Tag: Permaculture Design

Raised Vegetable Garden for Renters

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Gardening for renters can be a fruitful experience with a little planning and some open discussion with your agent. With a series of heat waves and all of my transplanted plants already showing the stress of being uprooted I was looking for an alternative to slowly dying pot plants. When I constructed this raised veggie bed I began to realise the cost of filling it with enough quality compost was going to out way the benefits of growing my own greens. So by interplanting established pot plants within the veggie bed, I have not only cut back on the amount of soil needed, but also provided some shade for my soon to arrive seedlings and provided the pots with some insulation from evaporation. It also means year round green and diversity for me to look out at while admiring my veggies. Here are the steps I took:

 

Step 1: Begin to collect lawn clippings.

Keep half of them in sealed garbage bags with several holes in the bottom, this will break down quickly; keep the other half unsealed to dry for more bulk. Mix both piles with animal manure to balance the PH levels. Hose this layer down thoroughly.

 

 

Step 2:

Once the grass clippings reach half way up the veggie bed place the bags of compost where you will be planting your seedings or seeds. Then place your potter plants around them keeping in mind shade lines and companion planting techniques. Hose this layer down

 

 

Step 3:

Pile sugar cane mulch or lucern around the boundaries of the soil, walling them in and insulating the edges. Then empty the compost into the holes formed. To this compost add organic fertilisers and wetting agents (coffee grinds are a great alternative to the manufactured varieties). Hose thoroughly and get planting!!!

 

Retrofitting the Burbs

Categories eco

I had the chance today to sit in on David Holmgren’s Retrofitting the Suburbs for Sustainability at The Wheeler Centre.

It was very timely. Getting into work – a colleague spoke about how crazy the amount of time it took him to commute into the City given that he lived just North/West of the CBD. We had both experienced not being able to board 2 trains/trams simply because we couldn’t fit in!!

As I took the tram up Swanston St and compared the volume of foot traffic to when I was studying in the city 10 years ago … it feels as though it has doubled.

With what David describes as our Energy Descent Future and the subsequent reduced mobility of people and goods – moving either closer to the city or re-locating to a job closer to home is already looking like an appealing option.

At the moment riding my bike is an option – but even along Swanston St – with the new MEGA Tram Stops (no more Trams actually servicing these stops) the bike riders are currently battling with pedestrians and tram, so bridging the South Side of Melbourne has become ever more of a challenge for our warriors on 2 wheels.

But above the doom and gloom David’s talk was humorous and engaging. I live in a street very much like the one he described in his talk on ‘Aussie St’ – a neighbourhood of four houses battling to come to terms with a failing economy and energy crisis. What rang true for me out of this talk – was how much richer in community we can potentially become. Choosing your neighbours wisely in this scenario was critical. I see the ‘incremental adaption’ that David described already emerging. I run a small business – using recycled material – not only because I love the vintage look – but because having worked for a multi-national fabric company – I know the extent of price exploitation on imported fabrics. I am also aware of the social and environmental impact fabric manufacturing has on our Asian neighbours – where most imported fabrics are sourced. I see the increments becoming leaps and bounds before we know it. Its not only a rather confronting time to be alive – but if you are willing to move out of old habits – its a really very exciting time – to watch and see – can our innovation overcome our fears.