Guerrillas in our Midst

Green Power!

They are the green thumbs that operate under the cover of darkness, they are the ones who are putting the plants back into the streets - the law will define them as people who garden on land not belonging to them, who have no legal right to cultivate on private property, but they prefer to be know as Guerrilla Gardeners.

Almost 2 months ago Melbourne's CBD got an early morning surprise from one of these so called "Guerrilla's". Locals strolling to work were subjected to 35,000 orange tulips lining the path of Hosier Lane. Had these bulbs been hiding there all along, biding their time, waiting for the perfect spring? Or had they always been there and Melbournians were just too busy to notice?

No, there is no fairytale here apart from the good nature of one Mr Joost Bakker, the man responsible for adding to this colourful gratified street. You see Joost is part of a family of flower growers from Monbulk in Victoria and his farm had trialled a new variety of orange tulip. Unfortunately this new tulip had characteristics that would render them unworthy for sale.

Not the streets of Holland, this is Hosier Lane in Melbourne.

Instead of sending them to landfill, Joost took the opportunity to brighten people's day, with thousands of people stopping to take a look, snap a photo and take a bunch of flowers home for their loved ones.

Guerrilla gardening has a longer history than what occurred in Melbourne October this year. It's modern day roots (pun intended) were put down approximately 45 years earlier in the Lower East Side of New York. where a group of local residents decided they'd had enough of the derelict block on the corner of  Bowery and Houston streets.

Encouraging local involvement, Green Guerrilla's founder Liz Christy rallied the community to reclaim vacant urban land and turn it into thriving and productive gardens that would attract others through recreational and educational opportunity.

The Bowery Garden - Before....

and After.

Today the garden is known as The Bowery Garden and is a testament to community spirit and what can be created when like minded people pool their resources. The Green Guerrilla's are a not for profit organisation who now support over 600 community gardens, encourage suburban kids to get involved with gardening and give the people of the city gardens to enjoy throughout the year - you can find out a lot more here.

There are many examples of groups just like the Green Guerrilla's all around the world and just like the street artists who attempt to bring some colour to grey amenities, the work of guerrilla gardeners can be found in many places - from the very public, large scale plantings to the smaller scale street verges.

In Australia we had a short lived TV series called Guerrilla Gardeners, running for 13 episodes in 2009, it didn't rate all that well and was met with some opposition from local councils but what it did was highlight the growth of the movement across the globe, especially from the UK and parts of Europe.

So what is Guerrilla Gardening? Put plainly it is the act of gardening or cultivation on property, where the person/s doing so do not have permission to do so, i.e. trespassing. To the Guerrilla's themselves, it is the act of beautifying areas of land they see as run down and unused, putting the 'jungle' back into the urban jungle.

The term Guerrilla gardening was coined to describe their actions, as most of their activities are coordinated 'off the grid' and undertaken during the night to avoid detection. Although most of their 'weapons' consist of spades, shovels, trowels and buckets they do sometimes consist of bombs! Seed bombs that is.

They're the bomb yo!

Seed bombs are relatively harmless, unless your standing in a deserted lot late at night and one is lobbed in your direction. They are a mixture of soil, seeds, slow release fertiliser, seaweed solution, all wrapped up in a ball of clay or paper mache. This flower power 'bomb' can then be lobbed into the nearest unused, abandoned or neglected land and as the elements break down it's epidermis, the seed and soil mix gets a chance to come to life. For more info on seed bombs, have a gander at this page.

Probably one of my favourite examples of Guerrilla Gardening has been the work of Steve Wheen, or as he's more commonly know as The Pothole Gardener. What started out as a project for his Masters in Design has grown to a worldwide movement of miniature garden art.

London Calling - some of The Pothole Gardener's handy work

Steve wanted to simply provide 'unexpected moments of happiness" to people who would otherwise just be caught up in the day-to-day dullness of the city surrounds. In September 2017, Wheen collaborated with juice manufacturer Keri Juice Blends, to create Pothole Gardens in the streets of Newtown, an inner-west suburb of Sydney, to market their range of new-to-Australia juices.

All these organisations are driven by people who want to bring back the beauty of nature to their neighbourhoods. With the current trends of urban density, who can blame them? As I mentioned previously there are many fine examples of Guerrilla Gardening around the world.

For example, The Pansy Project that aims to bring awareness to the injustice and discrimination towards the LGBT community. The International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day on May 1st each year to celebrate and encourage the movement started by Guerrilla Gardening, who do a lot of great work around London.

So do you have a nearby space going to waste? An abandoned or unused block covered in weeds that could do with some help? Some council's are pretty proactive in this regard, so check with yours, maybe they'll be happy for you to adopt a patch.

Or would you prefer to walk on the wild side? Are you fed up with the lack of care council is taking? I suggest you start small, look at the nature strip outside where you live - is it a bit drab?  It may be a little bit naughty but it's the little bit of the world you live in and if you care about it enough I am sure there are others who share the same passion and I am certain their are ways to meet with your fellow guerrilla's, wink wink.

Something Fishy

Take a whiff

Some say flowers are how the Earth smiles. Bright, colourful blooms on all different levels, from down low to up high, they certainly do a great job of making themselves known. From the obvious to the conspicuous, they are beautiful in a variety of ways.

Flowers play a big part in how plants function. From how they are grouped and classified, to how they aid the procreation of the species. These intricate and unique appendages capture not just human imagination but the attention of birds, animals and inspects as well.

They have evolved over many years to take advantage of their environment. More than just a bees buzzing happily from flower to flower, some plants have developed interesting ways to ensure pollination occurs.

From the imitators, the flowers that mimic prey, food or perhaps a mate, to those that use mechanical methods to paint or trap a pollinator into ensuring genetic material is passed from male to female flowers so plant reproduction begins (but is not always guaranteed of course).

William Shakespeare famously penned "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" for one of his most famous works 'Romeo and Juliet'. I have been inspired by Mr. Shakespeare and have come up with a little poem that helps introduce my latest blog:

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

Some of the flowers below

Smell like Poo

I bet ol' Bill wouldn't be able to write the same thing about The Corpse Flower or Dead Horse Lily. Not all of God's flowery children have a heavenly scent, some are down right disgusting. Being that it's now Spring in Australia, I thought it would be great time to look at some of the plants that aren't so pleasant to the nose.

Pepe Le Poo! The Skunk Cabbage

First cab off the rank is the aptly named Western Skunk Cabbage or Lysichiton  americanus. This American Native grows predominately in the Pacific Northwest in boggy marshes. It was imported into the UK as a ornamental plant and has subsequently naturalised in damp areas.

Part of the Aracea or Arum Family, which consists of over 3,700 species, it bears the distinctive spadix flower common to the family surrounded by a bright yellow spathe or leave like bract, that almost fully encloses the spadix. Flowers emerge in Late Winter and Early Spring. 

The plant gets it's name from the 'skunky' odour the flower produces when it opens. The smell can be detected fairly easily and can even linger in dried, spent flowers. The odour emitted attracts scavenging type flies and beetles as pollinators.

Although mostly considered a bit of a weed, the roots are food for bears waking up from hibernation, for them it has a laxative and cathartic effect, just what you need after a long sleep and you're feeling backed up. Indigenous Americans used the plant as treatment for injuries and burns. The big, waxy leaves were also useful for lining their baskets.

Nothing to do with sauce - the Dead Horse flower

The common name of our second guest just makes you want to run out to the local nursery and buy it,! The aptly named Dead Horse flower or Hedicodiceros muscivorus conjures up images that make you a little queasy in the stomach. Another member of the Araceae family, it is native to Corsica, Sardinia and The Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean.

It's fowl smelling flower produces an odour resembling rotten flesh and attracts carrion (the decaying flesh of dead animals) blow flies. The flower contains both male and female parts but each do not become mature at the same time, to reduce the chance of self-pollination and in breeding.

Flowers trap the curious flies already covered with pollen from other flowers, they then coat the females parts as they make their way to the lower flower chamber. By the time the male parts are mature, the flower opens allowing the flies to pass through the entrance (where the male florets are located), coating them with pollen before they fly off to visit another flower.

It has an interesting ability of being able to raise the temperature of the flower to increase the potency of the scent given off. Botanists are still trying to figure out how it is able to increase it's own temperature without necessarily relying on the temperature of the surrounding environment.

Real star power

The next group of plants are succulents know as the Carrion Flower (more decaying flesh I hear you say). Stapelia are a group of spineless stemmed succulents, mostly endemic to South Africa.

If they look familiar, you probably have seen them amongst house plants on verandas of elderly relatives, yep - it's a bit of a grandma plant, a real throw back to the 70's. The Carrion Flowers became popular with indoor gardeners due to their unusual flower and stem shapes and of course, their ease of care.

Their particular odour is attractive and deceptive to blow flies, who lay their eggs around the inner parts of the flower, convinced that the flower is indeed rotting flesh.

Stapelia sp. are still fairly popular today with succulent collectors, so they aren't too hard to find through retail nurseries and local market stalls.

It began in Africa.

Our next special guest is the Hydnora africana. This funny looking plant is achlorophyllous, meaning it cannot photosynthesise, that is produce energy from sunlight. Instead this fungi looking plant is parasitic, capable of "borrowing" its food requirements from another host plant.

H. africana or Jackal Food as it's sometimes referred to, contains an enzyme that can dissolve plant roots allowing it to attach to it's host, which are plants from the Euphorbia family. The plant grows totally underground, except for the fleshly flowers (see photo above), that can take up to two years to fully ripen, that emerge after heavy rains ("down in Africa....").

The flowers literally smells like sh*t, hence why dung beetles and other insects are so attracted to them. These insects bury themselves in flower bodies, becoming stuck and can be there for up to two days before they are released to pollinate other flowers. Pollinated flowers can produce up to 20,000 seeds.

Aside from the stink, the flowers produce fruit that have a similar texture and taste to potatoes. The fruit also has been used for tanning and preserving fishnets of African tribes. Fruit produced is also a food source for many native African animals.

Another smelly flower? Of Corpse!

Next up is a plant who has a rather large flower, in fact it produces the largest individual flower on earth, so it's both easy to see and smell! The Rafflessia arnoldii is native to the rainforest's of Sumatra and Borneo. It's another parasitic plant, relying vines also endemic to the areas it grows in.

The flowers of the Corpse Lily have a diameter up to 105cm and have weighed in at a hefty 11kg. The largest recorded specimen measured 43cm wide. Also producing an aroma of rotting flesh, the flowers of the Rafflessia are the only distinguishable parts of the plant.

They produce no real leaves, stems or roots but are still considered a vascular plants (those having tissues for conducting the flow of water and minerals throughout the plant). Flower buds (that can be up to 30cm wide) take months to develop and open. The Corpse Lily are fairly rare and difficult to locate not only in cultivation but in the wild.

The curiosity factor has been both a help and hindrance to R. arnoldii - on one hand the attraction has increased tourism to areas where the plants grow. However, the downside to increased tourism has exposed the species to pressures from humans, to a point where species numbers are decreasing.

Environmental scientists are trying to recreate the specialised environment in a bid to encourage population growth with no real success so far. Local governments have encouraged private land holders to conserve and protect specimens on their and even charge small fees for people to see them.

A real titan of the botanical world.

The next contestant needs no introduction as it has been a consistent celebrity in the garden world. The Titan Arum or Amorphallus titanum annually makes appearances on TV and newspapers as reports from Botanical Gardens around the world await the giant flower to open.

Hailing solely from rainforest's of Western Sumatra and Western Java it has been a fascination in the botanical word since it was first recorded in 1787. It is a curiosity due to the fact it infrequently flowers in the wild and even less in cultivation, so when it starts to it almost always makes headlines. Today there are five blooming events worldwide due to the increased number of plants being cultivated in Botanical Gardens and private collections.

A. titanum grows from a corm (a bulb like structure) for which it is the largest known, weighing on average 50kg, but other corms around the world have been weighed in excess of 100kg, the current record is 153.9kg held by the Edinburgh Botanical Gardens.

The Titan Arum is also famous for having the tallest, unbranched flower inflorescence in the world. Standing at 3m it is quite impressive when in full bloom, then there's the smell...
It produces a smell conducive of rotting flesh to attract carrion eating beetles and flies that help to pollinate it. At the height of it's bloom, the inflorescence's temperature is roughly the same as the average human body.

Much like it's cousins in the Aracea family, it has both male and female flower parts that mature at different times to reduce the chance of self-pollination. Flowers don't come around often and need at least 7 years of vegetative plant growth before blooms are produced. After the flower dies back, a single leaf is produced reaching around 6m tall, it dies and another replaces it. The process is repeated until the corm has stored enough energy to begin the blooming process.

The Titan Arum was first cultivated at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew in 1889, they have had over 100 cultivated blossoms since then. In June 2010 the largest recorded inflorescence was acknowledged by people at Guinness World Records, standing at 3.1m tall the specimen belonged to a private collector from the United States.

Compare the Pear

Now to our final specimen. This particular plant breaks the current trend and doesn't smell like rotting flesh. It's smell is not hard to define for those who know the tree well enough, for those who don't how can I put it? Somewhere between stale milk and a teenage boys room perhaps?

I speak of the humble and still very popular ornamental pear. In particular the P. calleryana and it's varieties such as 'Bradford', 'Chanticleer' and 'Capital' - which have a more uniform and narrow form suited to home gardens or streets. They are 'ornamental' as they don't produce fruit and are used for foliage and flowers.

Callery Pears are still widely used in the Australian landscape industry for it's broad canopy, the red and orange autumn colour and of course it's clusters of white flowers that are produced prior to leaf set. Let's take a closer sniff at these flowers shall we?

In the horticultural world, the description of the smell these flowers give off is cause for a laugh. Even those who don't know the name of these trees can at least describe the smell fairly accurately. These Pyrus flowers not only signal that Spring is here but are also probably the reason why your street or nearby park smells like semen right now! That's right - cum, jizz, spooge or dozens other names it goes by, but you get the picture or is that scent?

If it's a particularly warm start to spring and the breeze is about, more than likely you'll have experienced the "Pyrus effect" and it's OK to have a giggle, don't feel juvenile or dirty, it's just Mother Nature's way to indicate life anew is in the air.

So I hope I have shed some light (or smell) on an odd and unique group of plants, cause it's not all sweet and fruity out there people. I totally agree, take time to smell the roses, but you may want to give a second thought to the fore mentioned plants and give them a wide birth! Or at least take a peg for your nose.

Every Nook & Cranny

Down the garden path...

So you still have a little space in your life but you're not sure the best way to fill it with green life? Read on and we'll take a look at some ways you can fill the void.

Let's face it, we are all starting to feel the squeeze! I'm not just talking about our hip pockets, I mean the space around us seems to be getting smaller every year. As the development machine rolls on and the population flocks to the cities, the urban density is continually stretched, leaving the space to cultivate plants diminished.

Narrow Minded:

Unfortunately narrow spaces can be tricky spots to garden, there's limited space obviously, but these spaces can also be very shaded areas due to neighbouring walls or fencing. All this means that traditional landscaping options might not be as practical.

Narrow situations will mean the more carefully selected plant palette, but don't let this limit your creativity. With the correct plant selection, you can make a small space look big by planting spreading ground covers or taller grass like plants to add depth and height.

If you're looking to cover a drab wall or fence, using a screen of Camellia sasanqua will add a lineal splash of green while also giving you bright blooms of red, white and pink (depending on which one of  the dozens of varieties on the market you go with) in Autumn and Winter when some things are just not flowering.

A Camellia sasanqua hedge, flushing with new growth

Camellia sasanqua like a part sun/part shade, preferably morning sun spot. They respond really well to light pruning after flowering, but in cooler areas wait until the frosts have passed. Camellia sp. like an organic rich, moderately acidic soil. They have a relatively shallow root system, so mulch well when planting (an re-mulch annually) and try to keep watering consistent - not too much and not too little.

Lattice In:

In narrow spaces framed by wall or fences you need to think linear. Walls and fences are usually in need of dressing up but what if you don't have the space to put in a hedge? Installing frames, be it timber lattice or wiring can broaden your plant horizons.

A trellis (a structure, usually made from an open framework of interwoven or intersecting pieces of wood, bamboo or metal that is designed to support and display climbing plants and shrubs) can help you garden vertically where space is a premium. 

Generally climbers are more suited to this system as they'll tend to find their way in and around the structure, attaching themselves as they go of course they may a little training and support from you. There is a plethora of options when it comes to climbing plants to train on a trellis.

A classic climber, fragrant white flowers in spring and
glossy green leaves year round.

There's fragrant options such as climbing roses, Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides see photo above) - a personal favourite. Some more exotic options such as Clematis, Orange Trumpet Vine (Pyrostegia venusta) Brazilian Jasmine and Banksia Rose. The hardy options such as Bougainvillea which thrives on neglect and natives such as Hardenbergia, Pandorea and Hibbertia are vigourous with pretty blooms from late Winter through to late Spring.

Most climbers are fairly vigorous and can put a lot of growth in restricted spaces. It is important to keep them tamed though as climbers can lose their 'bulk' and you may find their leaves are mostly in the top third of the plant, leaving woody vines below.

Don't limit your trellis structure to climbers though, many shrubs are just as good to give you a narrow green screen. The secret is a little bit more training and keeping on top of it while the plant is young and producing new, soft, pliable shoots & stems. Once you have filled the void, regular maintenance (pruning and feeding) will help keep it full.

Another productive way to use a trellis system is for fruiting shrubs. Known as espalier (the ancient practise of controlling woody plant growth for the production of fruit) with poplar species being citrus, olives and dwarf stone fruit and apples being great selections for this application.

If you have the time and patience you can start from young plant stock and train it the way you want, if not there are specialist growers that have specimens many years old for those who can't wait - but be prepared to pay, for others or yourself, it's a labour of love.

Remember it is worth sacrificing fruit born on young plants early on while you're establishing your fruiting trellis, this will allow the plant to concentrate on growing big and strong and will help it bare better fruit in the long run. Also keep in mind the specific soil and food requirements of fruiting plants - they generally like more acidic, organic rich soils and higher potassium fertilizers for strong flower and fruit set.

Espaliered Olives - production, functional and give
great colour contrast.

Hangin' in there:

You may have noticed a lot more vertical gardening happening, from your local cafe adding some functional garden decor to whole buildings such as One Central Park at Chippendale Sydney, the trend encourages passes by to engage with this type of 'landscaping'.

Growing more vertical than usual.... A Green Wall
panel at the One Central Park building in Sydney.

Although green walls are not a new thing, different types of Ivy have been covering stone walls for centuries, it is certainly gaining momentum in our cities where we are all a bit over the 'greyscape'. A fairly standard practise around Europe, Australia is now coming to the party by installing these living breathing gardens to buildings (inside & out) and literally bringing 'dead' spaces to life.

This new wave of gardening has also brought it to the home gardening market. Gone are the days of having to use wire hangers and baskets (although they still have there place), now you can install modular systems from the basic DIY kits to the fully automated systems you may need a hand installing - again it all depends on your budget.

A basic modular system like this can be installed easy and
be a productive garden in smaller spaces.

Vertical gardening can be both functional and productive. Love to cook? Have fresh herbs and vegetables handy, fresh and ready to use for your next salad. Or just need a splash of colour brighten up a drab wall? How about using some seasonal colour like Pansy's, Petunia's or native options like Brachyscome, Rhodanthe, Ajuga sp. and Chrysocephalum. These will give great floral colour for long periods through the year and even year round with foliage colour.

Need a bit more overage? How about trying trailing plants like Scaevola, Lobelia, Verbena, Callibrachoa, Bacopa, Viola hederacea, Dichondra repens & Dicondra 'Silver Falls'. These guys will spill over the pots an fall towards the ground, covering walls and adding colour and contrast through flower and foliage.

Off the Wall - brightening UP a vertical space.

Use a good quality potting mix, specifically for potted plants, keep an eye on watering, especially as the temperature rises. Trim lightly as flowering finished or slows down to encourage new growth and more flowers. Seasonal plants will need replacing withing 6 months (they tend to last Autumn - Winter & Spring - Summer depending on species), they can usually be fairly inexpensive especially if you start from seeds or seedlings.

Low, low, low:

Narrow spaces don't always mean lineal or vertical. Paths and walkways can be softened by adding spreading and sprawling ground covers, to take the edge of so to speak. Don't get me wrong there are some fantastic looking outdoor tiles and pavers around but that is a bit formal for my liking.

Leaving gaps or patches for planting can turn a straight path in for a stepping stones or a winding serpentine track, adding an extra dimension.

The native Dichondra repens works well as a lawn substitute,
better suited to partly shaded positions.

Mondo Grass - a old favourite can add borders along and
through pathways

Some ground covers can even add colour to your thoroughfares, the Native Violet (Viola hederacea) with it's pretty purple and white flower standing above it's leaves and Dichondra "Silver Falls" with it's eye catching grey foliage. Previously mentioned as trailing plants, these work just as well in a pathway situation as they'll mound and spread, softening edges.

Hi Ho Silver! A slightly more upright shrub, the
Convolvulus cneorum still works well on edges of paths.

If you are going for more of an Asian theme, the use of Zoysia tenuifolia (see photo above) - another great lawn substitute in more temperate area of Australia or Scleranthus biflorus (better suited to cooler, less humid spots) coupled with a Bamboo hedge, can really add to that oriental feel.

So if you have a narrow space, don't despair, theRe are options out there that will fit your situation, remember gardening doesn't always have to be straight lines, we can colour outside the lines and still come up with a work of art. Happy gardening!

A Farm in my Pocket

Sometimes there is no escaping your past and for me, I don't want to. I am a firm believer in how your past can positively shape your future, even those negative bits can be constructively used to better yourself and others.

As a kid, I grew up on a dairy farm, just outside Deloraine in Tasmania's north. To me, that farm was a wonderland, so much opportunity to run and be wild, to go on an adventure or get into misadventure. There was never a shortage of things to do and your imagination could take you anywhere.

Growing up on a farm also meant you grew up a bit quicker. The cycles of life, from birth to death, played out in front of you, giving a sense of how the world worked a bit earlier than those who lived in the suburbs and cities.

I wouldn't trade my country ties for anything, I never felt like I was missing out. But unfortunately much of the next generation are, the world has become a pretty fragmented place and we are constantly being disconnected from the natural world. The farms that used to be on the fringes of suburbia have fallen to development pressures and many farms are restricted to rural areas.

OK, I am getting a little deep and philosophical here but I do have a point, I promise. I think there is a lot of wonder in the world that our kids will seek out no matter how are lives are consumed with the rat race. I think it is very important that we show the next generation just how beneficial it is to have an interest in the world we live in.

There is a group of like minded people who have seen this disconnect and who are trying to fill this niche by developing urban agricultural systems into our cities. This collective is know as Pocket City Farm (PCF) and their motivation is to encourage and develop local, sustainable food production.

This brings me to the subject of my latest blog. In late April my two daughters and I took a tour of this urban farm at Camperdown, in Sydney's inner west. I thought it would be a great opportunity for my kids to see an agricultural system on the outskirts of the city.

Farming on the fringe - garden beds adjacent to apartment blocks

PCF is a not-for-profit organisation established in 2012 and run by a board of four skilled and highly motivated individuals from multi-disciplinary backgrounds including Emma Bowen (General  Manager) who has a background in urban sustainability and permaculture and Camperdown Farm Manager Michael 'Zag' Zagoridis who was formerly a graphic designer and has a background in regenerative farming and permaculture.

These ounding members saw the need for a re-establishment of farming systems close to where the majority of people lived. Now as many of you Sydneysiders will know, finding a patch of dirt anywhere near the CBD is a tricky and expensive proposition, but in June 2016 Pocket City Farms at Camperdown Commons opened, turning a former bowling green into a thriving, productive food garden.

The whole Camperdown Commons site, including the farm, sits on the former Camperdown Bowling Club site, which laid abandoned until April 2015, when PCF first broke ground. Located about 4kms west of Sydney's CBD, the 'Commons' is part of a community rejuvenation project that is an initiative of the Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL Club, who were looking to invest gambling profit  back into local community projects.

The quarter of an acre farm shares the land with the RSL managed 'Common Spaces' which offer local residents, businesses and community groups space to showcase events and meetings. Also on the Commons is Acre, a restaurant and cafe which is a great spot for a coffee or a bite to eat (chances are you'll be sampling some of the seasonal, farm fresh produce grown by PCF) and allows visitors to get a good overview of the entire site.

Aside from Acre you can also purchase fresh produce from the farm at a stall at the entrance to the Commons (near The Container), via the PCF online store or you could attend one of the monthly 'Crop Swaps' and bring some of your own home grown goods to swap with others. Local businesses are getting behind the PCF movement - restaurant Pizza Madre and cafe Two Chaps both in Marackville, are using the farms produce in their seasonal menu's.

Nothing goes to waste - composting bays (in front of the greenhouse)
recycle green waste on site, which goes back into garden.

Wandering around the grounds, you will also come across many other interesting systems, for instance the ladies of the Commons, a group of chickens that have been rescued by NSW Hen Rescue from cage egg farms across the state and nursed back to health at PCF. The girls help with pest control and waste management by being fed scraps from the garden and restaurant. Their waste is then re-used in the gardens.

At the southern end of the garden, bordering the glass houses raising the next crop, are a row of boxes. These boxes play an important role within the garden, within these lay garden gold - compost! Much of the green waste from the garden and scraps from the restaurants and cafes they supply, comes back here and turned into garden food.

Make sure you stop by and say hello to the ladies

The Commons frontage (on Mallett St) has been purposely planted out with an 180m square food garden bed for those who walk by, an interface if you will, that encourages passers by to stop, hopefully enticing them to come in and have a bit more of a closer look around. Also on this street you will find a monument to another resident of the site, the Blue Banded Bee.

The farm also houses three native sting less bee hives, we were lucky enough to be able to witness a mating swarm during our tour (something new for all of us). The bees play an important role in the pollination of many of the plants on site (including a small orchard) and special garden beds have been created just for the bees to collect nectar from.

Busy as!

My PCF experience was very positive and my daughters had fun learning about all the things that happened on the farm, they even were interested in volunteering on the farm. A big thanks to Eliza Cannon, PCF's Community Coordinator for showing us around. If you are interested in joining a tour, learning about compost, volunteering to help on the farm or even learn how to carve a wooden spoon you can check out loads of great info here.

The Camperdown Commons project has created a wonderful community hub of education and opportunity for community engagement, where people can come and see how to close the 'farm to plate' gap. It gives communities and avenue to think sustainably in regards to how they utilise modern urban design, reducing waste and bringing back the notion of 'home grown'.

Cuppa Tea Love?

As the cool weather sets in, to those Australian states that got the memo that it's Autumn, it seems like an ideal time to talk about Tea. Today we will have a look at the humble Camellia sinensis plant and how it has had a huge impact on the beverage world.

So as a nice segway into my new blog, why don't you go grab a nice warm cuppa (or if it's still too warm where you are - perhaps an iced tea?) and settle in for the next instalment of "Plants that changed the world".

Is there anything better than having a hot cup of tea in your hands on a cold autumn or winter's day? OK, maybe staying in bed and having a tea made for you is slightly better, but I digress. While enjoying your warm, calming, pick me up - have you ever thought about what goes into getting those leaves into that cup of what would be otherwise just be a mug of hot water?

If you are a lover of  tea, you are certainly not alone - Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world, behind water. Yes, you tea lovers consumed almost 3 million tonnes of tea in 2016 and those trends are only going to rise.

You also may think Tea is your thing, a special thing for you only, but sadly tea has been enjoyed for many millennia, in fact the first recorded use of tea was in 59 BC in ancient China, although it's medicinal use dates even further back in time. Legend has it, Emperor Shen Nung was the first to enjoy a cuppa, accidentally of course. Shen, sitting outside with his delicious cup of hot water, when a leaf from a nearby Camellia sinensis fell into his cup - the rest is history.

Many great inventions were created by accident.

Speaking of history, let's have a quick trip back in time and look at Tea's popularity through the ages. Although tea culture had well and truly established in Asia for centuries. it wasn't until the latter half of the 16th century before it was Europe's turn to enjoy a cuppa.

Initially it was the Portuguese, trading in the East, who brought back tea samples home with them. Then as the Dutch expanded their trade routes, setting up a trading port in Java, the first recorded consignment of tea was brought back to Holland in 1606.

From Holland it expanded quickly across the rest of Europe and the United Kingdom. Due to its price it was for a long time considered a beverage of the privileged. Driven by high taxes (over 100%) smuggling became a large problem, the demand by the common people made it a very sort after item. The government came to their senses in 1784, reducing the tax significantly and almost stopping the smuggling over night.

You would think tea is a peaceful drink, but wars were fought over this valuable commodity. Tea had a hand in the American Revolution - duty on tea always had an opposition from the public, but the Tea Act of  1773 was the catalyst for further opposition and on the night of December 16th, 46 tonnes of Tea carried by ships owned by The British India Trading Company were destroyed, causing further tension between the American patriots and the British colony.

But that's not the only dark days caused by tea. The two Opium Wars (1839 - 1842 and 1856-1860) between China and Britain lasted a decade and was started because of China's resistance to trade partnership with Britain, having seen what had happened with other nations which opened themselves up to trade. Trade imbalances ensued, Britain traded silver for tea with China, realising nearby India (a British colony) would trade silver for opium, China (in a roundabout way) began bringing in large quantities of British opium. Long story short, the British didn't take to kindly to this.

OK - enough negativity! Tea is wonderful example of how plants have changed the world we live in. Camellia sinensis is native to Asia, is an evergreen shrub (but can reach heights of 15 metres in ideal conditions and left unkempt). It is of course related to the more ornamental varieties of Camellia such as C. sasanqua and C. japonica which are still fairly popular with collectors, gardeners and landscapers a like for their showy autumn/winter flowers in varying colours.

In Bloom - the Cammelia sinensis flower.

From the one plant, the most common types of tea are produced: Green, Black, White and Oolong. It is how the leaves are treated during processing that creates the different flavours. Black teas are fermented then heated to remove moisture - this process turns the leaves black. Where as green tea leaves are steamed instead before being heated to retain the leaf colour.

L to R: White, Green, Oolong & Black Tea

As of the end of 2016, Tea production topped 5.9 million tonnes, with China the number one producer in the world with 2.4 million, followed by India with 1.2 million and Kenya at third with 473,000 tonnes. Tea is grown in Australia but we don't even break into the top 50 of world producers.

Australia does hold the crown for the most southerly grown tea in the world, that comes from Hobart in Tasmania. It is also grown in Alpine regions of Victoria and the Daintree Rainforest area of Queensland. Our little output of the product doesn't reflect our love for drinking the hot beverage, we Aussies consume 14 tonnes of tea annually.

After all that history are you still tempted to try to grow your own tea? The plant itself is fairly easy to get your hands on, but start your search at a specialist Camellia growers or ask for a special order at your local retail nursery as they might not always be in stock. The two types usually used in tea production are C. sinensis subsp. sinensis (Small Leaf Tea - used for all types of tea mentioned above) and C. sinensis subsp. assamica (Large Leaf Tea - used primarily for green tea).

The plant that suits you to a tea

Camellia sinensis cultivation is similar to it's flowery relatives, it prefers an organic rich, slightly acidic soil (around a pH of 4). Like it's relatives, it is fairly shallow rooted, so a good layer of compost and much is ideal after planting - a combination of well rotted animal manures and lucerne hay will be appreciated.

Your tea plant will love a sunny spot, but protection from the hottest afternoon sun and wind is beneficial. They also like regular & consistent water, especially in warmer months, they dislike extended periods of dry followed by drenching via irrigation.

Around 2-4 years, after planting an 8" pot specimen, you should be able to begin harvesting, through the warmer months you should be able to harvest approximately monthly, remembering to use only the top 5cm of the tips, which contain the most flavour.

Harvest time - a commercial tea plantation

Prior to the new growing season it is ideal to give your plant a light prune to shape, this will make easier to harvest throughout the growing season. As the night temperatures beginning to rise in spring, fertilize with a slow release designed for Camellia's & Azalea's, but don't over feed your plants as slower growing shoots generally produce a better flavour. Repeat this practise before it cools down in Autumn, making sure to replace compost and mulch to insulate the roots from the upcoming cold weather.

Before we go, grab another cuppa and enjoy these fascinating Tea facts:

* 2,000 tiny leaves are required to make approximately 1/2 a kilogram of finished product;

* Tea bags were an accidental invention, people mistakenly took the little silk bags tea samples were given out in as vessels to put in hot water and make a cup of tea;

* It took almost 3,000 years for tea to become an everyday beverage, before that it was consumed as a medicinal product;

* Spare a thought for the tea you're about to boil - a special term is given to the action of tea leaves uncurling when hot water is added, the torturous "agony of the leaves";

* Earl Grey Tea is named after the 19th century English Diplomat to China, it is flavoured with the oil from Bergamont (a citrus fruit);

* You should always use fresh water when boiling the kettle for a cuppa. Re-boiled water looses oxygen, which can flatten the flavour of your tea;

* In ancient China tea was a form of currency. After processing, tea leaves were fashioned into bricks and left to dry. These were then exchanged for goods, change was given by breaking a piece off the brick.

There you have it - a little insight into the world conquering tea plant. It certainly deserves it's place in the history of the human race, so next time your enjoying your favourite tea, raise your cup and give salute to another plant that changed the world.

Th Ex Factor

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

Ever wandered down an avenue of super advanced palms or trees or a single feature specimen in an area that doesn't seem to be old enough to have had these statuesque plants growing there? Chances are the developer of this landscape wanted instant impact in their design, it grabbed your attention right? Bang for their buck right there.

After seeing these 'fully grown' plants, you've thought "that would look good in my front yard". Well if you've got the disposable income and the space/access then why not? An ex-ground tree or palm maybe the thing that sets your garden apart from your neighbours!

Trees, like the people making bourbon at the Jack Daniels distillery, aren't in that much of a hurry, in fact many of the 'giants' in your surrounds have seen generations of humans come and go, patience is their strong suit and if it isn't yours then you'll need to find something a little bigger than what the local nursery stocks.

So lucky for you there are people who looked into the future and put the wheels in motion to have  some super advanced specimens just for us who enjoy the mature look in the landscape. Chances are if you are after size, you'll need to get that plant out off the ground. Ex-ground, or field grown trees, come in all shapes, sizes and types and can be several years to decades (or even older) in the making. The age and type of plant can also make the price tag vary exponentially. The cost of digging, transport and transplanting should also be considered before making a purchase.

Hitchin' a ride

Field grown trees have the advantage of having 'room to move', that is they can spread their roots and therefore their canopy, attaining greater size then their relatives confined to pots. With the more advanced root system and canopy development, these plants can find and regulate their own moisture and food.

This can have a benefit in regards to associated costs that a potted production nursery may have to deal with over a shorter term. Also the in ground trees can tap into the earths "social network", that is they have relationships with beneficial soil organisms that aid in the uptake of water, nutrition and pest & disease defence.

Like in many areas of horticulture, there is a science to getting large specimen plants out of the ground. Removing a plant from the soil is a stressful task, not just for you but the tree as well. Now how and when you prepare the soil and roots for digging will change from species to species. Plants can either be evergreen (don't lose their leaves) or deciduous (lose their leaves) this factor will aid or hamper your transplanting.

Evergreen Trees can be a bit more stressed as their leaves will be actively transpiring throughout the year, but as a general rule it is best to transplant during cooler parts of the year, when daytime temperatures aren't too hot and nighttime temperatures aren't too cold. With deciduous trees, from the moment they've shed their leaves they can be moved with minimised stress.

There are a few 'rules of thumb' when it comes to digging up a tree. For example, for every 25mm of trunk width (calliper) you should allow around 200-300mm of root ball radius. This rule isn't so hard and fast. For example, palms - which are one of the most commonly transplanted plants, can get a surprisingly broad trunk and large specimen with a rootball dug out at around 1 metre cubed.

"A little to the left"

For trees in leaf at the time of transplanting it is advantageous to reduce the volume of the canopy, that is reduce the amount of foliage via pruning. This action can help reduce water loss through the leaves. There are also anti-transparent's that can be applied a foliar sprays that coat the leaf in a way it lowers the movement of moisture and oxygen from the leaf surface.

The soil surrounding the plant should be kept moist prior to digging, this will allow easier removal from the ground but also ensure the trees hydrated enough prior to removal. This is more important in the case of evergreen trees or deciduous trees that are in leaf at the time of transplanting. During transport, plants with leaves still present should also be covered or wrapped to alleviate the drying impacts wind/air movement can have.

Convoy!

In this technologically advanced world we have wonderful devises that will take a tree out of the ground with minimal fuss, lower physical human labour input and less 'down time' from digging to transplanting. It's a pretty cool process and these modern tree diggers make it look super easy, check out this educational video here.

Transplanted specimens from specialised in ground growers generally come wrapped in hessian, a practice know as "bagged and burlapped". This hessian wrap helps keep the rootball and soil intact as much as possible, it also helps the soil retain moisture. 

Ideally should be installed into their new home as soon as practically possible after being dug, this will lessen the transplant shock and set back that is to some degree always present. Evergreen trees will need more attention. Anti-transparent's can still be applied throughout this process and there is also root hormones and beneficial soil organisms available that are added to the soil to stimulate root growth and speed up the established period. 

"Now what do we do with it?"

In ground tree growing and transplanting plants are a specialised area, where plant selection,  production planning and site preparation is very important. The logistics of moving these semi mature specimens is nothing short of amazing, so be prepared to pay for the privilege if it's an avenue you'd like to go down. 

So next time you walk past any of the  Livistona australis (Cabbage Palm) at Barangaroo on Sydney Harbour or an avenue of of large Ulmus sp. (Elms), Fraxinus sp. (Ash), Platanus sp. (Plane Trees) or Pyrus sp. (Ornamental Pears) in a new housing development or streetscape in Sydney's North or South West, stop and think, they may have travelled a long way to get there and seen more than you during your lifetime.

A leaf out of your book

For our next exciting installment of "Plants that changed the World" I'm going to look at trees. Pretty generic and yes, I have talked about trees a bit in the past, but today I'd like to look at the role they have played in another favourite field of mine, books.

Apart from my love of plants, I have a very strong love of books. Reading has been a hobby of mine since childhood. I have always been surrounded by the written word, be it bookshelves filled with who know's what, to relatives sitting in their arm chairs reading the daily news. What came first, the book or the tree? I think I was climbing trees before I was reading books.

For me it's not just the story inside the covers, but that does help. No, it's the feel of the book in my hands, the smell of the pages and it doesn't have to be a new book, second (or third) hand books are the bestest - they have character and additional stories to tell. It's the main reason I can't get used to my kindle. Sure, the practicality of an e-reader is immense, but give me dog ears and cover crease's any day!

OK, all this talk of books is making me hungry, for a good story that is! So, I thought we might have a look at the history of paper and what actually goes on behind the scenes to produce your favourite books. 

Prior to Paper, civilisation relied on papyrus parchment, made through fairly laborious means. First the stems of Cyperus papyrus reed would be stripped, then softened in water, they were then laid out like a mat, pummeled flat and left to dry in the sun. This practice was developed in Ancient Egypt over 5,000 years ago in 3,000 BC and was widely used throughout the ancient civilsations of Rome & Greece.

Trees have been used in the making of paper for millennia, the earliest record of paper was in Ancient China in 105 AD. Over the next few centuries the art of paper making spread west through Nepal, India and the Middle East by the 8th & 9th centuries. Paper wouldn't arrive in Europe until the 12th century, from there is spread quickly throughout the United Kingdom, then to Canada & Nth America.

It wasn't until the 15th century that paper became thought of as every day, practical items. Thanks to the work of German, Johannes Gutenberg, who introduced the mechanical movable type printing press. Johannes is credited with introducing printing to Europe. With his publication of what today is known as "The Gutenberg Bible", Johannes introduced the world to the possibilities of printed word.  

In the late 18th century, after the flurry of invention that came from the industrial revolution, the mass production of paper began. New production and printing machines revolutionised the means, the time it took and quantity of paper that could be produced. Today, globally, we produce more that 20 million tonnes of paper - that's a lot of trees! Maybe the kindle is looking the better option. 

So which trees are best for paper manufacturing? The answer is predominately fast-growing pine tree species, as they can be grown and managed in sustainable forest plantations. Along with sustainable forests plantations, paper recycling now makes up approximated 33% on all new paper made. 

The list of trees used commonly around the globe for paper production is fairly long. In general, they can be either hardwood (which have shorter fibers, better for printing & writing paper) or soft wood trees (which have longer fibers, giving paper better strength). Some examples of both are:

HARDWOOD:
Acaciaf mearnsii - Black Wattle
Acer rumbrum - Red Maple
Betula papyrifera - Paper Birch & B. pendula - Silver Birch
Eucalyptus camaldulensis - River Red Gum, E. grandis -Flooded Gum & E. saligna - Sydney Blue Gum
Liriodendron tulipifeara - Tulip Tree

Populus tremula - Northern Aspen

Quercus coccinea - Scarlet Oak 

Quercus rubra - Red Oak

SOFTWOOD:
Araucaria araucana - Monkey Puzzle Tree
Picea abies - Norway Spruce & P. glauca - White Spruce 
Pinus radiata - Radiata Pine & P. banksiana - Jack Pine
Pseudotsuga menziesii - Douglas Fir
Tsuga hetrophylla - Western Hemlock

So how many trees does it take to make a book? Or how many books can you make from a tree? All good questions, but the answer varies of course, based on the type of tree being used. The good thing is pulp from trees that goes to make paper comes from the bits of the tree not good enough for timber production.

Around 20 trees will produce a ton of paper. The best estimates seem to be that a tree with a trunk diameter of 30cm will produce approximately 260 x 100 page books, if that helps you put it into perspective.

The other inspiration for this blog happened while on my last trip to Berlin, in June 2017. Back home I had been noticing a few, what I'd call 'little street libraries'. What a fantastic idea! A communal library, without all the shooshing from the cranky librarian. Pre-loved books, in a cute little house, just waiting for a new reader to enjoy the text within, what's not to love?

"Take a book, Leave a book" not a bad motto! 

I think this is a great way to encourage reading, share stories and reuse/recycle books. This local book sharing houses, which are usually painted brightly red and blue, look like smaller versions of the famous London telephone boxes. With little windows allowing would be readers to feed their curiosity just a little more before taking the plunge and opening the door.

Back to Berlin, after doing some google searches to find the locations of local street libraries, I found the perfect one. On my second last day in Berlin I took a stroll down Sredzkistrasse in Prenzlauer Berg, looking for the famous Bücherwald or the Book Forest.

Just past the intersection of Kollwitzstrasse - a leafy, tree lined street, opposite the very pretty Cafe Anna Blume, is a tree not quite like any other I have ever seen. I stopped, looked upon this unusual structure with wide eyed wonder. I am sure many other passersby have had the same reaction to what was the first public bookcase in Berlin.

You can see the Book Forest through the trees.

The Book Forest is the brainchild of Baufachfrau Berlin eV and is a group of five tree trunks, from trees felled in the Grünewald, a 7,400-acre park approximately 10km from the city. The project started in November 2006 and was completed in June 2008. The idea was to aid conscious thought by contributing to "sustainable vocational education and deals with the chain forest-wood-book". The Book Forest received the award for the Official Project of the UN 2008/09 - Education for Sustainable Development.

Like many people before me, I did a little waltz around the collection of logs, taking in the awesomeness. Fascinated, I wasn't sure of the protocol - "Do I just take one?" I am sure the same thought goes through the minds of many who visit. So, I did what any book hound would do, I had a bloody good sticky beak!

The Book Forest also encourages visitors who leave or take a book to be part of that particular books journey by registering it on BookCrossing. Their mission is to connect people through books. This is a fantastic portal for book lovers, kind of like a modern-day message in a bottle. Readers are encouraged to release their books into the wild and see where it goes and is enjoyed, or mark a book if they have found one in the wild, a very cool idea indeed. 

I also had an ulterior motive for seeking out this particular street library, my very talented partner had recently published her first book. 'Baden Verboten" which chronicles what it's like for Germans to travel to Australia. I thought this would be a very special place to release it into the wild. Alas, it's written in German, but you are more than welcome to buy a copy.

Baden Verboten finds a nesting spot in the Book Forest.

And what book did I take with me I hear you ask? A German book about houseplants and their care - another good reason to brush up on my German!

Pflanzen in Unserer Wohnung or Plants in our Apartment

So there you have it, books and trees, just a few of my favourite things. Books give us joy in many wonderful ways, fictional stories to excite or scare and non-fiction books can teach us so many things. It's this understanding we can gain from books that can help us interact with our world.

We know the importance of trees, we need them and they need us just as much, maybe more than they know. Trees are very social beings, with each other and with us, I'll look at this topic in an upcoming blog. Books can encourage us to be social beings by gaining understanding, helping start a conversation or having the knowledge to teach others.

Next time you pick up a book, take a moment to think about what's gone into creating that work, not just the hours the author put into it but the tree that helped created the paper. When you're finished and put that book down, think of the many others that could benefit from the words within, then pay it forward and release it into the 'wild'.