the Tropical food forest

A Garden in Bali

2011-09-14T13:59:00.000+10:00

A Garden in Bali pt.3

With a Comfortable roof over our heads we progress outside to the transitional space between indoor and outdoor life. In Permaculture speak we will refer to this as Zone 1.

Zone 1

The zone nearest to the house, the location for those elements in the system that require frequent attention, or that need to be visited often, such as salad crops, herb plants, soft fruit like strawberries or raspberries, greenhouse and cold frames, propagation area, worm compost bin for kitchen waste, and so on.

Of course these examples are arbitrary and it is the idea not the example we are working with.
Our first concern is with the needs and wastes/resources created by our home.

In our case there is a need to mitigate the effects of traffic on the area, to maintain access in a way that doesnt damage the soil and also reduces negative effects on the house by factors like dust and mud, compaction of soil, discharge of waste and storm water.

One major design need is to accomodate the motorcycles that are the primary mode of transport on the island. Parking on bare soil stirs up mud and dust, compacts the earth and destroys the vegetative groundcover.

A traditional local practice is the location of a bare earth plaza adjacent to houses. This area allows drying of Crops like coffee, rice and chocolate in the full sun during the harvest seasons.

The Plaza is an open sunny expanse where tarpaulins can be laid out to dry valuable crops before sale or storage.

This system has evolved from the needs of the community and to maintain the functional space we will also maintain the small plaza, but with some modifications.
The drawbacks of this system are the earth compaction, the muddiness in wet seasons and dustiness in dry seasons. It creates a lot of housework to remove the dirt from tiles and concrete and the space though useful is 100% unproductive.

For areas of highest traffic a non slip surface will be installed as paths
For medium traffic areas and spaces to park visiting motorcycles a Cinderblock system will be installed that prevents compaction and allows rainfall to percolate through the soil profile. Planted inbetween the blocks are hardy and low or no mow species of grass used in local landscaping.

Volcanic Cinder blocks bound with some cement and interplanted with low growing grasses allow waste infiltration, reduce compaction and red dust/mud.

When the fencing is complete to exclude local dogs, we will purchase 2 pairs of Chinese geese to mow and maintain the grassed areas. We have lived with geese before and like them a lot despite their tendency to be antisocial birds! Their hardiness, ability to resist predations and reliance on a primarily grass and herb diet make them perfect for our site. The 2 pairs will have in total 800m2 to range over, including a future water pool with gravity drain off to a fenced vegetable garden so the mucky water can be used to make composts. Supplemental feeding with mineral rich foodstuffs like Seaweed, Comfrey and protein and vitamin rich prunings from tree leaves like Moringa, Noni and Sesbania will help cycle nutrients in our garden and remineralize our soils. Tropical geese will be and adventure! and we look forward to researching local animal husbandry practices.
Basic information on raising geese

Water for the house is supplied from high up the mountain and is clean and potable. There is no need for water cisterns at this point. Water cisterns adjacent to volcanic areas can be problematic due to the ashfall filling up gutters and tanks as sediment. First flow devices can be installed to clear most of this but currently the installation of water tanks is not a needed or cost effective modification. Should it be required in future there are several open sites on the property that can be reserved for that purpose.

Of greater concern is the treatment and reuse of contaminated waters. There are 2 sources of wastewater
Black water from a local style squat toilet that leads to a septic system, and Common greywater from showers and kitchen.

Bali has its fare share of gastrointestinal problems. The warm humid climate breeds bacteria very quickly and shoddy disposal of wastewater contaminates groundwater supplies. The main source of water in much of lowland bali are groundwater wells of dubious quality.
Given the quality of the Water the process of washing hands, utensils and food in tap water is somewhat self defeating!
That said Indonesians are clean people, in terms of their personal hygiene. In fact ive heard it said many thing Westerners smell because they don't wash enough. The truth behind this may be complicated by issues like unfamiliarity with the bathroom layout, i know i'm guilty of showering less than usual there when the prospects of yet another Ice cold bucket bath sink in. Also access to laundry facilities when travelling can be difficult as it takes time to wash and dry clothes. Its is also true that People from cool climates sweat a lot more than the locals. Im usually drenched in sweat while my friends brow merely shows a few sweat beads!
Clean people, in a filthy environment. Im still not sure how they do it! I can say for sure the environmental consciousness there is low, but improving rapidly. In contrast its hard to say for sure what is happening in Australia. In our consciousness we are much more aware of the needs of wildlife, of pollutants and environmental stewardship, but in practice we rely on expensive centralized systems to provide all our needs and remove all our wastes. Its easy to think you are clean and green when you aren't actually taking responsibility for your impacts.

So we want to take charge of our wastes, deal with them onsite, and discharge to others only outputs that we would be happy to receive back.

Our wastewater will be diverted through several systems.
Black water from a modified septic tank will exit to leach fields planted with high water use species like bamboo and reeds. Harvesting the biomass from these and pyrolizing it to make biochar is one way to cycle nutrients and water safely.
Grey water will pass through grease traps, then on through wastewater beds using wetland plants before moving to irrigate Timber and non food crops.

the next step is where we start to meet our own biological needs for food and medicine as we start using a variety of plant species to landscape the area directly around the house.
All covered in Part 4.

A Garden in Bali

2011-09-14T12:44:00.001+10:00

A Garden in Bali Part 2

The Renovations continue!
August 2011 and back from another trip over to see Friends and family. The transformation has been astonishing. From The delapidated old girl i first saw the house has been transformed into an attractive and comfortably habitable home.

From this...

To this!

Special Thanks to my Good friends and Dynamic Team, I Wayan Joni Eka putra and his Father

It has been a painless excercise for me and i owe this all to my good Balinese friends. It has also been very cost effective! Well in comparison to getting any work done in Australia its has been cheap.

Thanks to a Government scheme coming through after the renovation there is now a 900W electricity supply to the House. It is a prepaid electrical meterbox, one goes to the local shop and buys a voucher for electricity. This number is entered using a keypad on the electrical box in the kitchen and the display them shows the credit of kilowatt hours remaining which slowly winds backwards. No service fee, no nasty surprises at the end of the quarter! I think it is an excellent means for encouraging efficiency and avoiding debt traps for low income communities.

the 900W supply gives us a modest energy budget to work within that really is ample for our needs. Currently we have Compact fluorescent lights installed but we will plan for eventual replacemnet with LED lighting to cut consumption even further. A 75Watt Refrigerator will be purchased and set up off the ground with good airflow to optimize its efficiency.
These days i dont own a Television. Media content streams in via the internet to be watched on laptops, tablets or other mobile devices. If a TV was required there are several LCD TV units with a modest 44W power consumption - yes, both fridge and TV each using less than an old incandescent light bulb!

During the Day there is no need for lighting indoors as glass tiles placed in the roof act as skylights.

We are installing a gas hot water system purchased on ebay in Australia. 10L a minute instant gas hot water system, the AGA 7635.
supercheapaussies ebay
Despite the abundance of local water we seek to maintain our use within preset budgets. A shower head brought from Australia using 8L a minute should provide sustainable comfort. A future project is to remodel the septic and greywater systems to accomodate expected flows, filter and discharge water into the gardens around specially selected fuel and timber trees.

Gas hot water for cleaning and showers is fueled by elpigi (LPG). In future a solar hybrid system might be installed if a unit can be made or modified locally. The problem with Solar hot water systems on the market now is the built-in lifespan. They are not made of materials designed to last more than 8 years. Tweaking this with better materials could extend this lifespan considerably.

"These days solar water heater tanks are usually made from ordinary mild steel coated with vitreous enamel coating (the manufacturers call it glass lining). The tank has a sacrificial anode to prevent rusting and the anodes are designed to last about 8 years. Once the anode is gone the tank will probably rust out. A company from Perth used to manufacture heaters with stainless steel tanks, sadly they were bought out by one of the larger Australian manufacturers and the stainless steel was replaced by enamelled steel.

... takeup of solar heater has been disappointing but is probably due to the fact that the better quality imported units (Rheem, Solarhart and now Ariston) are very expensive (Rp25 to Rp30 million), a substantial investment. Cheaper units (such as Wika) can cost anything from Rp11 to Rp20 million. A solar water heater will save between 2 and 3 million rupiah a year in water heating costs. Solar water heaters tend to rust out and in tests I was involved in many years ago this was usually after about 8 years only just after they had paid for themselves.

If manufacturers of standard solar water heaters were to take a more ethical approach in their manufacturing design and methods solar water heaters could last much longer and probably more people would by them. "

http://www.mrfixitbali.com/articles/article83.html

A twin tub washing machine is a possible future addition. We find it worthwhile to outsource laundry in an economy like Bali. We would like to work with local providers to see if any appropriate technologies and inovations can reduce their toil and mitigate any pollution caused by the process. This might be contributions towards technology like a washing machine, infrastructure and design for purifying waste water before discharge to the environment and the selection of biodegradable and minimally polluting detergents.

And that is Zone zero for now. Zone Zero? Its permaculture speak for the House :)

Zone 0

The house, or home center. Here permaculture principles would be applied in terms of aiming to reduce energy and water needs, harnessing natural resources such as sunlight, and generally creating a harmonious, sustainable environment in which to live and work.

And now we move into Zone 1, the immediate surrounds, in my case the remainder of the 200m2 plot after the footprint of my 6 x 9 m house is deducted.

, ,

Why Indonesia?

2011-09-14T11:45:00.000+10:00

I always knew Indonesia was a treasure trove of interesting plants. Its one of those biological hotspots on the planet where colliding tectonic plates match with colliding floral and faunal assemblies from different lineages. Asia and Australasia meeting across an archipelago of so many islands that nobody can agree how many there are!

Add to that the history of peoples and their cultures that have moved through this space over the millenia, discovering and rediscovering it. The Ancestors of The Tasmanians, the Aboriginals, the Papuans, The Hobbits of flores, the proto-malay who became the Batak tribespeople, and todays Malay groups that dominate the western islands. Everyone has had a turn on their way out of africa. My perspective on going there is not a case of seeking wildness but quite the opposite, im seeking knowledge from a landscape that has been crafted by humans for millenia and bears our muddy footprints all over it, if humans can be part of nature then this is a key place to look for it.

It is a biologically rich zone. Without it we wouldn't have products we know well like Sugar, Nutmeg, Clove, Sandalwood. And we have a lot more to discover yet, add up the spices you know, and now imagine theres more than double that you don't even know about. Well if you are a spice lover you will appreciate that!

Most people know about the origins of agriculture as the english speaking world knows it. It started independently in several locations. The fertile crescent of the middle east, India,The fertile floodplains of china, Mexico,the Andes and northern Argentina. They domesticated plants and animals that were mostly annual species, living and dying in a single season and giving us grains, pulses and a small number of domesticated animals we could raise on crop residues.

But there are other zones that gave us a different kind of agriculture, based on tree crops and perennial plants that have shaped human history just as much, and hold the key to development in future. Papua gave us sugar cane, the indonesian archipelago gave us many spices

Four areas hold a great interest to me, Central america, the Amazon, Afghanistan/Persia and Indonesia. These places are very rich in fruits, nuts and medicinal plants. Africa too but that continent remaisn the dark continent with much of its wealth still unrecognized.

Why do i love plants so much? Im sure i'm the eccentric to my friends. Well my view is that nothing in this world is so deserving of mastery than to know your habitat. each plant (and animal) species we cohabit with is living ut its own life and agenda concurrent with us. Plants create everything we truly need. we are biological entities first and foremost

its like asking a painter why they love paint. Paint is colour, it gives the ability to blend and create, to express, to sustain. Colour is the power that allows a painter to have a voice

Mapping the Useful plants of Townsville

2011-09-12T14:05:00.000+10:00

Townsville PermaSurvey Google Map

Its our Approach when entering a new climatic zone to Survey and map the locality of useful species so that we can get a better idea of the range of species that can be used in a permaculture design.

This Teaches us a lot about the climate and helps to ensure a successful design process. By mapping the species we can identify what is likely to grow well in the area and the approximate mature sizes of these plants. It can also suggest useful combinations of plants by seeing what negative or positive interactions these plants have on each other.

By mapping existing gardens and any remnant trees we can also start to understand the history of the place and the Ethnic makeup. Some species may act as indicator species for particular ethnic groups and we can follow this up by making an effort to meet and learn from these gardeners. We get to make new connections and learn more about how to grow and use new plants suited to our area

In Australia this is especially important as the dominant Anglo/European derived ethnic group migrates into the tropical regions and attempts to produce food in a challenging and unfamiliar climate. We are lucky to have had an influx of people from Tropical regions all over the world so that today we have crops from the pacific islands, Asia, Africa and the Americas. By getting to know gardeners from these regions who have settled here we can learn more about how to grow and use their plants in our own gardens.

Some examples are the Islanders and Papuan gardeners to our north who have brought crops like Aibika, a tree 'spinach', Pit pit and who use Pumpkin leafy greens (Tips and tendrils) as a tasty and nutritious green vegetable. Gardeners from Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines can show us how to use Unripe pawpaw (Papaya) as a salad vegetable, how to use new flavouring herbs like hot mint (Polygonum foetidum), sawtooth coriander and fragrant pandan in our cooking. These people have knowledge of traditional diets rich in fruits and vegetables that are just what we need as we try and transition from a post colonial and post WW2 industrialized diet back to a healthy way of eating.

When designing a Home garden is it is essential to know about the needs and habit of the plants we use. We need to know how big these plants get, what kind of light and water regime they require and particulars like cross pollination or seed saving strategies we need to employ to get adequate and sustainable yields. Books don't do this very well, they often give guides based on other books or on the experience of authors in a place very different to our own. For a given location the size of a tree may vary greatly depending on depth of soil, fertility and climate. If we can see the trees growing locally we have a make a much better guess on their eventual dimensions.

To do a PermaSurvey you need only a few things. A botanist, bicycles, a street map you can draw on and internet access. First we define our area, for example a suburb, then we casually ride (or walk) up and down each street marking on our map as we go plants of interest.

I define plants of interest in this case as edible plants, herbs, useful support plants like nitrogen fixing trees or wildlife attracting plants (local or exotic wildlife dont have prejudice!). In a place like townsville i exclude some extremely common plants such as the common stringy mango, or tall coconuts. I may include special cultivars of mango or dwarf coconuts. I also mark gardens of interest where there is an abundance of useful plants so that people can see how all the elements can fit together and interact coherently.

Once back home this paper data is tranferred to google maps, honing in on the trees and gardens using streetview. The entry is matched to an open source link on the Internet such as wikipedia. That way people can view and contribute their special knowledge to the body of knowledge on that plant species.

The map then becomes an open source educational resource for any given human settlement. Useful for designers and educators to enhance the botanical literacy of local communities.

What should i grow? #1 things you cant buy

2011-09-07T17:19:00.000+10:00

When planning your Forest garden you will inevitably find there is more available to grow than you have land, labour or water to fit and so choices and sacrifices have to be made

There are different priorities for every gardener but for the gourmet gardener or those with specific ethnic tastes the first answer may well be to grow what cant be bought.
Many species just aren't commercially available, perhaps because your tastes are quite unusual or sometimes for legal reasons things cannot be traded easily.

Here are a few examples to consider and some explanation of why they might be so hard or impossible to buy

Mulberry (Morus alba)

So prolific, so tasty, but so unsuited to commercial horticulture. Its a perfect plant for a childs garden, they strike easily from cuttings, grow fast, fruit very early, taste great. Silkworms can be raised on the leaves to teach them biology and textile history. The prunings make great biochar, the leaves make a tasty tea that lowers blood sugar. And if they stain, just rub an unripe fruit on the stain (hands or clothes) then rinse to wash away the pigment :) Ducks and chickens love them so great tree inside a chook run.

loquat

Like the mulberry this tasty fruit just isnt made to be machine handled. Its one of the first tree to fruit in spring and kids love them. They are evergreen and quite attractive trees. they can be bought grafted but seedlings grow good quality fruit and bear in 3 to 4 years from seed.

Panama cherry (muntingia calabura)

A tropical cherry, of sorts, not a real cherry but for a wild plant surprisingly tasty. It is a recolonizer of wastelands sprouting up in rubble and kickstarting a new forest. it gives welcome shade in hot tropical climates. Enjoy it till other trees outgrow it

Fresh figs

There is reason the greek and romans loved and cultivated these fruits so much, they are delicious! but try and buy a ripe fig. A sun ripened fig is sweet and syrupy and a mouthful morsel. they will also grow on the rockiest most horrible sites and once established are quite drought hardy.

Sun ripened tomato

hybrid or heirloom, i dont think it matters, as long as its vine ripened. try it and you will be converted as the full flavour of what a tomato can be explodes your senses.

Kweni, Wani, Kemang

There are thousands of cultivars of the common mango (Mangifera indica), but did you know its just one of many species? the centre of Diversity for the genus Mangifera (69 species) is Indonesia and malaysia.
Kweni (Mangifera odorata) is similar to the common mango but more tart and also delicious. It fruits well in areas too wet for the common mango.
Wani is a balinese indigenous form of Mangifera caesia, the best forms are large and stringless and have a taste and texture like combined custard apple and mango, highly aromatic and very sweet.
Kemang is a javanese form of the Mangifera kemanga but more sour and esteemed for local dishes like Rujak.

Wampee

Like the mulberry this unusual gem just wont make it to the shops except as a novelty. But it is sweet juicy and kids love it. It would make a good street tree.

Akebia

Not a tropical plant, but i thought id put in some oddballs for our temperate readers. Akebia is a genus of vines from temperate north east asia. They are especially appreciated in Japan, and the japanese know their food better than almost anyone else. Several cultivars can be found on ebay from time to time under a search for "rare plants akebia"

Ackee

This is another unusual tree, this time from West africa but supplanted to the carribean with the slave trade. Salt fish with ackee fruits is the national dish of Jamaica.
Here is the Recipe with a rather Tasty Jamaican!

Of course like so many of the best things the pleasure comes with some poison. Unripe ackee are poisonous as is the seed and can cause jamaican vomiting sickness. It is a dangerous and acute illness and for that reason i doubt any litigation savvy restaurant in Australia will ever serve this food. If you want it you will have to grow yourself.

Eggs

Once you eat Garden eggs, you will know how good eggs can be. Fed on kitchen scraps, some grains, garden weeds and vegetable trimmings and allowed to forage for insect protein and tender grass shoots on your lawn you will taste the difference. even before you taste it you will feel it in the weight and thickness of the shells, and the firmness and deep colour of the yolks. vitamin enhanced, amino acid fortified, phytonutrient impregnated eggs. You just cant buy eggs this good. Especially since various egg boards banned the sale from unapproved suppliers.
Your rubbish bin wont smell cos all scraps will be recylced, your garden will be more pest free, chickens have great character to watch and interact with, your garden will increase dramatically in fertility and besides all that - home grown eggs just taste the best.

Pit Pit

Pit Pit (Saccharum edule) is a sugar cane like grass but it does not produce a sweet stem, instead it produces a flower that is cooked in coconut milk by islanders much like Europeans cook cauliflower in a white sauce. It is highly sought after and often sold out at markets very early.

Khat & Kava

Khat (Catha edulis) and Kava (Piper methysticum) are two enjoyable and medicinal herbs that are well suited to forest garden cultivation. Khat is an East african shrub originating in the same region as Coffee and also has stimulating properties. Its is a mild stimulant with slightly inebriating qualities. It in on par with Tea and Coffee in its consciousness altering capacity, and its addictive potential. It soft leaves and twig are chewed in significant quantities and is only suitably active as a fresh herb. Its abuse potential among western palates would be extremely low due to the consumption method that leaves you looking more like a dairy cow chewing cud! But for those from the 'old country' the best option is just to quietly grow your own
Kava comes from some areas of the Pacific and similarly its a culturally acquired taste, something akin to muddy water mixed with anaesthetic to the neophyte! but it is greatly enjoyed by those who seek it. Its visible effects are something like marijuana - it makes people relaxed, destressed, and inclined to sit around a lot talking. But unlike Marijuana or alcohol it is mainly the body that is relaxed and sedated, the mind remains clear and sharp, but destressed. Maybe your legs wont support you, but you can make decisions on it clearly and without angst. Kava is an elixir of peace and used to settle disputes in a civilized and enjoyable way.
Sadly if its not alcohol the Australian governmnet wont let you have any enjoyment, so its import is banned except as personal luggage and the limit is 2 Kg per adult. To buy it in Australia needs a doctors script and most doctors are unfamiliar with its safe and effective stress relieving capability. so.. grow your own

Comfrey, Lungwort, Coltsfoot, Calamus

These Herbs are restricted for sale as herb in Australia. According to the Therapeutic Goods Administration they represent some kind of threat to societies welfare and have been banned for sale or inclusion in therapeutic goods.
I can't say the TGA and i see eye to eye on these matters. These are not plants with abuse potential but quite specific herbal remedies for specific ailments. Lungwort and coltsfoot i have used with great success for my own bronchial troubles. I have sped up wound healing using comfrey, as have many others. Calamus (Acorus calamus) is a powerful detoxifying herb and flavouring agent for herbal beers and liquers.
So rather than fight the powers, we can simply ignore them and grow our own medicines. This is only a small sample of the plants of great healing power that are now prohibited from sale and i expect the list will grow. So sourcing, growing and taking charge of your own health is a matter of some urgency.

2011-08-30T10:11:00.002+10:00

Ayam lalapan with sambal and nasi uduk

Fried chicken with lime tomato Sambal and crudites

Ayam goreng / fried chicken

Marinate chicken pieces in minced turmeric and garlic paste

steam chicken till cooked and set aside

when firmed deep fry till golden brown in hot oil

serve hot

Revs notes: Indonesian chicken seems to have has less fat than Australian chicken and a firmer meat. Try trim excess fat or use lean cuts or Corn fed chicken. Try Substituting fried chicken with fried whole fish, Catfish (lele), giant gourami (Gurami) are popular species.

Ayam goreng Indo style. You can fry it this much, or less. tasty!

Sambal

Ripe fresh medium tomatoes roughly chopped x 3

Bali Chilli x 10 (hot, reduce number or remove seeds to lessen heat)

Garlic 3 cloves crushed and chopped

Terasi level 1/4 tsp (aka Shrimp paste or belacan

Indonesian Lime Jeruk limau whole fruit including pith and skin

Salt to taste

chop and fry off garlic , shrimp paste , and chilli till golden. add tomato and cook till softened

grind or puree to paste and add sliced/ diced limes and salt to taste.

keeps in fridge 2 days or can be portioned and frozen.

Revs notes: Jeruk limau is a citrus species i dont yet know the name of. It is a seeded lime with oil profile between Mexican lime (Citrus aurantifolia) and Kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix leaf). It may not be available outside south east asia and i believe a mix of the juice and rind of the former, with shredded leaf of the latter would make an acceptable substitute.

Jeruk limau (Citrus sp.)

Cabe (cha-bay) bali is a variety about 2.5cm (1 inch ) long and ranging from pearly greenish white to red on the same bush. http://www.differentbaliindonesia.com/feedback/cabe.jpg for a photo. It is ell worth growing in the home garden as it has a good flavour and is grown in other regions as well for traditional cuisine.

Crudites/ Lalapan

shred raw white cabbage, with short lengths of fresh green beans, cucumber, and mix of other salad greens and raw vegetables. It is designed to be eaten with your hands.

Seasoning

The traditional herb to accompany this is is a lime basil, it really sets off the dish and is the perfect pairing with the raw vegetables, sambal and fried chicken. Seeds available on request

Nasi uduk (coconut rice)

I was unable to make true Nasi uduk, (a dish similar to the malaysian and thai Nasi lemak,) because i lack the ingredient Daun salam (Szyzygium polyanthum). Known in english as indonesian bay leaf for the similar way it is used however the European bay tree (Laurus nobilis) is not substitutable as it has a different taste profile.

so i settled for a simple coconut rice.

using absorbtion method of 2 cups rice to 1 3/4 cups water i substituted 1/3 of the water for coconut milk. Pandan leaf (Pandanus amaryllifolius) from my garden was tied in a knot and put into the pot to release its fragrance. Its better to dry or wilt the leaf first to release its flavour more.

Pandan - great understorey in tropical food forest

A Garden in Bali

2011-05-18T15:35:00.176+10:00

A Garden in Bali Part 1

Up in the mountains of Bali are a number of sleepy villages nestled among the mixed Clove, coffee and chocolate forests. They are mostly enclaves of traditional balinese religion and culture where the economy is largely based on a subsistence horticulture incorporating wet rice fields (Sawah), home Gardens (Pekarangan), Mixed gardens (Kebun) and Agroforestry (Talun). These systems support local livestock industries of suckling pigs, Balinese cattle, Village chickens and Goats. Ducks are also sometimes raised in stalls
Cashflow comes from excess rice, Coconuts, Coffee, Clove and other spice crops, Chocolate. Fruit crops also contribute income and Citrus and Durian are important cash crops, followed by Salak and Mangosteen.

The climate is milder at altitude and the rainfall is high. Placed on the slopes of an extinct volcano the soils are rich and well textured and the peaks are still covered in cloud forest.

I was presented with the opportunity to partner with a balinese friend to buy a small house in one of these villages. At the end of an alley looking out across coconuts and temples all the way to the ocean, and on a clear day beyond to the East coast of Java, the worlds most populous island.

Fresh air and Inspiring views from the front doorstep

The house is small, just 6 x 9 metres in total, on a level land parcel of 200m2 constructed of blocks made of volcanic tuff and cement, lined with woods harvested from local agroforests, and roofed with locally made clay tiles. 2 bedrooms, lounge and a central thoroughfare. Kitchen and bathroom to one side.

The Roof was leaking and termites had caused a collapse in the kitchen. The roof was Asbestos sheeting. I could see this was no quick fix! but i bought in anyway..The prospect of a retreat in such a beautiful place with such peace and safety was too much to pass up. And then of course was the possibility to build a garden! Climates and soils like this in Australia are extremely rare and priced at a premium, id never get this chance at home!

Repairs began soon. All the roof sheeting was removed carefully and placed aside, the timbers were all removed and burned and replaced with New timbers. Local woods were sourced such as old coconut for the doorways, old coconut has a beautiful grain, Dark and speckled. An Albizzia species was used as battens. Some mahogany forms secondary support and a third unidentified wood with a rich red colour not unlike true american mahogany forms the main beams. In time i will plant replacement timbers on adjacent land to replace all wood in the house when the time comes with timber of higher quality, but thats another blog to write up!

The roof went on in January consisting of a good quality fired terracotta tile manufactured near tabanan. Tiles need to be carefully selected and painted with a waterproof paint before being laid. The higher quality the tile the better waterproofing ability and longer life of the support timbers and furniture below! heavy rain and ceremonial duties delayed the roof but this is expected in any building project.

Work like this is very cheap compared to Australia and the aesthetic outcome is unparalelled. It is my intention to restore this old girl to a condition higher than its original and retrofit it with some appropriate technologies that improve comfort while fitting seamlessly with the local traditional and emerging local style.

A local House, newly built, showing the design and aesthetic common for local buildings for those with the means to do so. The design incorporates Cultural and practical design for this very Humid but sometimes cool climate.

Work continues on restoration, time was needed to ensure the roof did not leak and allow all timbers and walls to dry out thoroughly after being exposed to rain. It was lucky i took this go slow approach as the roof does leak in places. A loose tile and improperly sealed tiles are the causes and are being rectified with adjustmnet and a second coat of waterproofing paint.

Flat tiles and capping tiles were given one coat of a waterproofing paint. This should last 6 to 10 years. One coat proved insufficient and a second coat was applied and which accomplished the main goal of a sealed roof :)

The Roof headpiece was selected by my good brother, I Wayan Joni. In Hindu tradition the Ancient Swastika symbol is associated with good luck and wellbeing. It is related to the traditional balinese greeting, Om Swasti Astu - meaning may the divine grant you health and wellbeing.

The next tasks will be the internal and external rendering of the block walls using sand and cement. There needed to be an adjusting of door heights upwards 20cm to accomodate my taller frame, and that of the average European male. From my short travels in Java i noticed the Balinese to be a taller and more robust people, and im sure a few of them would also hit their heads on the original doorways! The next step will be the fitting of new internal and external doors, nice and sturdy and made of all local materials that support growers and crafts people to maintain their skills. Finally we will be completing the ceramic tiling throughout the house. Its practicality to tile in this terrain, the red volcanic earth is most easily washed from a sealed hard surface. Mould is controlled by admitting UV light via glass tiles, by ventilation and by the used of clove oil in washing walls, an all natural strategy!

The original interior showing tiled floors, hardwood window frames, Open vents above windows and rendered walls. The darkness has been adjusted by installing a glass tile to admit light, and while vents will remain open i will be fitting a fine "midge" grade insect gauze screen to fit in the recess so allowing air but not insect movement!

Retrofitting for environmental health and comfort will include replacing some clay tiles with clear or frosted glass tiles, and some bricks with glass bricks to remove the need for use of electric light during the day. Fortunately a government susbisdized scheme is underway in the local area to supply power to these houses with 900W power supply. This will allow use of LED lighting, a low wattage refrigeration unit, ceiling fan and charge points for Radio, battery lamps, mobile phones and laptops. Hot water will be an imported continuous supply Gas unit, no storage tank, fitted to LPG. The tap water itself is supplied from the higher slopes of the volcano and is clean not requiring treatment, like the air up there it is crisp and pure.

The exposed bathroom after roof removal. The cistern overflowing due to leak is fixed, its called a Mandi and water is bucketed from it to wash or flush using a ladle. The Asian style squat toilet is very healthy and easy to adjust to. A shower head and wash basin will be installed fitted to an instantaneous gas water heater from the kitchen. The window filled with opaque glass bricks and the walls rendered, surfaces tiled... and a towel rack in there too ;)

With the frequency of heavy cloud cover solar power is not an option. The area has a lot of potential for village scale small hydroelectric, and the region has untapped geothermal reserves. A small locally manufactured solar water heater could be built if cheap enough to justify its infrequent use. Perhaps a chip heater using small locally abundant and available agricultural waste would be most appropriate. Biogas or syngas are other options, and these are things i will try in future once all other household economies are brought to full efficency.

Original state

Roof approaching restoration..

When the time comes ill fit the house with furniture garnished from local bamboo villages that make beds and other items from domestic bamboo, and from shops that sell recycled furniture, hopefully i can hold out for antiques.. Old teak and other wooden items from colonial and later 20th century styles.

So with the house gradually regaining livability my attention turns to the garden, the icing on the cake..and we all really know its the card that draws me!

My Garden

Situated in an area that is a classic example of Indonesias home gardens and complex agroforests it is paradise for an enthusiast and ethnobotanist like myself. The surrounding farms consist of shade grown Balinese Robusta coffee, of which i have been shown at least 3 distinct varieties. Among this are stands of Cacao for chocolate, Javanese and Cassia cinnamon, Nutmegs, Cloves, Vanilla, Citrus, Mangosteen, Durian, Salak palm, Coconut and numerous other minor cash and susbsistence species. A full inventory has not been made but it is a task i will relish.

Rich soils support Healthy coffee plantations with overstorey of legume shade trees and a herbaceous understory that are trimmed to feed tethered Bali cattle, goats and pigs. Poultry free range in gardens close to the house while further afield roam wildlife including Luwak and Green junglefowl.

Home gardens are usually seen as stepping off points for the domestication process. Wherever i go keen gardeners will be able to show me plants they have collected in local forests, nearby regions or from their travels of friends far abroad. This village is no different and my friends gardens show all this, with trials and experimnets and horticultural oddities all in varying stages of investigation.

Crime is pretty low level in such a small community, but it does happen. Less likely to be something large or expensive, your car is safe, as are building supplies. When chickens go missing its the talk of the village! But bring a rare plant and it may pay to establish it in a friends home garden first! I know well the allure of a rare or exotic plant, and even the mostly ethical practice of appropriating cuttings can be fatal if the plant is too small and there are too many fingers! Quietly.. this puts a smile on my face :) Ive lived my whole life in societies that treasure a Television, CD's or Bicycles, mass produced short term use throw away items, yet are blind to ethnobotanical value of my amazing plants. Not that anytjing has ever been taken! my friends just warned me as precaution, and i was flattered!! not offended!!

The plant in question is a Javanese medicinal pepper, Red betel (Piper crocatum), one of several Betel peppers and one of the more rare. http://www.sbsymphony.org/2010/03/the-benefits-of-red-betel-leaves/ and http://herbal.medicalonlinemedia.com/2009/09/red-betel-vine-benefit-for-health-beauty/. The Leaves of the Green betel (Piper Betel) along with turmeric and tamarind paste are boiled to make an everyday herbal drink for women that is renowned to maintain and enhance her sexual prowess, especially after childbirth.

Red betel pepper (Piper crocatum) is a Javanese medicinal species i missed collecting when in Java but managed to locate in bali from a specialist collector at the "exorbitant" price of $AUD 6. It is used in traditional preparations for heart troubles, hypertension, halitosis, diabetes, womens medicine and as an antitussive.

Red Betel is sought after as an ornamental in addition to its medicinal value.

I encourage locals to come and get cuttings. Ill be planting my most useful and rarest indonesian medicinal plants in reach of pathways and i hope people take home seed and cuttings to grow and use.

The garden is to be a launching pad, in the traditional sense, to experimnet with endemic, local, national and international collections of planst useful to the community and the economy. Despite their ecological sustainability the price of rolling out these large scale agroforests is the duplication effect leading to too much coffee, too much chocolate, too much cinnamon. depressed commodity prices, predatory buying practices by middlemen and to top it off disease pressures can lead to a point where it becomes uneconomical to continue.

Balinese landholder have been fortunate that the land prices have skyrocketed in recent years due to interest from developers catering to Villas and tourist markets. Asian investors have also bought in and intensified agriculture of a few species like coffee and citrus. This is often done in a way that destroys the complex fabric of these mixed forests. while outputs of cash commodities increase, the lions share goes offshore while the forest base that sustains the all important non cash economy for locals is eroded. fodder for animals, bamboos and timbers for building are sacrificed for short term gain.

An alternative strategy may be diversification. Because selling your land is a fast track to poverty of future generations and loss of sovereignty. But in the current setting these villages are land rich and cash poor, somethings needs doing. This is an ongoing process and doesn't exclude the growth of short term cash crops. Identifying missed opportunities for specialty timbers, Medicinal and food crops and forage crops is may aim. Co-operation is the key, locals taking care of labour and local ecological knowledge, and foreign partners like myself using our abilities to access planting material from across the globe held in collections or wild sourced, and then to link those products as closely as possible through few hands to the end consumer.

As an Amateur and keen ethnobotanist there is a process of learning where i listen and take in and decode the local understandings , needs and desires, and then try and contribute back to fill in gaps in both education and access to new planting materials. Learning about the cultural and dietary practices of the local area is very rewarding. Locals are always keen to have me try a local speciality, and i always accept. I will cover some of these treats later, wierd and wonderful to outsiders like me, some things i have only read about, and others that come as complete surprise. Local farmers are very competent in their ethnobotanical knowledge of the systems they create and very pleased to engage outsiders who take an interest and can return knowledge.

They are proud of their culture and love to share names and uses, and in return i can more than often tell them of names used by other groups as well as uses they were not aware of. In East java after being shown the traditional rice harvesting process, i reached down and started grazing on a spicy herb from a roadside cut. This immediately interested the villagers who gathered in to see what i was eating, its was Peperomia pellucida, a crisp and spicy 'weed' that is common across the tropics, and a bane of nurseries as it loves to grow in pots. The locals had no idea it was edible and no name for it, i assured them it was safe, popular in Vietnam, and helped myself to more. An old lady, and then a man jostled through and joined me, tentativetly, in testing this new herb. I told them its good but best mixed, campur, with other greens. Ethnobotany is a 2 way process, first you learn all you can, and the more you know and can share back, the more even the relationship gets and that makes everyone happy!

Ill continue next time looking at the species already in my garden, and those i am collecting for it. Itll be a mix of Balinese, Indonesian and international ethnobotany and a story of how gardeners exchanging information and planting materials across the world is improving the future for everyone.

Catha edulis Narrow leaf form. Possibly a hybrid of Red and Narrow leaf forms. Intended for use as a hedge.

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Catha edulis, from Coolbellup to Candi Kuning

2010-09-07T11:35:00.007+10:00

In a suburb near Fremantle, Western australia in 2002 we located a large Khat tree (Catha edulis), a stimulant commonly used in East Africa, The Arab Gulf states and Madagascar. Its is a Medium sized tree most often found as a highly pruned shrub that is grown for its fresh shoots which contain the stimulants Cathinone and Cathine.

These trees were and may still be somewhat common in the older suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. Our investigations through local nurseries suggest that its was propagated by nurserymen over a number of decades beginning in the late 1950's as an ornamental plant. It suits the soils and climate well and it is indeed and attractive garden plant resembling in many horticultural features the Photinia.

Figure 1: The Mother lode Tree 2002. This is the largest seed load we have ever seen on a Khat tree. This tree has now been felled

Figure 2: The Foliage of the type of Khat trees common in the suburbs of Perth.

Figure 3: Seed pods as they hang in clusters from the tree

I First became aware of this tree in 1996 when we saw a tiny specimen in a colleagues nursery. There was a sense of hush-hush about it and a story that it contained a chemical like "Speed" (Amphetamine).
We were then surprised to find a large tree in a friends grandmothers backyard in and old Perth suburb, so i sent a pressed sample to my colleague who confirmed its identity, with equal surprise. I was to find several more trees during my time in Perth, and hear of a great deal more.
It was in 2002 while cycling to Fremantle that i spotted two east African looking gentlemen high up a tree. This being the tree pictured in Figures 1 -3, from which i had already been collecting seed the week before. I approached them to say hello and hopefully learn more about its use.
At first they were hesitant, but when it became clear i was familiar with this tree they opened up. These fellows were from Kenya and were harvesting for themselves and their Ethiopian friends. They chew it socially with friends, listen to music and drink some beers. This seemed a more informal ritual than the Qat houses of Somalia and Yemen, where the Islamic customs exclude Alcohol.
These fellows told me of how they used to grow it in the moist fertile highlands, renting land between Coffee plantations in order to grow Khat. By digging a hole and planting cuttings they would establish trees that could be first harvested some 3 or 4 years later, not unlike the timespan to grow coffee itself.
When queried on seeds, they told me unequivcally that Khat does not grow from seed, as they stood against a backdrop of a seed laden tree. I understood this though as it is a common understanding with many crops that they are not grown from seed if a cutting will bear more quickly and reliably, this is the undertanding ofthe farmer, not the biologist like me, who is most interested in aspects other than yield.
This tree, they told me, was poorly managed - too big! The leaves were tough and weak, a good tree would be pollarded, that is cut off much lower and encouraged to reprout vigorously. It is these juicy crisp and low tannin shoots that are most valued.
I never saw those men again, though i spoke to the owner a few years later and the tree had been savagely pruned. The owner was dismayed at the Car loads of Africans who would turn up in the front yard any time of day or night climing the tree and taking away branches. He was concerned about litigation ifthey hurt themselves and was intending to remove the tree. Sadly this story is common, many trees i have known, and many people have told me their stories of their Africans in the trees, despair and eventual arboricide.
Those seeds however were distributed Australia wide and Worldwide.

I had the opportunity to taste some quality shoots in Perth from a recently coppiced tree. The flavour and texture was indeed far better, slight tannins and sweetness like sucking on a teabag. And a pleasant aromatic flavour. The effects were subtle but definite. Those expecting Amphetamine should be ready to be disappointed! firstly one has to chew some 150 - 300g of fresh shoots, a hefty amount to the unaccustomed!
The tannins are still present and so pucker the mouth.
The effect i can liken to Strong cup of Tea, and in exactly the same way it relaxes and invigorates. Chemically it may be amphetamine but its effects are so mild that only chemists need care. It enlivens conversation without inebriating, it is pleasing, but the cost, that of chewing so much herbage im sure will restrict its use to ethnic circles.

The compound itself is unstable, and extremely difficult to extract and stabilize. Even dried leaves only contain the weaker Cathine, perhaps useful in weight loss or congested sinus. As a starting point for drug synthesis the plant is a dead end.
Cathinone is not the same as Methcathinone, a street drug manufactured from Sinus pills and much stronger and more stable. Nicknamed "Cat" or "Kitty" this im sure has led to confusion among law makers and they have now banned the plant in two Australian states. So this plant becomes an unfortunate casualty of the War on Drugs, which is silly, because it is really the same as banning Coffee, Chocolate and Tea plants in what it achieves, while all the street drugs are made from Pharamceuticals.

Part two

In 2003 We travelled to Bali, Indonesia, to explore the Island for a month. Part of this exploration took us to the Bali Kebun Raya (Botanical gardens) at Candi kuning near Bedugul in the Mountains.
We took with us on our trip seeds of the Khat tree and donated them to the Botanic gardens.

Part 3

I returned and relocated to New South Wales where i continued a long running interest in Khat. On the east coast the plants were much more rare, but multiple forms existed.
There were even some collectors beginning to cross pollinate specimens and create horticultural hybrids.One such hybrid is the Cultivar Vienna white, a hybrid of the Red and Green forms of Khat (figure 4), This was bred by a collector know as "Planthelper" living near bangalow, west of Byron Bay on the Northern New South Wales coast.

Figure 4: A "Vienna White" hybrid of the Red and Green forms bred near Bangalow NSW

Figure 5: The Narrow Leaf form of Catha edulis from Southern Africa

Figure 6: The Narrow leaf form of Catha edulis showing leaf type

Nearby close to Lismore, NSW are Narrow leaved forms of the same species that look very different (fig 5 & Fig 6). These appear to originate more in the Southern range of the species and can be found in South Africa where they are also used (van Wyk & Gericke 2003).
Other species have also been grown and may contain similar compounds to Catha, such as the widespread genus Maytenus.
In 2009/2010 Hybrid seed of the Red and Narrow leaf Catha edulis became available.
When we returned to Bali in December 2009 we were pleased to find fellow plant collectors there had Khat trees amongst their collections.When queried about its origin we found it was sourced from the Kebun Raya and so we returned to the gardens after 7 years and easily located the thriving tree in the Medicinal herb gardens.

This has confrmed to us the value of Amateur plant collectors giving back to Public gardens, not just in your own country but when travelling abroad.

It is our intention to continue to donate seeds and plants of useful species to public gardens worldwide and assist in their dissemination and study

References

van Wyk, B. & Gericke, N. (2003). People's Plants: A Guide to Useful Plants of Southern. Africa. Briza Publications, Pretoria, South Africa
Reccomended reading

Rushby K. 1999. Eating the Flowers of Paradise: One Man's Journey Through Ethiopia and Yemen

qat page
http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/soc/qat.htm

Ka'apor Forest Ethnobotany

2010-09-07T01:09:00.008+10:00

Footprints of the Forest: Ka'Apor Ethnobotany- The Historical Ecology of Plant Utilization by an Amazonian People (Biology and Resource Management I)

Some Titles we've hand selected in refernce to this Post

300 year old Food forest in Vietnam

2010-09-06T23:14:00.009+10:00

300 year old Food forest in Vietnamese Suburb

Geoff lawton discovers a 300 Year old Garden tended by a Vietnamese family for 28 generations.
I love this Clip because i too search out old suburbs and where i always find the most interesting plants and emergent ecologies.

Old soils built up layer by layer from gardening and human activity, with Domestic plants and animals that have thrived over centuries of climatic variation. In Australia this situation is easy to find but like everywhere becoming a more and more scarce resource as cities intensify and modernize.

Old Public gardens are also very valuable for the Permaculture designer as they provide not only the tried and tested propagation material to start new gardens, but also the knowledge of what mature plants look like, their accumulated community of associated plants, wildlife and soil biota.

Finding an ancient Oak or mulberry, or in the tropics a 100 year old Mango tree allows you to study what each tree does to the soil in which it grows and the plant nutrients, deep profile soil carbon qualities, or surface O-Horizon "duff" or the allellotoxins that species may bioaccumulate. A native example i recall from Fremantle is the community that forms about rottnest Island Pines (Callitris preissii), whoe duff and possibly allelotoxins create a habitat that allows the growth of a Pellitory herb, which in turn is the sol food source of the Blue skipper Butterfly. We do not yet know what range of special habitats exotic species are creating that will foster unique niches for increased biodiversity, although we have evidence that Old Moneterey/Radiata Pine groves provide a rich habitat for rare native Ferns, Mosses and terrestrial orchids. These habitats then also support the species that depend on these plants. The importance of Mature pines to endangered Black cockatoos is well known, and Urban Mango trees are well utilised by endangered fruit bats and local bird species.

Old trees in mature urban settings allow study of how exotic plants integrate into the ecology and how they interact with native species and provide valuable habitat. What kinds of lichen,moss, algae, vascular epiphytes and fungi adapt to its bark? What invertebrate diversity lurks among the canopy, on the bark and in the rootzone? What structural diversity does it provides for nesting or feeding Birds, Mammals or reptiles, and what epiphytes like to settle. And to humans what are the properties for Ammenity planning? Shade? longevity? root stability, spread and invasiveness?. Without this evidence a designer cannot design systems that are truly sustainable.Without real examples to survey and quantify we remain in the dark working with a very rudimentary theory based approach to Urban ecosystem design.
These old gardens are of immense value, not only because we are working with species that do not occur naturally together, being separated by geographic boundaries, but also because many of our most valuable cultivated species are becoming very rare or are already extinct in truly wild settings. Wild Apples in Afghanistan or Wild Vanilla in mexico are on the verge of disappearing before we know how their original ecosystems worked.

Food Forest Theory

2010-09-06T21:45:00.000+10:00

Forest biochar

2010-09-06T20:54:00.011+10:00

Biochar 101

Biochar or Agrichar is doing the rounds in the news as a solution to a range of problems, including declining soil health and Carbon dioxide emissions from Industry and Agriculture.

Biochar is created by burning organic materials in low oxygen conditions so that a proportion of the carbon does not escape as Waste gases but stays behind as a solid and relative inert form of carbon we commonly know as Charcoal. The lack of sufficient oxygen prevents combustion to the end point where only mineral salts remain, known as Ash. Ash contains plant nutrients but it is caustic and water soluble so what canot be used quickly leaches away.

Most Charcoal is produced for industrial and fuel uses and ends up being burned anyway.The better industrial charcoal is made from Trees either in plantation or from felling natural forests. In this setting Charcoal is a great waster of a natural resource, as only 15-35% of the Carbon in Wood is retained in the marketable product.

However, Change the intent and feed stock origin and the whole game changes. Better Biochar is made from Low value organic wastes such as husks, shells, sawdust, short fibres, cleared brush and palm wastes to name a few, interfere greatly with cropping and tillage or general operations in Farming, Industry and forestry. They are generally low in plant nutrients and so naturally slow to break down, they do add some soil organic matter but often with great nuisance. They may contain inhibitory compounds that retard the growth of the next crop, or may harbour disease for the next season. Left to compost naturally the loss of carbon is almost complete with very little joining long lasting slow soil carbon pools. Any organic gardener will lament the sheer quantities of mulches and manures they have carted onsite, only to see it swallowed up by the soil. There is benefit, but it is easily undone by a few years of neglect, and it is a constant struggle to build and mantain on farm soil organic matter. Because of this, carbon that can be fixed by conversion to stable black carbon is a highly efficient gain and not a waste.

One of the benefits of Biochar is that it joins a store of carbon that is extremely resilient and long lasting. Charcoal is used by archaeologists to date prehistoric human settlements, and seams of charcoal exist from when land plants had only recently evolved. Even today many ferns like charcoal in their potting mixes, or will not germinate in the wild unless there is charcoal in the seedbed.

Biochar complements other Active and passive pools of Carbon in the soil by improving soil structure and decreasing bulk density so that roots, fungi and soil fauna can move around more easily. Chemically it helps form aggregates that stabilize other soil organic matter against loss by oxidation.Biochar does not replace living soil and Humus, it protects and complements it!

In this way a yield from an annual harvest of waste Peanut hulls, converted to 20% of its volume in Char and re-incorporated represents a boom to stable soil carbon levels that is unheard of by any other means within that time frame. It is also produced onsite or nearby and so is not robbing peter to pay paul.

Because Biochar is bulky but light and full of pores, it decreases the heaviness to the soil, helps it hold more water and more air, and helps prevent tight compaction. In amongst these spaces are sticky chemical sites that hold onto plant nutrients and slow the leaching process.

The Video

The clips show a man in Hawaii using Biochar to turn a carbon rich but infertile site into a rich Garden.
Rank vegetation in degraded areas`after logging and regrowth offers a ready onsite source of carbon.
Using a simple method the materialis converted to a Biochar that enhances the local soil.

Our own method we developed several years ago is very much like this method. Its is Low tech, used onsite materials and apart from simple labour, which you supply yourself, is free.

Our own methods used more grasses, like lawn clippings, Vetiver, Bana grass, bamboos, as well as wood prunings and woody fruits pits and capsules from Fruit and ornamnetal trees. By Turning the Hard,noxious, diseased elemenst of the garden to char they are defused.

Now in the tropics the use of Palm wastes including fronds, seeds, sheathes and trunks is most appropriate.

origin

Biochar 2

Biochar 3

Railway Estate Community Gardens

2010-09-06T17:37:00.015+10:00

Originally know as the Diversity Gardens, this multiple acre site is a community garden managed by the Townsville City Council and its allotment holders.
The Intention of the gardens was to support traditional gardening practices and foster intercultural interaction and sharing of knowledge and skills.

"The Community Diversity Garden was established by the Townsville City Council
in collaboration with the Federal Department of Family and Community Services,
Multicultural Affairs Queensland's Local Area Multicultural Partnership (LAMP)
Program and the local Community. The planning and creation of the Community
Diversity Garden was undertaken with the participation of various community
groups and individuals."

http://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/services/departments/comm_serv/council_programs#garden

It is currently undergoing a renewal of Interest with many new members and community groups taking on Plots and getting involved.

The Gardens are supplied with irrigation lines so that each plot has access to mains water and plots vary in size , though ours is about 8 metres wide by about 26 metres long.

The gardens members come from a wide array of Ethnic backgrounds, some are Australian Born, others include Papua new guinea, The Philipines, Greece, El Salvador and Fiji.

These members bring with them their own gardening styles as a fusion of Traditional and their own ingenuity, as well as Traditional crops and the knowledge of how to grow, harvest and prepare them. We will showcase some of these in future along with Traditional names and specific information on use.

The Papuan gardeners bring Aibika, Pit pit, Sugar cane, Yam, Cocoyam and Cassava, The El Salvador Gardeners bring Tall Maize for making traditional dishes, Squash fruit grown for their edible seeds, Choko vines and rare fruits like spanish lime (Melicoccus bijugatus) , The Philipino gardener has planted perennial vegetables like Moringa and Thai pea eggplant. And everybody grows Bananas, of several kinds.
These plants get widely exchanged between members along with the information on how to use them

They have already instructed in when to harvest Bananas, and i have taugh them that the weedy groundcover they are always trying to remove, is actually a Nitrogen fixing groundcover called Desmodium they would do better to simply trim back and drop as fertilizer. In future i will quizz them more on their plants, their uses and recipes, and i will introduce them to alternative legume groundcovers and other useful plants

We have gained access to a plot, an overgrown one left vacant by the Phillipino Gardener. We inherit a range of plants, and we are already adding our own to the inventory

My Papuan neighbour was happy to see me planting a seeded Breadfruit (Artocarpus camansi) near our boundary, these are popular in PNG and the seeds are eaten as well as the fruit. Our seeds came from Bali, where it is known as Timbul, but it is the same plant.

We also bring many varieties of Basils, Chillis and Pawpaw/ Papaya. We are also planting Pepper vines, Vanilla , Basella, Bitter Gourds and Winged beans on the fences.

The Plot : We are removing and composting the banana trash, fertilizing with Dolomite and Gypsum and trimming back all weedy and dead growth to serve as a mulch layer to improve the sandy soil base. In future we may start turning woody waste to biochar.
This will be our first truly Tropical Food forest, though we have built them before in the Subtropics. There is a lot to learn, but the other members are very helpful

Elements of a food forest

2010-09-04T23:26:00.000+10:00

Elements a food forest
A food forest is an increasingly common term that has taken hold in alternative gardening circles, however it describes a very old concept. It describes complex Agro-forests, forests created by humans, intentionally, primarily for satisfying human needs, which approximate the structure and function of a natural forest.

The formal study of these systems is relatively new even though examples of traditional food forests are found throughout the Americas, Africa, South and East Asia and the pacific. Each one has its own structure and species composition dependent on local ecological conditions, tastes and availability of planting materials.

Food forests have a multifaceted value to environment and society, their strength lies in their ability to sustainably protect the land, while also providing multiple nutritional and economic options for the owner with very low input level of materials and labour. Food forests are also not just about food, they also provide Shelter, Fuel, medicine, forage and game. They can provide Aromatic oils and resins, timber and craft goods for sale. They also provide a range of ecosystem services such as soaking up nutrient and microbial pollution, retaining and building stable soils, humidifying, rehydrating and cooling landscapes. They have great conservation value in their ability to provide habitat for many wild and semi wild species, especially birds,most especially when they provide islands of sanctuary in a sea of fields or farms.

They also create a very livable landscape mosaic when interspersed with wetlands and grasslands. As a species we enjoy a wide variety of foodstuffs and goods that are found in multiple habitat types so it is useful for us to live on the edges of 2 or more habitats. One of the most habitable areas of all is near these anthropogenic food forests.

Establishing a piece of viable human habitat is not a difficult thing. You are already doing it when you live on a piece of land and return any domestic waste to the site.As in amongst what we call waste are seeds and other propagules just waiting for an opportunity, waiting to be left in a rubbish pile where they may find enriched soil conditions and germinate. Many of these plants are dispersed by large animals in their wild habitat. Animals eat the fruit along with other fruit and herbage and deposit neat piles of fecal micro-enrichment far from the parent tree. Our relatives, the great apes, are major seed dispersal agents and probably played a role in the selection and evolution of the tasty fruits across Asia and Africa today, some biologists suspect that the reason for the lack of tasty tropical fruits in Australian rainforests is a lack of primates.

With the selective force of many animals flocking to a particular tasty tree, and then spreading its progeny all through the forest in radiating seed shadows, repeated year after year, generation after generation it is not surprising that fruits have been fashioned to be bright, colourful large and sweet, just like Primates prefer. Our closest relatives, the chimpanzees, have been studied for their effects on seed dispersal in their native habitat. Some seeds are swallowed whole, and deposited later, while others are suck free of pulp and the remaining Wadge, a compressed lump of skin, fibre, pulp and seed (Goodall 1986), is dropped or hurled back into the forest. Studies on the germination rates of seeds from these Wadge parcels showed germination and survival rates greater or equal to defecated seed, and much higher than seed in fruit left close to the parent tree. Think about that next time you are spitting pips from a Watermelon or Mandarin! We are not so different.
Humans don’t swallow so many fruit seeds anymore, we even specialize in breeding fruit with fewer or no seeds! And when we do eat seeds, unavoidably, we flush them to sea or bury them in great underground anaerobic vats (Septic tanks).What we do, increasingly, is compost. Composting is a sanitary means of disposing of all manner of organic wastes and recycling them back into soil food. In theory thermocomposting sees the materials auto-generate heat as the microbes metabolize foodstuffs, this activity raises the temperature up above 60C and self pasteurizes the pile. It basically cooks any pathogens, insects, seeds and other items and renders the mix unattractive to vermin. The heat kills many seeds and this is the kind of compost you would put on your annual garden beds. The other more common compost, often by neglect more than intention, is more of a repository bin for scraps. They are better covered above to exclude vermin, but open to the earth below to allow free movement of earthworms, slaters and other benign decomposers to and from the pile. It is in these piles that we might throw fruit pulp and pits, non weedy leaf and trim, gnawed dog bones, ash from a barbecue or fireplace, and all sorts of other things that don’t attract flies, or bears!This enrichment supplements the natural succession of the area around Human by concentrating plant nutrients, and by seeding directly with our preferred fruits!
This system has been going on for millennia. This kind of open backyard tip where the chooks and the dogs eat the scraps and all thats left ends up in a big old heap may be as old as gardening itself. Studies on plant domestication suggest that these midden gardens were important sites for domestication of tree crops. Bringing seeds from distant places and discarding the seeds in fertile ground created opportunities for hybridization of distant relatives. This process continues today especially among people living adjacent to forests and harvesting wild foods. Building a food forest involves tickling the systems of forest repair by first understanding and observing what happens when we do nothing.
Weeds will blow in, grass will grow rank and be overtopped by weedy shrubs and legume trees. After a few years a low canopy may form and the edge of the new forest may be a tangle of vines, and shrubs with small bird dispersed fruits.
Under the establishing canopy partially shade tolerant bird dispersed species will sprout. These will shoot up and overtake the scrubby layer and form a higher canopy. They will fruit and in turn attract more birds which will take and deposit more seed.
In time perhaps larger wildlife will bring in large seeded species that are quite shade tolerant, these will slowly establish and wait for a small gap in the canopy to make a push for dominance.
We can do this too, the difference being control and speed. Control of species composition, control of speed of formation, and control of lifespan before the forest is reopened to a new cycle of rebirth.
Of the thousands of species of direct use to people, and the thousands more that support desirable wildlife or play important roles in the ecosystem we can learn to select and build artificial forests of extremely high utility.
For ecosystem stability it is hypothesized that a mere 15 species is necessary to stabilize and ecosystem, however not all species are created equal in terms of importance. So it is important for use to understand the concept of functional groups within ecosystems if we desire to create them.
I’ll be focusing on some of these in separate articles as we go along, they will include Nitrogen fixing plants, Fungi, Decomposers, Plants that bio-accumulate minerals from deep in the soil strata, Pollinators, Grazers, Predators, Pathogens and Parasites, Weeds and Disturbers.
We have a lot of reading to do ourselves and I realize the terms used are not perhaps what ecologists use, however they are the functional groups we work with.

seed savers

2010-06-26T22:24:00.003+10:00

Left from 12 'o clock;
Dolichos lablab, Pongamia pinnata, Crotalaria, Dolichos lablab cv Koala, African cowpea, Dolichos lablab cv Rongai, Crotalaria, Phasoleus lunatus cv Madagascar bean, Dolichos lablab cv. hyacinth bean, Eneterolobium cyclocarpum, Mucuna pruriens var utilis, Acacia auriculiformis, Samanea saman - Rain tree;
Pigeon Pea.

Biodiversity comes in many forms, one of the most beautiful are seeds and among the seeds the legumes stand out in their array of shapes, textures and colours.
Like vegetal jewels, cool and shiny they can fascinate the collector

They also have some real applications
Dolichos bean, also known as a seven year bean, hyacinth bean, lablab and many other names is a vigorous tropical and subtropical bean from the old world.
Its used as both human food, as animal fodder and for soil improvement. Cultivar ‘Koala’ was bred as a high protein replacement crop for soybean, yielding up to 2 tons per ha of beans.
http://www.tropicalforages.info/key/Forages/Media/Html/Lablab_purpureus.htm
Cv. Rongai is anolder variety that creates masses of Nitrogen to beef up tired soils as well as a high protein fodder crow for cattle
The black seeded hyacinth bean, possibly cv. Highworth, is a vegetable crop in Asia where the young beans are added to stir fries. In remote areas and places that are cash poor, just one such a bean vine would make a significant contribution to family needs. With increasing prices for soybean due to industrial uses, poor people in Indonesia cannot afford to make tempeh with soy. Studies have shown that lab lab can be substituted and can also be grown by the villagers themselves reducing dependence on imports.
In terms of establishing semi-wild food forests all cultivars have a role in establishment, in gaps and on the edges where a fast growing sunlight demanding vine can take hold.
The Mucuna bean is similar, also known as cow itch, velvet bean or cow hage. It is also a very vigorous bean used for soil improvement and in some cases for human food and medicine
In Honduras it has been used as an interplant with Maize where its nitrogen fixing ability and biomass accumulation makes it possible to build organic rich soils and maintain maize yields for many years, even on slopes.
http://www.tropag-fieldtrip.cornell.edu/Thurston_TA/pslashmulch.html
The bean itself is rich in Levo-dopa, up to 6%, which is used to treat parkinsons disease. L-dopa is the precursor of the neurotransmitter Dopamine, which does many things including helping coordinate fine motor skills, but also things like libido and mental motivation.
Mucuna bean meals are sold for Body builders as well as people feeling flagged by modern life. In Indian Ayurvedic tradition it is known as Kawanch and used to treat problems such as erectile dysfunction. Seeds are ‘mitigated’ before use by boiling in milk and removing the outer seed and embryo. The bean meal is then dried and powdered, the milk is considered toxic and thrown away.
The effects of the bean have been reported as increased vigour and sense of well being, increased sexual arousal and libido, stimulation of growth hormones. In general it has an anabolic activity (growth and musclemass increasing). In some cases a side effect of ‘hypergrowth of the penis’ has been reported LOL J.
The vine itself is also interesting with analysis of its leaves and stems showing the presence of hallucinogenic tryptamines, albeit in small amounts. The compound Dimethyltyptamine or DMT is present, a compound used by South American Ayahuasqueros in their psychotropic beverage Yage, Hoasca or Ayahuasca. There is a potential danger in attempting to use this vine in such a way as the L-dopa and other compounds may interact negatively with the addition of a Monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOi), without which the hallucinogenic compounds are inactive and rapidly metabolized by the digestive system.
Some reports say smoking the leaf has been used as a cannabis substitute. We haven’t tried it so cannot verify. However smoking anything is probably not good for lung health so we don’t recommend it.
The vine is an annual in most subtropical climates ,but may defoliate and reshoot the following spring in the tropics. We have found it very useful for soil building as a companion to fruiting vines. Planted with a passionfruit or granadilla it covers the trellis and improves the soil, yielding a crop of beans in the dry season. By year 2 the passionfruit has scrambled over the trellis using the soil fertility shed by the bean in the dry season, and now the fruit vine dominates the relationship. Its been a very successful exercise in time stacking.
It really is a magic bean! This white seeded form has no irritating hairs on the pods, as do other cultivars.
The Madagascar bean or perennial Lima bean (Phasoleus lunatus) is another tropical backyard wonder. Also living several years it produces masses of tasty lima beans great for salads and soups. Les vigorous than the other beans, but making a great compainion on trellis with vines like Dragon fruit or Pitaya (Hylocereus and selenicereus fruits).
There are several forms of this bean which has been domesticated for several millennia. It was apparently domesticated twice, once in Mexico which yields the smaller sieva bean, and again in Peru which gives us these larger beans. There are few types available in Australia unfortunately, we have located only two.
Lima beans have to be soaked and cooked to remove toxins before eating.
Cowpeas don’t need as much pretreatment and are a tasty bean. This one pictured is an African variety but you will also find in shops beans labelled as product of china that are mostly white, with a black eye, or spot where the embryo is. You can also find a bean in Indonesia called Kacang merah, which is a red cowpea, and we also have seed of a tan variety known as crowder peas from the southern USA.
The cowpea is a marvel crop. Hardy to heat and drought and quite productive. They do well as a forage crop, or a vegetable garden crop.
There is a related variety Vigna unguicullata var sesquipedalis better known as the yard long bean or snake bean. This is bred in asia as a vegetable crop, but there is no reason a backyard breeder couldn’t cross the two and breed a climbing dry bean producer.
Crotalaria species are not edible, in fact they contain toxic alkaloids that harm the liver if directly consumed or consumed via milk contaminated with herbage. What they do do very well however is enhance degraded soils. They fix lots of nitrogen and carbon in their tissues and can be used as mulch, they also trap and eat nematodes, which can seriously harm numerous vegetables and fruit trees especially on sandy soils with low organic matter.
http://webapp.ciat.cgiar.org/downloads/pdf/leaflet_crotalaria.pdf
And now we have the trees...
Pongamia pinnata is known as a biodiesel tree. This species native from India all the way to northern Australia is now being grown for its oil rich seed. It can be grown on soils not suitable for cropping and being native provides some familiar habitat.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/branching-out-into-biodiesel/story-e6freqmx-1111115307987

Samanea saman, the rain tree, is probably my favourite tree in the world. It is a giant, with its broad canopy , and strong trunk and branches. It produces sugar rich pods good as animal fodder that taste like molasses, Its timber is like Walnut, it is cyclone resistant, produces fine honey, and is just beautiful.
One exceptionally large old tree in Venezuela covers and area of 3/4 acre, >3000m2
"During his 1799-1804 travels in the Americas, Alexander von Humboldt encountered a giant Saman tree near Maracay (Venezuela). He measured the circumference of the parasol-shaped crown at 576 ft (about 180.8 m[3]), its diameter at around 190 ft (about 59.6 m), on a trunk at 9 ft (about 2.8 m) in diameter and reaching just 60 ft (nearly 19 m) in height. Humboldt mentioned that the tree was reported to have changed little since the Spanish colonization of Venezuela; he estimated the Saman to be as old as the famous Canary Islands Dragon Tree (Dracaena draco) of Icod de los Vinos on Tenerife.[4]
The tree, called Samán del Guère (transcribed Zamang del Guayre by von Humboldt) still stands today and is a Venezuelan national treasure. Just like the dragon tree on Tenerife, the age of the Saman in Venezuela is rather indeterminate. As von Humboldt's report makes clear, according to local tradition it would be older than 500 years today, which is rather outstanding by the genus' standards. It is certain however than the tree is quite more than 200 years old today."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albizia_saman

What is this all about?

2010-06-26T20:13:00.001+10:00

Perhaps for many people the Urban landscape is a place of sealed roads, fences, big dogs and green green lawns, a sprawling sea of roofs stretching out where some kind of nature would once have lived.
It is all those things of course, But it is also much more. It just requires a refocus in perception in order to see the forest that remains between the bricks and mortar.

Wherever humans settle we bring changes.
We eliminate some species, while allowing or encouraging others, We greatly modify the hydrology, altering water catchment and infiltration, and we greatly modify the chemistry of Air, soil and water. In short, we change all the key parameters for an ecosystem.

Out amongst the biological deserts of new housing estates, lie older more evolved areas where natural processes have reclaimed space. A walk through any suburb or city will find weeds pushing through pavement, maybe even strangler figs gaining a foothold in some crumbling masonry.

Within these new wild spaces as well as garden space, we are witnessing the birth of novel ecosystems where local and exotic biodiversity are mixing to create hybrid and novel ecologies. These new ecologies are rich in species and extremely interesting as well as functional for human needs.
Understanding these spaces is a necessity as Humanity is set on a course of increasing urbanization that only shows signs of intensification for the forseeable future. More and more land will be converted to suburb as the population increases over the next 40 or so years to 10 billion.

Much of our most useful biodiversity is not in the bush, not on farms, and not in government sponsored seed banks, but actually in our backyards and suburbs peppered through our cities. As it is, these refugia are neither safe nor fully utilized mainly due to a lack of knowledge about its true potential.

This blog is dedicated to opening peoples eyes to the true value of garden biodiversity to enhance the livability of our villages, towns and cities, and in the products and ecosystem services that it provides. By seeking to understand different elements we can understand our own cultures and history, and those of others.

We reside in Australias tropical north, and area with an immense natural biodiversity. ‘Out there’ on the reef, orin some protected piece of forest. This perception perhaps overshadows what lies closer to home and its real value in helping us find a harmonious place in the bigger system.

I hope it may lead to a new understanding and appreciation of the key role that Urban and domestic conservation and integration efforts can have in keeping what we have left of the earths treasures alive through the turbulent century ahead of us.