I have just started using coconut husk compost for my spring/summer planting. First of all, I have to comment on how easy it was to transport and use. I didn’t have to lug a heavy bag of compost on the bus- the compost comes a brick sized light block. I took it out of the paper wrapping (which was recycled unlike the usual compost which comes in a plastic bag and it is difficult to find places that recycle them), then put the entire brick into a bucket on a day when I knew it was going to rain heavily.
So when the bucket was full of water, the coconut compost expanded to fill the bucket (one block makes 9 litres of compost). I could then use it to fill my baby bath tub planter which I found abandoned.
I had used up the winter offerings of dried shrubs and leaves as a composting material, on which I lay the coconut husk compost. I spread some seeds on the compost and then spread a thin layer of the coconut husk on that. The coconut husk compost is easy to work with, unlike the conventional compost. My seeds are now sprouting and I will keep you updated on how the plants do.
Even the most ugly buildings get transformed by flowers. I have been photographing beautiful flowers on buildings. As John Ruskin realised during the Industrial Revolution ‘that the quest to make a more beautiful world is inseparable from the need to remake it politically, economically and socially’. Tsunesaburo Makiguchi believed that beauty, benefit and goodness provided the basis for a creative society.
I am currently working on a project that is bringing beauty in the form of plants and flowers, sustainability in the form of rainwater recycling and solar panels and benefit in form of public seating in a rather plain London overground station. Here are some photos that I took for inspiration ranging from pubs, houses and stations
We are doing a lecture about our work on our project about community gardens and participatory design on 11th June at 1530 hours. Please come if you can!
I love it when the first clematis come out in- it really is the beginning of warm weather and it makes me smile. Here are the first blossoms, along with their friend my ‘permanent robin’ and the new leaves on my olive tree.
In the 17th century Netherlands, arose the ‘Tulip mania’ when people believed that investing in tulips would make them rich. Plants grow and flower- so what was there to lose? Tulips originated from Eurasian and North African genus of perennial, bulbous plants in the lily family with around 75 wild species. The name ‘Tulip’ is reputed to come from a distortion of the word in Persian for turban, as reference to the shape of the flower.
The most expensive of the tulips was ‘Semper Augustus’, considered to be the most beautiful of all flowers and a pinnacle of achievement from the breeders. Even before the ‘Tulip mania’, a single Semper Augustus bulb was said to have been sold for 5,500 guilders, reaching the dizzy heights of 10,000 guilders in 1637, just before the crash. In the 17th century, the annual earnings for a worker would have been around 150 florins, so 10,000 guilders would have been a huge sum of money. But these flowers did not make the poor richer but as it were- it was to make the rich poorer. By the time the market for tulips collapsed in February 1637, Nicolaes van Wassenaer, a chronicler of the period, relates that only a dozen examples of Semper Augustus existed, all owned by a single individual.
The tulip also hid an unusual secret. It’s extraordinary beauty of blood red streaks across its ivory white petals was due to a virus. This virus ‘breaks’ the single block of colour thereby streaking the petal and also added a stunning striation of yellow and red. But in the meanwhile the plant is increasingly weakened by the virus. So the virus not only made it a ‘short lived’ beauty but also made it difficult to propagate, thereby naturally ending its genetic line. The famous Semper August bulb no longer exists except in some paintings of the Old Dutch masters. Instead we now have tulips with healthy blocks of colour with a few striated varieties. This photo below was taken during the Tulip festival at Eden, Cornwall. Perhaps the lesson here is that not everything that looks beautiful is good for us.
This is a new project undertaken by our local council to manage rubbish tipping. For almost seven years, these trees had all sorts of rubbish left there. I was always amazed to find out these trees attracted such bad treatment.
Last week, I saw the workmen digging- I wasn’t sure what they were doing. A day later, I found this. It looks so much better and so far, hasn’t had any rubbish left there. A simple, beautiful and lasting solution to rubbish.
Sad to say that the summer is almost finished and now I am working to reorganise my little garden for the autumn and winter. One of the lessons, I have learnt is that having too many pots and plants is too much to look after. So after having rescued two barrel planters waiting for the rubbish tip, I got some help in transporting these to my terrace. So for next few months and next year, I am going to use these barrels for a permanent flower ‘show’ and use the smaller pots for summer salads. I gave away extra pots to the neighbours. Better to have fewer good looking planters than several straggly ones!
I had gone away for a week while I left my home made compost to dry so that the slugs go away ‘naturally’ (sorry, I cannot stand slugs). Upon return, again working on the HegelKultur principle, this is how I filled the planter. I don’t like using plastic bottles for the bottom as some bloggers do- I don’t have them anyway and because, I don’t want the risk of plastic decomposing amongst a growing medium (I have seen plastic bags disintegrating even when kept inside). Instead as a first layer, I used broken oyster and egg shells, pieces from a terracotta pot and cardboard packaging. I also put in garden waste and kitchen bits and pieces. Not only do the cardboard soak up the valuable juices from the decomposing waste (unlike the plastic) but also they will decompose eventually someday. It will also lighten up these very heavy barrels and create some air space while they do so.
Next I put in my home made compost, again lightened with some perlite. My mistake in the past has been that the compost has been too ‘wet’ which does not suit most plants. Water should be able to drain naturally as it does in the ground.
I had found a baby’s bath which I now use for making compost and nettle juice- my nettles in the planter provide a year long supply of nourishing organic fertiliser (cut up the long stems and they grow again). This was also mixed with the compost.
Now I took out the plants from the smaller pots and replanted them in the barrel, spreading some new compost around the gaps. Great- at least five less pots to water! and it looks lovely (and saves water). I tried to make it look ‘wild’ rather than planted. Hope you like it! The Cala lily, by the way, is the one I rescued from oblivion- the bulb looked tumorous, but after cutting away those bits, see the gorgeous glory!
For the last year I have been involved in the designing of a community garden in East London. I have set up a charity which undertakes this kind of work- part architectural, part landscape design- using community engagement as a tool to do this work. We have worked in a number of different countries- India, Venezuela and Palestine and now, in the UK. To see more of our work, do have a look at Charushila. This project is a community allotment and seating area in a green space attached to a housing block in Hoxton.
The first part of this project was the community consultation on what was needed and who could help us. This part was called ‘Everyday on the Canalside’. This part of the project was funded by Metropolitan Housing who own this site. Owing to the diverse nature of the community, we worked with Counterpoints Arts (a migration charity), Shoreditch Trust (a youth charity) and Marcia Chandra, a local photographer. Our work involved consultation with the residents, local community and businesses; and meetings with Metropolitan Housing. In June 2014, we organised a community fun day with pottery and gardening workshops run by local organisations. Finally in November 2014, we put up sketches of the proposed design for a final consultation with residents and businesses.
The second part of the project, which started in parallel with the first phase, runs until March 2015 when we will be constructing the seating and allotment garden. For this part we are working with Groundworks Trust, St Mary’s secret garden (a local charity), Turning Earth Ceramics and Gareth Shiels, a stone sculptor. We are using reclaimed stones and paving bricks to create the seating, discarded broken pottery in the allotment beds and animal manure. We received a grant from the Mayor of London’s Pocket Park programme. Groundwork London is administering the Community Strand on behalf of the Mayor. We are going to have a planting day on 28th March, so if you are in the area, please come along.
I started writing this blog as a diary of transformation of my garden. See my first post from May 2013 and this photo of how it was-
This year I have managed to put some effort into the garden which is what you will see below. Many of the pots were got from street, some from charity shops, some given- only one was bought. Most of the plants were either grown from seeds, rescued from somewhere or given and a few were bought as ‘baby plants’. I have used wooden pallets found on the streets, tyres, home made compost and bits of furniture to create a container garden. I love the fact that not everything grows all at once- there is always a new surprise all year, especially summer. There is a bit of everything- things to eat- herbs, salads, tomatoes, potatoes; things to look at- ornamental cultivars; and wild things- nettles, wildflowers, dandelions- all of which I use for cooking or decorating. Someone once said that they spend about one hour each day, on the garden and from this experience, I concur. A lot of the work is upkeep, rather than simply planting. Again, I think, container gardening is harder than conventional gardening- the amount of moisture in the soil, the nutrients and the placement of pots are very important and take planning and time.
In the short summer season of the UK, there is much to be done. I have too many plants, I know and I have been remiss in taking care of them. One of these was the bay tree that seemed to be stunted and suffering. So I decided to take it out of pot. I found that the root ball was terrible mass of dead and live roots, twisted into each other. Root balls are particular problem with container gardening. These roots often strangle themselves, leading to the destruction of the plant itself.
When I finally managed to get the plant out of the pot, this is what it looked like. Simply working with my fingers or a garden fork did not disentangle the roots. I soaked the root in water in a bucket for many days, taking it out from time to time and untangling the roots, gradually. Once the roots were free, I cut away the dead roots. In the meanwhile I prepared the pot by layering alternate greens, dry leaves and bought compost. This is a technique I had learnt from Cuban horticulturists who have created amazing inner cities farms to grow food after the embargo on Cuba was imposed. As they were short of materials, they created techniques such as this layering of green and compost.
This way I reused the tired soil, revitalising it with fresh material. My final and deepest layer was of new compost into which I planted the bay tree again. The plant definitely looks happier. I have used the Cuban technique for other pots and again the results have been good and have saved me money.
The Canny Gardener 