Precarious Nature - Urban Gardening
This week on the blog we have Christchurch based artist Zina Swanson. Zina is known for investigating and interrogating the relationship between humans, their surrounding environments and the natural world. Her work Plants from the sale table is exhibited in Precarious Nature. The specimens in Plants from the sale table have been sourced from the 'reduced to clear' stands in large DIY stores around Ōtautahi Christchurch.
A few generations ago, we would have swapped cuttings from our back gardens to propagate new plants, and faithfully stored seeds from each crop for the next rotation. It was survival to grow your own food. But times have changed, especially for city dwellers. Rental properties may not allow gardening, our urban populations are more dense and land is scarce. Resources to create gardens and the knowledge of how to do so have been restricted and monetised. Now, if we are lucky enough to be able to afford both the time and cash resources to garden, more often than not, we buy good soil from plastic bags and garden in pots with little thought to permaculture that might sustain us better.
In saying that, there have been efforts to create a cultural shift to get us ‘back to basics’ with gardening of late. Timely, as global politics sit precariously and so much of our food is now imported. New World supermarket’s ‘Little Garden’ promotion, for example, where one receives a tiny, biodegradable pot, dehydrated soil and seeds to start off your vegetable garden have been a great hit. A mere $40 worth of groceries gets you one pot and the scheme has been lauded as a positive move away from their previous, plastic collectables. However, the campaign is only accessible to a certain class, and the wait time on maturation for many of these seeds is 60-90 days; if they sprout at all. Gardening is a commitment. It remains to be seen if this campaign will inspire a future generation of gardeners so used to instant satisfaction.
It’s not all bad however - There are lots of movements to help people get back in touch with plants and the land. Organisations such as the Canterbury Community Gardens Association are able to direct you to the closest community garden in your area. In Canterbury alone there are almost 30 community gardens for you to get involved in. They envision to “Strengthen and nurture existing community gardens, and support new initiatives, in order to build strong communities and encourage these by respecting and fostering human and environmental diversity.”
Another organisation that aims to Employ, Educate and Regenerate is Trees for Canterbury. They are strongly linked to the local community, providing environmental education, providing native plants and undertaking planting’s with community organisations and schools throughout Canterbury. Trees For Canterbury uses recycled materials - this often includes the use of “old greenhouses, hessian pretending to be shade cloth – all features of a shoestring budget in combination with a recycling ethic.” To get involved or donate to the non-for-profit organisation you can click here to view their website or like their Facebook page here.
As well as supporting these local initiatives, there are also an abundance of farmers markets during the weekend in Canterbury which allow you to buy local and to support local businesses. These include the Christchurch Farmers Market, Lyttelton Farmers Market and the Opawa Farmers Market.
Above we have a video that gives tips on how to maintain and sustain an urban vegetable garden. This includes information on fertilizer, planting your seeds or plants and taking care of your garden in an urban environment.