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'.