Brisbane‘s subtropical winter comes to a happy, floriferous end in mid-August. Today there’s around a hundred different plants flowering, two weeks before Australia’s official first day of spring.
Tag: Climate change
So You Want To Create A Community Garden?
A gardening friend is getting ready to breathe life into a neglected communal food garden, so I’ve sent him these notes I prepared for Gardening Australia. In 2007 – 2008, there was a spike in oil prices. Since the bulk of food is produced using petrol-dependant technology (oil-based fertilisers and pesticides, petrol powered irrigation, harvesting,…
A Gardening Cycle Is Complete
The most important thing about our garden receiving 594mm of rain this month, (the 50 year December average is 123.2mm), is that I have now lived here and successfully grown food through both extreme, prolonged drought and prolonged, saturating rain, a period covering seven years. December brought no flooding in this property. Some stormwater escaped…
‘Bellis’ – A Model 21st Century Garden
‘Bellis’, Brisbane’s award winning sustainable house and garden, is now seven years old. Last October this place won a national Save Water! Award in the Built Environment category. Since its inception, this 810 square metre property has collected over 7 megalitres of rainwater and recycled over 3 megalitres of sewage water. In the ornamental subtropical…
Catalyst – Informing Growers And Conservationists About Climate Change
Gardeners, farmers, conservationists and planners should watch this recent segment produced by ABC’s ‘Catalyst’ show on how climate change is affecting the health of our harvests. Rising CO2 levels will mean:
Rudd Gives Up On Reef And Climate Leadership
According to Queensland Conservation (QC) and the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS), Kevin Rudd has accepted the inconvenient truth of climate change and then given up on solving it. They say he has ignored the science of climate change and let down so many who voted for him at the last Federal election… “The best…
King Tides Now – Commoners By 2050
Rising sea levels have major implications for coastal gardens. Yesterday’s king tide gave us the perfect opportunity to see what will be commonplace by 2050. One corner of the world that is experiencing greater than average sea level rises is north eastern Australia. Even if all greenhouse gas emissions ceased immediately, oceans respond more slowly….
Polluter Pays?
A Dutch environmental consultancy has revealed that the coal industry is costing the international community $170 billion damage each year due to natural disasters caused by Global Warming. Warming is one disaster. Ocean acidification is another gift of fossil fuels. Rising carbon dioxide levels are increasing acidity in the oceans more than ten times faster…
Big Solutions Create Bigger Problems
Built or not the Traveston Dam is an historic relic of a bygone era. Building it in defiance of all the science, in defiance of a united community, and during a rapidly warming climate defines Queensland as a 21st century failed state. Shelving it in favour of a strong environment supporting our food and water security and protecting endangered species might yet make us a smart one.
The First Day Of Crematoria
The first koel of summer has called, the first mosquito has bitten and the first dust storm has sprinkled Brisbane red ochre. While I’m out there watering, counting every drop as it falls onto the crisped ground, thunderstorm clouds are full of promise yet lacking in rain. It’s the first day of crematoria, south east Queensland’s flexible new season, that bridges that rigid, neat European concept of spring and summer.
Sustainable House Day 2008
‘Bellis’, Brisbane’s sustainable house and garden, will be part of the 7th annual Sustainable House Day. ‘Bellis’ will be open on Sunday 14th September only. With a gentle nudge from ‘Bellis’, budding Solar House Day has bloomed into Sustainable House Day. People realise they need to reduce their use of energy and water and to…
Open Letter To The Climate Change Minister: How Effective Carbon Sequestration Offers A Healthy Economy
An organically farmed Australia could naturally sequester almost 70% of national Greenhouse Gas emissions. The amount of CO2 sequestered is based on achievements through current low-till, sustainable farming practices. “This is not a theoretical estimate as in some of the tree plantation models, or unproven like the millions of dollars being spent on clean coal or mechanical…
Jerry Coleby-Williams 