Hi, I've been a lurker on this list for a couple of years now (Oct 98). I
subscribe
to too many things to keep up with all the posts I receive on a daily basis.
But every now and then I will sit down and read several dozen posts on a
particular topic/list. And I have just been reading the posts on lifestyles
from March.
I am interested in a sustainable lifestyle but don't do much myself. The way
it works in my house is that I earn the living and my SO gets to pursue
his/our interests and put the time into the things that don't bring in any
money.
Jeremy and I are active members of the fledgling Green Party of South
Africa. Together we constitute the environmental desk of the Party and as
such are representatives of the green party in various networks:
Environmental Justice Networking Forum (EJNF) Western Cape (Jeremy is on
their committee with the portfolios of Energy and Media), Peninsula Mountain
Forum (PMF), Koeberg Alert (an anti-nuclear alliance), SAFeAGE (South
African Freeze Alliance - Genetic Engineering). We are also both on the
committee of PERMACORE: The Permaculture Foundation of the Western Cape. In
addition we are involved with SANE:The South African New Economics
Foundation and with the Environmental Ethics Forum of the Western Cape. I
also belong to other groups (National Botanical Society, Wildlife and
Environment Society of SA, and Food Gardens Foundation) from which I reap
the benefits of membership without having to put in my own effort.
>From all of the above you will gather that we are far too busy, attending
meetings and protests, reading and preparing documents, newsletters and
reports to actually put all of our ideas in practise. We do attempt to
recycle what we can. Everything organic goes into the compost heap
(including paper waste, which could be otherwise recycled). We tend to
collect glass and cans and once in a while deliver them to recycling depots.
We live with 2 small dogs and 3 or 4 cats in a small semi-detached house in
an urban suburb, Woodstock, not far from the city centre (Cape Town) on the
slopes of Devil's Peak (a mountain) with sea glimpses (would have a view of
Cape Town harbour, if it weren't for the houses across the street). The
house (+/- 67m2) takes up half the plot (112m2), but being situated in the
middle of the plot and surrounded by concrete doesn't leave much space for
gardening. However that hasn't stopped us from trying. We just haven't
succeeded on growing much of our food yet. However we do have an incredible
biodiversity of plants in containers and in the garden. When I first moved
in, I had the concrete in the front yard lifted. This constitutes two
"pocket handkerchief" pieces of garden on either side of the steps leading
to the house. Together these two sections amount to +/- 14m2 of earth. On
the one side I have concentrated on indigenous (although not endemic to the
area) plants. Although I have kept an alien self-sown tree (an Australian
silky oak - a weed that left to its own devices would be taller than the
house). In winter, Jeremy takes secateurs to the tree and thins out the
branches to let some light through). In this area, we have ericas, gazanias,
bulbs, daisies, aloes and some young trees which will need to transplanted.
At one stage this was a very pretty section with something flowering in
every season, but now it is ramshackle, over-crowded and neglected.
On the other side we rearranged the ornamentals to provide space for a
trench-bed vegetable patch some years ago. But did not manage to harvest
much and now have some herbs, and several coffee tins (large catering size
which I bring home from work) with lemon and avocado trees grown from seed.
The ornamentals include four climbers (tecomaria capensis, plumbago, honey
suckle and asparagus fern ) plus an indoor tree which got planted out before
we had many plants, around the walls and a couple of rose bushes, day
lillies and other plants. This side is even more neglected and suffers from
the passers-by who visit the Derrick, a sqatter, who has made his home under
the stoep (porch / veranda). Up-stairs on the veranda, we have our
seedlings, a baby bath full of bull-rushes for when the pond is finally
completed. Jeremy also has a large collection of succulents, mainly
indigenous. We also largish containers with a wide range of plants ranging
from Arum lily to Anthirium, Clivia to Pepper tree. We also have a fig tree
(rescued from a building site and with a couple of bricks embedded in its
roots.
We have also invaded the pavement (sidewalk). Jeremy cut out a narrow strip
of tarmac along the fence with an angle-grinder, where we have planted some
flowering plants. Down the side of our house, on the side not sharing a wall
with our neighbours we have containers with more plants. Many of these are
indigenous medicinal plants - Jeremy tends to buy anything that looks as
though it might grow from the Rastafarians, who sell muti on the sidewalk
outside shops along main road. A problem here is the unsustainable
harvesting of indigenous plants, so we attempt to cultivate what we can.
The back yard is a very thick concrete slab and we have built some planters
and what is to be a fish pond against the outer walk. Being on the south
side (we're southern hemisphere), this yard gets direct sun in summer but
the shadow of the house keeps it in shade for several months in winter. Our
climate is Mediterranean with winter rain, and the floor of the yard stays
damp for a good part of winter because the sun's rays don't reach it. Living
on the mountain slope, we are expose to turbulent winds, mainly South Easter
in spring, part of summer and most of autumn. This wind does have the
benefit of dispersing pollution but it wreaks havoc on all but the hardiest
of plants. The Cape is one of the six floristic kingdoms of the world and is
the smallest with possibly the greatest diversity. There are many subspecies
which are endemic to particular regions and many are threatened by urban
sprawl and general encroachment of mankind.
I read recently that "One of the biggest surprises yielded by the Protea
Atlas project (recording occurrences of species) is the extent of veldt
manipulation practised by conservation authorities. In the Silvermine Nature
Reserve, there are 25 Protea species present. However this was obviously not
beautiful or diverse enough for the Peninsula conservation authorities. An
additional 18 species have been planted in this reserve, mostly around the
picnic sites and on the road to the dam. Some five hybrids between these
aliens and natural species have been recorded, suggesting that these
introductions are not benign, but are threatening the very species that the
reserve is supposed to protect."
This is of course in complete contrast with permaculture principles which
tend to encourage man to shape his environment to be more productive. One is
always encountering such dilemmas as an environmentalist in the making.
Well that's as much as I have time for now.
Lisa
