Growing Vegies in a Box - First Step to a Blue Mountains Food Garden

Lizzie Connor and Sue Girard have been teaching residents of the Blue Mountains the fundamentals of growing vegetables in small containers. I experienced their first workshop at the Festival of Joy 2007 held at the Katoomba Community Gardens. Their combined wealth of knowledge empowered the participants both young and old with the knowledge that it was possible to grow salad vegetables without a garden.

Last month I was invited to participate in another workshop held at Lizzie's Katoomba house on a day that was particularly cold and wet. However, the atmosphere was convivial and both Sue and Lizzie taught us some of the principles of Permaculture and together we helped create 4 boxes of veggies.


On Lizzie's deck, we were able to see previous boxes in different stages of development and a bubble wrap cover invented by Sue that provides protection in harsh environments.









Another workshop will be held in June and online support is available to all at http://www.katoombachamber.com/ (follow the links to Kitchen Gardens and then to Questions and Answers). Sue and Lizzie are both members of the team that monitor the Forum and help answer queries.

Photos by Helena Wong.
Maryanne Bell.

APC9 2008 Reflections by Sue Girard

Over the Easter long weekend a small group of BMPN members attended the ninth Australasian Permaculture Conference (APC9) organised by Permaculture North and held at Turramurra. Many other participants from across Australia attended for all or a number of different days and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and learned new and stimulating ideas. The main topic on the agenda was Water use and conservation and this was very apt because the weather "drizzled" for the whole four days.

The Conference was called a "convergence" and this was indeed the right word for such a gathering because this year it was 30 years since Permaculture One was published; all the big names in Permaculture came to celebrate: Bill Mollison, David Holmgren, Geoff Lawton, Haikai Tane, Robyn Francis and Rosemary Morrow. A full list of Australasian personalities and Roberto Perez from Cuba, can be accessed from Permaculture North's website.

Proudly BMPN played a small part in the presentation of this event. Our Rosemary Morrow spoke on Water as well as being on the panel of experts and facilitating several sessions. Pat Rayner introduced David Holmgren’s session on his property Melliodora and later Aaron Sorensen and Dan Deighton speaking on Permaculture in Schools. Celeste Salter introduced Josh Byrne’s talk on Conserving Urban Water and also Ross Mars’ talk on Working with Water and my daughter Jessi Girard sang the opening song at the Public Forum on the Saturday.

I wanted to attend just about every session presented but of course with four sessions running at a time that was impossible. Any of you who know me will recognize that my interests are design of urban landscapes, and getting PC knowledge out there by education and different types of media. So I went to sessions on teaching delivery styles and ‘web entry’ for PC but I also sat in on sessions I thought I knew least about - such as sewage, swales/ keylines, and development overseas. I’m not sure I can relate in words exactly what I learnt but I was definitely inspired by what I heard at this convergence.

Highlights for me were meeting and talking with people I had heard so much about over the years: I sat with Bill Mollison for one of my meals and we talked exclusively about PC, David Holmgren was one of my neighbours in our tent city and we were able to talk about things other than PC, I talked with Carolyn Nuttal about her experiences in schools and about her and Janet Millington’s new book Outdoor Classrooms, I talked with Jill Finnane about book illustrations (anyone who has seen her book From Lawns to Lunch will understand why), I talked with Roberto Perez about lots of things Cuban and I became reacquainted with Russ Grayson, Fiona Campbell, Robyn Francis and Rob Allsop. Oh and Josh Byrne was as nice to talk to as he is to look at!

Ecological Footprint Calculator

There are a few of these on the internet and this one was developed with the Victorian EPA, Global Footprint Network and WWF Australia in 2007. It is easy to use and offers different PC options.

http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/ecologicalfootprint/calculators/personal/introduction.asp

The benefits of this calculator are that you can choose simple or advanced questions that allow you to accurately identify your actions and when the final asssessment is made there is an option to follow that will suggest additional changes to be made to further reduce your footprint; if you were to accept these additional changes a final result is shown.

Celeste

Film review of Power of Community

The video "The Power of Community - How Cuba Survived Peak Oil" was shown at the Carrington Monday, 17 March, 2008 by BMPN.

Peak Oil is the point where oil prices inexorably go up because of rising production costs due to declining reserves. It has been predicted to hit globally about now, and indeed we are seeing oil prices rising. Since much of our society is based on having cheaply available fuel for transportation, peak oil will affect all of our lives dramatically. So I was interested to see how Cuba coped with the sudden severe drop in the oil that was available to them after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.

The transition was very difficult. For four to five years there were severe food shortages, so much so that some pregnant mothers were malnourished, children were underweight, and the average adult lost about 24 pounds. The government imposed food rationing, thus making sure that everybody got a minimum amount of food. During the ‘Special Period’, as Cubans call it, providing food for survival was an obvious priority.

No longer having access to industrial fertilizer and the fuel to transport farm produce, Cubans began to learn how to garden organically on urban plots in Havana, and on private land that the State released to local groups. They were aided in this by a group of permaculture teachers from Australia. Oxen were reintroduced for plowing; their manure helping to build soil fertility. Agriculture became much more labour intensive, and in time agricultural workers were among the highest paid workers. It took four to five years for soil fertility to build and for ample locally produced fresh vegetables and fruits to be available.

None of this is surprising. Permaculturists and Peak Oil activists have been thinking (and acting) along these lines for years, and the Slow Food Movement is helping people get started with workshops showing people how to grow their own food. http://www.katoombachamber.com/content/view/19/34/.

However, seeing the images of Havana and the on-site interviews with Cubans who had been through the Special Period made the prospect of coping with Peak Oil seem more real. (Roberto Perez was an enthusiastic Cuban permaculturalist featured in the film and he recently visited Australia.)
Cuba's drop in oil availability was sudden. Ours will be a slow decline, and the transition will be affected by the introduction of renewable energy, energy-efficient cars and buildings, and related thrusts towards sustainability. Techno-optimists say we will be okay but others are doubtful. I found myself wishing that people from the NSW Department of Planning would see the video, since some of the stress of the transition from abundant oil to high-priced oil, with all that it entails, could be mitigated by advanced preparation. Andrew Gaines

Naturally Growing Garden Course

An introductory short course in growing an integrated garden of fruit, vegetables and flowers using the principles of organic growing and permaculture, is to be held at "Dayspring", 85 Winbourne Rd, Hazelbrook with Jan Goodlet.

Saturday mornings in May 3rd, 10th & 17th . (12 hours in total)
COST: $120

Jan Goodlet and her family have transformed ‘Dayspring’ into a productive organic and permaculture garden for over 30 years. She enjoys sharing these gardening principles with others.

For more information contact Jan on 4758 6591 or Carolyn on 0425 314 863 or livingwell@pnc.com.au

Seedsavers Conference 2008

Seedsavers held their 20th conference at Gulgong Showground (near Mudgee) on the 29th and 30th March, 2008. You can find out more at the Seedsavers Website

Genetic Modification and Epigenetics: How GM Malfunctions

What is the fundamental problem with genetic plant modification (GE/GM)? The answer is relatively simple. The DNA of cotton, corn, soy, canola and other plants can all be made resistant to specific herbicide/s, or otherwise changed in an attempt to harvest from them fuel oils, drugs etc.

Many plants are already resistant to certain herbicides, e.g. many grasses are unaffected by broadleaf herbicides (BH), so BH-resistant cereals are 'oversprayed' with BH on to the crop without killing them. The extent to which conventional, non-GM, non-organic farmers rely on these is something many organic growers may not realise.

Indeed, some of our most vocal opponents of GM are actually these same 'conventional' non-organic farmers (eg anti-GM spokesperson Julie Newman from WA). But many farmers do not realise the ultimate threat emanting from GM: loss of food security, and possible financial security, arising from potential contamination/cross-pollination from adjacent GM crops.

Giant GM monopolies hold individual farmers responsible for any contamination arising, setting the scene for drawn-out 'David and Goliath'-style legal conflicts (such as the infamous case Monsanto vs. Percy Schmeiser (photo).

Whether it be an environmental factor (drought, wet, heat, cold, soil type) or a disease (fungal, viral, bacterial etc) or a chemical (ie herbicide), there will always be an individual member of a species (be it human, animal or plant) which has, or develops, a resistance to something in order to enhance its survival chances. It may be only 1:100 to begin with.

The reason for this is a function of epigenetics. Epigenetics means a change in gene function. In genetic modification this adaption is artificially engineered, i,e it is not a natural function which would lead to selection for plant beeding. Epigenetics means that an individual organism adjusts itself in that environment, due to non-genetic factors that influence the behaviour of cells traits and functions. At any one time, maybe only a small number of genes are actually "switched on" as a response to external factors. Most genes are simply dormant, but will switch on, if and when required to respond to the environment.

A good example is when a species shrinks in size as a response to shrinking resources. It is known that horses did this in North America about 55 million years ago in response to the altered environment of high CO2 and subsequent soaring temperatures. The environmental causation may vary, but the result is similar, and other examples have been found. In approx. 8,000 years of plant breeding, selections have been made which have led to specific crosses (or hybrids) which can also be naturally occurring.

However, in GM there is a 'forced mutation', whereby a gene is inserted by a 'shotgun' method into plant DNA. Sometimes this gene comes from a virus, bacteria or other non-plant species. The method creates a 'forced entry' and it is energetically unstable. Epigenetics, on the other hand is 'crosstalk' between the genes and the environment.

A genome is a 'full complement of genetic material within an organism'; it can change within one generation (called a fluid genome). This assists a species to develop natural resistance to new diseases, insects, weed competitors, etc. Fusarium wilt is becoming more endemic in crops sprayed with, and resistant to, glyphosate. As these GM glyphosate-resistant plants are just one genotype, they may not be able to develop a resistance to fusarium. They are really only one individual multiplied, and GM scenarios can only further reduce the biodiversity of crop seed stocks.

A film titled "Outfoxed" explores the 'missing link' between production and environmental understanding, ie reductionist science and technological power dominating ecological understanding and human wisdom. The result of business interest steering technology is GM, the stated aims of which are reduction of chemical use and increasing crop yields, neither of which have materialised.

The real agenda is business promotion. GE/GM however is an extraordinarily experimental procedure. Unravelling DNA cannot explain how it works, so shooting or injecting foreign DNA at random into other DNA carries a risk. If you don't know how it works, how can you be assured of a specific outcome? As life is biologically active, the outcome cannot be guaranteed. GM is altered DNA, but it is far from clear what exactly has been altered.

The above article is partly sourced from notes taken during a talk by Dr Maarten Stapper, ex-CSIRO, BSc, AgEng,PhD, Adelaide, Tuesday 18th September 2007

Deb Guildner

You might also want to visit http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm for futher information.

Engineers adopt Permaculture

There is university competition for first year engineering students called "Engineers Without Borders Challenge." It is a national design competition based on a sustainable development project.

In 2007, the 3rd prize was awarded to RMIT for a water supply and treatment, permaculture design. The final 41 short listed designs will assist the Uluru Childrens Home in Alampara in southern India improve the waste water treatment, water supply, sanitation, permaculture, agriculture, rural electrification, bridges, household and medical technology.

Information sourced from Water Engineering 2(1) March 2008. No link to article but you can read more about Engineers Without Borders. Picture from EWB site.

Working Bees in February

Working bees are good opportunities to accomplish many garden design projects with the aid of BMPN members who have a wealth of knowledge. It is therefore more than just a case of "many hands make light work".

In February, BMPN decided to have two working bees in order to prepare two permaculture gardens for visitors from the Australian Permaculture Convergence 9 (which took place over the Easter holidays); and while most of the activities occured in North Sydney, there were opportunites for participants to see a variety of permaculture gardens in the Sydney Basin area. We visited Lis Bastian's Blackheath property in the morning and later we "converged" at Sue Girard's Katoomba property. Here are some of the photographs:

Blackheath


Lis surprised us with the news that her permaculture garden was only a year old. She explained that she had brought in compost and manures and then fed the beds with homemade compost so that what was once a hard clay lawn is now a number of rockwalled retained beds teaming with mycorhyzas and healthy vegetables. We admired the edible ground cover of nasturtiums and Lis was particularly proud of her very nutrititious Cavallo Nero or black kale (she also had the red and curly varieties).


The chicken coop featured a secure house and yard with a surrounding separate run containing fruit trees to provide nutrition for her foraging rare French Faverolles chickens. Lis obtained these chickens from a breeder attempting to save this endangered breed and simultaneously was able to interest her children in environmental issues in a most tangible manner.

Another project was the creation of a recycled brick bordered garden to prohibit the encroaching lawn and more importantly to improve the health of the soil and old roses in the garden bed.


Note the use of a garden hose as a means to create an organically shaped border that serves to increase the "edge" and provide more planting opportunities. Kathy delighted in maintaining order to the diagonally placed bricks and the soil really looked magnificient.

As with all working bees we stopped work after about 2 hours and were treated by the host to a delicious lunch. In a very convivial mood, Lis happily distributed some much admired surplus plants and seeds. Again this is typical during working bees.

And then it was off to Katoomba to Sue's more established garden where we spread mulch in the front garden, weeded in the orchard and the keyhole designed garden and finally helped complete the chook run.

Katoomba


Sue designed her long and narrow chicken house and run to best fit the narrow garden block; a different arrangement to Lis' more traditional rectangular design. The arches were later covered by netting to keep chickens in and foxes out.


Sue has incorporated several water sources and one is an attractive pond complete with plastic snake; ponds are valuable ecosystems that bring useful predators such as frogs to feed on harmful insects such as grasshoppers etc.


So that was a busy but rewarding day for garden owners and helpers. Consider asking for a working bee at your garden by contacting Celeste bluemountains@permaculturesydneybasin.org.au.

Survey Results from BMPN members

Over the busy Summer/Christmas school holidays 20 members were able to respond to the survey and they overwhelmingly asked for opportunities to meet informally to exchange information, produce and plants.

Marianne summed this up beautifully "A regular gathering/'market' for seed and cutting or home grown produce exchange/purchase would be nice. I would like a communal space where we could drink tea and relax or are creative together while we socialise and meet new people, exchange handy hints, tips and recipes: A bit like a gardening magazine, but with face-to-face rather than written information. This is not to exclude to finally gather this information and include it in the newsletters for all to share."

Here are the survey results in more detail:

20/20 wanted to remain on this contact list.
7/20 were able to contribute or assist in editing articles.
13/20 want informal gatherings monthly or bi-monthly.
13/20 were happy to participate in working bees.
17/20 were very keen to visit PC garden. Paul made a special request for Cittaslow Kitchen Garden and Kathy and Murray are interested in bee keeping.
16/20 welcomed guest speakers/workshops. Anna suggested they be held quarterly. Jackie suggested that they coincide with existing festivals eg Blues and Folk or Winter Magic and along with Marianne and Ian, requested information on small scale poultry farming in the mountains. Raymond produced a list: "Intensive Small Area Gardening; Propagation/Pruning Techniques; Sustainable Living Practices; Seed Saving".
9/20 were interested in some form of PC education, however David made the valuable point that "The idea of the courses is good but previous experience has been that such courses are too expensive."

Additional information was supplied by these members:

Vera: "I would like to set up a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) set up with a farmer/s as close as possible to the Blue Mountains" and welcomed contact through BMPN from consumers or growers." She also suggested a film night showing The Real Dirt on Farmer John with "guest speakers like Michael Burlace, Stuart Hill to talk about the subject".

David: "...we are interested in productive gardens, alternative building techniques and food networks." He also offered quarterly workshops or demonstations to coincide with seasonal activities eg Spring and Harvest festivals. Thank you David.

In order to meet bimonthly or seasonally, we now need a suitable venue in a location convenient to the majority of the members. Help me make an accurate choice by responding to my email asking for your postcode and any suggestions. Also please email me directly Maryanne@belldesigns.info if you would like to attend our meetings. (My apologies if I have misquoted anybody.) Maryanne Bell

Recycling Plastics

When I recycle plastic, what does that actually mean?


Did you know that the Katoomba Waste Management Facility takes in about 28,000 tonnes of garbage each year? According to Blue Mountains City Council, 16% of that amount could have been recycled in some way. Plastics are of course one of the major problems.


According to Clean Up Australia, the average family can accumulate 60 shopping bags in just 4 shopping trips; which works out at 6 billion shopping bags each year. Of these 3.3 billion or more are the flimsy supermarket type bags. Apparently if tied together in a chain that’s enough to circle the world 37 times. No wonder the Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett wants to ban plastic bags by the end of the year.


The idea of no plastic bags gives me the vision of less green house gas emissions and a cleaner environment. What else does reprocessing/recycling plastic mean for me?

The High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) plastic is found in these flimsy supermarket type bags (as well as milk and juice bottles) and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) found in soft drink bottles are the commonest types of plastics can be reprocessed. I guess we are all familiar with the Δ symbol on some of the products we buy at the shops that can go in our local recycle bins at present. Numbers Δ 1 PET, Δ 2 HDPE; Δ 3 V (Vinyl) found in cordial and juice bottles; and Δ 5 PP (Polypropylene) found in yoghurt and sauce bottles.


As in everything in life there are exception to every rule, those supermarket plastic bags are made from the recyclable HDPE, but they need to go to a central collection point rather than residential recycling bins. They are available, but this has meant that a mere 10% get reprocessed.


Those tougher plastic bags from those more exclusive clothing shops are made from Low density polyethylene (LDPE, Δ 4) and unfortunately BMCC aren’t able to recycle these and a few other types of plastic available, just at this stage. But it’s often surprising what can be reprocessed rather than chucked in the bin - even some plant pots.So what are the finished products of this reprocessing?

PET plastics can be remade into can become fabric, insulation for sleeping bags and sports jackets, furniture, carpets, overhead transparencies, erasable wall planners, business cards, computer bags.

HDPE on the other hand can become irrigation pipes, garden hoses, kitchen drainage boards, buckets, doghouses plastic trays for greenhouse plants.

• V becomes loose-leaf folders, mud flaps traffic cones.


• PP can become car battery cases, rakes, funnels, bicycle racks.

The list is amazing if you are as fascinated as I have become about this topic. Try this site http://www.corporaterecycling.com.au/ for more information.

Sue

Enviro Grants for Schools up to $1500!

Aussie Solar, a renewable energy company based in the Blue Mountains
(a supporter of Cittaslow and accredited through Council's Blue Mountains Business Advantage program), has just launched their 2008 Greenhouse Grants Program.

All schools from Kindergarten to Year 6, within the Blue Mountains local government area are eligible to apply for funding for environmental education activities such as bushland conservation, kitchen gardens, energy, water and waste reduction programs.

Tips to help you on your way
There is part funding to assist teachers and or parents to develop a program (which could include writing the application) as long as the education program is integrated into your school’s curriculum or program. Plus a list of project ideas and experienced local environmental service providers who can write applications, develop programs, lesson plans, suppliers of organic veggie seedlings and people to assist you with creating your dream environmental educational program - a real bonus!

For more information visit http://www.aussiesolar.com.au/ contact Amber on 1300 794 110 or email grants@aussiesolar.com.au .
Applications close 20 March 2008.

The Cuban Experience : Survival, Sustainablity and Building Community

The famous Cuban activist, Roberto Perez, is visiting Australia in 2008, giving the key note address at APC9, and will be visiting the Blue Mountains on 27th March. He will talk about the Cuban experience (which experienced Peak Oil in 1990's) and engage in dialogue and discussion on practical ways we can meet the challenges of climate change and making the transition to a low energy society.

The big words on many people’s minds today are Climate Change and Peak Oil. The big question is how do we make the transition to a low energy society, and what would such a society be like? Where are there models we can learn and take inspiration from? If you have seen the award-winning documentary film The Power of Community you would promptly reply “Cuba”.

When Cuba lost access to Soviet oil, fertilizers and export trade market in the early 1990s, the country faced virtual overnight economic collapse and an immediate crisis – feeding the population. The story of the Cuban people’s hardship, ingenuity, and triumph over sudden adversity, through cooperation, conservation, and community, to create a low energy society is inspirational. Cuba’s transition to organic agriculture, and rapid relocalisation based on decentralized health care and higher education, bicycles and public transport, and community response to radical change is both thought provoking and empowering.

What is CAPE?

CAPE evolved in response to a request from the Foundation for Nature and Humanity, Havana, Cuba, for Robyn Francis to visit Cuba to provide training and support in integrated urban planning for sustainable cities and ecovillage design. The Australian Network felt that the Australian community had much to learn from the Cuban experience so the concept of an exchange was born: Roberto to Australia, Robyn to Cuba.

Erda Institute with Permaculture Education have established CAPE, and a dedicated CAPE fund, to bring Roberto Perez to Australia in March-April 2008. Roberto’s visit coincides with a number of key events including the 9th Australian Permaculture Convergence, Sydney.Roberto attributes much of the success of Cuba’s urban agriculture and food security to the introduction of permaculture by a group of Australian permaculture trainers during the early years of the Cuban crisis, or ‘Special Period’. The city of Havana now produces over 60% of its fruit and vegetables within the city and peri-urban areas.

(extract from CAPE Flyer)

Certificate II in Conservation and Land Management (Natural Area Restoration)

I would like to put in a plug for the course I just completed at Wentworth Falls TAFE, Conservation and Land Management: Natural Area Restoration Certificate II, this was a FANTASTIC course and has quite literally changed my life.

Many of the students including myself want to continue on to the Cert III level, but we don't have the numbers for next semester, so we need more students to enrol first semester this year in the Cert II level, so that more of us can continue on! This is Bush Regeneration and Environmental Management and really should be compulsory for everyone in the Mountains (hehe, maybe a slight exaggeration, but not by much)!

Certificate II in Conservation and Land Management (Natural Area Restoration)
Duration - Full time is three days/week for 1/2 year
Enrolment day - Friday 1st February or Monday Monday 4th February 1pm - 7pm Blue Mountains College, Mitchell St, Wentworth Falls.

About the course : This course is designed as an introduction to Environmental Studies focusing particularly on principles of bush regeneration and conservation, weed control, botany, seed collection and fauna studies. It is an all encompassing, fascinating and vocational course. Anyone who has done the course and has wanted work has got it. Anyone who has an interest in their natural environment or wants to work within the industry should do this course. There is also a focus on conservation issues specific to the Blue Mountains that are addressed theoretically and practically in the field.

'I got a job in the industry before I even finished the course, it has opened my eyes to my world and quite literally changed my life. The passion, knowledge and dedication of the staff is really remarkable...everyone should do this course!' - Helen Deane