The Sustainable Living Magazine
Issue #2 | 0ct/Nov 2016
What's Inside... Costa Georgiadis Not Your Average Chook. Get A Jump On Your Kitchen Garden. How Clutter Can Impact Your Families Health. How To Grow Heirlooms. Your Guide To Shopping Sustainably. Look What Just Popped Up.
Melissa Cooper
From the Editor
"I SERVE THE KIND OF FOOD I KNOW THE STORY BEHIND" Michael Pollan
When all research indicates that unless we make small changes to our living by growing our food and creating a life supporting sustainable practices, we may very well find it harder and harder to find fresh produce within the next 20 - 30 years. 
It is a little scary. And if you are anything like me, you may be thinking this whole sustainability journey is hard work and there maybe some confusion about where to begin. Well, I would be lying to you if I said that it was a click of the finger and it was done. The truth is, once you are past the initial set up then the rest is fairly easy. So why are chickens so important in the equation?
NOT JUST YOUR AVERAGE CHOOK!
SUSTAINABILITY FACTS: CHICKENS Keep 10 hens in your backyard, this will produce an average 
of 70 eggs per week at a cost of less than $3.00 per dozen. 10 hens will generate more than 100kg per year of good organic fertiliser. Recycle your household food scraps, saving on food wastage and land fill. Create good compost matter. Turn your compost. Natural pest and weed control. Recycle egg shells back to them for shell grit.
Treating yourself and your family to the wonderful experience of keeping chickens in your backyard, will create lasting memories for everyone. It doesn't matter whether you rent or own your own home you can now begin your sustainable experience of fresh free range eggs and organic fertiliser right 
at your fingertips. Chickens are classified as a "Multi Functional Micro Livestock Pet" and Councils throughout Australia recognise them as a "Sustainable Pet". I like to believe that the humble chook 
is the only "Sustainable Pet". They 
are such an important part of creating rich nutrient soil and compost, and they reduce significant amounts of food wastage and green house gases. Considering that our food waste makes up 70% of red bin waste, and emits more green house gases than anything else, doesn't it make sense to do something about it. Something that supplies you with a great 
food source, but helps our environment 
too! I think so. Plus, the humble egg returns the favour 
as a nutritional powerhouse full of all the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs including Vitamins A, B, B3, B12, B9 
(folic acid), and D, Iron, Phosphorus, Selenium, Zinc, Choline, Biotin and Protein. How cool 
is that? Another reason why they not just your average chook. With sustainability becoming of greater interest, it is important you gather the 
right information to make this journey 
into backyard sustainability easier for you. Chickens are more than just for the purpose of having eggs, and you will soon realise this, the longer you have them and the more time you spend with them. They become your essential gardening companion. Chickens are fabulous for turning over garden beds, they mow your lawn, turn compost, fertilise your soil and they will happily take your weeds and eat them. Having chickens in your backyard is an ongoing trend, with more and more people wanting to create healthy change. There is more and more interest in 
recycling, self sufficiency and healthy living, and keeping backyard chickens is compatible with these desires. When it comes to saying YES to keeping chickens, you need to begin 
by asking yourself, "How many eggs do we eat a week?" This answer will determine 
how many chickens to buy so you can start your journey. For example: 3 hens equals an average of 
36 eggs per week, dependent on what breed you get and whether they are good layers. 
For the average family that can be a lot of 
eggs to consume and a lot of cooking. Or you might want to have chickens as dual purpose, meaning they lay eggs and you could have 
the chicken dressed for the plate. So when 
you are choosing your girls, please take these two factors into consideration. There are so many choices out there for chickens, with over 
50 breeds in Australia alone. You can choose from Heirloom, Bantams, Silkies and Hybrids, dependent on your needs. For example, I love Heirloom Breeds, or Primary Breeds such 
as Maran's, Buff Orpingtons, Golden Lace 
and Plymouth Rock just to name a few, but 
I know that people with young families like the smaller breeds such as Silkies or Bantams. Hybrids have been created for laying purposes and generally lay for 3 - 5 years. 
You will need to decide how much money 
you are willing to pay for a chicken and as 
the need for chickens has risen over the last eight years you can expect to pay anywhere from $20-$250 sometimes more, depending on the breed and the lineage of the chicken. 
Also, take into consideration your chook housing and the most suitable spot for the chicken coop to be positioned. A couple of things to consider when you are deciding on your chook house. It needs to be in an area that is well drained, so in times of heavy rain there is no flooding and the coop can stay dry.
"A Happy Chook, 
Makes A Happy Cook"
It needs to have protection from the elements, heat, wind and rain. The coop needs to have 
a secure base with either cement, paver's or 5mm thick wire. This helps keep your girls safe from predators. Your coop will need to have a sheltered 
space for the feed and water, roosting perches (I like to recycle fallen branches), and nesting 
bays (the best nesting bays are old lawn mower catchers). Please note, you do not need 
a nesting bay for every hen as they follow each other so will tend to only lay in 1 or 2 places. For the flooring of the coop and the bedding area I like to use chemical free wood shavings about 10mm thick, then I will use a really good Lucerne or mulch about 30mm thick. When it comes to cleaning the coop, all I do 
is take about a 5mm layer off the top and either put it straight into my compost, bag it or I let 
it sit for about 4 days so the acid settles, then 
I put it straight onto my garden. Over a period of several months the soil underneath your coop becomes a powerhouse eco-system that begins to stem out into other parts of the backyard, so I tend to plant fairly close to the coop, but I always protect my veggies from my girls, otherwise there would be nothing left for me to enjoy. This is where you could research companion planting for your girls and your garden, but start with the basics and grow from there. There is so much to share with you, but I will save that for the next issue. This should be a good starting point and touch base if you need a little extra help. Always here, always happy 
to help. Happy Clucking Mel is the owner of Sustainable Education and 
the Author of her best selling book - Keeping Chickens A Backyard Journey. Mel will continue to share her good and bad backyard experiences with all who wish to learn, in the hope they will discover their joy from growing their own food 
and living more sustainably. info@sustainableeducation.com.au
"COSTS INTERVIEW"
-Quote Author
COSTA GEORGIADIS RRRhttps://www.facebook.com/CostasWorld/?ref=page_internal
“Firstly, I would like to thank you for talking to me. So let’s begin. How old were you when your gardening journey started?†“It started from the moment I could walk, up on my godfather’s farm, Bylong Valley. I was on land, I was in the country, if not on his property I was wandering around 
my grandfather’s land, a bit like a market garden in Randwick in Sydney. So between those two, I’d credit my connection to the ground, the soil, growing food, land and farming all of the juggernaut that it is our food system. I suppose if I had 
to track it back to the source of the creek it would go in a fork, it would go to both 
of those spots.†“Do you think that it is something that is missing within schools and kids in general? And could this fill a void with the youth of today?†“The scope to connect children with the living world around them is just endless.
You know that it’s not just about a school garden, not just about growing something on a balcony, as important as that is. But, it’s about starting the dialog with them about where food comes from and why things are in season and out of season and why the birds are needed in the big picture and why bees are important and why habitat. The whole dialog about native habitat and what the native vegetation means to the native wildlife and why they need it and why they need those flowers 
at that time of the year and why understanding your role in building a bug hotel 
can mean the difference between the bee making it to your garden or your street 
or suburb and making it a home or not.†“If there was one thing that someone could start in their backyard, what do you feel is the most important practice someone can begin their backyard journey into sustainable living with?†“I suppose I could say three simple things. One would be, they start to recognise 
the importance of waste separation and the importance of valuing the ingredients in a rubbish bin, which the value changes the value, so when you change your perspective on a rubbish bin you turn it into a waste recovery system and that waste recovery system has materials that have a value. So if your food scraps have a value to your worms then suddenly you're part of the solution. If you then have a pot with 
a plant in it, you can use the worm castings that your waste becomes, which your worms turn your food waste into. You can then use those castings in a pot plant 
and that then grows food. I’d say, I would have two pots, a pot with a flowering plant such as a Salvia which gives you the food, the flowering food for the bees and the pollinators and then I would have a pot with two varieties of lettuce or something edible in it, so then you can see how you can grow food in a very small way and once you start small you can always up scale. That way those three simple things actually tie together the very bottom line thread that underpins everything - soil, pollution, flowering and growing.â€
“Some years ago, there was a really big thing that people were turning to 
their medicinal herbs. I am a big fan of herb gardens and a big fan of making my own teas, making my own tinches. One of the things that we get a lot of questions about is people wanting to start their own medicinal herb garden. 
So do you think that there is more interest from people, not only growing their own food for consumption, but growing medicinal plants to help aid in optimal body health etc?†"All pharmaceuticals come from the garden, there’s medicine all around 
us and for centuries that’s how people have looked after themselves and managed their day to day health, far more so their preventive health, 
so the joy of understanding the medicinal benefits of plants is that you can actually incorporate preventive elements into your diet and into your day 
to day activities by actually learning technics for creating products that aren’t filled with a whole lot of chemicals and preservatives that don’t do your body any good. Whether that’s a comfrey ointment, whether that’s a facial cream or a skin cream, whether it’s the use of turmeric or cinnamon in your cooking, you actually start to incorporate preventive medicine into your day to day cooking ingredients. Medicinal gardens is something that’s been around for centuries and the only place it’s coming is backâ€. 
 “The only place it’s going is backâ€
- Costa Georgiadis
"People often ask what comes first, the egg or the chicken and I always like to say that the compost bin comes first"
“I’m a big fan of chickens 
and have been for a long time. I still think that every backyard or every street should share chickens and 
I know that you are a big fan of chickens. What would be your three best tips for keeping backyard chickens?†“Three tips for keeping backyard chickens, I suppose in a broad sense, don’t under estimate the capacity to have chickens in a relativity small area. People often ask what comes first, the egg or the chicken and I always like 
to say that the compost 
bin comes first.†“That’s a really good answer.†“The capacity of the 
chicken is not about eggs alone, it’s about enjoying 
the eggs. But always keep an eye towards the big picture which is the composting, 
the companionship and 
the collective story telling. Because the thing that happens with chickens, 
they will get you by surprise in the terms of their ability 
to affect you day to day. 
Yes, there are chores related, but I like to look at them not so much as chores but as a commitment to the family community.â€
"The only place it's going is back"
“What do you think are the two most effective long lasting things that people can recycle and use in a recycled kitchen garden. You know how palettes are the big rage, I’m not necessarily a fan because of the chemicals, but what is something else that people can use? I know you can recycle just about anything but what would you recommend that are two things that people would see on a day 
to day basis that they could use and 
turn into a little or big scaled recycled kitchen garden.†“Egg shells are around most people 
most weeks and they are an available supplement to the soil and compost and can be used as an additive to potting 
soil and container gardening. What 
the other things people can use is green waste, it starts you thinking of more 
of the things around them.†“One of the things that people throw 
out are seedling pots. To be able to use seedling pots from the side of the road, I’m a big fan of planting seedlings in egg shells because they break down. There 
is so much before people’s eyes that we don’t see, because we are just not having the awareness around it. We just don’t look at it that way.†“In that sense, I’ll go back to what I was fishing around with before is containers. There are containers all around us, we live in containers, we use containers, 
we work in containers. I’d say put your container goggles on when you are walking home or walking to the bus or train or to work or where ever you are walking. Put your container goggles on and just look at things that can hold soil and then you can start to grow things in there and if you come across a whole lot of pots fill them up and start growing things in them. Start to grow succulents. And when you start to grow succulents, you might say “well what am I going 
to do with them? Well, suddenly 
they become tradeable, they become barter and then share a succulent for something else. So the sooner you get hold of containers and start growing stuff, get cuttings, ask gardeners, visit gardeners, ask people, can I have a piece of this succulent. Take cuttings here and there and you will suddenly find that the sooner you start growing things the sooner they will grow bigger and better. The more they grow the 
more you can start to create vertical gardens, then the vertical gardens become your stock point. So that as 
they grow bigger and better you can 
take cutting off those and share them with people. When you share them you get other things. Suddenly you look at the worth through bartering eyes not through – "Oh that’s expensive to go and buy a large succulent, it costs $25-$30â€. Whereas, the one you put in the ground six months ago is now worth $10, but 
you got it for nothing. So value your time to create tradeable commodities from the containers that are all around us.†“Awesome – Community Gardens what do you think, if someone was starting a community garden, there are quite a few and some do it better than others and 
I know that some of them have probably 
a harder time than others to get the volunteers to get the community behind them. So, if I was starting out, what could you recommend to me would be some really important things to consider?†“First of all, finding your plot and your plot doesn’t have to come through the council.
It can come through a variety of means, there is land everywhere and not all land 
is owned by council. Put your land goggles on and look for space, look for pieces 
of land, land where you could start something, if you have land outside your place start to grow something there as a precursor to kicking off a community garden 
by getting people talking. Start conversations creating interest and buzz because interest and buzz is what makes or breaks a community garden and you are better off getting the buzz before you do everything else. It’s not always a case of build 
it and they will come. I’d say, go to them and talk to people, create a hub, create 
a focal point then work towards everybody coming along for the ride rather than just landing a space ship at the end of the street, where people will be thinking “What the heck is this.†“There are a few of those.†"Yes. They are the ones that struggle, one person or three people doing all the 
work. You need to do it step by step, but remember to inform and tell the story as currently and as regularly as you possibly can, not just from one group, not just gardeners, but look at the different people that you can draw on, generally existing community groups are the ones that already have volunteers and to be aligned with them. Look at schools, at community organisations like child care and preschools. This is where you get families, you want to bed in the families so you don’t have just one demographic." “Very good, Gardening Journals, are they bibles for gardeners? 
Would you recommend anyone on this journey having a gardening journal.†“100%, 200%, 500% keep a Garden Journal because it’s very easy to forget where you began and it’s even easier to forget what you did three days ago in terms of what you planted, how many, what the conditions were, why it worked and why 
it didn’t work.
“100%, 200%, 500% keep 
a Garden Journal!" - Costa Georgiadis
"Roof Top Gardens are a way to remove the footprint of the building."
Note the weather, the temperature, note all these things. When you 
see in three weeks’ time that these things sprouted and grew very competitively you can say, “Well look at what we hadâ€, two weeks 
of good weather, roughly these temperatures and they went nut. Or look at what we had, two weeks of rain, it was incredibly cold and look at the size of them by taking pictures regularly. It’s very easy these days because you’ve got 
your phone with you most of the time. Take pictures, run a journal because that journal actually becomes the most valuable local food growing document that you can find, being most relevant for you and it doesn’t matter what any other garden guru in a book can tell you on time, ultimately your observations are the ones that are relevant to your micro-climate.†“Awesome - I think they are great and tell an amazing story. One of 
my facilitators was showing me 
her garden journal, the stories she wrote in it goes as far back as 1983. She still refers to her journal today, and as she has lived in different locations, she swears by its' documentation of things that have succeeded, and the ones that have not. Her journal has meant she can pass on that invaluable knowledge to others, a wonderful way of sharing her accumulated knowledge."
“It’s a huge legacy you can’t get that back, you cannot get observation time back because tomorrow it’s different, next week it’s different and any record is growing in value each day (did you get my feeling on that?)†“Particularly the 500%. Urban gardens, do you think there is going to be a rise in 
roof top gardening, there seems to be a lot more people talking about it, and a lot more roof top gardens popping up. I just think that they are a great way to obviously grow food.†“Roof top gardens are a way to remove the foot print of a building, because it provides an opportunity to landscape with green space. Valuable green space, 
the benefits of the green space are tenfold. First of all, a roof top garden creates insulation in the winter for heat and insulation in summer for cool. On the roof top it means that the residents can enjoy a connection to the ground by going up into the air. They don’t have to go to the local park for a quick fix, a quick therapeutic and medicinal dose of green time and have an opportunity to grow valuable habitats for birds and bees and stop overs in their travels around the local eco-systems. There’s the opportunities to grow food for the residents, there is 
also the opportunity for the residents to take time up there to get to know each other and build communities so that you are actually growing a real sense of 
local community within the building, which has huge benefits socially to the overall coherence of society when people can know each other they can share 
and care and look out for each other as a result. Remove the need for a lot of expensive fear driven facilities that are not needed in terms of security because everyone is secure in a community where everyone is communicating. Here’s 
the other one, the other reality of the roof top garden for the more pragmatic economists is that a roof top garden on a building will dramatically increase 
the value of the property by $50K onto each apartment.â€
“Wow, that’s huge.†“So there’s an incredible interplay between the values of a roof top garden and the values that it provides financial, community, environmental, hydrological, it flows down the water, reduces peak flow and improves the quality of the water so that by the time it moves through the roof top profile. The water has been filtered and the water comes out into a natural stream flow of the storm water in an improved way and increased peak flow in rain events.†“Wow, it’s good stuff. Do you have a favourite natural fertiliser like worm wee, is there anything else that you would say is your all-time favourite natural fertiliser?†“I think worm castings are a very valuable fertiliser because they have such an immense capacity to hold moisture and to increase the hydration of a soil profile, that alone, by having hydration should then keep the minerals in an available state, you need moisture to have mineral exchange so just by having moisture 
this can help the existing minerals within a soil be available more readily.†“In terms of natural pest control what would you say to people, we are big fans 
of companion plantingâ€. “I think growing beneficial plants, to understand that we’re not growing things 
in mono-culture, then you need chemical sprays to deal with the mono-culture that it doesn’t have the insurance of a bio-diverse eco-system to look after. So 
if you want to grow success you need to grow an entire picture not just one page."
“It’s pretty cool, it’s like garden therapy, it’s awesome. Okay, so what advice would you give kids today?†“When it comes to your food, don’t believe 
what you are told become an investigator, become a private eye, become an observer, become an active agent for your own health 
by asking questions and not believing labels, challenging labels, challenging a food system that is based around convenience, question yourself on how much fresh produce compared to processed produce you are putting into your body, look at yourself as a sacred planet and 
do yourself the biggest favour you can do and that is respect the best way you can respect yourself daily is to translate that respect into food choices that are worthy and amazing 
living system that you areâ€. End... What is Compost Rocks? Let's talk about "COMPOST ROCKS"... I absolutely love this and what a fantastic way to get kids back into the garden. So Costa the Garden Gnome has joined forces with Dirtgirl, and Scrapboy and they want to share all they know about caring for a garden… and especially about one of their favourite things – Compost. They are on a mission to start a Compost Academy and share all their ideas, tips and ways of using compost. With the same principles of recycling cans, bottles, paper etc, we can recycle our food 
scraps, garden waste and our organics into amazing healthy compost that feeds your 
soil, plants and grows food! This is a fabulous program to get the kids learning about everything to do with composting and the 
best part is it is absolutely free. Join the movement towards composting and help reduce landfill. There are stacks of free fun ideas, challenges, prizes and I love this FABISODES 
to watch... So make sure you register your kids and get involved, there is much fun to be had!
"You need to grow an entire story not just one page of the book, when you grow the whole story you then have it including all the benefits that were originally in the holistic story. So, if you start to recreate a natural infrastructure you get those benefits and those benefits will improve over time and will piggy back on top of each other to 
create a better bigger picture.†“Just 2 more, I am seeing them come up a lot, 
I think they are a great idea “Crop Swapsâ€, local crop swaps.†“Crop Swaps are a really valuable way 
for local communities to start to value the growing of local food and the real benefits 
of a crop swap is not only that you could take what you have in abundance and exchange 
it for something that someone else has in abundance and that you also get to share 
the very real benefits of the buzz of growing. The buzz of growing is actually a medicinal food, it is a medical phenomenon, your body releases endorphins and it is a reward for the patience, it’s a reward for the caring, reward for the persistence and when you get this reward which is the harvest and to be able to share that reward, you are actually value adding the sociological benefits because you then get a reward of thanks 
and appreciation from others and for 
so many people living in a supposedly connected era, they are so disconnected from others that they don’t get the simple reward from the whole, let alone simple reward of “wow you grew that†and then value add, “yes I grew it, thank you for the compliment†and now I’m going to up the ante and give this to you. Your excitement and your appreciation will give me an even bigger therapeutic benefit. The therapeutic side of a crop swap is beyond the kilograms grown its actually the growing and the sharing that is the true benefits.â€
For more info go to: www.costasworld.org www.compostrocks.com.au
Don’t you just love the first really warm days at the end of winter. I start getting thoughts together about planting my culinary delights in the warm sunshine. Well, it certainly is 
the right time to start thinking about it but before you do anything you must do a few checks and tests to make sure your efforts will not be in vain. Firstly, what is your climate? A few warm days usually doesn’t mean the end of cold nights. Cool, damp nights will kill off most summer veggies 
at this very young stage. It is a great time to start seeds. They are cheaper, you may well have collected some from last years crop. There are often packets of organic seeds to be found. I start them 
in good seed raising mix in recycled egg cartons. Pierce the bottom of each individual cup. Fill with seed raising mix, plant your seeds and water gently. The egg carton will soften up over the next few days. I place mine on a tray or a piece of wood. This makes it 
so easy to move when necessary. Place the whole tray/carton in a warm, but NOT sunny spot till the seeds germinate. They don’t 
need sun till they pop out of the ground. Check watering daily, they can easily dry 
out and die. I like to gently fertilise at this young stage. Diluted worm wee or weak 
fish emulsion is all these little ones need 
now. Once you plant them out, you can boost up the strength and give it to them weekly.
Some veggies can’t be found in seeds but 
you can buy seedlings. It is OK to buy them now but best if you can pot them up into individual pots till the weather can be guaranteed. 100-140mm size pots are ample. When you plant them in 3-4 weeks, you 
will realise what a great head start you 
have achieved. Before you plant out the seedlings it is critical to ‘Harden Off’ first. This means gradually acclimatising your little plant to the sun. Add a couple of hours sun every few days till you're confident that they are able 
to handle a full days sun without wilting.
While your seeds are sprouting you’ve got enough time to create the best soil for the veggies to explode out of the soil. I add 3-4 shovels of my own home compost to each square metre. To that, I also add about one shovel of worm castings (if I have enough available). If I haven't added manure in a while I put a couple of shovels of (sheep manure if purchasing) or very aged cow manure. It should be crumbled to a reasonably fine grade, chunks are no good. Lastly I add a handful of garden lime and rock minerals. Fork through lightly and give a really good drink. Once well hydrated I put a really thick layer of straw, Lucerne or sugar cane (whatever was cheaper!) and water again. Sometimes, I find it difficult to know how many plants will be the right number. 
As my garden is small, space dictates my numbers. I’ve tried growing pumpkins but 
I can’t seem to stop it invading the whole veggie garden and I end up with nothing but pumpkins. I find the easiest veggies to grow are the “Allium family†ie. onion and shallots. They are quick growing so you get fast return. I also get the best use of space with growing herbs. They are so expensive to buy and you never seem to use the whole bunch before it goes off. Chillies, capsicum and eggplant are compact, easy and grow well with Alliums. 2 tomatoes are all I can fit in. Don't forget to find a new place to grow the tomato family each year. Don't replant in the same spot for 4 years. This will stop a build 
up of soil borne pathogens. Once you’ve got your seeds sprouting, the seedlings potted up and your soil is brewing, all you need to do is keep a close eye on the weather. The official time to plant is ‘after 
the last frost’. Who can know when that is?!?! Keeping a garden journal will help you have an idea of when you may be able to plant out. When spring really feels like spring and you think you will be having nice warm weather for at least a week, that will be the right time to plant. Don't forget to have some flowers 
in the garden to attract the bees and other beneficial insects. I plant marigolds and 
I always leave at least one of my veggies 
to go to flower as bees love them. We desperately need the pollinators foraging around. Good luck, keep the bees buzzing - Sandra!
Get A Jump On Your Kitchen Garden By Sandra Wilson
5. Purchase energy efficient appliances - We rely on many appliances in our everyday lives. They make it easier for us to wash our clothes, clean our dishes and 
boil water. Although they greatly benefit our lives, some appliances could be costing 
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to our planet's future and started Biome Eco Stores. Beginning as an on-line shop in 2003, Tracey grew Biome into four physical stores located in Paddington, Brisbane CBD, Indooroopilly and Balmoral. Tracey is passionate about educating her community on living eco-friendly and sustainable living through her extended products, chemical 
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Sustainable Shopping Tips As consumers, we have the power to change the world one purchase at a time. The choices we make at the checkout will positively or negatively impact our health and the environment. As we wander the store aisles, it can be hard to filter out the best eco-friendly, ethical and non-toxic alternatives. Sustainable shopping involves a ‘back to basics’ approach and being mindful of every purchase. 
From groceries and cleaning products to appliances and clothing, the production, consumption and disposal of products all have impact on our planet. Making sure that you know how a product was made and what the ingredients are, as well as where and 
by whom it was made, will help lessen your footprint on our planet. If this information 
is not disclosed by the manufacturer, then they probably have something to hide. 
Below are my top five shopping tips for a zero waste, toxin free and eco-friendly life. 1. Use reusable produce bags and shopping bags - Packaged food has become 
a serious issue for our environment. Particularly in recent years where packaging 
has entered our fresh produce sections, a place it certainly is not required. From prepackaged bags to plastic wrap, this unnecessary packaging increases our exposure 
to toxic chemicals and contributes to landfill. Instead of selecting the ‘conveniently’ packaged produce, use reusable light-weight produce bags, or simply place the item 
in your basket if it does not require a bag. This will considerably reduce the amount
 of plastic and waste you add to your basket. So along with your reusable shopping 
bags, remember your produce bags also. 2. Make your food from scratch - As our lives get busier, we favour more ‘conveniently’ prepackaged options forgetting about the negative aspects they 
possess. Before selecting the convenient option, look at the product and asses its sustainable values such as packaging, toxicity, biodegradability and efficiency. 
One of the easiest ways to shop more sustainably is to make your food from scratch. 
It will not only taste better but it will significantly reduce your consumption of single-use packaging. Make double quantity, so you can freeze convenient portions 
of your own! This simple lifestyle change will also enhance your health by reducing your consumption of preservatives and artificial flavours commonly found in prepackaged products. 3. Buy biodegradable cleaning products - Most generic cleaning products are 
made from a combination of toxic chemicals that threaten your health and the environment including phthalates, triclosan, 2-butoxyethanol, ammonia, chlorine 
and sodium hydroxide. Swapping to an eco-friendly biodegradable range of cleaning products or making your own with natural ingredients will significantly reduce your exposure to toxic chemicals and will support a healthier future for the environment. Make sure the product you choose shows a full list of ingredients on the packaging. 4. Buy local and in season - Greenhouse gas emissions from transporting food 
around the world, is one of the greatest contributors to global warming. Purchasing locally grown produce is a simple way to reduce food miles while supporting your community. When planning your meals, consider using seasonal produce that is 
grown in your area. This will not only make your meals taste better but will ensure 
your food has not travelled long distances just to end up on your plate.
The bright colours that often distinguish heirlooms, also offer nutritional benefits. Nutrition Australia groups edible crops into five different colour categories: red, purple/blue, orange, green and white/brown. Each colour carries its own set of unique disease fighting chemicals called phytochemicals. It’s these phytochemicals that 
give fruits and vegetables their vibrant colour and some of their healthy properties. 
Red carrots for example, contain very high levels of the cancer fighting anti-oxidant lycopene. While maize contains the highest total percentage of Lutein, which is stored in the eye and can help to prevent two of the most common causes of blindness. Another reason to grow heirlooms is their ability to remain consistent year upon 
year. Unlike hybrids, heirlooms are open-pollinated, which is key to their survival. 
This means that seeds collected one year, will go on to produce seedlings with most 
of the characteristics of the parent plant in subsequent seasons. Basically, if you choose to grow heirlooms, save the seeds and replant, your crops will continue to be consistent and cost effective. Now that Spring is upon us, it’s the perfect time to source some heirloom seeds and see what tasty, colourful and interesting food you can grow yourself. Try planting a carrot rainbow with Purple Dragon, White Belgian, Atomic 
Red, Paris Market and Solar Yellow varieties. Broadcast the seed together in a sunny position with loose, free draining soil and keep them well-watered until established. 
To save on space add Watermelon Radishes to the mix. These grow very quickly so will be ready before the carrots require the growing space. Their speed is also perfect for kids who are eager to see results and there’s few things more exciting than pulling up homegrown root vegetables, especially when their colours are a surprise! Some on-line heirloom seed suppliers to try are The Lost Seed, Green Harvest, Eden Seeds or Diggers. All will post within Australia with some state to state quarantine restrictions applicable.
HOW TO GROW HEIRLOOMS... By Laurie Green
Happy, healthy heirlooms – how to grow a multi-coloured harvest! Have you ever eaten rainbow corn, purple carrots or pink radishes? Varieties such 
as these, that sound too magical to be true, are known as heirlooms or old cultivars. 
In recent years they have become highly sought after for their superior taste, interesting appearance or because they are uncommon in supermarkets. For these reasons, they are perfect for the backyard veggie patch and your dinner plate! Historically, the food that we eat today has changed a lot since the 10th Century. 
It may be hard to imagine that carrots were originally white or purple. It’s believed that orange varieties were developed in 16th Century Holland, in honour of the ruling House of Orange. Growers used seeds from purple and yellow varieties to produce the now popular orange roots. Over time, the need to deliver large scale crops has meant that some edibles have been bred to grow quicker, be more resistant to pests/disease and to withstand varying growing conditions. On occasions, these 
newer varieties compromise on taste, size and goodness which is why many smaller scale growers are planting older varieties.
Along with growing a large proportion of produce within our standard suburban block, Laurie Green runs a community group called "Crop Swap Sydney". This is dedicated to facilitating the exchange of excess produce, seeds, gardening goods and edible plants between backyard Sydney growers. Laurie's background is in sustainable design, with experience in community gardening, film, marketing and advertising. Our home garden is entirely organic and includes a bee hotel, seed library, worm farm, compost and seed raiser, all of which are available for use by the Crop Swap community. Our house 
is also furnished primarily from up-cycled goods, and we are regular Freecyclers. www.cropswap.sydney www.facebook.com/groups/cropswapsydney Email: hello@cropswap.sydney
Also demonstrated at the Davis Street site are horizontal wicking beds that don’t need the traditional rock and geotextile layers. These planter beds employ the same technology as the Foodwall, only on a larger format. Benefits are ease of installation and ability to wick the entire reserve of water to the plants, no smelly nutrient rich water in the base and no double handling of materials to build the wicking bed.
Biofilta's mission is to help 
turn our cities into catchments and food bowls. We understand small and large scale storm water harvesting and water sensitive urban design projects and recognise that urban food 
is also a linked issue relating 
to how we best manage water resources. The recognition of the need to be more self reliant in small spaces has provided 
the impetus for developing 
a range of innovative urban food growing systems. Happy gardening from
the team at Biofilta. http://www.biofilta.com.au
Look what just popped up! Storm water treatment and urban food specialist, Biofilta Pty Ltd designed and installed 
a pop-up community garden in Davis Street, Kensington in 8 hours last month. The City of Melbourne has recognised that greening laneways with productive gardens 
is a great way to build communities and tackle the fact that Melbourne’s food bowl is shrinking at a rapid rate due to urban sprawl. While it is notionally a good idea to grow food close to where most people live, urban
 farming has some challenges: Much of the inner city land is contaminated which imposes high costs of developing in-ground gardens. Space is a premium. Water use can be substantial for vegetable growing 
in outdoor environments, especially in dry climates. Many vegetable growing systems lack real soil volume and are prone to drying out quickly during hot weather. Management of the community garden requires input. Biofilta’s solution to these challenges are to offer a range of vertical and horizontal advanced wicking garden systems that are ultra-water, spatially efficient and easy to install quickly. The vertical and modular Foodwall System enables a robust community garden to be installed in a day and doubles or triples the available growing space through its stacked arrangement.
Innovation The Foodwall is innovative in its ability to provide air to the roots through breathing tubes attached to the soil tray. When the water level is set below the tray, an air loop is created which allows built up gas to escape, temperature to regulate better and enables the soil media to be free draining. 
The tray also provides columns of soil in contact with the reservoir of water to “wick†the water up to the plants. With 50 litres of potting mix in each tub, there is a meaningful amount of volume to grow vegetables and add compost to close the nutrient cycle.
Sustainability Each Foodwall contains 22 litres of water 
for the vegetables to access. Field trials show that a fully planted tub can use up to 3 litres 
of water per day when temperatures are above 30 °C. The Foodwall contains enough water in each tub to last a week between refills. Perfect for the busy gardeners or a community 
garden roster.
Management Local residents were contacted by the City of Melbourne and invited to participate in the ongoing operation of the community garden. Specialist non-profit organisation Cultivating Community (http://www.cultivatingcommunity.org.au/) based in Melbourne will provide a high level management role and monitor the engagement and output of this garden through weighing produce and tabulating results. The resident driven ownership with an experienced monitor organisation is a great model for sustainable management. Output Biofilta have been operating an open air 10m² garden in Bay Street, Port Melbourne for the 
past 9 months. The actual footprint of the garden is 3.3m² due to the triple stack arrangement. Results of the garden to date is 90kg harvested in 9 months with a range of seasonal vegetables and herbs planted. Average water use is approximately 100 litres of water per kg of produce. The Bigger Picture Vertical productive gardens which are soil based and water efficient through wicking, 
enable solutions to engage the community with meaningful food production while providing 
a range of social, economic and environmental benefits. Low tech solutions that don’t rely on pumps or fossil fuel derived chemicals are available 
and can give high quality output to the average gardener. Our goal is to enable cities to 
become catchments and food bowls. These systems can significantly reduce the cost of vegetable supply and be cost positive within 2 to 3 years depending on the crop grown according to Biofilta’s data gathered from real world gardens. Roof top gardens and small pocket parks are a key way for cities to become food bowls 
and the Foodwall provides a means to double or triple the available productive space. Often sustainability is featured around energy use and lower fuel consumption. 
We should also talk about food sustainability. Having the right tools to achieve these goals are now a reality.
I tried to get information about the ecological footprint, but found that too hard to calculate, as even experts are not agreeing on what needs to be taken into consideration when coming up with a meaningful eco footprint number. But I do have a few ideas about why we do it and what can be done about it. I think everybody is guilty of throwing 
some food out – but it should be the exception, not the rule. Nobody does it intentionally 
and there are varied reasons why it will get 
to that point. People have very high standards when going shopping and all good intentions to “home cook this weekâ€. And then never get around 
to cooking at home. A lack of planning ahead and impulse buying. Some people can cook and would love to do 
it, but are so overwhelmed with the clutter 
on the bench top and dinner table that they would rather feed the kids baked beans in front of the TV. Sometimes it is the second generation eating like this. A lot of my clients tell me, that they never learned. When Jamie Oliver filmed 
his Food Revolution in America he made 
a comment about his utter surprise about 
kids who had never, at the age of 10, used a knife and/or fork. For them food is always finger food! I think we have to distinguish between 
eating as the task of putting food in one’s mouth so you don’t starve and eating as in family dinners, sharing stories and food. Food needs to be appreciated – kids have to develop a relationship with food, they have to learn about food. But it’s not just lack of cooking skills and time and ability to use a knife and fork. I am a Professional Organiser and come across a lot of families that basically don’t have a dinner table they can use. And that’s not because they don’t have that piece of furniture, but because it’s so full of clutter that nobody eats at it. So mums feed the kids in front of the TV, 
that’s easy and very non confrontational. 
As far as I am concerned, you might as well serve Play- dough! And when dad comes home, the parents do the same, balancing 
their plate on their knees. No wonder kids grow up with some sort of eating disorder, either too much or too little, because who would go to the effort of cooking nice food if nobody really gets what’s eaten, distracted by watching TV or bored because they eat on their own. By being mindful of these reasons, there are easy ways to work against that over consumerism: · Meal plan · Shop with a shopping list. · Organise your pantry – every half year!!!! · Ask for help and learn · Always unpack the dishwasher – this 
one sounds a bit out of line, but if you treat 
the dishwasher as a cupboard for dirty dishes rather than clean ones – you are not going to have to clean away mountains of dirty plates before starting to cook all that delicious produce you bought. Need help removing the clutter in your life? At LessMess we work with you to find personalised solutions to conquer the clutter in your life. We focus on a holistic approach to find the reasons behind the stuff and get on top of it once and for all. We create inspiring results.
We pride ourselves in passing on our knowledge so you learn the skills and continue the journey with confidence. We don’t judge and confidentiality is key. Our philosophy is that organising 
is a skill everyone can learn.
How clutter can impact your family’s health!
www.lessmess.com.au
5.2 billion $ a year are wasted in Australia on food that’s bought but doesn’t get eaten. With a projected population of 22,836,899 for Feb 2012 that is $227 per person per year. For an average family of four: $908 per year. A big enough amount of money 
to start thinking of changing something. A considerable amount of production cost, packaging and transport wasted. What’s the ecological footprint of that sum and what can we do about it?
Plant a tree in honour of this great man - Rest In Peace BILL MOLLISON
The Sustainable Market Guide
