Dig In.

And so it begins

We are all even happier than usual here at the garden.  Its official... the first spade has hit the ground. 

We are now underway, developing what will become the major drainage channel and pathway in the garden.

Starting from the garden's centre point, the drainage channel will eventually slope downward into a series of drainage ditches which surround the garden, all of which will help us to cope with the lovely but copious amounts of rain we receive here in the Philippine wet season.  The detailed process of measuring and mapping in order to manage the flow of water through the garden will hopefully save our skin, our soil and our roots next season. 

Its one small ditch for the garden, but one huge mountain of pride for all involved, and with the contribution of many hands this is  only going to grow. 

Its great to see our garden beginning to take its form, and its inspiring to see the garden already acting as a cross-discipline project for different departments across the university.  Hopefully this is an indication of the garden's future direction within the university and beyond.

 

We Love Junk

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We Love Junk

For the past three weeks we have been fastidiously hunting down all manner of weird and wonderful items of junk and recyclable materials to incorporate into the core of our garden.  Everywhere our eyes have been peeled in the search for all manner of scrap objects – its amazing how much more of our world you see this way.

In line with our philosophies of zero-waste and sustainability all materials used in our garden will be in the form of recycled and disguarded objects. We just love junk, so glass bottles will become walls of colour and beauty.  Worn out road surfaces donated by local contractors will be collected by the ton.  Reclaimed timber will line the edges of our raised beds, and all manner of containers will bloom with plants and vegetables…or at least we hope.  All recycled, all by hand, and all from our local area.  Simple.

Getting Dirty

The Phillipines offers huge scope for the reclamation of waste products and for their conversion into usable and indeed beautiful creations. For those interested in waste management in the Philippines, see the following link from the UN development programme

http://www.undp.org.ph/Downloads/knowledge_products/ESWM_Handbook.pdf

Our philosophy strongly believes all waste represents a valuable asset and as such we are attempting to reclaim the hidden treasures that are so easily forgotten when their original purpose has been served and their form is converted into one of ‘waste’.  

With this mindset we have been getting down and dirty in the wonderlands that are Bicol’s junk yards. We have been rumaging through roadside debis and sifting through literal mountains of broken glass from the regions soft-drink manufacturers.  We have been salvaging scraps from hardware stores and ceramic outlets, we are even collecting coconut husks from our local market and boiled bones from local restaurants.... 

Behold, a typical Philippine 'junk yard' , home to a vast array of materials sold by the kilo.  From local junkyards we have obtained objects as diverse as scrap timber, glass bottles, mattress springs, metal sheeting, and aluminium fridge elements.  Latter in the project we will be hoping to reclaim copper tubing and industrial cooling fans to create beautiful artforms.

Glass bottles of all colours and sizes make for great wall building material.  In the coming days we will be experimenting with concrete mixers, rocks, and water to try and make sea-glass as a path layer

Local timber yards are home to beautiful recycled wood, much of it from local building renovations

A small sample of some of our collected materials, ready for hand-made transformation into a functional and productive garden.

Here we are collecting small pieces of reclaimed road surface  which will act as drainage and  subsurface path material.   Rather than hiring a digger which is energy and CO2 intensive, we are loading each piece by hand into old tarpalin cement sacks which we transport to the garden in one trip.  Here goes.

Thanks for following our project...more to come soon.  As ever your  suggestions and comments are welcome.

Let It Grow

Let It Grow

The arrival of the rainy season here in Camarines Sur has sparked life into all things green.  The energy and abundance of nature is evident all around.  As we enter a new month and a new moon the energy of the project too has reached new levels of its own.  Materials are being gathered, plans formulated and the word is being spread.   What was once an idea in the mind is quickly becoming a reality and the excitement of all involved is really becoming evident. 

So welcome to our blog. Thankyou to all involved and keep watching this space.  Together we will watch our garden grow.