Recreating a sustainable Eden in our own backyards.

1. plant a winter crop that will then naturally put nitrogen (etc) into the soil when the ground is worked up in the spring.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

2. Make sure you got either cows,sheep or horses for fertilizer for the fields.

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

3. In the fall cleanup, finely chop all of the ( healthy ) garden plant stocks and dig into the ground before planting your spring bulbs.

4. Open the drapes or blinds of our windows during the day to permit passive solar heating. At night close the drapes or blinds to prevent heat loss. During October, there should be little need to heat with a furnace.

5. Throw no vegetative food out. What cannot be consumed, should be composted to enrich our gardens next year.

6. Turn off the lights when not in a room. There is no need to light so many of the rooms in our homes if no one is using that space. The same applies for the many office / business buildings.

-- jroot

7. Use vegetables as flower bed plants. Vegetable plants can make nice borders etc.

8. Let the nature of “grass” do its thing: it will survive some dry weather. Save the water for more important uses

9. Collect water in a rain barrel and water with a bucket (or connected hose) rather than using the garden hose.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

I am thrilled to see this discussion!

10. What I call “Neighbor-ing” is a great place to start.

After going to a local feed store several times to pick up chicken food, I asked if I could get some cow “pies” (shoveling them myself). So I did. They had bugs, so I threw it in the chicken coop at first to be cleaned & broken up. At this point, the guy has told me to go ahead, shut the fence off, help myself—anytime! His place is less than 2 miles from here. This spring, I wanted to try growing grains. I asked this feed-store owner if the animal feed is heat-treated, or if he thinks it would sprout. There were no packs of oats to buy! So, he said it is animal grade, untreated, and worth a try. I got a variety, and he only charged me $1 for it. The grain-growing has been a success.

I told my neighbor that I would clean her chicken coops if I could keep what I shoveled. This opened a new bed for corn—which I grew for the chickens. This same neighbor was so busy this year that she wouldn’t have time for her garden beds. I asked if I could use them. I needed separation space for some peppers I am trying to help preserve. She said OK!

OK, the tips here.
a. Ask, ask, ask. Ultimately, you may be helping them out while you are helping yourself!
b. Tell. I tell people what I am trying to do—even if it sounds crazy—many are happy to share ideas or help.
c. Swap. I swap my help for use of power tools that I don’t have. When a tree fell on our house, the neighbor came over with his chain saw.
d. Be neighborly. When I collect my recycle bins from up the street, I bring the neighbors back to their house too.
e. Share. When I grew a full-sized watermelon this year (32 pounds), I went to 2 different neighbor’s houses (both were having people over), I shared the watermelon, and they had to spit the seeds in a cup for me! One of them saved seed of a pepper for me that is used in Portuguese cooking.
f. Be friendly. Here in New England, we are known for being cool. I don’t mean hip, I mean chilly—as people. I have been told by many who live here (that came from outside the region), that I am friendly. I do not see myself as overly friendly (probably because I enjoy time alone as much as I do time with others), but one person said I was the friendliest person they met since they had moved here some years back. We are not a warm people, but I can say that politeness and an open manner are inviting, and are great for neighbor relations. I lived for 15 years between 2 miserable neighbors. The ones here are great! I did the initiating (of course), but things are great and we help each other out. Maybe since many on this list are not from this region, some of this goes without saying.

Well, that’s my 2$ worth (inflation).
Robin

-- Robin282, Zone 7, SE Coast of MA, USA

11- Whether you boil or steam your vegetables, the water can be used either to make soup (freeze it until you have enough) or to water your plants, be it indoor or outdoor.

12- Newspapers, card boxes, cereal boxes, you can either put in the compost as the dry part or use as mulch.

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a

Here’s some question?

1. Does sustainability mean recycling?

2. Does sustainability result in less cost? If not, where will the financial resource for sustainability come from?

3. Does sustainability mean less technical/more primitive?

and finally,

4. What are we sustaining? Our life-style, our environment, our life? And in what order?

-- Everyone needs someone irrationally committed to their future.

oooh that’s deep, Russel.

for me, it means sustaining my life without infringing on the life of Mother Earth and the other inhabitants.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Ross,
1.- For me, composting is recycling! Not just making “food” for the garden but replenishing what I have taken!
2.- For me sustainability results in less costs as I use and re-use what I have, eat from the garden that I grew with seeds that I harvested.
3-. For me it doesn’t me less technical/more primitive.: I am in the process of turning our old oak kitchen table into a big floating corner shelve for the computer as well as 3 “regular” shelves: I could not do it without the tools that we have! :-)
And for me it also means sustaining my life without infringing on the life of Mother Earth and the other inhabitants.
As a friend said to me years ago:” Give back to Mother Earth what she has given us!”

-- Eklectic, Follow my Bliss, South East Ontario 5a

Most interesting, yet the responses all sound as if sustainability requires a more primitive lifestyle. Now that may be fine for those who have land available, or who have a specific skill-set (not everyone can grow stuff). What about those who live in a distinctly urban setting with a 40×80 plot of land? Is the type of sustainability thus far suggested even possible for them? And, if not, how can the sustainability=primitive equation be avoided?

-- Everyone needs someone irrationally committed to their future.

Russel, Mike Rowe/Dirty jobs programs onTV visited a dairy farm that housed 32,000 milking cows.
They used their poo to convert to methane to generate electricity and run the entire plant on the sustainable energy.
The place produced 290,000 gallons of milk per day.

I got to thinking that was a huge amount of milk so their must be a huge number of children around to drink it.
I checked that too and sure enough, the planet is experiencing a population explosion and expects to double in the next 10 years.
So maybe our only contribution as urban dwellers is to stop having so many babies and try converting our poo to usable energy.

I just don’t think old momma earth was built to carry this many passengers.

Bob

-- I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Alberta Canada Zone 3A or maybe 3B

Bob, I don’t think urban dwellers are the ones having all dem dere babies. If I recall correctly, it’s the more primitive/rural societies that are swelling the population. Many urban populations accross the planet have actually reached a negative population growth.

Additionally, I sincerely doubt that the human race lacks the ingenuity to develop a sustainable environment for the growing population. As a planet, we still have vast areas that are uninhabited and with environmentally aware technology I firmly believe we could support a great many more people. The trick is motivation.

-- Everyone needs someone irrationally committed to their future.

Russel, you are right on the first statement.
It is primarily the have not nations that are pushing mankind to the brink of extinction.
There are many factors, most of which are taboo in politically correct environments.

As for the second idea:
I am not as confident as you that the momentum already built up in the population explosion be simply halted or mediated with new biological technology.

This still does not speak to the next population doubling after the impending one.

Bob

-- I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Alberta Canada Zone 3A or maybe 3B

Bob, I’m not the least bit interested in biological technology if you mean some sort of mechanism for manipulating population. However, if by that you mean environmental efficiency, then I’m all for it. To my way of thinking, sustainability does not need to include going back. History clearly shows that humans can work with and within their environments to prosper (I’m not talking financially). Granted they’ve become lazy of late, but that does not necessarily negate the ability.

Let’s face it, going green (ie back to the farm) is simply not going to happen. People are too accustomed to their current conveniences. While some may conveniences fall by the wayside, they are not going away. The only way through the dark is forward, there is no turning back.

-- Everyone needs someone irrationally committed to their future.

13. buy local ; buy local ; buy local
14. be aware of urban growth that infringes on farmland.

It is my belief that if we “insist” on buying local and buy organic, the farmers will make a living from selling produce rather than other crops.. It would be a win/win/win situation.
The way we are headed we will not have farmland left. How will we grow our food?

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

MsDebbie, I heartily agree with the idea of buying local. I have a romantic notion of a small community that provides for its own (my hippie days coming back to me). Now I hate to be a bother (really I do), but outside of produce is it feasible? That is, is it feasible without reverting to a more primitive existence? Now before anyone asks, “What’s wrong with primitive?” Remember that just 100 years ago the average life expectancy was 47 years. In that environment, many of us would be dead already. There’s a lot more that comes with technology than just produce.

-- Everyone needs someone irrationally committed to their future.

I’ve seen a lot of things on TV and online where people are creating green walls (both inside their home and on the outsides of buildings) and on rooftops where produce is being grown.
Now this won’t create enough food for everyone in an apartment building but it will help..

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

I too have seen these things and they are a step in the right direction. My problem is more with feasibility. For example, I would love to use solar energy to at least power my shop, but it’s way too expensive. To be sustainable in that context is not feasible. My concern with much of this is not the value of doing it, but the ability to actually do it.

-- Everyone needs someone irrationally committed to their future.

Most definitely, it will help MsDebbieP. It will help with cutting the costs of cooling, and hence be less of a drain on the electrical grid. At my old home, we were experiencing a very hot home, until I planted an ivy which climbed the wall. It was amazing how much cooler the house was. I am thinking of doing the same here.

15. Plant a green wall to provide more shade on the house in the hot summer. Make certain that it will shed its leaves in the winter to allow for more passive solar heating in the winter. Be prepared to trim its growth, so that it does not get into the roof and shingles.

-- jroot

Russell Says:
“Bob, I’m not the least bit interested in biological technology if you mean some sort of mechanism for manipulating population.”

I can see what you read now Russ, but it is not what I was trying to write.
I was actually hoping for “common sense” to kick in.

I tried to say that pretty soon there will be too many mouths to feed, too many bums to wipe, too many toilets to flush etc etc.
Given the technology presently on the table and the number of Luddites that believe that simply cutting back on emmisions will prevent a catastrophe in the making I am at a loss to find an ear of wisdom to vent to.

My personal summation is we have tampered with the planet enough for now.
We should hold back on further expropriation of the natural resources until we completey understand the “working model”.

It has to start with population control.

Cheers
Bob

-- I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Alberta Canada Zone 3A or maybe 3B

I’ve thought for many years that for every child more than 2 that a couple have we have to build another housing unit on the planet.

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Deb, I rest my case.
and… you said it far more eloquently than I.

Bob

-- I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Alberta Canada Zone 3A or maybe 3B

Bob, here’s where we disagree. You said, ”... pretty soon there will be too many mouths to feed, too many bums to wipe, too many toilets to flush etc etc.”

Most simply put, I’m not convinced. It’s a claim that has been made for the past 30+ years and has yet to show any hard evidence. People may be starving in various places in the world, but it’s not because the planet cannot support them, but because either they or their societies refuse to make wise use of their resources.

-- Everyone needs someone irrationally committed to their future.

So P L E A S E, let’s stop arguing, and start focussing on what WE, as individuals, can do.

-- jroot

16. buy what you eat and not extra to throw out (I watched a show where the family through out boxes of food because they were open for more than a week)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Russel:

“Bob, here’s where we disagree. “clipped”

Most simply put, I’m not convinced. It’s a claim that has been made for the past 30+ years and has yet to show any hard evidence. People may be starving in various places in the world, but it’s not because the planet cannot support them, but because either they or their societies refuse to make wise use of their resources.”

I am agreement with your observation Russel.

As a matter of fact, it forms the basis of my own observations.;-)

I don’t think we are that far apart but for the semantics.

Bob

-- I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Alberta Canada Zone 3A or maybe 3B

Jroot, while I appreciate your sincerity, I must ask you where you came up with the idea that this discussion should focus on solutions?

The original focus was with respect to “backyard solutions”.

This conversation is about global solutions. ” sustainability’

For what it’s worth, I would be happy to participate but shouldn’t you start a thread on that topic?

Bob

-- I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Alberta Canada Zone 3A or maybe 3B

Hi all…yes the conversation has gone a little off-topic. My original Idea was not on a global level but rather each of us as individuals….”What tips can we share with each other to help create a more sustainable garden and what does sustainability mean to you?”

So lets continue on to add more great tips and hints for our own backyards, homes and lives.

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

well, I’ve done all I can do, personally, about keeping the population down :D

18. be cautious about what is dumped down the drain

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

I guess it’s my fault for moving the conversation out of the backyard. To be honest, I’m not sure I understand how the idea sustainability can be restricted to the backyard and still have any meaning. To my way of thinking, the isolated yard here and there that maintains and environmental equilibrium is rather quaint; a social anomaly, but contributes to sustainability about as much as a drop of water contributes to the water table in the desert.

Sustainability is a significant issue that should be addressed. Here amongst the botanical folks is a good place to start because gardens produce food and food is kinda important. However, to stop at gardens is short-sighted and unproductive in the long run. Because of the intertwined nature of our life-styles, no aspect can be discussed in isolation. Gardening requires certain resources such as land and water. These can be worked manually, which connects us directly to people who need houses and heat and clothes and medicine and so on, or they can be worked mechanically which connects us to industry with fabrication and transportation and a whole lot of other stuff.

Having interacted with people most of my life, I do not believe that a grassroots initiative can succeed when it comes to sustainability (and I’m a grassroots kinda guy). Awareness is good and should expand, but the solutions need to come from the collective.

We need to look forward, and I believe technology is the key. I’m a big fan of solar and wind energy. While the efficient use of solar energy is rather recent, wind energy has been around awhile and has been improved by technology. It’s this type of technological advance that need expanded, promoted and made affordable to move toward sustainability. Taking things away, like current conveniences, is not sustainability but deprivation. And deprivation is never a welcomed solution to anything.

Hey! Who put this soapbox under me?

-- Everyone needs someone irrationally committed to their future.

wow Russel.. a new side of you that we haven’t seen before!!
((looking up at you standing on your soapbox)) haha

Gotta love people who are impassioned about an idea

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

Well, MsD I used to was a preacher and sometimes it just comes spilling out. ;-)

-- Everyone needs someone irrationally committed to their future.

well it spilled out beautiful. :)

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

My apologies for hijacking the thread.
The title suggested all gardens . (Backyards)
I do not have a 1/2 acre of land so I do not see my garden as a resource for opting out of the bigger picture.
I do have to work each day away from my property and that in turn restricts what I can do with it.
Thus the smaller and more maintainable footprint.
I came in late and responded to the “sustainability ” question that Russel questioned.
My skill set is such that I can barter for the best food on the planet without the need to grow my own.
That may change but for the time being the sustainability of the planet is of more concern to me.

Carry on…

Bob

-- I am a strong believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. Alberta Canada Zone 3A or maybe 3B

bartering is a good idea!!

my brother has lots of space for growing potatoes. I don’t (or haven’t created a site yet anyway). Not sure what I can “trade” for the use of his space though. Maybe a birdhouse? Oh Rick!

-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a)

I almost entirely agree with you Russel, however every individual has to do their part and teach their offspring (if they choose to have any) friends and neighbours the many different angles of sustainability…Global sustainability has to start with each an every one of us and since this is a garden site garden Ideas are good…Plus I wouldn’t want to start a thread that could become too political :)

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20

I read somewhere (can not remember though) that we ( as a group) want to think of things globally or THE BIG PICTURE. But the theory is if we start in our backyard then it moves into the nieghbourhood then to the town level and so forth. Then you have a community working togehter for the common goal(s). Then it natrually gets bigger. But the beauty is that as we a working towards our goals the next community is going towards theirs and then something can be learned and help fine tune th eothers goals. Or even assist or borrow from that community.

Sometimes we try to make things more difficult than we need. But of course this takes time and we all now that we are a community or population of “we want it now”.

I have enjoyed this thread and I am going to implent the ideas that have been put forth. Thank you everyone.

-- Living on the level... Central Ontario...1.25 hrs from TO.......Zone 5a