Everybody's planting trees at the moment and it's become one of the biggest marketing boons to hit our TV's. If you haven't heard the term 'carbon neutral' yet...then it's possibly the right time to come out from under your rock. This is our new reality.

The phrase refers to each individual's carbon 'footprint' that they leave on the earth. Basically, everything you consume has an environmental cost attached to it. For example, if you enjoy bottled water as opposed to your own tap H20 then you have taken from the environment the cost of the bottle plus any air miles required to transport from the mountain spring based in the Pyrenees to you in downtown wherever.

So, in our endeavour to be 'green' and accept our responsibility as custodians of this earth we are trying to restore the balance and make our consumption 'neutral'. That is, if we take then we must give back.

And it seems that the most appropriate way to give back - is to plant a tree. And why not? Each tree can hold more than a tenth of its mass in carbon so it makes complete sense to balance nature by planting more of these organic filtering systems.

Marketers have picked up on this paradigm shift as well. So much so that in exchange for your hard-earned dollar to purchase their service or product they will plant a tree ... or two...hundred. If you're looking for employment growth in the next decade I would certainly invest in 'tree planting'.

However, with all this good vibe on being carbon neutral are we focusing on the trees but missing the forest? Like, how many trees should really be planted for my car to have replacement tyres? And, is my last meal at McDonald's (that was back in my teen years) really worth a tree?

I can't help but think that this is going to be the next environment fiasco where consumers will eventually throw up their hands in disbelief. Will advertisers try to outdo each other, offering more trees than their competitors, in a bid to secure your purchasing dollar?

And why do we feel justified that a tree is going to compensate for our ever-burgeoning lust for more? Don't we realise that the problem isn't about neutralising our effect on the environment but lessening it?

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (2)

No, the question is not: Do we all want to be sustainable gardeners? But, if we were serious about the environment is it actually POSSIBLE for us to be self-sufficient for our food intake? Is there enough land that we could all have a large enough plot of soil to grow all our dietary needs?

In a nutshell, the answer is 'Yes'... and 'No'.

Greenspree.ca calculated the amount of land required for a family of four to feed themselves as only 1/4 acre. One quarter of an acre - that's all.

And according to this site - taking into account that the world's population has now surpassed 6.6 billion - there is enough arable land for each person to have their own 1/2 acre.

That means a family of four would be entitled to 2 acres each. With two acres (.8ha) this family would be able to grow enough fruit and vegetables, raise cows, poultry, a few sheep and even grow some grain crops. More than enough to satisfy their needs.

Can you imagine it? You wake in the morning to milk the cow, check for eggs, till some soil with your pair of oxen and harvest some fruit all before breakfast. Romantically nostalgic, isn't it?

Or is it?

While this concept remains in some abstract theoretical debate we can imagine all sorts of scenarios. The problem with this notion is the personal ramifications for each individual.

Starting with dividing up the land: who gets the prime coastal real estate? And who will have to endure the hardly arable desert areas that will struggle for rainfall every season? I'll be pushing for the former, that's for sure.

It's an interesting idea that we could all be self-sustaining but if our goal is only producing our needs then life could become somewhat ...dull! Everyone would be so consumed with providing for their own consumption that we would miss out on a myriad of treats and benefits. Even this computer screen you're looking at will probably be the last one you ever see - the company that built it has now closed its factory so that it too can become arable land.

Is self-sustainability too great a concept to grasp? Or, is it just for the privileged few that can afford a 1/4 acre property?

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (1)

Over the weekend, 24 hours of live concerts being played in all 7 continents were all beating the same drum. Scores of revelers attended nine concert venues and scores of top class bands and musicians donated their time. All in the name of reversing the effects of human pollution and saving our planet.

John Mayer penned this optimistic view on his own blog prior to the shows;

I woke up this morning with hope. Excitement, even. Live Earth is taking place in 48 hours, and I’m starting to feel the first ripples of what could become a revolution.

You mean a revolution like Woodstock? Where people dissed authority, smoked more than enough pot and generally rebelled against a society so that social freedom's could be enjoyed. The outcome of all that was the oft quoted, "If you can remember Woodstock - you weren't there."

So, will Live Earth have made a difference in a generation that will eventually inherit the management of our precious globe? Or, was it just a good day out?

Maybe this next generation will adopt the message and alter their disposable habits - one they've discarded their Motorola Razr for the new iPhone, that is. They've pledged not to use disposable nappies, use chemicals to wash their clothes and won't drink bottled water. They have even vowed to replace their incandescent light bulbs with low energy substitutes and take shorter showers.

However, I'm cynical that this has made an ounce of real difference.

By nature, we're a people of comfort. And comfort can only be achieved through convenience. Why is McDonald's so successful? Because people can't be bothered cooking. Why do fruit & veg grocers exist? Because we can't be fagged growing our own and having to barter with a neighbour for our own sustenance.

Don't get me wrong. I loved the idea of Live Earth and thoroughly enjoyed the music. It's put a message out there and focused the attention of our young people. But a revolution.....?

Bild am Sonntag, Germany’s best-selling Sunday newspaper, put it best;

The bottom line is that if nothing else, the issue of climate protection was a lot of fun for two billion people for one day.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (4)

I've had free-range chooks before. I've even allowed ducks to roam through my vegie patches but I'm not at all impressed with the idea.

They rip my seedlings to bits in an effort to find a worm. They take great delight in stomping through my carrot patch and wouldn't think twice about pooping on my ripening strawberries. In fact, I think I'd rather keep the snails than let ducks and chickens forage in my garden.

But, I don't want my chickens cooped up in a pen all day either.

But this little Aussie invention might just be an alternative that keeps the best of both worlds. Free-range chickens in a cage. Odd, but simple.

They can be maneouvred effortlessly without having to engage the whole family in a chicken stalkout. Plus, they get to forage from wherever they're placed without getting into your prized vegetables. Ingenious.

At the moment, they're only available in Australia through the manufacturer McCallum Made. However, they do have an email address on their page if you want to start pestering them to export to your country.

Source: Treehugger

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (4)

We are running out of arable land.

In fact, according to FAO we are currently using 80% of all productive land with a need for 20% more within the next 40-50 years. This seems 'do-able' until you take into account that 15% of all arable land is being mismanaged or being lost to salinity or pollution.

And it's getting worse...

Changing climates are forcing droughts and floods to wreak havoc across our pasture lands while greater world needs ensure farmers are removing more trees. Broad-acre farms are becoming dust bowls and losing yields every year as pest and diseases ravage what little crops are being produced.

Project this dire situation forward 40 years and add another 3 billion people to the world's population and suddenly you have a gigantic catastrophe waiting to happen.

Unless, of course, there is a paradigm shift in our thinking and we begin to answer some of the questions that scientists have been asking for decades.

We fail constantly at feeding the 6.5 billion we have on this planet now let alone increasing that by 50%.

Kris Litman, who took this photo, states in his comments;

Every 3.6 seconds, or the time from one breath to the next, someone in this world dies from hunger. That's 24,000 deaths a day, or over 8 and a half million deaths a year. These deaths are mostly children.

1 in 7 people of this world live in chronic hunger, which is defined as not having a single day of one's life receiving adequate nutrition. That's the same number of people that live in the world's developed nations.

In my hands are 3 ounces of rice. The average person living in chronic hunger receives only this amount of food...daily.

Our attempt to solve the crisis...

The shift for most people has been to start growing fruit and vegetables on their own land. The self-sustainable life has been touted as the way of the future and permaculture has moved from cringe-factor-60's-thinking to a plausible response to the world's food problems.

But, it just can't work. As most of the world's population live in urban centres with nothing more than a balcony as their source for growing any vegetation. Those that have land are limited to postage stamp blocks where they can add a fruit tree or two and grow a handful of vegetables to supplement their daily requirements.

In other words, self-sustainable gardeners are becoming the new elite.

Those that can grow enough from their own land are in the minority, mainly because most people don't have enough land to produce their food needs. Those that don't, have to rely on regulatory board pricing, seasonal availability, climate and pest plagues in the hope that they will have enough food to eat.

And I'm not talking about the third world here. That's another issue entirely.

There's got to be a better way...

I truly believe there is. In an age where technology can grow and adapt taking our civilization forward every 5 years, it astounds me why we still think of farming within a 'box' that was handed down to us from our forefathers. Land is 'King' and trees and forests are the enemy stopping us from securing better yields and better quality foods.

Crap!!!

Allow me to throw a few technologies into the ring. Firstly, hydroponics has been around for quite some time and advances are being made more and more in producing organic results. The benefits are incredible: consistent yields, no pests and minimal disease spread, lower water use and no heavy machinery.

Second, our ability to harvest water. This has only come about because we are facing such shortages. Average rainfalls are becoming anything but average and most arable land seasonally falls victim to droughts or floods. Water is a precious commodity but it's not impossible to source and in fact, we are getting better at doing it.

Finally, our strength at building UP. I don't understand why we haven't grasped this idea yet. We keep extending farms laterally somehow expecting that it will never come to an end. Alas, it is a limited resource.

However, going up is not a problem. There's more room above the earth's surface than across it.

I've often thought about this problem and the solution I'm prescribing and wondered if it was at all possible and whether scientists would ever 'give it a go.' To my amazement, I stumbled upon a site that was developing some of these ideas.

The Vertical Farm Project.

Who knows - we may actually end up with farms in our cities rather than in rural centres. And, the technology is not that expensive that it can succeed in New York, Paris or Lilongwe.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (0)

Plastic shopping bags are high on the environmentalist's list of things to remove from the public psyche. We are now banning them in shops, being told to find substitutes and some shoppers may even be rewarded for using recyclable shopping bags.

But, whichever way you turn there are still billions, possibly gazillions, of plastic shopping bags still laying around - and there will be for some time yet. I know, because I'm sure we have at least that many littering our pantry shelves.

So, rather than depress yourself with the overwhelming enormity of the problem try using the ones you have for another noble purpose - growing vegetables.

Here's one guy who's turning his shopping bag problem into cultivatable hot property. He fills the bags with potting mix and sows seeds as someone would do with a garden bed. A little water, some sunshine, add some fertiliser and Voila! the bags have sprouted fresh vegetables.

One of the bonuses of growing vegies in shopping bags is that the heat is captured by the plastic which warms the soil. So, for those wanting an early start on some tomato or capsicum plants this is quite an advantage.

The plastic bags can be washed and reused after each crop but hopefully they will start to break down from the pH levels. Then it's on to the next bag and the next crop of vegies.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (5)

I felt guilty looking at all this fruit burdening my little kumquat tree so rather than sit and watch it rot or feed the birds (who don't seem to be interested in them anyway), I purposed myself to make some kumquat marmalade.

I'm a little impartial to marmalade at the best of times so adding some extra flavours that I really enjoy seemed the next logical step. The lemons still aren't quite ready so I had to rule them out. And, my family isn't keen on ginger so I had to limit my tastebuds a little but I did find a few ripe limes and even some stalks of lemongrass.

Fortunately, my kumquat tree had only yielded 2kg of fruit because it still took my daughter and I an hour to slice and remove the pips. Then it was onto the stove to cook it all up.

We had been saving glass jars over the past couple weeks in preparation for this little project but we were still short and had to make do with some Tupperware containers instead of pouring it down the sink.

For those who also have kumquat trees, or in fact any citrus fruit, that are ready for harvesting you might like the recipe that we used so I thought I would include it below;

Kumquat Marmalade Recipe

You cook up the Kumquats, Limes and Lemongrass with the water for about an hour or so until the peels become soft. Then add the sugar that's been warmed in a low oven for about 10 mins with the Jamsetta and boil for a further 10 mins. Then pour into sterilised jars and cover.

Pretty simple recipe really. I would rather have done it without the added pectin and just used the seeds but I'm not sure how to do that so I will further investigate and update this post when I come up with an answer.

I can't wait to try it on toast for breakfast this morning...Yum!

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wash out the bottle using the same water you washed your dishes in.

1. Make a garden scoop.
This probably won't be strong enough to dig your soil but it can be used to meter out potting mix or fertiliser etc. You could make on for each medium so that they don't contaminate each other.

2. Make a plant self-watering container
There are only so many garden scoops you will need so rather than waste this bit turn it into a cheap plant self-waterer.

Put less holes in the lid if you want it to come out slowly.

Invert the bottle in your container and fill with water.

3. Make some seed trays

Mark out the bottom 1/4 to create a small seed tray.

Put some holes in the bottom for drainage, add your seed-raising potting mix (using your scoop, of course) and then sow your seeds. Leave them on the window sill to germinate.

4. Make some labels for your new plants or seed trays

There is still some scrap left over from the other projects so these can be turned into plant labels.

5. What to do with the ring seal?

This still remains and I have not idea how it could be used. Any suggestions?

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (7)

Could this be the best answer to creating a renewable energy source? Quite possibly.

Forget de-salination plants, tapping underground aquifers or recycling human effluent. There may be an invention that is soon to hit the world that is capable of producing more water than we could ever require from a source that's as close as walking outside your comfortable home.

Max Whisson, a Perth inventor, may have created the answer to our water shortage problems. His "Whisson windmill", as it's colloquially tagged, is still residing behind a 'commercial in confidence' venture but it seems it's gaining in public momentum as the idea slowly catches on.

The invention is part wind turbine and part refrigeration which cools and condenses the air until water is extracted. But it doesn't require vast wind speeds to generate water. In fact;

It can get water in wind as light as 2km/h. - Sunday Times 11/02/2007

The most exciting part of this planned technology is that while wind farms have sprung up around the nation consuming vast areas of land, these windmills may be efficient enough to reside in your own backyard. A small unit can produce 6000 litres per day, far more than the average household uses.

Another exciting point to mention is hot air holds more water than cold. Therefore, in the months when we use the most water there is more available.

And just when you thought this invention couldn't get any better consider that it also produces its own energy to extract the wind's water.

You can read more about this amazing invention here, here and here.

The downside of Max's windmill is that the WA Government is still not willing to bring it to the table while interest has been generated from the US, Russia and the Middle East. Instead, our state government is too busy trying to tap into our local aquifer to resource Perth's water needs.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here's a great gift idea to share the love and be garden friendly.

Grow-A-Note cards are produced by 3r Living and actually have flowering seeds embedded into the paper stock. Once you've finished with the card it can be buried in a garden bed or container and watered. The seeds germinate and shortly afterwards the reciever is rewarded with a some beautiful flowers.

It's the perfect gift that keeps on giving. And it's environmentally friendly.

Each set of 8 costs US$17.50 (which is comparable to buying cards by themselves) and are available in Lavender or Speckled Yellow.

If flowers aren't your thing then maybe you could send your friends a "Plant a Tree" card.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (0)

Imagine growing Barramundi in your own backyard?

Backyard aquaponics is the hybrid lovechild from those that espouse hydroponics and those that sermon us on aquaculture. It's a system that marries the two and intertwines their relationship bringing to bear a sustainable gardeners offspring that we'll call - Utopia!

Aquaponics is a system where aquaculture (a renewable fish farming method) and hydroponics (a renewable vegetable farming method) are built together to complement each method's strength and weaknesses.

The downside of aquaculture is dealing with the polluted water. Ammonia rich it will inevitably starve the fish of oxygen if it's not processed and purified. The problem with hydroponics is that it requires vast nutrients to supplement the feeding of plants.

Aquaponics takes the two weakest links and marries them together to produce a system that purifies the fishes water and feeds the hydroponically grown vegetables.

In a nutshell, how does aquaponics work?

As previously mentioned, the fish tanks become high in ammonia. This water is then filtered through a gravel bed where a bacteria has been cultivated and this bacteria turns the ammonia into nitrogen. The plants grow in the gravel beds and use the nitrogen to grow. The water is then returned to the fish pond clean and aerated, free from the heavy nutrients.

How do I set one up?

While the backyard aquaponics process sounds complicated, and obviously expensive, it doesn't have to be. The guy who inspired me to begin planning an aquaponics system, Joel Malcolm, built his system from scrounged materials and produced a working process for very little money. Obviously, you can spend heaps if you desire.

The basic construction relies on a fish tank and a gravel bed for the vegetables. Water needs to circulate between the two via a pumping system and the operation needs to be protected from the sun and hungry birds.

More information can be found via Joel's site with an offer to buy his book and DVD.

What fish and vegetables can I grow?

Fish: Any freshwater fish species that are either local to your own area or that you can source readily from around the globe. This is also the same with shellfish and crustaceans. So, the possibilities are endless. You could be growing large barramundi with small freshwater cod, mussells and even some marron in the same tank giving your family diversity in what they eat.

Vegetables: Any vegetable that you can grow hydroponically can be grown in this system. Tomatoes, lettuces, carrots, beans, beets, potatoes, cabbages and the list goes on.

Can this system feed my family?

This is the most important question when considering whether to invest your time, effort and resources into a process such as this. If it only produces a few vegetables and a handful of fish then the process is flawed because the energy required (initially) is more than it takes to grow vegetables naturally.

Joel reports that his 4m x 8m (13ft x 26ft) plot harvested 50kg (100lb) of fish and 100kg (200lb) vegetables within 6 months. Therefore, if a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children) ate 600gm (21oz) of fish every third day this would easily provide for them.

Why do sustainable gardeners need to employ aquaponics?

If you're really serious about permaculture then backyard aquaponics is the new frontier in environmental safeguards. Sustainable living can only occur when we replace the most of our normal consumption with products that we create ourselves. This process produces vegetables in ways that we've done before but adds another dimension to create a meat source that even most vegans find attractive.

And it can all be done in your own backyard.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (6)