The Greening of Gavin

Land Efficiency In The Suburbs

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I originally posted this on the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op, but I wanted to repost to ensure its survival.  It is quite topical seeing that Sustainable House Day is only four sleeps away!

You have probably heard of energy efficiency, but what about land efficiency. Are you really using what you have in the most efficient way?  Or do you dream of selling up and moving to the country to settle down on a few acres?  Do you really need a house cow or goat to live a sustainable lifestyle?

Those sorts of questions used to go around and around in my head when I first started this journey.  Sure I may have dreamed about it for an odd minute or two, but never seriously, and I just don’t have the room for livestock.  They would be nice, but not practical.

Early on when I just started my greening, the family and I decided that we would do the best we could with the space we had available. Our space is a 779 sqm or 8385 square feet or 0.19 of an acre.

More than most plots around my area where the houses are getting bigger and the land getting smaller.  McMansions are rife around here because property developers have gotten greedy! To some this may sound like a lot of land. It is all relative I suppose.

Anyway, I have managed to squeeze a lot of things into my normal sized suburban yard. Click to enlarge to picture.

I sourced the image from www.nearmap.com. Near map have detailed aerial photos of most Australian urban centres.  North is at the top of the picture and I have marked our boundary in red, highlighting some of the stand-out features.

 Hopefully it has put all the other outdoor photos of my garden that I have taken for my blog into context for those who are regular readers.

There is not one bit of land that is unused except for behind the shed, and I even let the chooks down there occasionally to clean it up.  Most of the pool area is now covered with an arbour for the grapes, and there are five new citrus trees in large pots at the front of the pool.

There is room for improvement in the front yard, as I am planning some drip irrigation in for the existing fruit trees.  I have 14 fruit trees in the front yard with the tallest being 2 metres (7 ft) and the shortest only 60 cm (2 ft). I have a second rainwater tank now under the garage all hooked up to the original tank and the veggie patch.  I have a small 12 volt water pump for irrigation that is connected to my standalone solar PV system.

We also have no lawn at all. That’s right, not a blade of grass to be seen except for the nature strips which I just mow and don’t water. I ripped up the rest years ago and put in food production. I find that lawns are such a waste of space, resources and water.

However, all in all, I wouldn’t have it any bigger and certainly not much smaller and I find that I can manage it in the spare time that I have available.

I am very happy with what we have and couldn’t want for any more land.  By making do with what I have, we can grow just about anything in the smallest of spaces.

You just have to use your imagination!

Fabulous Front Orchard

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From weedy mess, to fabulous front orchard.  Our winter neglect has now been remedied.  This is the journey we have been on for the past three weekends, and now it is finished!

Here are a few pictures of the finally finished front yard.  I reckon that it is the best it has been for many years, and the heavy mulching will help the fruit trees survive the long hot summer that is forecast to hit us hard this year.  All photographs courtesy of Ben, as part of his school-work for today.

Nectarine and Peach, with an ornamental Pear in the background which I will be grafting real pear onto when the season gets going.

The two cocktail pear trees in pots.

A view down the path.  It is quite a long front yard.

Supervisor Teddy making sure that Kim and Ben mulch the last bed properly.

Apricot and Olive tree #1.

The Plum tree bed.  The second plum tree is out of shot.  This photo was just before they finished mulching so you can see the newspaper and cardboard underneath.

Ben getting a bit artsy fartsy.

Supervisor Holly making sure that the Pear trees stay put.

The west side of the garden, with the photinia hedge growing well with lots of neglect.

Olive trees #2 and 3.  There is Lucerne growing in-between them, and I threw down a few handfuls of seed to fill in the gaps.  We then put the mulch over the top, and it should grow well.  The chooks love lucerne (alfalfa).

And finally our Cox Orange Pippin, and Granny Smith Apple trees, with more lucerne growing in-between.  Can’t have enough lucerne I reckon.  We have 14 fruit trees growing well in this smallish space, most on dwarf root stock to keep them manageable.  It is amazing just how many you can squeeze in.

So with it all finished, just a little more work to do around the pool area, like planting three more grape vines, and a bit of landscaping around them, and we are all set to go.

Our address can now be found at www.sustainablehouseday.com

Hope to see you on Sunday 9th September if you are in the area, and looking forward to talking to those who have already said they will drop by!

Sustainable House Day 2012

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What to see our version of a sustainable home?  Do you live within 100km of Melton, Victoria?

Well come and visit our humble abode on Sunday 9th September 2012 from 10am – 4pm, to have a butchers at all the great sustainable projects that you have seen our family build/grow/create over the past six years.

See the clay oven.  See Cluckingham Palace.  See, not one, but two renewable energy systems.  Touch the worms, smell the compost, taste some mint, check out the irrigation system, say gidday to a chook, or just have a chat with Kim, Ben, myself, or many of the other volunteers that will be helping us from the Melton Sustainable Living Group.

Have I convinced you with this corny ad?  No steak knives, but I guarantee a learning experience to remember.

Here is the official blurb from the great team at SHD.

Sustainable House Day 2012

Some of Australia’s greenest homes will open their doors to the public for the eleventh annual Sustainable House Day on Sunday 9 September – showcasing the country’s most environmentally sustainable and innovative homes that invest in renewable energy, recycling and other practices designed to reduce their carbon footprint. 

This is your personal invitation to see what sustainable homeowners have done and how these ideas can apply to you! 

If you’re thinking about improving your home’s energy, water or waste management efficiency, speaking to homeowners about their own experiences is a must. Seeing real sustainable projects in action, and learning what worked well and not so well, will help save you time and money. 

There will be plenty of information available on the day, with architects, builders and energy auditors on hand at many of the homes to provide you with expert tips on sustainable living. 

From retrofits to new builds, there are sure to be many inspirational ideas to adapt to your home. 

Entry to the houses is free. For house locations and more details visit www.sustainablehouseday.com  

We are excited to be a part of this wonderful event for the third year in a row, so if you are local, pop on in for a tour of the grounds, and see what is possible on an average suburban house block.

The address will be listed on www.sustainablehouseday.com two weeks before the event.

See you on the day!