Oh what a lovely tea party.

draw back the curtain.


The teabag is a little well-brewed.

The weeds have been decomposing anaerobically for a good month and a half now (just a few weeks longer than was recommended by Gardening Australia). The basic process of anaerobic decomposition is that the microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. This releases the energy into the water rather than the air. It's used a lot to treat waste water and reduce the release of gases and such from landfill. On an industrial scale anaerobic digestion can be a renewable energy source. Methane and carbon dioxide rich biogas can be harvested and burnt to drive a turbine. What we did was a little more lo-fi, not in an air tight vessel or set up to siphon off the gas, but none the less the same process. We are more interested in breaking down the nutrients in the biomass (the weeds) into a form that the plants can use easily. Unfortunately this works too well so the final mix needs to be mixed with more water to dilute it or it will burn the plants.

Black with one.

Anaerobic decomposition happens naturally in mangroves; their leaves break down in the oxygen starved mud; however in that instance the mud is high is salts and so they smell like sulphur (rotten eggs). The "beautiful, brown, sludge" that formed in our weed tea smells like death. The water is releasing many of the gases that have dissolved into it over the weeks.
There was also an abundance of invertebrate life gathered in the pot. Many small compost flies and about six spiders had taken up residence. To these bugs the rotting smells means food or food for their young.

We haven't put it onto the garden just yet. We are making some seeds for Autumn planting and I hope they like tea. The tea bag on the other hand had can go on the compost heap.


Lars comes in for a whiff...



... and feels a little overwhelmed.

22. Tiny Towns pieces and zine and climate change zine

Things are gearing up for the start of February for the 2010 Adelaide Fringe! Yay! This is an exciting and busy time of year for us. Thing number 22, for me, is all about doing the work and starting to promote the three events. Check out our Fringe Guide blurbs!

To start with Ferris Wheels & Fairyfloss.
From a cowboy's fairyfloss-induced dream, from carnies to acrobats, to ferris wheel tattoos, John Willanski and Cassie Flanagan combine black and white drawings, colour-saturated photography and digital art to enter the hyper-real world of the traveling showground.

Princess Fairyfloss

Secondly Urban Jungle.
The city can be a stark unwelcoming place but the jungle is coming back to play. Street artist John Willanski invites you to come play too.

Some dresses waiting to be part of the Urban Jungle show.

and Finally Tiny Towns.
Exploring a new future of technology, energy and community Tiny Towns holds a mirror up to the way we live now and the way we will need to change.

Desert winds, a part of the Mini Art exhibition related to Tiny Towns.

I'm hoping that my work will entertain and enlighten. This year I'm also hoping to get to grips with timelines and trying to go that extra mile to turn something good into something very good. In the past I've over-committed and found that once the hatchet fell I'd fulfilled the briefs but I felt I could have done a bit better. By focusing on three smaller exhibitions I hope to have a bit more control and a bit less stress.

In other related news I'm going to be starting a short stint at the Science Exchange where I'll be learning about curating and running a space, managing a bump in and out and a marketing and media campaign as well as a whole bunch of other stuff.

There's a also session about Science Blogging at the Science Exchange that I'm really looking forward to next Monday.

As for the second part of thing number 22, the Climate Change Zine is Cass' and here she is!

The as yet untitled Climate Change Zine will be the third in an annual series of enviro-poetry zines presented by "Triple Bottom Line" - originally a trio but now a duo of environmentalist poets. (Why am I talking about myself in the third person?) When the three enviro-poets in question started the zines, we were all working as campaigners with different Adelaide environmental NGOs, but as of zine number two, there didn't seem to be room for both sorts of work simultaneously in our lives.

Jules remains with the Conservation Council of SA, and not with the zine, and Rachael and I are both studying higher degrees in creative writing at Adelaide uni, doing the zine, and no longer working at jobs in the movement.

I've been looking for other ways to stay involved though. Sustainable Communities is one, and this latest edition of the zine is another. It's going to be about the emotions involved in coming to terms with climate change and peak oil.

Rach and I also both take photos that have been part of the zines to date.

We were planning to launch it at this year's Format Zine Fair as part of the Fringe in March, but we have ambitious plans for length and content that make it seem more sensible to hold off until mid year. So we're now planning to release the climate change zine at a joint photo show, as part of SALA month in August.


Photo show meets zine and a powerful blend ensues!

Stay tuned, and please do come out to our fringe shows meanwhile!

Which reminds me, our friend Anna from next door has taken a challenge to go to as many fringe shows that her friends are in this year as she can! I'm planning to tag along to some as a way to narrow down the otherwise overwhelming options.

9. get shower timer and use it

A dry creek bed near our house.

I've been reading about water in South Australia. As a state South Australia is often touted as "The driest state in the driest country in the world". As such, Adelaide is heavily dependent on the River Murray for our water needs. With lower rainfall in many catchments, including the Murray-Darling, and increased demand from farming and domestic water users, our state's water use is far from sustainable. Meanwhile the aquifer under us is, in some parts of the state, running dry while others have to deal with rising salt. Mining requires a huge percentage of this. There are plans for a desalination plant to clean seawater but that's at least four years off and has many environmental and social impacts.

Help me! I am a giant Australian Cuttlefish! (image from here)

While it will supply domestic users, the desalination plant is basically being made to keep the world's largest uranium mine in water. The environmental impacts have been sidelined and South Australia is in danger of making a big mistake.

Cass sending a letter to the Mike Rann about uranium mining.

Stormwater recycling is an under-examined option with a great deal of potential. On the domestic front, we're interested in grey water systems and rain harvesting and storage tanks. As we are renting this gets a little more tricky but not impossible. Inspired by Cass' defacto sister-in-law Em, we've done some rain water harvesting into a spare green wheelie bin in the last few big rains we've had. Em is the executive director of Riversides, a Torontonian water conservation NGO.


This is a picture of Em impersonating a kangaroo on her recent visit to Adelaide.

It was taken on the rooftop garden at Christie Walk, Adelaide's inner city eco-housing community. When she and Cass' brother Chris were here we got all fired up to build a mudbrick rain water tank but time only permitted us to wheel a green bin into position under the overflow from our shared backyard neighbour/housemates Anna and Lily's gutter. If you do have the dosh to get something done right rebates are available, and it's not too expensive.


Our system isn't the most glamorous in the land but it works.

Another lo-fi watering measure is to place a hole in the lid of a bottle and put it upside down in the soil at the base of a tree. That way the tree gets water all day long.

A hole in the lid

This is great for plants that are establishing themselves as it gives a good steady supply. I got the idea from the bottles near the meeting the other day.

Also good for plants in recovery, the lemon tree's leaves are getting greener by the day.

Alison giving us some info.

The Water Wise Communities initiative which Cass' sister Alison put us onto seems like a good place to take some action. She saw number 9 on our list and said there are Water Wise kits available which include a shower timer. As our council is not yet on board with this we are going to try to get one from someone in another council area. I'll post an update with a bit more when we can get our hands on one. The pack will be most useful but till we get it we'll just have to rely on being late to give us the incentive for short showers.


Water wise communities


We've sent them an email and stopped round.

And finally here's something a little bit educational. The game is very cute.
Savewater.com.au