Fast forward to January 2012 and how is my goal progressing?  Last week I created a salad dinner that contained 90% of the food we grew in our courtyard from garden pots.  So what are we growing now?

Ready to Eat:

• 4 types of lettuces
• all our herbs
• cherry tomatoes
• carrots
• beans
• egg plant
• capsicum
• spinach
• silver beet
• strawberries
• edible flowers

Soon to be ready for eating:

• corn
• peas
• passion fruit
• spring onions
• pepino
• mandarins
• lemons
• cucumbers

What else will I be planting this year:

• mustard
• zucchini
• sorrel
• kale
• blue berries
• grapes

If you are interested in growing your own food, don’t allow a lack of space or even knowledge to stop you (as when I started I really didn’t have much of either).  Start with growing the herbs you like to eat and ‘grow’ from there.

It might be interesting to know that the majority of the garden pots we are using for growing our own food, have been collected 2nd hand.  Either gathered from the side of the road discarded on ‘chuck out days’ or purchased 2nd hand from the ‘Pre Loved Roots’ shop.

Feeling inspired and want some help??  Check out Sydney’s ‘Green Square Growers’.  Many of the people in this group are growing food on their inner city unit balcony!

I would love to know what food you are currently growing at your place?

]]> http://greenerme.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/sydneys-tiny-city-farm/feed/ 4 Sarhn Mandarins Capscium Lemon Cucumbers Cherry Tomatoes Sydney courtyard farming Beans Corn Egg Plant Lemon Tree with Beans and Cucumbers in the background Dill Coriander Carrots in Garden Pot http://greenerme.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/a-big-year-for-being-green-and-sustainable/ http://greenerme.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/a-big-year-for-being-green-and-sustainable/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:37:14 +0000 Sarhn http://greenerme.wordpress.com/?p=1481 ]]> ’2011 is the best year of my life to date’ is the sign that hangs on my office wall.  It is a constant reminder to expect big things and to give constantly through out the year.

Now looking back at 2011, I am really proud of what I have achieved not only in my business but also for the environment, animal welfare and my community.  Here is just a glimpse:

*  Now only eat sustainable seafood

*  Shop more responsibly by purchasing items that are;  2nd hand, animal cruelty free, organic, recycled, sustainable, environmentally friendly, Australian made / grown & owned and fair trade

*  Attended and met great people at the EcoXpo

*  Met Tim Silverwood who inspired me to refuse all single life plastics

Bag It Movie & Tim Silverwood
Tim Silverwood’s Voyage to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

*  Supported the Wilderness Society by photographing their numerous actions

No to Reflex Paper – photograph men in lingerie
No to Reflex Paper – not happy clowns
My pledge against Reflex Paper and Officeworks
No to Reflex Paper & Officeworks – Send Off
No to Reflex Paper & Officeworks – Clean Up Your Act Officeworks
Saving the Pilliga State Forest

* Campaigned to Ban Live Export

Joe Ludwig
Julie Gillard

* Attended Sydney’s Climate Change rally and despite the negative, angry backlash towards bloggers, I choose to write about it anyway

* Attended numerous City of Sydney ‘Live Green’ workshops on living a more sustainable life.  Learnt  more about how to make my own environmentally friendly cleaning products, growing food in pots and making my own organic potting mix

* Learnt about and was inspired by Collective Consumption

*  Took part in the City of Sydney Sustainability Leadership Program

*  Helped to establish with other local residents, The Green Square Growers

*  Became the ‘local hero’ in December’s edition of ‘Sydney Green Villages’

*  Together with others from The Green Square Growers and Friends of Victoria Park, presented to the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore

*  Stopped eating red meat (post still to come)

*  Reduced consuming dairy by 70% (post still to come)

*  Campaigned against Coal Seam Gas fracking on environmentally significant land and prime agriculture land (post still to come)

*  Working towards achieving my goal of growing lots of food  in our inner City home (post still to come)

*  Took time to ponder, laugh, enjoy my family & friends and have fun

Hey Presto here you go:

Yours truly with the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore.  Being awarded the ‘Green Square Champion’ certificate.  By the way, the flower was grown in my garden (in case you were wondering).

Clover Moore with all the ‘Green Square Champions’ who have formed two groups.  The ‘Green Square Growers’ (of which I am a member) and ‘Friends of Victoria Park’.  Photograph was taken after the two groups presented our vision for Green Square of Sydney.

Clover Moore with the ‘City of Sydney Green Champions’ and the ‘Green Square Green Champions’.  Passionate ‘green’ council workers working with passionate ‘green’ local residents.

The goal was to learn, grow and stretch ourselves with our sustainability knowledge and to also connect us with others in the community and the Sydney Council, that share our ‘green’ vision.

From this program, has come two distinct groups who are committed to building community projects.

The group that I am apart of and committed to support, is the ‘Green Square Growers‘.  Basically we are all about inspiring and supporting ourselves and our community in growing our own food.

Tomorrow night, our two groups will be presenting to Lord Mayor Clover Moore and to around 80 other people.  Yours truly will also be giving the opening talk (which will be straight after Clover speaks).

Not sure if I will be allowed but I’ll try to get a photo of the night to share with you.  Hey maybe one of me with Clover Moore?

James Moody believes that since the industrial revolution there has been five distinct waves in industry, “each starting with disruptive new technologies and ending with a global depression”.  James says that each wave has “transformed our industries, societies and economies almost beyond recognition. We are now on the cusp of another massive transformation – the sixth wave.”

It is his sixth wave prediction that fascinates me.  A future where waste will be an opportunity and new markets will move away from being dependant on resources to becoming resource efficient.

Here an example that James Moody gives:

Let’s say today you purchased a brand new washing machine from a local store and the warranty on that washing machine is three years.  Who has an invested interest for that washing machine to last a very long time?  The answer is really only you – the company’s interest is to ensure the machine lasts for the period of the warranty.

Now let’s say in a new business model, that you rented a washing machine from the same company who manufactured the machine.  Who now has an invested interest for that washing machine to last a very long time?  Now the answer is both parties – you and the company.

This last week I have been hearing about the phrase ‘Collective Consumption’. To be honest I wasn’t sure the meaning but had a sneaking suspicion, it was the same thinking as Dr James Moody’s ‘Sixth Wave’.

Time Magazine has called Collective Consumption one of the ten ideas that will change the world.

What exactly is Collective Consumption?  It is retro thinking – the old world behaviours like sharing, swapping, renting and bartering, again becoming the way to do business (and as Dr James Moody suggests, to survive in a resource limited world).

This last Thursday I was invited to attend the opening of Open Shed who’s business model was based on Collective Consumption.  Open Shed is all about renting each other’s stuff.

I remember renovating our home five years ago.  To save money, my husband and I did much of the labour ourselves.  However as we are not tradies we needed to ‘purchase’ a number of power tools.  Now five years later those tools sit unused in our garden shed.

A better use of our money and the earth’s resources would have been to rent those same power tools.  We could have gone onto the Open Shed’s website to find tools that we needed, from people who lived nearby.

Not all is lost however as now our unused tools can be listed on the Open Shed website to rent to people who need them.  We make money, they save money and collectively we have reduced consumption on the earth’s limited resources – this is collective consumption!

Australian Businesses who are built on the Collective Consumption model:

Find A Uniform
The Garage Sale Trail
Mee Meep
Space Out
Go Get
Jayride
Divvy
Open Shed

Tim has just returned from his voyage of the North Pacific Gyre aka The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  Three weeks Tim sailed 5000km from Honolulu to Vancouver and what he discovered was the description of the garbage patch being a ‘floating island’ of trash, is far from the truth.

“In fact it is much worse than that” says Tim.  ”If it was a floating island of trash, it would be possible for us to go and clean it up but unfortunately it is more like plastic soup.  Larger plastic items like bottles, bags, buckets and crates don’t retain their structure for long.  As the sun rays beat down and the waves toss them around, they break into millions and billions of fragments that then remain in the ocean.  They don’t biodegrade though, that’s the scary part”.

According to Keep Australia Beautiful National spokesperson, Lara Shannon, marine litter poses a vast and growing threat to the marine and coastal environment with at least 77 species of marine wildlife found in Australian waters being affected. “Marine animals like sea turtles, sea birds, dolphins and sea lions are particularly vulnerable” says Lara.

For those who may not be concerned about other species or even other people, you may be asking how does this affect me?  Well recent evidence suggests that 9% of small fish called mctophyds are consuming plastic particles that they confuse as food.  These species represent a base for the food chain, meaning toxins in plastic and that attached to plastic are entering the food chain.  Our food!  What we eat. What you eat!

Want to find out more?

1) Check out www.take3.org.au (Tim’s is founder)

2) Check out www.TimSilverwood.com

3) Check out ‘Bag It‘ (the movie) screenings around Australia www.TimSilverwood.com/events

4) Check out Tim’s latest video

Today I want to recognise the reader who has contributed the most to my blog in the way of comments.  This person irronically has really been there from the beginning of my green blogging journey.

I have never met this reader, although I consider this person to be a friend (my good cyber friend).

Over the years this reader has commented on my blog a WHOPPING 83 times!!!

GreenerMe’s top all time Reader is Nevyn.  You Rock Nevyn!

Upon returning I have been apart of the City of Sydney’s Green Square Sustainability Leadership Program.  I will be sharing more on this later, in future posts.

This week again I donated my time and skills as a photographer, and headed out with The Wilderness Society to photograph their ongoing protest against Officeworks and in particular Reflex Paper (paper produced through the destruction of Victoria’s native forests).

Here is my latest multimedia video.  It is a funny little video that kind of ‘has it all’……….beautiful ladies, dancing Australian native animals, police officers and even men dressed as French maids.

Enjoy

I am heading to the bright lights for the greeting card side of my business.

I’ll be back in Sydney and back at work from the 25th of Aug.

Just wanted to touch base before I go to say “I appreciate and love all my GreenerMe readers”.

Until I get back, I’ll leave you a photograph I captured on my mobile phone.  My gorgeous husband left a little message for me in an unusual place.  It made me smile.

May I encourage you this week, to be creative and leave an unexpected message of love and appreciation to someone you care for.

To make good potting soil, you  need to include three elements; water, air and nutrients.  Here are my ingredients for making organic potting mix that has all three of these elements:

1) Water – Coconut fibre

2) Air – Sand

3) Nutrients  - Humus  (can be compost or castings from a worm farm or even EM Bokashi treated dog poo.  NOTE if using dog poo in the recipe, it is well advised not to use the potting mix for edible plants, like fruit, veggies and herbs).

Let me explain in more detail:

Purchase organic compressed coconut bricks from nurseries or hardware. Make sure they are organic!

Soak the coconut bricks in water for at least 15 minutes, so the compressed brick will separate and expand.

If like me you do not have a wheelbarrow (for mixing the potting soil), lay a tarpaulin on the ground.  Add the bucket of separated and wet coconut fibre onto the tarp.

Now add the sand (in the same quantity as the coconut fibre).

Now add the nutrients.  As I am not re planting edible plants like fruit, veggies or herbs today, I will use my EM Bokashi treated dog poo.  Again in the same quantity as the sand and coconut fibre (all three parts equal in quantity).

Mix well together.

Now to pot your plant (just as normal).  Using one of my  garden pot ‘finds’ – I picked this garden pot up just recently from the side of the road.  Saved it from going to land fill.

As you can see this Aloe Vera plant is overgrown and needing a bigger garden pot.

And Walla……..the finished results.

Here is my mint that I replanted a month ago.  As mint is an edible plant, I used worm castings as the nutrients in my organic potting mixture.  The mint has doubled in sized since I planted it!