Sustainable. This is my personal theme for the year, a New Year’s resolution of sorts that I shared with Secret Garden readers back in January. The more curious among you are probably wondering how I’m faring, so I thought it might be instructive on this first winter weekend to again spill the beans and offer a brief run down on my successes and failures to date. Here goes.
1. Replace petrol powered machinery with manual labour and electric power.
The area of energy use has proven to be a challenge in the sense that I’ve actually added a petrol powered machine rather than replaced one. To my ride-on mower and whipper snipper, I’ve added a chipper. I suppose this is one step forward and one back, because by chipping branches and other green material, I’m reducing the amount of waste that leaves the property and creating mulch. The downside is the extra petrol use.
2. Producing home-made fertiliser and other soil amendments.
Some progress is being made in this area. I’ve been using green manures to improve soil structure and boost organic content, and thanks to a perennial supply of material left over from the vegetable garden, I’m witnessing the gradual decomposition of a rather massive compost pile. I’m recycling potash from winter fires for use on flowering plants, and the chook pen is about 80 percent finished. A flock of at least half a dozen birds will be in by spring, boosting our fertility system enormously.
3. Rainwater harvesting and efficient irrigation.
At this point I’m relying solely on rainwater to irrigate the garden, though I’m conscious of the need to increase our harvesting capacity to account for growth in our nursery business. To make up the shortfall, recycled water from our on-site sewerage system will be used to drip irrigate fruit trees, and we hope to be in a position to purchase more rainwater tanks in the second half of the year. I’ve also been busy planting windbreaks to help prevent plants drying out, and continue to mulch extensively.
4. Purchase quality, long lasting tools.
To be honest, this has been pretty easy too achieve. Like most gardeners, I’ve got a thing for tools, so it hasn’t been hard to shop for good quality gear. I’ve replaced a cheap pruning saw and hedge shears with professional grade models, and after getting fed up with plastic watering cans, I purchased a decent English version built from heavy galvanised steel. Besides being much more durable than plastic, the new can is easier to carry and pour, and the brass rose allows for efficient delivery of water to everything from seedlings to newly planted trees.
5. Avoid excess packaging and recycle.
This is the hardest of the lot. I’ve started buying things like fertiliser, mulch and seaweed extract in bulk to reduce packaging, but to be honest there are still lots of containers and plastic packets that get tossed in the bin. At our place we don’t have a rubbish collection service, which means we don’t have access to a wheelie bin for recyclable material. I really need to find another recycling option rather than dumping stuff in landfill. On the upside, my shed is starting to look like downtown New York thanks to growing towers of stacked plastic pots.
So there you have it. A mid-year report card on my efforts to become more sustainable that can be best described as mixed. In my defence, I’ve found that it’s hard to make wholesale changes in just a few months, and learnt that what’s important is a commitment to incremental, long term change.
I’ve also found the lack of support for sustainability from the nursery and garden industry a surprise. In my experience, the wholesale nurseries in particular remain conservative and reluctant to embrace genuine green innovation. Take plastic pots for example. How many nurseries do you know that offer a discount on plants if pots are returned for recycling? How many offer the option of bare-root (pot free) plants and biodegradable pots? How many sell vegie seedlings in pots made from coconut fibre? All of these options exist, but are yet to be given a decent go.
If the general gardening public is to change, the garden industry needs to offer its support by embracing changes of its own. Green initiatives might cost a bit more initially but as in other industries, economies of scale will reduce prices and facilitate the changes gardeners have every desire to make. I for one would be more than happy to pay a bit extra for something that helps, rather than hinders my efforts to garden more sustainably. Wouldn’t you?
First published in the Toowoomba Chronicle 6th June 2009. Photo by Justin Russell.
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Hi there. Was very interested to find out what plants you grow in your edible woodland. Any chance you could give a brief description please?
To date we have two varieties of quince, a persimmon, two crabapples, a plum, and two hazelnuts alongside some maples, liquidambars, and birch. This winter we’ll be planting more crabapples, a damson, another persimmon, a medlar, and more if we can find the sapce. All are being grown informally without much training or attention.