Author Archives: Diego

on how to reshape a garden

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Lucas replanting the lettuce

[DIEGO]
Yesterday we spent the day in wonderful company at Tending. Our good friend Heather visited us with gardener extraordinaire Cecilia Macaulay, and all together we ventured in to the reshaping of one of the garden beds.
Cecilia is renowned for her intimate and permaculture-aware garden solutions, advising and running workshops on the subject in Australia and Japan, see her blog here.
The lovely personality was a welcome addition to a rather windy day, and gave impetuous to the reshaping of a circular garden created a couple of weeks back.
The careful selection of sandstones blocks available on site allowed for a more dynamic visual achievement which incorporated also the Kaffir lime, the Thyme bush and the Oregano into a little landscape.
How wonderful is to have such a generous offering of time and energy by all participants (big smile)
Big cheers for Jes as well, for taking pictures and general great company, and for Betty, who came along with a donation for the compost bin.
Come and check out the changes during this Saturday’ SCA open day!

Also big smile to the resident Mynah, who came to check our doings as soon as we let down of the shovel:

and as soon as we finish

quick drop in

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[Diego]

cardboard donation from betty

So, both me and Lucas are pretty busy at the moment, getting ready the last details for the opening of the group show In The Balance: Art for a changing world, at the Musuem of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
We both have work in it, Lucas doing an environmental audit of the exhibition, blogging the findings and discussions on this blog and printing a number of posters as well.
While myself is presenting 5 Terrariums, 5 Tours and world of facebook friends (that’s the title).
The terrariums have been constructed by Ian and Matt at the MCA, and they look fantastic, the tours will be in September and October, see here for details, while the facebook part is an attempt at elevating botanical species social status, by inserting them in the social network by excellence.

So, that means that the tending project is not going to be attended this Thursday, sorry, bear with us, we will be back the week after with plenty of energy, to get ready the garden for the SCA open day on the 28th.

Regardless, as a good gardener, I went to check out the plants this morning, water a bit the straw planters and assess the general well being of the site, and i discovered a generous donation from Betty, the cafe’ manager, of cardboard boxes and food scraps for the compost bin, so thankyou thankyou!
..we will be on site Thursday 26!

Let me tell you a story

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Agricola_Cornelia_poster

[DIEGO]

There once was an Italian artist, fairly established, who made his art in an environment of social unrest, of cultural assessing and of creative goals repositioning.
It was Rome, in the ’60s, his experimental films were shown around Europe and USA, his drawings and assemblages too.

Civil unrest turned violent, so his concern shifted, his research and investigation platform changed location, literally.
Gianfranco Barucchello moved to the countriside, it was 1973, to start a new way of looking at art, while farming: Agricola Cornelia.

His influences were predominantly duchampians, indeed he was a good friend of the French artist, with whom he had ongoing exchanges, yet beyond the rhetoric of ‘ready made’ surrounding Agricola Cornelia and applied onto sugar beets, barley, sheep and milk from cows, there was also a parallel concern, an issue topical today as ever, the relationship between ‘valore di scambio and valore d’uso’, ‘commercial value vs utilitarian value.
This was one topic that constituted the basis for the economy politics and philosophy of Marx, in Das Kapital, whose writings heavily influenced the geopolitical happenings of the last century.

Well, Baruchello took the plunge and dived, as an accomplished artist, into the nitty and gritty of what that meant.
Can being a primary producer be seen and/or have any narrative value in the cacophonic arguments of ‘art as cultural review’, art of the everyday, art as social catalyst?

I was lucky enough to spend 3 months at the Fondazione Baruchello recently. The foundation, under the guidance of director Carla Subrizi, now preserve what once was the fields, pastures and gardens of Agricola Cornelia.

Baruchello spent 8 years farming as art (1973-81) and his books are now being rediscovered (like I did) as seminal philosophical treaties.
Remarkable the now 85 years old man who still has lots to say.

“an artist is a bit like a philosopher’s stunt-man, trying out new possibilities. If it doesn’t work doesn’t matter, as art can absorb failures just as much as strokes of genius”

“the work of an artist is to be unpredictable. If you can see a clear path in your investigations, then it’s time for a sudden side jump”.

Even my mother (an intentional farmer herself) liked Baruchello’s writings, laughing at the results of cultivating, rearing and harvesting experiments: Baruchello said in several interviews, the aim was not to be a successful farmer, but rather to search for narratives and meanings.

Nothing comes more loaded of meanings as the production of sustainment, and today’s post-industrial societies find themselves facing the disconnection, analyzing what it really means to position one’s life so removed from primary production.

One book in particular , How to Immagine, is getting passed about, hand to hand, to various people.
It was never produced in big numbers, and indeed I don’t even think it was ever published in Italy itself, but I strongly believe what Baruchello was doing in terms of Art and Environment, at a time when big earth moving machinery were employed to make big landscape statements, is of value now.
It’s a stream of thought, jumping from beehives to feminism, from squatting as political action to the value of knowing how to select a good sheep from a bad one by sticking a finger in its bum and smell it..
lol, sounds gross?
Uhmm
I recently replied to an email where, in the colloquial section, the correspondent said she’d love to come down to the garden to do something about her urge of gardening.
I replied “indeed, we should actually foster a new trend, a fashion statement that consecrates soil-under-your-fingernails as the new black”

Lol, why not?
We all love plants after all. Indeed most people are just scared, feeling disconnected and/or not skilled enough.

Come down to the garden all, let’s experiment
🙂

The list

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[BY DIEGO]

so, I have been bragging about spontaneus flora from a while, and it somewhat feels strange this, but I am now involved in a garden project where in collaboration with Lucas and anybody else who would like to join, are going to somewhat grow things!
yes, that’s right, actual seeding, planting, watering and minding.. or rather, tending.
So, in view of the aforementioned exercise, I brushed up my knowledge of garden plants, the sorts humans have been crafting and selecting out of the wild counterparts since the start of it all: agriculture.
About 10-15,000 years ago, in several parts of the continent, various inhabitant started to domesticate nature, animals and plants, instigating the process of delimitation of space, control of environments, property.
Uhmm, we dont wonna go there with this post, but rather have a look at the selected species nowadays available commercially for our consumption.
I did my own selection and in a twin posting between here and WeedyConnection’s blog, propose a list.
I exert comments, suggestions and counter-lists.
My own selection takes in account few factors:
1 we need to see results in a relatively short time frame
2 there is water, but at this stage we are not sure about who can be the actual watering person every day, so tough plants are preferable
3 a few have been selected because of their peculiarity (see individual entry)

You have browsed the Diggers club for this selection, but more ca be found in other sites, like Eden seeds.

Cool, here’s my list:

blkberry

MARIONBERRY
Rubus hybrid ‘Marionberry’

Admired for their unique and complex flavour profile Marionberries have long been revered in the US. Their vibrant purple color packs a powerful nutritional punch that catapults Marionberries to the top of the antioxidant charts. With an underlying earthiness, hints of sweet and a lively tartness no berry garden is complete without one.

Quarantine – cannot post to: NZ WA

Now, that’s a must if I was going to do any gardening, and just lucky the quarantine limitation is only for Western Australia!

strawberry
CAMBRIDGE RIVAL HANGING GDN
Fragaria x ananassa

Create a column of fragrant sweet strawberries perfect for a sunny balcony or verandah. Includes one strawberry bag which can hold 10 strawberries and 10 Cambridge Rival strawberries for planting. Can produce 5 kilos of strawberries or up to 20 punnets! Water regularly in hot and/or windy weather.

Quarantine – cannot post to: NZ QLD

This one quarantine restriction is for QLD.. lucky again. We want to have some strawberry growing somewhere, great finger-food for passers-by

SORREL LARGE LEAF
Rumex acetosa

Use leaves in lamb and beef stews, slightly tangy, lemon flavor adds zest to salads and is especially good with fish and to make soup. Perennial with large, long, wavy, light-green leaves. Greenish yellow to red flowers in midsummer.

Quarantine – cannot post to: WA

This is funny, as I can probably point at wild rumex acetosa’s growing a bit of everywhere, so I might just do that, go and collect some seeds from the local variety in Callan Park (the park adjoining the Sydney College of the Arts grounds, where the garden is) and grow them both, see who does best.
Again, quarantine limitations.

basil
BASIL SWEET
Ocimum basilicum

This is the true green basil favored by continental cooks. Grow half a dozen plants and you will have enough to fresh pick all summer, and to make pesto that you can freeze for quick pasta dishes in the winter. The perfect companion for your tomatoes.

Yep, Basil, we gonna have some tomatoes for sure, so we need basil to grow beside them.

borrago
BLUE BORAGE
Borago officinalis

Slate grey leaves topped by panicles of blue. Flowers and leaves can be added to summer drinks. 45 sds.

Now then, this is a plant with which I have sentimental attachments. It grows wild in northern Italy where I grew-up, and from spring to late summer is the perfect plant to cook buttered, absolutely yummy!

chives
CHIVES COMMON
Allium schoenoprasum

A mild onion flavour and can be grown as an insect repellent barrier.

Quarantine – cannot post to: NZ TAS

That’s another toughie, it would grow regardless, great finger food too. Not for the Tazzies thou.

fennel
FENNEL BRONZE
Foeniculum vulgare

With bronze fern-like foliage, this fennel is as valued for its decorative quality as it is for its insect attracting ability. Non bulbing. 120 sds.

Quarantine – cannot post to: NZ TAS

And here is another one that I can pull out of Callan’s wilderness, grow beside and see what happen.
Also to be said is that most of those plants quarantined in whatever state, are also somewhat restricted all over Australia, maybe not legislated against, but surely enlisted in the ‘environmental threat list’
..but let’s carry on

mint
SPEARMINT
Mentha spicata

Spearmint is used to flavour roast lamb and other meats, sweets, oils, jellies, drinks, and tea. It also is an attractive, spreading ornamental ground cover.

Here’s another wild one, not restricted, but it will not have problems to settle and survive whatever.

tenacetum
TANSY
Tanacetum vulgare

The yellow flowers and leafy shoots can be used to make a yellow-green dye or repel ants and flies.

This one is for environmentally-friendly control of ants and mozzies, I’ll let Lucas with his freshly acquired Permaculture knowledge go off on the benefits of this one.

pumkin
PUMPKIN WALTHAM BUTTERNUT
Cucurbita moschata

A prized heirloom Butternut that sets the standard by which other pumpkins are judged. Classically shaped fruit with a small seed cavity so you get more usable pumpkin. Soft yellow flesh and a great nutty flavour. Harvest in 133 days, 6kg/plant.

We have to have a pumpkin growin! it would go big, asserting itself on whatever space, looking glorious as a fantastic visual achievement to be proud of.
I can already see a fantastic Pumpkin soup coming up in late autumn!

sorghum
SORGHUM Treated Seed
(Covers 10 m2)
Sorghum sudanense ‘Sudex’ F1

Tall, green strappy form containing lots of biomass to incorporate into the soil after the grain harvest. Sterile hybrid that will not cause any weed problem.
Quarantine – cannot post to: WA

So, this is a man-made variety, which despite being reduced to a sterile being (uhmff), still is restricted.
Sorghum is also one of the first crops human domesticated..now a threat.

tomatoes
TOMATO WILD SWEETIE
L. esculentum var. escolentum

This sweet currant is the world’s smallest tomato, yielding hundreds of the sweetest fruits from mid summer to late autumn. If your kids won’t eat tomatoes, they will be converted after trying these little lollies (just don’t tell them they are tomatoes!).

Quarantine – cannot post to: TAS

And finally, the Tomatoes!! I choose those ones as they are the kind that needs little to no attention, and yet produce proficiently small yummy finger food.

So, I didnt mean to, I honestly just went through the list available online, but yet the selection for the garden ended up being a selection of toughies, yes, but also a selection of restricted plants (8 out of 13!)
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