Monday 28 June 2010

Cross-community purposes


Back in April, when we were desperate to find a home for the Food Forest, CarriageWorks tried really hard to accommodate us; we just couldn't find enough raw dirt to work with for our particular project. But while visiting CarriageWorks we got to see what the community was able to grow in terms of food, high up in the air, and it was pretty damn exciting. There are peeps all over the world growing food on balconies, rooftops and in sunlit living rooms. Projects like the CarriageWorks Kitchen Garden show us that you don't necessarily need a plot of land to relocalise your food supply.

Find out more here.

Thursday 24 June 2010

Here comes everybody

Augmenting the spirit of our forthcoming Plant-in Day:

Alexandria permablitz in Sydney. A course taken by Milkwood Permaculture. Picture taken by Lucas Ihlein, a participant of the course and another artist whose work will be featured in In the Balance: Art for a changing world.


And, the joyous Angel Street Permaculture garden in Newtown:

Sunday 20 June 2010

Plant List

After several weeks of sourcing available food plants we have come up with the following list, which we have ordered from several nurseries in NSW and Victoria. We would still like to find a pistachio, so if anyone knows of one in Sydney please send the details to us. Also we welcome those of you in Sydney to come along to the community plant-in day on Saturday 10 July, between 10am - 4pm. Please bring a picnic and a clump of something edible, beneficial or herbal from your garden, or gleaned, that you'd like to see growing in the Food Forest. We're particularly looking for strawberries, thyme, mints, lavender, comfrey, borage, calendula, nasturtiums, sage and any annual or perennial vegetable seeds or seedlings you'd like to plant.

Bush foods and local Cadigal plants:

Pigface
Native parsnip
Coastal rosemary
White root
Dianella caerulea
Lomandra longifolia (Matt Rush)
Westringia fruticosa (Native rosemary)
Podocarpus elatus (Illawara plum)
Acmena smithii (Lilly Pilly)
Riberry

World food plants:

Tangelo
Apricot Moorpark
Necatrine Goldmine
Nectarine Fantasta
Peach Red Noonan
Peach Anzac
Fig Black Genoa
Mulberry Hicks
Multi Graft Plum Satsuma/Mariposa
Cherry Morello
Spanish chestnut
Indian horse chestnut
Pecan Desirable
Almond
Citrus lemon
Citrus lime
Citrus orange
Rosemary
Feijoa
Guava Brazilian
Guava Hawaiian
Grapefruit Rio Red
Kumquat Calamondin
Avocado
Cherimoya White
Lemon Grass
Lemon Verbena
French Sorrel
Mushroom Plant
Loquat Seedling Nagasakiwase
Olive Azapa

Friday 18 June 2010

Permission to plant

We have just received a wonderful letter of support from the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council (MLALC), the legal custodians of the Food Forest.

"We hold great pride and respect for our culture and fully support the way in which the food forest will educate the wider community on Aboriginal history and culture." Rebecca McHugh, MLALC

Today we also spoke to Helen from Marrickville Community Nursery, a biodiversity nursery that specialises in plants native to the Cooks River in Sydney. Many of these plants are also native to Surry Hills, so we'll be making our way there shortly to buy bush food plants for the forest.

A list of Cadigal Wangal Edible Plants will benefit any Sydney food garden. To produce food while renewing local ecology is a significant principal of permaculture, and this can be achieved on a balcony, in a backyard or on a farm.

Tuesday 1 June 2010

From field to forest

When you get right down to it, there are few agricultural practices that are really necessary - Masanobu Fukuoka

While Meg and Zephyr were digging up more potatoes and tickling the first garlic shoots up out of the frosty Djadjawurrung soil in the home garden, Anna Davis (MCA) and Patrick met with the St Michael's church wardens late last week to finalise the agreement to allow the Food Forest to go ahead on this ancient Cadigal site in Surry Hills, Sydney. Here are the set of working drawings Patrick presented to the group on behalf of the Artist as Family. (click for bigger)






Some members from the local community, including both church and non-church groups, have now been asked to choose from this plant list their more desired fruit, herbs and nuts. If you wish to participate in the development of this Food Forest please comment below your desired food plants and we'll see how we can include your suggestions as we begin to source plants. But be quick as we aim to start planting in the first week of July, pending approval from the traditional owners.

Anyone wishing to help us with the planting in July please follow this blog and we'll keep you informed as to the when and how. Indigenous locals and non-indigenous residents who can help build information relating to Cadigal plants and medicines, your input is highly sought after.