One of my goals in the next six months is to find a restaurant that would like to grow their own food on their walls and roof. Here is a restaurant in Chicago which has recently made this happen. This type of build-up is a traditional sytle raised garden bed but highlights how easily it can be done. I would like to set up a rooftop garden on a larger scale with rows of vegetables and bee hives. If you happen to know anyone who owns a restaurant and is forward thinking then please ask them to get in touch with Junglefy.
My cucumbers have come to the end of their life after a very productive two months. This was by far the most successful cucumber crop I have ever grown. I think the fact that the plants were raised off the ground prevented mildews from taking hold. Pollination by bees and other insects was much higher that I had had previously. The brocolli are still going strong and I expect them to start flowering in the coming weeks.
I am going to remove the coconut fibre from the green roof and replace with two different green roof mixes. One will be a specially designed with in-organic slow release fertilisers and the other will be similar but with organic nutrients. It is likely that the inorganic mix will work best initially but I believe the organic one will begin to catch up as the flora and fauna develop in the mix.
Have a look at this link to vertical farming which takes urban farming to the next level. I believe this is the way of the future but like the author indicates there is a fair amount of learning to be done first. Rather than growing food on a large scale like this it would make more sense for people (or robots??) to grow their own food on their own building or balconies.
I will post some photos of my vegetable garden in the coming days. Everthing is growing very well with the warm weather and rain.
If you would like to follow a quarterly article I write for The Food Coach. Please click on this link. There are lots of great recepies on this website to try out.
Happy gardening!!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
More pictures of my garden
I thought I would share some additional photos of my house and garden and highlight some of the sustainable features that have been incorporated into the design. The paving and edging throughout the garden uses recycled brick. These bricks have been pulled up from jobs that we have worked on through our sustainable landscaping company Green Rooms.
Buried beneath the paving is a 5,000L rainwater tank which is used to water the garden, green walls and the green roof. I am surprised at how quickly this amount of water is used up. The majority goes to watering the vegetables and fruit trees. I am currently looking into a suitable grey water system but am mindful that in a small garden a system that goes straight from the washing machine to the garden can cause problems over time with buildups of salts and other pathogens in the soil. To minimise this problem the grey water system needs to have a diverter on it so that different zones can be watered during different weeks. Remember though that grey water can not be used in the vegetable garden or on herbs.
In the top corner you can see a pizza oven that I have built. It is a fantastic addition to any backyard and if you have the room I highly recommend one. The wood that I use in the oven consists of cypress and Australian hardwood timber offcuts as well as hardwood timber that I source from a local tree maintenance company. My aim is to one day eat a pizza that is entirely made from produce grown in the garden. The toppings will be easy but growing and grinding the wheat for the flour will be the biggest challenge.
This is one of my two raised vegetable garden beds. This bed is built using naturally termite resistant Australian cypress. Having a raised bed is great for my son Fynn as it is at a perfect height for him to pull out all the little seedlings which unfortunately in his eyes look very similar to the weeds that I am pulling out.
The corn out the front is almost ready and the cucumbers are still producing on the chook house roof. I have some brocolli, lettuce and silver beet ready to plant out this weekend.
Buried beneath the paving is a 5,000L rainwater tank which is used to water the garden, green walls and the green roof. I am surprised at how quickly this amount of water is used up. The majority goes to watering the vegetables and fruit trees. I am currently looking into a suitable grey water system but am mindful that in a small garden a system that goes straight from the washing machine to the garden can cause problems over time with buildups of salts and other pathogens in the soil. To minimise this problem the grey water system needs to have a diverter on it so that different zones can be watered during different weeks. Remember though that grey water can not be used in the vegetable garden or on herbs.
In the top corner you can see a pizza oven that I have built. It is a fantastic addition to any backyard and if you have the room I highly recommend one. The wood that I use in the oven consists of cypress and Australian hardwood timber offcuts as well as hardwood timber that I source from a local tree maintenance company. My aim is to one day eat a pizza that is entirely made from produce grown in the garden. The toppings will be easy but growing and grinding the wheat for the flour will be the biggest challenge.
This is one of my two raised vegetable garden beds. This bed is built using naturally termite resistant Australian cypress. Having a raised bed is great for my son Fynn as it is at a perfect height for him to pull out all the little seedlings which unfortunately in his eyes look very similar to the weeds that I am pulling out. The corn out the front is almost ready and the cucumbers are still producing on the chook house roof. I have some brocolli, lettuce and silver beet ready to plant out this weekend.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
chook house roof
As promised here is a photo showing the exceptional growth of the green roof on the chook house. We are picking two cucumbers a day. The warm and wet weather has brought on an aphid plague but the lady bugs have laid a number of eggs and the new larvae are fast getting on top of the aphids. It is amazing to watch the lady bugs, the larvae and the hoverflies work together to get on top of the aphids.
The broccoli and beetroot are growing well and free from pests.
Once the cucumbers have finished I will be trying a range of different medias on the roof to assess the ideal roof garden growing media in Australia using recycled and sustainable materials. The mix is likely to contain crushed brick, ash and coconut fibre.
The broccoli and beetroot are growing well and free from pests.
Once the cucumbers have finished I will be trying a range of different medias on the roof to assess the ideal roof garden growing media in Australia using recycled and sustainable materials. The mix is likely to contain crushed brick, ash and coconut fibre.
Friday, February 19, 2010
ecoVert green wall
Below you can see an example of our ecoVert Pro green wall system growing a range of leafy greens and herbs. The two modules on the right can be seen in both photos. The other four modules were given to a friend to grow in their courtyard.
The time taken between these photos is three weeks and significant growth can be seen. Presently I am watering these manually every two days but plan to set it up using a solar powered pump and timer.
I will upload some photos of the green roof shortly. We have picked 8 cucumbers to date and have many more on the way.
The time taken between these photos is three weeks and significant growth can be seen. Presently I am watering these manually every two days but plan to set it up using a solar powered pump and timer.
I will upload some photos of the green roof shortly. We have picked 8 cucumbers to date and have many more on the way.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Food up there
Hello and welcome to my blog.
My name is Jock Gammon and I live in Sydney, Australia. I have had a keen interest in growing food for my family for a number of years and also have a strong belief in sustainability and knowing where our food comes from. I am fortunate to have a small garden in Sydney with room for vegetable garden beds and two chooks but understand there are many people living in apartments and high rise buildings that do not have access to such space. I want everyone to experience the joy of growing their own food and the satisfation that comes from walking outside to snip a few leaves of lettuce off for a salad or pinching a few leaves of basil to add the authenticity to your favourite tomatoes and bocconcini. For this reason I have been experimenting through my businesses Green Rooms sustainable gardens and Junglefy Green Walls & Gardens into new ways of growing food in urban environments.
I have been growing a range of herbs and leafy greens in our ecoVert modular green wall system with great success. Initially we had a few teething problems in the search for the ideal growing meduim. We tried pure coir (cocunut fibre) but had problems with root rot, we tried regular potting mix but had problems with organic breakdown and subsequent slumping again leading to root rot. We are now using a mix that has the ideal waterholding capacity/air filled porosity consisting of both organic and inorganic components. A slow release fertiliser is being used initially to get the plants established and an organic liquid feed supplements the feeding. Once the slow release fertilsier has finished I will be using an organic fertiliser to feed the plants. This type of system is ideal for people living on balconies with limited space. A friend of mine Indira Naidoo is experimenting with one of our ecoVert green wall systems on her balcony in Sydney. Check out her blog called Saucy Onion. She is undertaking an exciting experiment to grow food on her balcony whilst at the same time writing a book using what she grows as the theme ingredient.
Another area of food production I have been experimenting with is on the roof of my chook house. This is a small experiment to showcase the potential of growing food on the roof. The photos you can see below are of Lebanese cucumbers growing in 65mm of coconut fibre and ash and organic nutrients. The roof has sub-surface irrigation that is fed from a 5000L tank buried under the paving. We have just begun harvesting the first of the cucumbers. I will post some new photos once the weather improves and the sun comes out. We have had almost two weeks of overcast and rainy weather.
Also growing on this roof are brocolli and beetroot. I have had great success with beetroot in the past. I put this down to having a constant water supply and sufficient nutrients. The beetroot on the right was grown in the vegetable garden bed.
One of the benefits of growing food on the roof is the amount of sunlight that they receive. Other vegetable garden beds in the vicinity of the chook house receive half the light and the growth rate reflects this. The exciting part about this experiment is the thought about how much food could be grown in our cities and suburbs significantly reducing the associated food miles. Next time you are in a plane flying over a city have a look at all the roof space.
Happy growing.
My name is Jock Gammon and I live in Sydney, Australia. I have had a keen interest in growing food for my family for a number of years and also have a strong belief in sustainability and knowing where our food comes from. I am fortunate to have a small garden in Sydney with room for vegetable garden beds and two chooks but understand there are many people living in apartments and high rise buildings that do not have access to such space. I want everyone to experience the joy of growing their own food and the satisfation that comes from walking outside to snip a few leaves of lettuce off for a salad or pinching a few leaves of basil to add the authenticity to your favourite tomatoes and bocconcini. For this reason I have been experimenting through my businesses Green Rooms sustainable gardens and Junglefy Green Walls & Gardens into new ways of growing food in urban environments.
I have been growing a range of herbs and leafy greens in our ecoVert modular green wall system with great success. Initially we had a few teething problems in the search for the ideal growing meduim. We tried pure coir (cocunut fibre) but had problems with root rot, we tried regular potting mix but had problems with organic breakdown and subsequent slumping again leading to root rot. We are now using a mix that has the ideal waterholding capacity/air filled porosity consisting of both organic and inorganic components. A slow release fertiliser is being used initially to get the plants established and an organic liquid feed supplements the feeding. Once the slow release fertilsier has finished I will be using an organic fertiliser to feed the plants. This type of system is ideal for people living on balconies with limited space. A friend of mine Indira Naidoo is experimenting with one of our ecoVert green wall systems on her balcony in Sydney. Check out her blog called Saucy Onion. She is undertaking an exciting experiment to grow food on her balcony whilst at the same time writing a book using what she grows as the theme ingredient.
Another area of food production I have been experimenting with is on the roof of my chook house. This is a small experiment to showcase the potential of growing food on the roof. The photos you can see below are of Lebanese cucumbers growing in 65mm of coconut fibre and ash and organic nutrients. The roof has sub-surface irrigation that is fed from a 5000L tank buried under the paving. We have just begun harvesting the first of the cucumbers. I will post some new photos once the weather improves and the sun comes out. We have had almost two weeks of overcast and rainy weather.
Also growing on this roof are brocolli and beetroot. I have had great success with beetroot in the past. I put this down to having a constant water supply and sufficient nutrients. The beetroot on the right was grown in the vegetable garden bed.
One of the benefits of growing food on the roof is the amount of sunlight that they receive. Other vegetable garden beds in the vicinity of the chook house receive half the light and the growth rate reflects this. The exciting part about this experiment is the thought about how much food could be grown in our cities and suburbs significantly reducing the associated food miles. Next time you are in a plane flying over a city have a look at all the roof space.Happy growing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
