin which is too thin-skinned to store over winter and needs to be harvested straight away. They should have ripened earlier but have just scraped in. Dell was interested in the location of the gentleman farmer of Crookwell in case she knows the area from childhood. The caption on one of the postcards reads 'Potatoes grown by Mr Vidler Crookwell – weight from 2.5lb to 3.5lb each'.

Crookwell potato seed stock in the late 1800s or early 1900s

Potato farming at Crookwell late 1800s or early 1900s

Dave the horticultural demon inspected my ornamental vegetable garden this evening and said the use of black weed mat on the rises will help protect the seedlings from frost and cold. His tip is that with the water table high at the moment, the risk of frost burn is greater for young seedlings. The ornamental kale I've planted is completely edible but I'll stick with the cabbages and leeks for the moment.

Ornamental kale looking 'showy'

Our new vegie patch in the front yard

Autumn joy


I took great joy in restoring my garden somewhat over Easter with lots of pruning, clearing and planting. I discovered the joy of dividing. My sedum 'Autumn Joy' had flattened out which is a sure sign they need division. I've done some mass planting of this drought-tolerant beauty and hope the crowns survive my novice attempts. I also pulled up about six gladioli bulbs for re-planting in July. Gladioli are a symbol of love at first sight. According to Dell, Crookwell was once the site of a giant gladioli farm to supply floristry for weddings. I also divided my agapanthus and gratefully received a huge box of 'aggies' and irises from my good friend and superb gardener Libby. With the price of plants I'm very keen to re-use what I've got and the 'aggies' have created a beautiful sweeping border in a couch-infested hot spot.


SEE-change


I'm really interested in this organisation as part of my growing awareness of why we all need to make a difference and take small steps towards big change particularly with what we teach our children. I read in my local newspaper about a program called SEE- Change which aims to encourage Canberrans to think positively about the future and act to reduce the territory's ecological footprint. A festival of young ideas will showcase the best innovative ideas the students develop at the end of 2011. I have blogged previously about the work of academic and geographer Paul Tranter and the importance of encouraging our children to embrace science, technology and innovation to solve the environmental problems of the future.


Naomi Wynd is the executive officer of SEE-Change and in The Chronicle on 19 April she said the organisation's role was educating teachers in the subject area and developing tailored curriculum for use in the classroom. She said teachers could then implement the ideas as they wished. Subject areas will include improving the sustainability of transport and how food choices can affect the ecological footprint. Our great lifestyle has a big environmental cost here in Canberra.


SEE-Change was trialled at Lake Ginninderra  Secondary College with Year 12 environmental biology students as part of the curriculum. Students at the college have made solar-powered ovens, have a native plant garden they plan to share with other schools and are experimenting to find the most effective blades to use in wind turbines. Apparently the program will run in all schools next year.


I don't to be a pessimist as SEE-Change wants to promote positivity but did you know wind turbines use so much concrete as base that it potentially outweighs the carbon reduction impacts? They need to run for a long time before all those tonnes of concrete are mitigated by the renewable energy benefits. Cement for concrete is one of our most carbon intensive products due to the pure water and massive energy requirements. There are always costs and benefits and lots to think about.