Friday, September 26, 2008

Volunteer Number 4 Photos

Thanks very much volunteer number 4 for your lovely photos - I can't believe how fast your seeds germinated! That's fantastic!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Survey for Week One

I have emailed all of those volunteers who gave me their email addresses and attached the survey for week one. Some have bounced so I will try and get this survey to you by other means. If you are a volunteer and you have NOT received an email, please email me with your correct details and I will send you the survey as soon as possible. Those of you that did not disclose your email address, I will get the survey to you in the next couple of days. Hang tight!
When you get the survey, please fill it in ASAP as I need to start compiling week one results on the weekend (27-28th). I also need your photos as soon as possible too. Thanks!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Volunteer No. 2 Photos

Volunteer no.2 has sent me her photos of her seed locations (below). Thank you very much for your prompt action! The location is great and your other vegetables in your garden look amazing. I'm sure this project won't be hard for you!
Garden Layout and Location of Seeds














Borlotti Bean Location












Corn and Tomato Seed Location


















Cucumber Seed Location (either side of arbor)

Park(ing) Day and the Project Launch

The launch of the Sustaina-Vege Project and Park(ing) Day 08 was a combined event and turned out to be a huge success! Everyone had a great day of lounging around in our 'park' and we managed to feed all of the local posties not to mention most of the nearby shop owners with our free lunchtime barbeque. The packages disappeared throughout the day and by the end of the afternoon I only had two packages left! The survey for week one will be up sometime this evening so that you can all have a look at it and get round to filling it out sometime during the week. The week one survey will be larger than the rest so don't be put off! Hopefully most of you will have planted your seeds already; can you please start thinking about taking some photos of the location of the seeds and sending them through to me via my university email (the address was in the package instructions). Below are some photos of park(ing) on Friday and hopefully I will soon be able to put up some of your plant photos!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Friday - The Big Launch

As you know, the launch of the project is in two days time (19th). It also coincides with PARKing Day 2008, which is a annual event where parking spaces are turned into green spaces for the day. We are involved with this at work and so I have decided to combine these two events, and will be handing out project packages at our parking space. So, if you would like to be part of this project, come on down to 14 Minimine st Stafford, outside JW Concepts, to sign up!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

The Fruit and Vege Varieties

The package will contain two seeds of each of the four varieties of fruit and vegetable. These varieties have been selected for several reasons:

1. They are all popular varieties
2. They are easy to grow
3. Together they cover a broad range of characteristics and growth habits.

The information below will also be included in the project package.

DWARF BORLOTTI BEAN

What are they? Borlotti beans are a dual purpose variety as they can be harvested as a usual green bean when 12cm long or in the more traditional way by shelling the seeds when the pods are dry. They are also known as the Italian bean, and are great in stews, bean salads or soups.
How do you grow them? This variety is best sown in Spring and Summer. Plant the beans 25mm deep in a moist, well-drained soil, preferably in a sheltered sunny position. The seeds should germinate at around 7-10 days. Keep well watered and mulch around roots in hot weather. Plant should be ready to harvest in 8-10 weeks.

SWEET CORN

What are they? This early cropping sweet corn has a terrific taste and produces large, even quality cobs.
How do you grow them? This sweet corn variety prefers a sunny position which is sheltered from the wind, ideally on a well-drained soil which has been enriched with peat or well-rotted manure or compost. It is best sown in Spring to early Summer and should be planted 25mm deep and 250mm apart. Water regularly for best results. This corn variety should be ready to harvest at around 12 weeks.

ARMENIAN CUCUMBER

What are they? This heirloom cucumber variety has a wonderfully refreshing taste, with really large fleshy fruit of an unusual pale green colour. They can be harvested in about 60 days and stores well.
How do you grow them? This variety prefers a well prepared soil with added fertiliser. The seeds should be sown in Spring to early Summer, and should be planted 12mm deep, direct in the final position.

TOMMY TOE TOMATO

What are they? This heirloom variety of cherry tomato is the best tasting tomato of all varieties and produces brilliant red fruit of about apricot size. It is ideal for salads or slicing.
How do you grow them? The seeds should be sown in early spring to early summer, or all year round in warmer areas. They should be planted 6mm deep in a warm, sunny position. The plants will need stake support and prefer regular watering. Harvest the fruit when red, however slightly coloured fruit will ripen indoors. Leave the fruit on the plant as long as possible for larger, sweeter fruit.