12 - Slugs and Bugs update

So plates where not the smartest idea. It seems you catch more slugs and snails with bowls. So with this improvement we have learnt that if we simply applied some common sense at some point we may work more efficiently. I guess we need to even out the playing to working ratio.

11 - ANTS

I forgot to mention the ants. As you can see from the picture I would have good reason to forget about them. It seems my camera cannot take photos of things so small. But the point remains more insect’s means healthy soil, at least that is where out train of thought has led us. Which means that the lack of growth must be from something else?

10 - Planting the Backups

Things seem to be going well for out garlic and possible potatoes. Although nothing else has taken hold, not even a decent spread of weeds. So it’s a good thing we are not counting on this crop for food. We have had to use the plastic back up seedlings to supplement our plot. We now have two major worries. If the plastic they grew in is used for industrial purposes what would eating the produce do to our insides and will they survive the stress of being moved? All in good time I suppose.

09 - Snail Bar

Nothing else seems to be growing. So we thought maybe instead of leaving when we decided to move in with our project the pests just moved to where we couldn’t see them. We tried to get rid of them without chemicals. Well without chemicals we wouldn’t drink ourselves, which may not be saying much. We are added beer to plates and hoped the snails and other pests would come for a drink and die happy. It worked…a little.

08 - Change for the Climate- Copenhagen and Beyond

Today a Craig and I travelled out to Latrobe’s Bundoora campus. Which was massive compared to Australian Catholic University. Because of their size and therefore funding they were able to organise this event with a range of guest speakers speaking about sustainability in terms of climate change and the upcoming Copenhagen summit. Pamphlets were handed out during one of our lectures but I don’t know enough faces to say I saw any other ACU students there.

I was expecting a larger crowd, and to some extend I think they did too, as the guest list was pretty full on and the workshops were also wide ranging, from fixing bike to civil disobedience. I got the feeling funding dropped on the day as many workshops did not run, mainly those run by students still ran and a few from local guests.

The entire day still managed to link in to the unit and more importantly my own desire to understand and combat wasteful practices. Thankfully that desire was scrubbed clean off my mind. Many of the speakers spoke very politically and most switched between rousing a mob and boasting their own work. It was all good and proper but I feel the main thing I realised today is that my own efforts are going to be more effective than ranting and raving to the government, I do not feel I should be telling others what to do because at the very least at this point in time I do not have enough knowledge to make it worth the effort, as much as I relish the idea of “sticking it to the man”.

I do like the idea of being a part of a bigger movement but not now, not without a clear purpose in my own mind. (And from recollection groups tend to fuzzy a clear mind)

What was really interesting was the DUMPSTER DIVERS. Much of the day’s food was recycled or dumpster dived freegan style. It’s a method of getting food for free and without leaving a heavy mark on the environment. Mostly I think it’s popular because it’s free but I’ll go with the environmental message anyway.  The photos they showed the workshop where rather amazing, massive loads of food collected in one night of dumpster diving. This is all sorts of food from fresh to processed and they seemed rather picky about what was touching, temperatures and other conditions. It is rather horrifying that so much is thrown out by restaurants, cafes, supermarkets and so on but what makes it even stranger is the amount of food which is 100% good to eat. Most food is gathered and thrown into a separate plastic bad before meeting the dumpster, so unless there is a rip there is no worries. And from what they were saying many places don’t even get their food to the dumpster before they pick it up, city trends.

At one point there was some odd information, like a bloke convinced that Coles was compacting their fresh produce as he told the tale of trying to get into the compactor. I work at Coles and they throw food waste into dumpsters and cardboard into compactors. Compactors full of organic matter would be rancid; at least the dumpsters get taken away. But other than some small issues dumpster diving seems rather interesting. Craig and I have joined a mailing list to go for a tourist dumpster dive with a few from the day. I think it is something I should see for myself as the simple idea really puts the statistics thrown around lectures into light.

 

P.S

Another thing that pulled me away from joining any protest then or in the near future was a random comment off a very enthusiastic girl referring to the campus vending machines…something along the lines of:

“I hate those vending machines, they are always on! Lets head over and smash break into them…REBEL whooo!”

At that point there was a rather awkward silence until the presenter moved on.

07 - Outdoor Growth!

Quick update today. Craig has sent word and images of continued growth of the plastic seedlings but more importantly growth outdoors! The long thin shoot we believe to be garlic and the other…well we think it may be potatoes but we may not be 100% sure until it is bigger. No other sign of life but this is positive at least.

06 - The Sun

The sun is not just my enemy but also our seedlings. The soil is getting rather dry but only the very top layer. Luckily Craig’s family have a water tank so we can water fairly regularly. Unfortunately the water tank is not positioned in such a way to facilitate watering the patch. As you can see from the photographs it is some distance away and the tank is not raised meaning the water has no natural pressure to force it out the hose. We managed to get a trickle but it took a while to get the ground good and moist.

The backup seedlings which were planted in the “industrial absorbent” are doing quite well. They live a much more comfortable life style on the window sill so the thought is that they have grown faster because their environment was less stressful.

So we have had some growth but not where we want it. Next post I hope to bring news of success outside.