Posts Tagged ‘urban agriculture’
Peak Food? Arena Forum
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on July 26th, 2011
| 27 July , 2011 | ||
| 7:30 pm | to | 9:30 pm |
Image: dane brian via flickr CC
Peak food? Escalating threats and emerging possibilities in the production and distribution of food
- Kirsten Larsen, Victorian Eco Innovation Lab
- Ben Fallon, Taranaki Farm, Australian Polyface Project
- Adam Grubb, Very Edible Gardens
Many of us share a growing awareness that we are on the threshold of social, ecological and political transformations as encompassing as the scientific and institutional shifts of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. The escalating risks of climate change, peak oil, nuclear technology and economic meltdown are only some of the most obvious consequences of a world dominated by neo-liberal institutions and underpinned by a dangerously seductive faith in the capacity of technological innovation to drive boundless economic growth and consumerism.
In this public forum Kirsten Larsen, Ben Fallon and Adam Grubb will lead a discussion about
- the accelerating risks and threats to global – and local – food security
- the inequities and waste of current food production and distribution systems
- the relationship between food choices and healthy ecosystems
- alternative food production and distribution approaches and practices
- innovative and holistic farming methods including comparisons between regenerative integrated farms and agricultural monocultures
- the potential of city spaces to produce food including through urban scale permaculture strategies
Where: Arena Project Space, 2 Kerr St Fitzroy (b/n Brunswick & Nicholson Sts)
When: Wednesday July 27, commencing 7.30 pm
Further information: 9416 0232 or www.arena.org.au
All welcome: gold coin donation at door
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From Car Park to Food Garden
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on July 20th, 2011
From “Winner: 2011 Yarra Sustainability Award in the Home and Garden category” by Sally MacAdams:
Frank Fisher lives in a flat in Clifton Hill. Like all the other flat owners he has a single parking place for a car, a valuable asset in the inner city – but not in Frank’s case. Because of his passion for sustainable transport and his commitment to public transport and cycling, Frank’s parking lot has stood empty for decades. Until recently, that is.
With the help of friends, Frank has transformed his parking space into a productive and attractive vegetable garden. The team installed several recycled timber apple crates that, once lined with weed matting and filled with potting mix, make excellent raised beds. Because of the height of the crates, people in wheel chairs or with limited mobility can still happily potter. Creating a wicking bed system reduced the amount of water required in the garden. The wicking system relies on a reservoir at the bottom of the crate fi lled with loose pieces of scoria (a type of rock). This allows water to seep up by capillary action to the roots of the vegetables through a weedmat to the compost and topsoil containing the vegetables. When it was time to unveil Frank’s car park garden, the team invited all of the neighbours to a barbeque. Everyone was interested to learn about the construction of the beds and the benefits of the wicking system.
Frank’s project shows that it is possible – in fact not hard at all – to transform our dead concrete parking lots into environmental enhancing, life giving, community vegetable gardens.
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The latest edition of Earth Garden Magazine has an article on the transformation – with much better pictures! KA
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Carolyn Steel: Feeding Cities
Posted in Events, Research by Kate Archdeacon on July 14th, 2011
| 21 July , 2011 | ||
| 6:15 pm | to | 7:30 pm |
Essential items delivery to SE QLD, Jan 2011: Aust Defence Force via flickr CC
Carolyn Steel – Keynote Address - A State of Design Festival project presented by the British Council and Grimshaw
Australia is one of the most urbanised countries on earth. In Victoria, nearly 75% of the population lives in major cities. Do not miss this important keynote address that will inspire new thinking around how we can sustainably feed our growing metropolises. Carolyn Steel’s keynote address will highlight how feeding cities arguably has a greater social and physical impact on the planet and us than anything else we do. Yet, too few of us in the developed world are aware of the process. Food arrives on our plates as if by magic, and we rarely stop to wonder how it might have got there. Recent extreme weather and peak oil prices have sent the cost of food soaring, while supermarket price wars mean produce is being valued at unsustainably low levels. The conversation around how cities can be designed more productively with appropriate pockets of urban agriculture and smarter food networks, is one that we need to consider seriously. This lecture will stimulate discussion around food security, accessibility, production, consumption and distribution.
Roll Up Bicycle Valet Parking will be available at this event from 30 minutes before the start time.
Thursday 21 July, 2011
6.15pm – 7.30pm
Cost: $20
Bookings: PURCHASE TICKETS
Phone: 03 9650 3963
Email: info@stateofdesign.com.au
Location: BMW Edge, Fed Square, Flinders Street Melbourne
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Urban Farmers: “Homegrown” Film Screening
Posted in Events, Models by Kate Archdeacon on July 13th, 2011
| 20 July , 2011 | ||
| 12:30 am | to | 9:30 pm |
Life Changing Docos and the Transition Decade Alliance proudly present HOMEGROWN, hosted by the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute
Join us for the last public screening of HOMEGROWN… it follows the Dervaes family who run a small organic farm in the heart of urban Pasadena, California. While “living off the grid”, they harvest over 6,000 pounds (2.7 Metric Tons) of produce on a fifth of an acre (800 square metres), make their own bio diesel, power their computers with the help of solar panels, and maintain a website that gets 4,000 hits a day. The film is an intimate human portrait of what it’s like to live like “Little House on the Prairie” in the 21st Century. After the screening the on-stage panel of experts will discuss the issues and solutions raised by the film, and field questions from the audience. Come along and meet the people that are an integral part of positive and sustainable solutions.
Wednesday, July 20 · 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Melbourne Law Building Theatrette
University of Melbourne
>>Bookings page (tickets are $20 on-line or $25 on the night)
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Burnley Open Day: July 17
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on June 22nd, 2011
| 17 July , 2011 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 3:00 pm |
Australia’s best horticulture and environmental management courses – at your fingertips. At this year’s Burnley Open Day you’ll learn all you need to know about sustainable gardening and horticultural practice at Melbourne’s famous heritage-listed Burnley Gardens. Delivered in partnership by the University of Melbourne’s School of Land and Environment and Friends of Burnley Gardens, you’ll learn about our courses in horticulture and environmental management, listen to free lectures by horticultural experts, and attend specialist workshops, forums and seminars on leading sustainable gardening practice, including pruning, watering and fertilizers, and setting up a veggie plot. There’s even a range of activities for the kids.
More than just an Open Day. An experience for the whole family.
Program available soon! Complete the enquiry form to register your interest.
Sunday 17 July 2011, 10am-3pm
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“One Man, One Cow, One Planet”: Film Night
Posted in Events by TransitionTownPortPhillip on June 9th, 2011
| 13 June , 2011 | ||
| 7:30 pm | to | 9:30 pm |
A simple recipe to save the world? One old man and a bucket of cow-dung!
Modern agriculture causes topsoil to be eroded at 3 million tons per hour (that’s 26 billion tons a year). Human mass is replacing biomass and other species. The carrying capacity of the earth is almost spent. To maintain our comfort zone lifestyles we will soon need five earths to sustain us in the style to which we have become accustomed. The mantra of free trade has failed the world’s poor. There is a better way. Biodynamic agriculture may be the only answer we have left.
Join us Monday 13 June, 7.30pm for 8pm (sharp) screening of “ONE MAN, ONE COW, ONE PLANET”
SlowDown!@Harley Court, 56 Acland Street, St Kilda (opp McDonalds)
Tickets $11 on the door (subject to availability). Includes locally sourced produce nibblies & glass of wine. Arrive earlier for vegan pre-screening menu from 5-7pm
Proudly presented in partnership with SlowDown@ Harley Court, Transition Town Port Phillip and Port Phillip Urban Fresh Food Network, supported by Veg Out Community Gardens & Slow Food Melbourne.
Using Treated Stormwater for Vegies
Posted in Models, Research by Kate Archdeacon on May 24th, 2011
Source: Clearwater
From “Is treated stormwater safe for growing food?“:
Treated stormwater is safe to use on your household vegetable patch according to a new report by the Centre for Water Sensitive Cities at Monash University. The study found that vegetables watered with treated stormwater, normally associated with having strong levels of heavy metals such as lead, and increased pollutants, were just as safe to eat as vegetables irrigated from mains water supplies.
Dr David McCarthy from the Centre for Water Sensitive Cities said that two major findings emerged from the study. “We found that using treated stormwater did not noticeably increase the level of contamination in the vegetables when compared with those irrigated with the mains water. Secondly, it seemed that the most likely route of pollutants entering the vegetables was through the soil or possibly through the atmosphere”, Dr David McCarthy said.
These findings were presented by Dr David McCarthy at a recent Clearwater event with project funding by the Smart Water Fund.
Click here to view a copy of the presentation which is available on our [Clearwater] website or for more information visit the Centre for Water Sensitive Cities.
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Vertical Gardens Made From Pallets
Posted in Models, Visions by Kate Archdeacon on May 16th, 2011
Source: Life On The Balcony
From How to Turn a Pallet into a Garden from Life on The Balcony:
[...]
Find A Pallet
The first thing you need to do is–obviously–find a pallet. I’ve had good luck finding them in dumpsters behind supermarkets. No need to be squeamish. It doesn’t smell. At least, it doesn’t smell that bad. 
Don’t just take the first pallet you find. You’re looking for one with all the boards in good condition, no nails sticking out, no rotting, etc. If you intend to put edibles in your pallet, be sure to find one that was heat treated as opposed to fumigated with pesticides.
Collect Your Supplies
For this project, you’ll need the pallet you found, 2 large bags of potting soil, 16 six packs of annual flowers (one six pack per opening on the face of the pallet, and two six packs per opening on the top of the completed pallet garden), a small roll of landscape fabric, a staple gun, staples, and sand paper.
[...]
Read the full post by Fern for step-by-step instructions and more photos.
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Support the Urban Reforestation Docklands Garden: Cocktail Dinner
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on May 12th, 2011
| 26 May , 2011 | ||
| 6:30 pm | to | 8:30 pm |
The Docklands Garden is a symbol of the Docklands community and sustainable lifestyles in the city. It is a flourishing example of what is possible in Docklands and is a great opportunity to help the Docklands streets and walkways come alive. To date, the Garden has hosted an Eco-Market with over 1000 attendees, held a dinner in the garden where local residents and businesses took part and is proud of a strong volunteer program including Docklands NAB and ANZ employees and local residents. We’re happy to report Vic Urban has just renewed the Garden’s land lease for another year to come. We look forward to continue to work with the community and to build on the momentum it has created. With the growing support of the Docklands community, the Garden can continue to seed and grow local opportunities into a lively precinct.
To support the Docklands Garden we invite you to a Local Cocktail Dinner and Target 3008 celebration. The discussion over the Garden’s future as well as a celebration will be held over canapés and cocktails. We will also showcase the outcomes of the Target 3008 Project which aims to reduce waste in Docklands and connect the community. There will be a photography exhibition and storyboard showing the actions the individuals in the Docklands have taken to create sustainable lifestyles in the city. Butterfly Badges will also be sold to raise money for the Garden.
26th of May 2011, 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Shop 7 Merchant Street, Docklands (around the corner from the Garden)
Tickets: $40 each please contact Ceren email catchyevents1@hotmail.com
www.urbanreforestation.com
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CERES Aquaponics Workshop: grow your own fish and veg!
Posted in Events by ceres on May 4th, 2011
| 14 May , 2011 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 4:00 pm |
| 15 May , 2011 | ||
| 10:00 am | to | 4:00 pm |
Learn how to raise native fish & grow organic vegetables in a small backyard aquaponics system at the CERES Aquaponics Workshop. This introduction to backyard aquaponics, with internationally renowned aquaponics biologist Dr Wilson Lennard and CERES Green Tech Manager Stephen Mushin, will cover both the theory and practice of designing aquaponics systems that you can build in your own backyard.
The workshop covers: building a small working system, fish and plant selection, fish feeding regimes, plant nutrient requirements, water quality testing and includes a tour of other backyard systems in Melbourne. Aquaponics systems use nutrient-rich waste water from fish to grow plants on floating growbeds. Once the plants have used the nutrients in the water, it is filtered and returned to the fish tanks.
Aquaponics is a highly water efficient form of food production and is suitable for intensive urban agriculture.
Date: Sat 14 & Sun 15 May 2011
Time: 10am – 4pm
Tickets: $220 or $180 (Mem/Conc)
Bookings: T. 9387 2609 or E. ceres@ceres.org.au
Venue: CERES Community Environment Park - Cnr Roberts and Stewart Streets, Brunswick East 3057.
Melways ref: Map 30 B7.
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