We all would like to make a difference to our environmentally challenged world, so have you considered volunteering for a green project? Here are some ideas:

Volunteering opportunities abound:

You don’t have to be an expert to volunteer, you can learn on the job. The skills and knowledge you gain make volunteering very rewarding.

Here are some ways you can give support to the developing world’s green projects:

• Make a donation to a green project
• Buy organic fair trade products
• Buy a gift card for an organic garden or tree seedling from Green Gifts http://www.usefulgifts.org/ugshop/id/2618
• Sponsor an Indian farmer to learn biodynamics –contact http://www.basilacademy.in

Sometimes I have loads of things that are ripe for picking, and other times, nothing seems quite ready for harvest. My challenge is to always have things ready to come in. I say this publicly now, at the height of Summer, when I’ve got lots of good things to eat – lettuce, all kinds of herbs, tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, beans, cucumber … let’s see how I go mid-winter. Unfortunately, I don’t eat snails.

I’ve always liked baking bread, and have tried many different methods and recipes. I think I’ve found my favourite one so far in Jim Lahey’s no knead bread. Lahey is a New York baker who makes Italian style breads, and is encouraging everyone to bake his bread at home. He has published his basic recipe on his website, sullivanstreetbakery.com. It is also available in his book My Bread, by Jim Lahey with Rick Flaste, (W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 2009), which also includes many other great recipes.

I use Demeter’s biodynamic bakers bread to make Lahey’s no knead rustic Italian loaf, as it is really strong … and biodynamic.

The recipe is very simple, and there’s hardly any faffing about with the dough, but a friendly warning: you need to plan ahead, as the first rise takes 18 hours. If I want to put bread on the table at 1 pm Sunday, I have to mix my dough by 2 pm Saturday.

You will also need a large heavy ovenproof pot with a lid, like a Dutch oven (or a French oven if you prefer … is there a difference?).

This is good food. You can tear it apart with your teeth like a medieval peasant, or be posh and dip it in organic extra virgin olive oil.

In Nature … all things are in mutual interaction; the one is always working on the other …

We must also observe with intelligence … the many-coloured world of insects, hovering around the plant-world during a certain season of the year. Moreover, we must learn to look with understanding at the birds.

- Rudolf Steiner, Agriculture Course, Lecture Seven, Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 2008

Organic gardens are havens for frogs, lizards, birds and insects that are struggling to survive as their natural habitat is whittled away by urban and suburban development and the use of chemical herbicides and pesticides. So while you plan and think about sustainable gardening for your household, remember to incorporate some elements that provide food, shelter and safety for local wildlife. In return, these creatures keep pests such as snails, slugs and aphids under control and maintain a natural ecological order to your garden and local area. And they are fascinating to watch as they go about their business too.

Here are some suggestions to help your garden wildlife:

• Install a pond (any size you can manage) with some water plants. This will attract frogs, lizards and dragonflies and provide a drink for birds
• Leave hollow logs or terracotta pipes in sheltered spots
• Provide a bird bath with clean water in a location where birds can fly down and back to the safety of branches (make sure there are no good pouncing positions for cats)
• If you have a cat, keep her inside especially at night and put two bells on her collar (some cats can learn to hold a bell under their chin to keep it quiet)
• Mulch provides shelter and safety for skinks
• Plant natives such as grevillea and bottle brush for bird food
• If you see a few caterpillars chomping on some leaves, find out what they are before you go squishing them – they may turn out to be beautiful butterflies in a few weeks
• Never ever feed human food to wildlife. Things like bread, sugar and biscuits are very bad for wildlife – it’s much better to provide food in the form of native plants
• And I probably don’t need to say this – don’t use chemical herbicides and pesticides in the garden. Obviously.

As our natural environment staggers under the weight of human greed, inaction and ignorance, we can strive to turn the tide by our actions, big and small. The abundance of wildlife shows that your garden is a healthy and balanced environment for all who dwell there. And that’s a good start.

You don’t have to choose one system only for your garden. There are organic systems that work in harmony, and biodynamics and permaculture do this very well. Permaculture is an Australian system that incorporates  sustainable design elements from around the world. The basis of permaculture is perennial organic gardening using varying techniques depending on climate and soils.

Permaculture and biodynamics are philosophically compatible, as they are both based on the workings of nature-integrating plant and animal systems and share an environmental ethic that aims to produce all resources onsite.  Many successful farms utilise both techniques. For example, the people at Mulloon Creek Natural Farms in the ACT make and apply the biodynamic preparations on their large permaculture designed beef and chicken properties.

Permaculture design often includes a biodynamic element - that is, the flowform. A flowform is a series of stepped basins engineered to replicate the water movement of a cascading stream as it flows into rock basins.  Flowforms oxygenate water for fishponds or oxidise pollutants in waste water treatment systems. The flowform was devised at Emmerson College, England, a college for anthroposophical and biodynamic studies.

Gardeners with a permaculture property which is completely mulched may question whether biodynamic preparations need to be applied to bare soil.  The answer is yes, ideally, so rake away the mulch before spraying. However, if that is not feasible, you can spray the preparations directly onto the plants and the water droplets will run down the stem to the ground. 500 has a radiating effect which makes it effective over a greater area than just where the droplets land, which is why we are able to use as little as 13 litres per acre.

Biodynamic gardeners might like to consider what additional tools permaculture has to offer for greater sustainability. To get you started, have a look at the following websites:

• small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com
• permacultureprinciples.com
• permaculture.org.au

And please write in and tell us about how you combine different systems in your garden. We’d love to hear from you.

If you’re not dedicated full-time to your garden, it can be difficult to find the time to stir and apply biodynamic preparations at the right times. But Cheryl Kemp’s biodynamic potentised preparations make biodynamics very easy to use in your home garden. The traditional biodynamic preparations are potentised using homeopathic methods and are sprayed in homeopathic quantities. Just mix and spray at any time of the day. You’ll get all the benefits of biodynamics but without the stirring and storage necessary for the traditional preparations.

Complete Biodynamic Potentised Remedy

The Complete Biodynamic Potentised Remedy assists in the breakdown of organic matter and reduces loss of nutrients. It also produces high quality compost through the action of the traditional biodynamic compost preparations 502 to 507. It attracts soil bacteria and fungi that enable plants to take up minerals and nutrients. In addition to biodynamic preparations, the Complete Biodynamic Potentised Remedy includes potentised boron and sulphur, as soil throughout Australia is generally deficient in these trace minerals.

Silica Biodynamic Potentised Remedy

The Biodynamic Potentised Silica Remedy is applied as an atmospheric spray to balance atmospheric moisture, helping to prevent fungal diseases, insect infestation, snails and slugs. It also aids the ebb and flow of sap between roots and fruit, thereby strengthening plants, increasing flavour and flowering, and ripening fruit.

It really is no fuss biodynamics for the home gardener. Available in the Backyard Biodynamics shop now.

Want to get your own vegetable garden started? Here are some tips to help you plan for success:

Find a suitable site

Your patch should  be sunny and open, yet sheltered from prevailing winds, with good drainage. If your site is against a fence or wall, radiant  heat may be reflected. This can cause sun scald in warm climates but reflected heat can be used to advantage in cool climates.

Size matters

The size of your vegetable garden depends on how much time you are prepared to spend on it, and what you plan to grow. For example, a pumpkin requires 2 square metres, a lettuce 20 square centimetres. To avoid walking on the soil, the bed size should be 60-90 cm wide with paths of 30 cm.

Fencing

If you keep animals such as chooks and ducks or have herbivorous wildlife around, you will need to fence your patch with chicken wire or use row covers. Young vegetables and seedlings are mighty tasty!

Raised bed, no dig or traditional?

Raised beds are kinder to your back, and are necessary in poorly drained areas or where the soil has organochlorine contamination. This contamination has been widespread in gardens created before 1987, as now banned persistent chemicals were used to control termites around houses and fences. Raised beds are filled with clean topsoil and compost, then mulched. But watch out - the good drainage means they easily dry out.

No dig gardens eliminate digging and weeding. The method developed by Esther Deans is to create a low bed with bricks or boards, lay a thick layer of newspaper over existing lawn, cover with biscuits of lucerne hay, sprinkle with organic fertiliser, cover with 20 cm of loose straw, add another sprinkling of organic fertiliser, and then plant into 10 cm deep circles of compost.

The traditional garden at ground level has lawn removed, the soil dug over and compost added. The  soil needs continual cultivation to remove weeds instead of  using mulch to control weeds.  It will need more watering due to evaporation.

Mulch your vegetable patch

Always use mulch to increase soil carbon, improve soil structure, conserve water and reduce weeding. Mulch tends to attract snails so you will need methods to deal with them, such as beer traps (a jar half-filled with beer and set into the ground will attract and trap marauding slugs and snails).

Grow vegetables in the correct season

Trying to grow vegetables outside their natural season will only end in tears. So plan what vegetables to sow according to the season and your climate zone using our Monthly Gardening Guide. ]]> http://backyardbiodynamics.com/2009/10/starting-a-vegetable-garden/feed/ http://backyardbiodynamics.com/2009/09/oxfams-sisters-on-the-planet-taking-action-to-stop-climate-change/ http://backyardbiodynamics.com/2009/09/oxfams-sisters-on-the-planet-taking-action-to-stop-climate-change/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:29:50 +0000 Eileen http://backyardbiodynamics.com/?p=446

Climate change impacts are happening now, more rapidly and at lower global temperature increases than previously projected. Our Pacific neighbours, the Carteret Islanders, are already losing land to the ocean. In Oxfam’s new film, Sisters on the Planet,  Ursula is working to relocate affected families,  and points out that “climate change is not just about statistics, it’s about human rights.”

Steps to a safe-climate future

• Stop emissions now to cool the Earth
• Transition to a post-carbon economy
• Remove carbon from the atmosphere through replanting trees
• Remove carbon from the atmosphere by sequestering carbon into the soil.

“We require only 10% of our productive, degraded lands to absorb the estimated 6.1 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions to make a carbon negative world possible in our lifetime” - www.amazingcarbon.com. Only farmers can achieve the outcomes on the scale required, effective immediately.

What can you do?

If you’re not a farmer or a corporate industrialist, you can still make changes that matter. Every little thing helps. If you haven’t already, try some of the following:

• Reduce your home and transport greenhouse pollution
• Switch to green power
• Petition the government to take serious action
• Be informed and sign up at www.aclimateforchange.org
• Support carbon farmers - buy organic and biodynamic food
• Turn your home garden into a carbon sink by using biodynamic preparations, compost and mulch. (Wanting to learn how? Attend Eileen Kaufman’s Carbon Gardening Workshop on 26 September in Sydney, followed by screening of Sisters on the Planet documentary. Go to www.bioorganicgardener.com for details.)

The tides are changing

Eileen Kaufman is holding a one-day workshop to explain how biodynamics can mitigate raised carbon levels by sequestering carbon in the soil and counter the effects of climate change.

Australia is one of the biggest greenhouse gas polluters per person in the world. Australia has the responsibility and capacity to reduce emmisions by at least 40% by 2020, and the current target of 25% is insufficient. The impact of climate change is being felt disproportionately in developing countries. The people of the Cateret Islands off Papua New Guinea are having to evacuate due to rising sea levels.

Oxfam is currently campaigning to raise awareness of the effects of climate change around the world (www.oxfam.org.au/climate-change). As part of their campaign, Oxfam have produced Sisters on the Planet, a documentary exploring the ways in which six inspirational women are facing up to climate change. This film is being shown at supporter run events in the lead up to the United Nations Climate Change Meeting in Bangkok (28 September to 9 October).

Carbon Gardening Workshop: Organic and Biodynamic Techniques

When: 10.00 am to 4.00 pm, Saturday 26 September

Where: Dural, North West Sydney

Cost: $75 including all materials, tea and coffee.  BYO lunch.

This is a one-day workshop offering hands on experience. You will:

• Learn to grow healthy food while building soil carbon
• Gain a basic understanding of biodynamic growing practices
• Make a biodynamic compost heap
• Stir and apply biodynamic preparation 500 (cow horn manure)
• Take home a biodynamic starter kit.

At the end of the workshop, from 4.00 to 5.00 pm, Oxfam’s documentary Sisters on the Planet will be shown.

For bookings and directions, please email eileen@bioorganicgardener.com or phone 0405 075 975.

If you have a favourite seasonal recipe using vegetables, herbs and fruits typically grown in backyards, we’d love you to share it with us and your fellow readers. Please send your recipes in to angela [at] backyardbiodynamics [dot] com.

And it doesn’t have to be all about eating your daily greens - at Backyard Biodynamics we have a great respect for the health giving properties of brown foods too … like chocolate.