“Project Thoreau”

Location: Currently in backyard of 7 / 36-38 Wrentmore St, Fairfield NSW 2165. Will be moved to a more permanent location once a suitable block of land has been purchased.
Project Start Date: Seeds of the goal began 1992. Desultory experimentation until November 2007. Considerably more earnest efforts since then.

Project Concept:

The ultimate aim is to achieve self-sufficiency in food and water under marginal soil, rainfall and climate conditions, as well as to minimise reliance on external electricity services. The plan is also to accomplish this with minimal to zero financial outlay, using locally resourced or recycled materials, and without the use of commercial fertilisers or pesticides.

Detailed Project Description:

Previous experimentation has focussed on obtaining plants from seeds harvested from fruits and vegetables, and then trying to obtain some sort of produce from these plants. As far as possible, plants are grown under marginal soil conditions using the minimum of water necessary to maintain plant survival and growth. Target species are ideally hardy and prolific perennials which have greater resilience and productivity under such conditions. Although experiments have previously been conducted on plants which require certain microclimate conditions, it is prefered to focus on plants which thrive under the prevailing climate, rather than go to the expense and effort of establishing acceptable microclimate conditions for these other species.

All plant nutrients are provided by composts produced from food scraps, grass clippings, chicken manure, weeds, shredded bark and other wastes such as vacuum bag contents etc. Pest “control” is achieved by the use of companion planting and the establishment of guilds, regular manual removal of pests, the use of traps such as beer / sugar water in jars, pepper / chilli / soap sprays, and other measures such as establishing sawdust / dolomite barriers around plants. Under no circumstances are commercial fertilisers or pesticides used in the garden. In the meantime, observations are made as to which plants are the most productive under varying conditions so that produce gardens can be more quickly and effectively established in other locations according to the prevailing conditions of each site.

In the long term, the use of mains electricity will hopefully be limited to the operation of a small fridge and a laptop computer. The establishment of solar panels has not been considered due to the prohibitive cost, even taking into consideration the government rebate on such systems. Lighting will be provided by the use of skylights, self-contained solar powered camp lights and dynamo torches. Cooking will be undertaken by the use of portable butane cooktops, chimera ovens and hibachi grills, while clothes washing will be done using manually operated pressure washers. If possible, reflective parabolas will also be constructed to heat water for both drinking and bathing purposes, the latter supplemented by the use of black rubberised solar camping showers. It is also hoped that some of the refrigeration requirements will be alleviated by the use of coolgardie evaporative safes, as well as the production of pickles and jams which do not initially require refrigeration.

Water for the garden is currently provided by rainfall and any mains water harvested from such activities as washing fruits and vegetables, waiting for the hot water to flow in the shower / bath, and even after boiling eggs. Any “excess” is stored in a combination of 200L water tanks and 60L rubbish bins, all of which will be relocated to the new site once it has been purchased. In the long term, it is envisaged that a tank with a capacity of 14,500L will be established on the new site which, once full, will allow the world daily average water use of 39L for an entire year before the tank needs to be refilled. In terms of sanitation facilities, a variation of the tree bog feeding mulberry and loquat trees will be established in the short term, while a more permanent dry composting toilet system is produced. It is also anticipated that a plant based grey water purification system will be established. The use of swales and other such facilities which trap and draw water into the ground will also be considerable.

Project Duration & Schedule:

In the short term (6 months to 1 year), I need to improve my knowledge of plants, soils and climate. I will also continue with experimentation on a range of plant species under a variety of conditions, preferably as marginal as possible but still able to produce an acceptable, regular and reliable quantity of food. Through such experimentation, it is hoped that I will eventually be able to quickly and accurately assemble a guild of produce plants that are appropriate for any given location, and will therefore become productive in the shortest time possible.

In the short to mid-term (6 months to 5 years), I intend to purchase a (very) cheap block of land and develop it to the best of my ability. Development will include any initial and necessary clearing of overgrowth and “weeds”, which will then become the initial basis of composts and mulches. The site will be analysed for appropriate swale locations which will then be established and planted into. Similarly, the most appropriate locations will be determined for the dwelling, main water tank, dry composting toilet, raised garden beds and greenhouses, animal and poultry enclosures, and the plant based grey water purification system. These will all be established accordingly. The whole process will be documented as carefully and as thoroughly as possible. I also hope to gain my Permaculture Diploma during this period, although I have yet to decide on which area of permaculture I wish to specialise in.

In the long term (5 years and beyond) I hope to have firmly established a property which is abundant in fresh, healthy food and virtually free of external costs and influences. The only bills I anticipate paying are electricity and council rates, and with careful planning, hopefully these too will be kept to a minimum. Upon successful establishment, I hope to teach permaculture overseas to anyone who feels that I can be of assistance and positive influence, particularly in areas affected by poverty, oppression, drought and other negative factors causing pain and suffering. Through teaching permaculture, I hope to somehow convince people that even with the turmoil and uncertainty going on around you, that as long as one has a place to live, food to eat and water to drink, there will not be much left to fear.

Project Needs:

Currently the greatest needs are educational rather than material in nature, particularly in the areas of plant and soil characteristics and in climate. I would also like to build up some experience in carpentry. I already have a Permaculture TAFE Statement and Design Certificate. Once I start gaining additional knowledge, hopefully the project will progress with greater success and efficiency.

Project Thoreau –September / October 2008 Update

The garden has undergone a bit of a revamp. The bean patch was tidied up to reduce the number of hiding places for slugs and snails, beer traps were established, and the area more heavily mulched. The compost bin was relocated, and a potato patch has been established in its place. This was set up by digging in 10 retaining wall bricks into a square, and filling it with the compost from my bin together with dirt obtained from my sister’s place. Some old potatoes were then planted in, and the vines have already begun to shoot.

The holes of the bricks were also filled with a mixture of the dirt and compost, and a variety of seeds including pumpkin, silver beet, spring onion and basil have been sown in them. Many of these seeds have already germinated. I wish I could claim credit for this idea, but instead I copied it off a workmate who has done a similar thing in his garden. The bricks were also purchased new rather than recycled. However, as with most hardware items in the garden, these bricks will be relocated to the new site when it is eventually established.

I have successfully sown and germinated a handful of New Zealand Spinach seeds. These are looking very strong, and show great promise of a prolific and reliable supply of leaves. I also hold a lot of hope for the chilli plants, and for a while I was particularly hopeful for the sole pepino plant that I successfully germinated from seed in January. However, this plant has struggled to survive from the outset, and lost all its leaves during the winter. Although new shoots emerged where the old leaves fell off, after a short period of incredibly hot weather, the plant just shrivelled up and died, despite keeping it on intensive care. Oddly enough, a couple more seeds have germinated, and one has since gone on to establish itself. However, after my experience up to this point, I have pretty much written off pepino as a target species for the future, and I will leave this particular plant to fend for itself, giving it the absolute minimum of attention.

Project Thoreau – November 2008 Update

November 2008

During my annual leave from work, I went travelling around New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia checking out the countryside and looking for potential sites to relocate Project Thoreau in the future. While I was in Adelaide, I also took the opportunity to look at the Aldinga Arts Eco Village and the acclaimed Food Forest in Gawler. Both were interesting, and gave me hope of future success in my efforts. During my absence, my sister graciously made the trip once a week to Fairfield to water my garden.

If a large part of permaculture means establishing a garden that can flourish on its own with virtually no maintenance, then I guess I’m on the right track. On my return, much of the garden was over grown. The Vietnamese Mint, New Zealand Spinach, parsley, garlic and silver beet were particularly strong, while many others including pumpkin, potato, jackfruit and ice cream bean are showing considerable promise of future success. Even the pepino survived, although I plan to continue ‘neglecting’ it, and seeing if it can hold up on its own.

Understandably some plants died, most notably the broad beans. However, I did manage to harvest a small amount of beans which I stored in a jar, and can serve as an almost imperishable, long term food and seed source. This a great outcome given that I neither planned nor expected this, and it also fits well with future plans to minimise the use of refrigeration to preserve produce. The lesson for next year will be to sow a lot more beans in order, hopefully, to harvest a much larger crop.

Unfortunately, I had to break my mantra of not using chemical pesticides, when I sprayed inside my compost bin in an effort to eradicate a potential case of fruit fly. This gnawed at me for some time, but in the end I bit the bullet and gave it a thorough spray. I decided that the well being of my lemon tree and my neighbours’ fruit trees was of greater importance than the immediate health of my compost, which hopefully will not suffer too greatly as a result. I did learn techniques for controlling fruit fly, but they are not really practical for me at the present time. Does anyone have any ‘simple’ methods they can suggest?

Overall, however, I feel pretty encouraged by my progress. After looking at the Food Forest, and observing the state of my garden on my return, I am also more and more confident that I am on the right track in terms of experimentation methods, species selection etc. The path to self reliance is long, but I’m optimistic that it will be successful.

Project Thoreau – December 2008 Update

Before...

I have further broken my mantra of not using chemical pesticides when I relented and started using snail baits in an effort to protect my pumpkin plants, which are finally starting to produce some pumpkins. To this point beer traps, oat bran and even more vigorous tidying of the garden have been less than successful in minimising the impact of slugs and snail. However I decided that I can accept the use of pellets given that the remainder of the garden is more or less adhering to organic and permaculture principles, and that the financial outlay was minimal. My compost bin is also recovering from its spraying for fruit fly, and worms are returning en masse once more to speed up the decomposition process. Overall I seem to have averted a fruit fly disaster, without having to revert to any serious control measures. Thanks to Boston for his simple and practical suggestion for controlling them. It will definitely be something I will put into practice if the need ever arises in the future. Also, if anyone else has any sure fire organic methods for controlling snails and slugs, I’d love to hear about them.

I have also successfully started harvesting potatoes from my patch. I made my own potato soup, and apart from the stock cube used to make the base, every single ingredient came from my garden. At this point, even such a humble achievement as this is a great source of pride. For me this is what permaculture is all about; fresh, healthy food without having to depend on, or participate in, the ‘system’ to obtain it. Every occasion in which I use my own produce in my cooking, no matter how small the quantity, is a step towards my independence and the achievement of my own ‘sovereignty’, so to speak. Now I just have to reach the point where I will be able to achieve this on a daily basis….

Project Thoreau – January / February 2009 Update

...After

A happy and productive 2009 to you all. My new year started with my lovely neighbour burning the New Zealand Spinach that was encroaching on his yard. I don’t dispute his right to do so, except that he left all the other ‘undesirables’ that were entering his yard from other surrounding properties untouched. Perhaps he appreciated the soil decompacting and nutrient drawing abilities of ‘weeds’ more than the nutritional value of my NZ Spinach. Fortunately, my spinach survived the flaming encounter, and is continuing to provide a nice steady source of leaves. At least my other neigbour has not yet made an issue of the nice thicket of Vietnamese Mint that is entering her yard….

The weather over January at least was just brutal, with temperatures regularly exceeding 40 degrees Celsius for extended periods. As a result I quickly emptied my small tanks of their water, and had to revert to the outside mains tap to water the garden for the first time in well over a year. My efforts in the garden were also rather erratic over this period due to the extreme heat, but overall the garden held up remarkably well despite the periods of relative neglect. I still managed to obtain regular and meaningful supplies of NZ Spinach, silver beet, Vietnamese Mint, rocket, spring onion and chives. I have also been harvesting basil, potatoes, ocra, kankung and nice large sweet chillis on an occasional basis. The satisfying thing is that I am consuming something from my garden everyday at the moment.

I also harvested my first pumpkin, albeit a little earlier than I would have liked. The skin split badly due to the hot weather, and I did not want to run the risk of it rotting on the vine. I used half of it with some of my potatoes and spring onions to make some soup, which turned out to be a major success. It was brilliant served with pasta and topped with grated cheese and cracked pepper. I even managed to make enough to fill two extra containers which I then put in the freezer. Again, this might seem old hat to many people, but it is of great importance to me. I have since harvested one more pumpkin after the vine died off, and I have one more waiting to be picked. I plan to hold on to both of these for as long as possible before using them, as an experiment to see how long they can be succcessfully stored for.

Towards the end of February, the weather cooled off sufficiently to allow me to give the garden a thorough clean up in preparation for autumn sowing. Nice, well decomposed compost was mixed into the cleared patches of soil, and I’ve sorted out most of the seeds I intend to plant. Admittedly I bought some of them, but a fair proportion of the seeds were harvested from my own plants or retrieved from my own produce. Once again, as one can appreciate, this is another victory as it pretty well ensures a continual food supply in the future. In the coming weeks, I will progressively plant seeds with the hope that I will have a well established and regular supply of produce by the time winter rolls around.

Project Thoreau - March / April 2009 Update

Apart from one major clean out in early March, work on the garden was pretty sporadic. I’m really only doing enough to keep the garden "presentable". It has also been a period of encouragement and discouragement all at the same time.

I’m encouraged by the fact that the rocket, parsley and nasturtium, which all self sowed and propagated, are absolutely flourishing. This is promising for the future in that if I can create the same circumstances in a different location, then these should continually regenerate themselves without any help or encouragement from me. A few New Zealand Spinach seeds have also germinated by themselves, and I’m hoping these enjoy the same level of success.

I’m less encouraged by the fact that the seeds which I sowed myself, such as silver beet, coriander and especially the beans, have been less certain and vigorous in their growth. I’m less encouraged by the fact that I’m not eating as regularly from my garden as I did during the summer, or in the same quantities. This is despite the fact that I realise things generally slow down as the weather gets cooler.

I’m still battling endlessly against the "pests". A combination of pellets and good old fashioned hand-to-hand combat seem to be the most effective way of dealing with snails and slugs at the moment. My capsicum and chilli plants threatened to be overwhelmed by aphids. Thankfully I discovered an excellent nasturtium spray in a Reader’s Digest book which has proved very effective in keeping them under control. I’ve also been fortunate to have ladybirds frequently visit my garden in regular, albeit small numbers. Understandably however, they can only do so much to reduce aphid numbers.

I’ve also been fighting borers which killed my strawberries, absolutely infested one of my capsicum planter boxes, and threatened to overwhelm my potato patch. I cleared both out as thoroughly as possible before replanting in them. Currently, I’m just observing the state of the plants for any sign of possible reinfestation.

One nice piece of encouragement, however, is that the lemons are finally ripening after literally months and months of waiting. I realise that I did not exactly plant the tree in an ideal location. Instead I planted it in an existing hole simply as a matter of convenience, which just happens to be in almost constant shadow. Still, they promise to be worth the wait, and I’m looking forward to drinking lots of lemon water to keep my Vitamin C levels up during the winter.

Finally, a note of thanks to Ben for further putting me on the correct path concerning what I thought was a fruit fly threat to my lemons. It seems likely that is was a case of vinegar fly instead. It is the building up of knowledge and awareness like this that will help me carry out projects and tasks with greater assurance and efficiency in the future.

Project Thoreau – May 2009 Update

Well, it’s been a year since I completed my Permaculture Design Certificate course, and I’m pleased to say that my convictions concerning the role that permaculture can play in my life, and in the well being of the planet in general, are as strong as ever. I’m also pleased to say that the garden is also holding up pretty well, and more or less taking care itself. My input has been surprisingly minimal, and currently involves ‘small’ tasks such as keeping the plants sufficiently watered, keeping the weeds and grass in check, keeping an eye out for pests, and other minor maintenance. The ‘pests’ recently have been pleasantly dormant. The borers seem to be under control, and the snails and slugs are no longer roaming about in the rampant numbers that they had been in recent months.

Most of the beans that I had previously sown have germinated, and are now looking exceptionally strong. I have since sown several more beans, and I am hoping that these also germinate successfully. My goal is that if I don’t exceed last year’s bean harvest, then I at least want to equal it. The potatoes seem to be fine, the self propagated New Zealand spinach plants are also progressing well, and overall I am optimistic for the winter. I harvested my first lemon, which I squeezed into a glass of cold water, and it went down a treat. I also ate one of the stored pumpkins in the mistaken belief that it was starting to go off. No worries. That one lasted three months, and I still have one more in storage which I plan to hold on to for some time longer yet. Although I’m not consuming items from the garden on such a regular basis at the time being, it still gives me great pleasure and satisfaction every time I do.

Just out of curiosity, I know that you can eat nasturtium leaves, but I’m having trouble getting my head around that fact. This is despite the fact that my research shows that they are a good source of Iron and Vitamin C. Maybe it is just a case of old prejudices dying hard. At this point I’m using nasturtium primarily as a companion plant and pest control measure, but as can be seen in the photograph, I’m being flooded with it. Penny Woodward in "An Australian Herbal" says they can be used in salads, and that are good eaten with cheese or eggs. Is there anyone out there who regular consumes nasturtium, and if so could you give me any additional ideas for using them in cooking? I’m looking forward to seeing the suggestions….

Project Thoreau – June-Aug 2009 Update

Wow! I never realised it has been three months since my last update. First of all, a big thank you to everyone who contributed suggestions as to how to use Nasturtium leaves in cooking etc. I am pleased to say that I am now a regular consumer of Nasturtium, and don’t appear to have developed any adverse affects or grown any unusual appendages as a result. I mainly use whole leaves as a convenient base in sandwiches or on pancakes, upon which I can load whatever I want without fear of anything spilling over the edge, much like a natural saucer. The taste is certainly unique, with an aftertaste resembling wasabi, but without such a violent kick. Once again I am extremely pleased to have secured another reliable and prolific food source which can regenerate itself without much effort or maintenance.

The past few months were not so huge on action, but pretty big on thought and planning. I started reading Adrienne Langman’s ‘Choosing Eden’, and by coincidence saw a little of what she was achieving on the TV program ‘The Real Sea Change’. I must admit that everything that I am trying to achieve with Project Thoreau has been largely independent of, and ignorant about, the spectre of Peak Oil. My goal has simply been to create an environment where I can be as self-reliant and as free from "The System" as possible. However, what I have read so far has perhaps added a further degree of urgency to my efforts, although I am not disappointed with my progress, or what I have achieved so far. Still, the faster I achieve my ambitions, the better, I guess.

As part of her journey, Adrienne attended the Country and Rural Living Expo, and by another happy coincidence, the expo was held in Sydney in early August. Naturally, I did not miss the opportunity to attend, and I sat in on most of the seminars and collected up a huge amount of information that even now I haven’t fully sorted through. It actually became a bit overwhelming, but I also left my contact details with a number of councils, and I am now starting to receive additional information through the mail and by e-mail. I have compiled a brief description of what I am trying to achieve in terms of developing a rural block, and I am currently in the process of circulating it about the various councils in order to gain feedback about what I can and cannot do. This should give a clearer idea about how I should focus my efforts in the future.

As for the garden itself, it still seems to be looking after itself. I actually did very little work on it, doing just enough to ensure that it all stayed alive and not become totally overwhelmed by ‘weeds’. It was only when my mother visited at the end of August that the garden received a comprehensive tidy up. It only took her a couple of highly efficient and productive hours to achieve what would have certainly taken me most of the day to complete. Sigh. Anyway, the garden looks just great, and the most satisfying thing is that everywhere I look, I see great promise.

My Jalapeno plants look strong and ready to take off over the spring and summer. The silver beets look like they will produce a bumper harvest, as do the broad beans. The loquat tree has experienced a considerable growth spurt, and the lemon tree is laden with blossoms, which hopefully will translate to plenty of fruit by autumn next year. I’m also still eating plenty of rocket, parsley and spring onion. However, the one thing that is giving me the greatest satisfaction are my three mulberry trees, which were grown from cuttings taken from my sister’s tree. It was an idea I learnt during the Permaculture Design Certificate course, and it’s great seeing something I learnt and applied become a success. They are now established trees in their own right, and are now producing nice quantities of fruit. I’ve resorted to putting them in my old chicken coop to protect them from the local myna birds. My ambition has always been to produce mulberry jam using my own fruit, and I’m pleased to say that I am well on my way to achieving that goal.

As a final note, the two photos accompanying this update were taken by my Pentax digital camera, which was powered by solar rechargeable AA batteries. It took a few days to charge them, and I was able to take 22 photos over a three-week period before they expired. Nearly half of the photos needed flash, and I probably could have doubled the number of photos had I not used it. Although this might not sound like much, I’m by no means disappointed with the performance or the results. The same AA batteries can be used to power my portable CD player, and I can use AAA batteries to power one of my MP3 players. I’m also currently looking into the possibility of using small solar panels together with power packs and inverters to power portable fridges and laptop computers. Overall I feel encouraged by the fact that even without mains electricity, it is still very possible to lead a "modern" life, with many of the mod-cons and gadgets that seem to be becoming increasingly difficult to do without.