At the Sustainable Cities Round Table on Sustainable Food Systems held on 28 May 2008, VicUrban led a discussion on how developers could contribute to establishing productive food gardening in estates. The audience consisted of 78 knowledgeable, sustainable food enthusiasts who provided some very interesting feedback. I believe this information could serve as an excellent guideline to anyone who is interested in incorporating productive landscapes into urban developments. I have analysed the data from the 73 feedback forms received from the event to provide a summary for each of the three role-play scenarios.

Role #1 - You are a person who has just moved into the development. What would you want to find there to support your involvement in productive gardening?

Key issues for the new resident includes:

• The pre-established layout and design of the estate
New residents desire planned space for a diversity of urban agricultural models (both for the community and individual) which are integrated within the residential zone. The location for these mixed plots must also consider access to sunlight, water, clean soil, tool sheds, and areas for animals (chooks & ducks). Varieties of urban agriculture models suggested include community gardens, private gardens, productive streetscapes, aquaculture, rooftops & shared back gardens.

Water was a key concern of the estate. Many people remarked on the need for pre-existing water storage infrastructure such as private and communal water tanks, urban stormwater drains to capture water and the use of recycled water systems.

• Information about food growing
Information requested included how to establish and maintain a food garden (with specific information on seeds, seasonal growing, earth types, companion planting, soil preparation, etc), water information (cost, greywater systems, use of third pipe) climate information, a community gardener contact list and guides to indigenous plants to the area.

Read the rest of this entry »

The editors from Blogged.com recently sent me this email below. This is fantastic news as there are BILLIONS of blogs and its great to hear that sustainability news from our local site is reaching such a wide audience! Please be sure to post your local urban, sustainability events, initiatives & ideas to enjoy this service. And please read on!

“Our editors have recently reviewed your blog and have given it an 8.3 score out of (10) in the Society category of Blogged.com. This is quite an achievement!

http://www.blogged.com/directory/society

We evaluated your blog based on the following criteria: Frequency of Updates, Relevance of Content, Site Design, and Writing Style. After carefully reviewing each of these criteria, your site was given its 8.3 score.”

At the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Sustainable Food Systems, VicUrban led a discussion / role play on how developers could contribute to productive gardening in estates. The audience consisted of 78 knowledgeable sustainable food enthusiasts who provided some very interesting feedback. Please find the raw data of the first of three role’s below.

Gardening Communities: What can a developer do to facilitate a productive gardens culture?

Role #3 - You have lived in the development for more than 10 years. What does the productive landscape look like?

• Active web of community gardens

• New land opened or sold for development should be reserved for community gardens

• 3/4 of the land used for development of some sort involving plantings, watering systems – everyone who is not able to do or is on their own to receive help via working bees & then store produce
• PRIDE in their vegie garden PLUS feeling part of community friendship
• Commitment & genuine interest in productive gardening

• Very green
• Busy (with people)
• Diverse according to area/ section of development eg. Orchard/ meadow/ fresh produce, etc.

• Shared community gardens & orchards
• Kitchen garden program ins the local school
• Redistribution of surplus produce to people in the community in need

Read the rest of this entry »

At the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Sustainable Food Systems, VicUrban led a discussion / role play on how developers could contribute to productive gardening in estates. The audience consisted of 78 knowledgeable sustainable food enthusiasts who provided some very interesting feedback. Please find the raw data of the second of three role’s below.

Gardening Communities: What can a developer do to facilitate a productive gardens culture?

Role #2 - You have been living in the development for 2 years. What would you see emerging over that time that could involve the active support of the developer?

Facilitate materials, storage, seedbank

Community workshops
Help set up sale of produce
Community gardens expert
More sophisticated methods of resource sharing

Community gardener – expert
More sophisticated community tool shed
Community events, workshops, festivals

Assisting to maintain #1 unitil it is self-sustaining.
Maintaining the meeting space – or is that the council’s responsibility?

Produce
Possible “jim’s gardening” contracted to run gardens if individuals don’t want to do this themselves

Waste-water treatment & recycling at community level
Productive trees planted in public space, schools
Open Gardens festivals
Childcare centres, etc

Funding enterprise body to maintain edible streetscaping

Help to improve the efficiency of the operation by coordinating the many individual actors for marketing and resource management, Waste management, composting and distributions

Planning and maintenance of public space includes community gardens

Mechanism for surplus produce to be used eg. Go to one umbrella
Community events around food
Financial contribution?

Seedbank / nursery
Distribute centre for excess food

Distribution systems for excess food
IT email network to allow sharing of plants – questions about plant, requests for new plants or information about it
Read the rest of this entry »

At the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Sustainable Food Systems, VicUrban led a discussion / role play on how developers could contribute to productive gardening in estates. The audience consisted of 78 knowledgeable sustainable food enthusiasts who provided some very interesting feedback. Please find the raw data of the first of three role’s below.

Gardening Communities :What can a developer do to facilitate a productive gardens culture?

Role #1 - You are a person who has just moved into the development. What would you want to find there to support your involvement in productive gardening?

• Space for community gardens and composting of market gardens, etc.
• High quality soil
• Information on food growing
• Shared tools
• Room for private gardens
• Intergrating business to support gardening such as nurseries

• Space orientation to sunlight, good placement of buildings to avoide unusable space
• Rainwater tanks on every building

• New home: garden patch fully established with recycled water & instructions on website that provides info on future plantings & posts & where to go to get seeds + sell surplus produce
• Also tools & soils & how to grow
• Access to people who have garden info expereince & samples of fresh food to taste & estimate of cost of water and carbon sink (?)

• Community meeting space, community website for new residents to visit to see where to go for support, where to begin, like minded people, etc.
• Community shed with tools etc for people to borrow
• Involve local schools – children to teach/ involve parents

• Sidewalks
• Grey & blackwater systems built into houses
• Collection systems for rooftop water
• Space for a community garden & accommodation for animals
• Space for individual gardens
• Shared shed with tools for residents
• Fruit trees planted around the development

• Access land & water (regular water) & sun
• Point of contact for information – demonstration garden
• Acces to utillities?
• Area for animals
• Experimental garden area plotting

• Community compost
• Community space/ center
• Water harvesting
• Food/ seeding/ people swap program
• Soil improvement/ produce gardening workshops
• Commmunal orchid
• Chooks and ducks
• Developer puts in raised vege patch in
• Less shade-causing structures – food production needs sun
• Trellis set up for deciduous shade
• Less fencing so we share more
• Natural wetland
• Windmills and solar – passive solar
• 2 systems for water – drinkable & other uses

Read the rest of this entry »

The last presenter at the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Sustainable Food Systems, 28 May, was Peter Crowley from VicUrban who spoke about “Gardening Communities in New Urban Developments”. Please find his presentation below. The audience at this event were then asked to participate in a role play exercise based on this theme with the results also published on SustainableMelbourne.com.

Yet another fascinating speaker at the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Sustainable Food Systems was Mikhil Kotak from Tiffins.

Tiffins is a bicycle-deliverd catering service which provides regular, reliable meals directly to your work. The word “tiffin” is an Anglo-Indian term meaning “light lunch or midday meal,” which originates in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), where everyday hundreds of thousands of office workers receive hand-delivered meals prepared by their spouses or family member. These meals arrive in airtight containers which are stacked one atop of the other for easy, ‘clean’ eating.

At Tiffins we provide Melbourne city workers and residents with meal deliveries in a similar spirit to this enduring Indian tradition. Cooked by our talented chefs, meals are created from the very freshest seasonal ingredients available and delivered to your place of work with reliable punctuality.

View Mikhi’s presentation, “Tiffins – We’ll come to you”, below.

Mr Marcus Godinho, CEO of One Umbrella delivered his presentation, “Two Million Meals”, at the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Sustainable Food Systems, 28 May. One Umbrella addresses both issues of social AND environmental sustainability - collecting food that cannot be used and turn it into nutritious meals for the homeless and hungry of Melbourne. In 2006/7, One Umbrella provided 428,000 meals at no cost to agencies working with the homeless and hungry while they also reduced the amount of food going to landfill by approximately 140 tonnes! Please view Marcus’s fascinating presentation below.

Michael Chew from Environment Victoria spoke about the “Peddling Fruit Pickers” project at the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Sustainable Food Systems, 28 May.

The Peddling Fruit Pickers project aims to collect unharvested fruit and vegetables from local residents and distribute them to people in need. This would occur through volunteers cycling or walking around to participating residents houses to collect the produce, which would be taken to local community centres to redistribute.

The first step of the project research involves developing a simple food map of exactly which houses in the community have excess produce and are willing to donate it. This ‘food-map’ would then contribute to the feasibility study to see if there would be enough interest to actually run the project.

To find out more about the project check out Michael’s presentation below. Alternatively, if you would like any more information about the project please contact Michael: 9341 8107 / 0432 025 911 / Michael.Chew @envict.org.au.

Marika Wagner presented on the topic of the “Food Gardeners Alliance” at the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Sustainable Food Systems, held 28 May. Marika has been one of the champions of the “water for food produce” petition that stands to allow water restrictions to be lifted for the elderly and edibles. You can view a story about Marika and this cause from The Age here: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/12/02/1196530480976.html.

Please view the footage of Marika’s presentation below.