With veg, timing is everything
April 17, 2009
Posted in Garden
My “stick it in the ground and see what happens” style of growing vegetables has been surprisingly successful. Since I started in late November, I’ve grown green beans, tomatoes, lettuce, chillies, beetroot, cucumbers and broccoli.
Skin surprise: I grew two types of cucumber, both of which had spiky skins, completely unlike the kind you buy in supermarkets. The spikes washed off easily. I peeled them before eating and they tasted exactly like ... well, cucumbers.
The cucumber and broccoli I’m particularly proud of because I had no idea what to expect. Thanks to a misleading picture in a gardening book, I thought cucumbers grew on small trees. Happily, I’m a little less ignorant now.
It hasn’t all been blissfully easy, though. I’ve had to admit defeat with a few of the things I planted. For months I watched my watermelon and butternut plants form tiny baby fruits that just shrivelled and died. I tried to fortify the plants with worm tea and seaweed fertiliser, and great dollops of compost, but eventually their leaves developed a patina of grey fungus and I had to pull them up. A Malawian former subsistence farmer I know said that I had planted them too late – I should have done it in early October, not late November.
Infant mortality: My butternut plant grew many tiny baby butternuts like this one, but once the flower dropped off, the baby butternuts turned yellow and then shrivelled up
I’m amazed that two months would make such a difference. It’s a lesson in that seasonal food thing and, I suppose, that’s the way of nature: it just wasn’t their time. I’ll try planting them again in October this year and see what happens.
I lost the battle with the aphids on my beans as well. At first I could keep them under control by spraying them with a hose pipe, but the infestation got progressively worse. Spraying them with a mixture of dishwashing liquid and water helped for a short while (thank you to the people who suggested this), but then I think the plant just got old and tired and the aphids took over. I decided euthanasia was the kindest option – and I didn’t want the aphids to spread to other parts of the garden. Once again, it’s the seasonal thing – plants seem to become more susceptible to pests at the end of their growing season.
Beautiful stranger: I watched this fly-thingy with fascination as it poked a little spike at the back of its abdomen into my tomatoes. I tried to shoo it away but it kept coming back. It must have been laying eggs, because later white larvae crawled out of the tomato.
Then there’s the weather. My tomato plants were doing fabulously until the weather turned unusually British for a while in the middle of summer. The leaves turned yellow and blotchy. I frantically thumbed through gardening books to see if I could identify what was wrong. Like a hypochondriac reading a medical text book, I worried that I had a dread disease like potato blight and that I’d have to dig up everything and burn it all. Then a colourful fly-type thing started to lay eggs in my nearly ripe tomatoes. One morning, I watched a tiny white larvae, which must have been the fly’s progeny, crawl out of a tomato and fling itself onto my beetroot. Then little, red insects flew in en masse and ate great holes in my tomatoes. That was when I conceded defeat.
Probably the most useful factoid I read in my books, though, is that tomatoes don’t like getting their leaves wet, it apparently encourages fungus, so you have to water them from below. I’m beginning to believe that maybe it was the fortnight or so of drizzle and sunlessness that did them in. Even the man at my local nursery blamed the weather. “The plants don’t know if they’re coming or going,” he said when I asked him for advice on a magic potion that could cure my tomatoes. There was nothing to be done but start again. And, interestingly, the new plants that have grown up since that bad patch of weather all seem to be fine. I’m already getting a new crop of cherry tomatoes. And, so far, there are no insects.
But I’m waiting to see how long these new plants will last now the weather is getting colder and drier. I know now that there’s only so much you can learn about growing vegetables from a book. The only way to learn is to stick it in the ground and see what happens. It’s all about trial and error and, most of all, patience.
So if anybody reads this and knows (from their own trials and errors) what you can plant in Joburg in April and May. Please let me know.
Environmentalists lose appeal against flamingo dam development
April 17, 2009
Posted in Conservation
A baby flamingo at Kamfers Dam taken by the Flamcam webcam on the breeding island, courtesy Save the Flamingo Association
Environmentalists concerned about the future of the lesser flamingos at Kimberley’s Kamfers Dam – one of only four sites in the whole of Africa where these birds breed – received some bad news this week. Their appeal against a decision to allow a massive housing development to be built in close proximity to the dam has been overturned.
Mark Anderson, the ornithologist who was dismissed from his job at the Northern Cape department of tourism, environment and conservation because of his work trying to save the flamingos of Kamfers Dam, broke the news at a talk he gave in Johannesburg on Tuesday organised by Birdlife South Africa to raise funds for the flamingos.
He said the Save the Flamingo Association will now have to take their battle to court, but the Kimberley-based group will need to raise about R1-million to pay for this legal action.
There have been lesser flamingos on Kamfers Dam for decades, but it wasn’t until January 2008 that the flamingos started to breed successfully thanks to an artificial island built for the birds in a part of the dam where disturbances, such as from people and dogs, could be minimised.
A breeding island for greater flamingos in the Camargue, in the Rhone Delta, France, that had been built in the 1970s was something of an inspiration to Anderson. But he and his colleagues were the first to build an island for lesser flamingos. They were amazed at how quickly the flamingos accepted the island, within four days of the completion of the island in 2006, 17 flamingos were spotted on it.
The island was built from 26,500 tonnes of material, mainly calcrete from a local quarry, and is topped with a 200mm layer of clay from which the flamingos make their nest turrets. It’s S-shape provides two sheltered bays and four ponds, which have submersible pumps powered by solar panels, keep the material wet for the birds to build their nests. The island was built with the help of local company Ekapa Mining.
The first breeding attempt on the island in January 2007 was unsuccessful and between May and August 2007 there were no birds on the island at all. Anderson began to worry that he had built a R500,000 white elephant. But then in September, the birds began to arrive and up to 40,000 were counted on the island that month. In January 2008, the first six baby flamingos were seen and by March there were 9,000 of them.
A great milestone had been reached: it was the first time lesser flamingos had bred on an artificial island, but, more importantly, it was the first time lesser flamingos had bred successfully in South Africa. In Africa they breed at Etosha Pan in Namibia, Sua Pan in Botswana and Lake Natron in Tanzania. Lesser flamingos are listed in the Red Data Book because their numbers are declining. The fact that they “put their eggs in too few baskets”, so to speak, doesn’t help. This is an important reason why the Kamfers Dam breeding site should be conserved, says Anderson.
The development, which Anderson says will comprise 6,500 houses and is, at its closest point, 250m from the dam, isn’t the only thing threatening flamingos. Raw sewerage is leaking into the dam from the broken Homevale sewerage works causing the water quality to deteriorate. The Save the Flamingo campaign is trying to persuade the local authorities to take urgent action to prevent the dam from becoming a “polluted cesspool devoid of birdlife, and a hazard to the people of Kimberley”.
The Kamfers Dam flamingos could be a huge ecotourism attraction for Kimberley, says Anderson.
They have now bred successfully for two years in a row. This year there may be as many as 15,000 chicks by the end of the season, says Anderson. Lesser flamingos on Estosha Pan breed successfully on average every 10 years – a comparison that serves to highlight the importance of the new breeding site for Southern Africa’s lesser flamingo population.
A state-of-the-art webcam was installed on the island at a cost of R250,000 last year that allows Mark and the rest of the world to get a rare glimpse at what’s going on among the flamingos – their breeding sites are usually too remote to allow people to get up close and personal. The webcam is not working properly at present – it is thought to have been struck by lightning – and it may be a while before anyone can access the island to fix it. In the meantime, though, Mark’s wife Tania has made some videos using the webcam which you can see on the Save the Flamingo Facebook site. One I particularly like is of a day-old chick on a nest turret.
Mark Anderson accepted a job as the executive director of Birdlife SA shortly before he and two of his colleagues, Julius Koen and Eric Hermann, were suspended by the Northern Cape conservation department for their work trying to save the flamingos in August 2008.
Eric Hermann returned to work late last year, but according to Anderson, Julius Koen is still at home, without access to his pension accrued after working 34 years for the department.
Anderson himself was found guilty on all 17 charges against him at a disciplinary hearing he was unable to attend. But he says he is taking the matter to court.
To find out what you can do to help save the lesser flamingos of Kamfers Dam visit Save the Flamingo‘s website.
SA electric car to be mass produced by 2012
April 3, 2009
Posted in Transport
Cape Town-based Optimal Energy plans to mass produce its fully electric vehicle, Joule, in South Africa from 2012, but we can expect to see pilot fleets on our roads and internationally from next year, the company says.
The company has raised the industrialisation capital from a share issue to the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and from the Innovation Fund, the technology investment division of the department of science and technology. It intends raising more private capital towards the end of 2009.
“Interest in the vehicle has been enormous both at a local and international level,” said Kobus Meiring, Optimal Energy’s CEO.
“We are in the process of selecting a site for our first assembly and manufacturing plant. The location of the plant will be announced later this year,” he said.
Green tip: Get away for a weekend
April 3, 2009
Posted in Green tips, Lifestyle
Swimming in the river at Mountain Sanctuary Park
The best way to appreciate nature is to get out there and experience it. This may seem obvious, but it’s very easy to get caught up in the daily grind and suddenly you realise that you haven’t been out of the city for so long you can’t remember when you last smelt fresh air or woke up to the racket birds make in the morning.
My husband and I work mostly from home and, although there are many benefits, like not having to sit in traffic for hours every day, one of the few disadvantages is that the work day never ends. It’s not like you can leave your work at the office, it’s there all the time, seven days a week. It’s hard to stop yourself from quickly checking your email.
So we’ve decided that we need to try to get away once a month and our mission is to find nice places to stay that are within 200km of the city. We’ve also opted for camping because it’s cheaper and, with no TV or laptops, we can fully appreciate the joys of nature.
Our first trip was to Mountain Sanctuary Park in the Magaliesburg, about 120km from Jozi. It’s one of those places I’ve been hearing about for years, but never got round to visiting. I’m sorry now that I took so long to “discover” it because it’s lovely for a weekend break.
The campsite is big with lots of shade trees and grass and you can book a site with electricity if you struggle without an electric kettle. There are braais and clean bathrooms, a gorgeous pool with a view and a small shop that stocks a few basics. It has quite strict rules about noise and cars, which means you won’t be kept awake till all hours by somebody else’s loud music.
You might be kept awake be somebody else’s children though. It seems to be a favourite weekend spot for families with young children.
You can burn off pent up energy walking in the mountains. You’ll encounter lots of groups wearing sensible shoes and hats and carrying walking sticks. It seems to be popular with mountain bikers as well. My favourite excursions are short and end at one of the two rivers that run through the park. One has easily accesssible shallow pools with natural rock slides that are fun for kids to swim in or for adults to wallow in. The water is crystal clear and tastes delicious – as only a mountain stream can.
The other river is less child friendly, edged mostly by steep cliffs. It’s very pretty and great fun to explore, and there are pools you can bathe in. But tread carefully, the rocks can be very slippery.
We only camped for one night, but next time – which I have no doubt will be soon – we’ll stay for two. Camping has a way of forcing you to slow down and a weekend of mountain air and exercise charges your batteries.
If you don’t like camping, you have the option to stay in a chalet.
A view down a footpath to the campsite among the trees
Week that was: April 3 2009
April 3, 2009
Posted in Green News
Environmentalist protestors at the G20 summit in London by celesteh licensed under Creative Commons
- LEADING BY EXAMPLE: The G20 summit disappointingly didn’t produce a green recovery package, but US President Barack Obama did say that the United States would lead by example in combating climate change. “If China and India with their populations had the same energy usage as the average American then we would all have melted by now,” he told a news conference. “China and India … justifiably chafe at the idea that they should somehow sacrifice their development for our efforts to control climate change.”
- IT’S NOT ENOUGH: Draft climate legislation unveiled in the US this week was reportedly welcomed by green groups at the UN climate talks in Bonn. The law calls for a cut of 3 percent from 2005 levels in greenhouse emissions by 2012, 20 percent by 2020, 42 percent by 2030 and 83 percent by 2050. The European Union has agreed cuts of 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, and of 30 percent if other developed nations followed suit. Obama’s cuts would to only take emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020, say reports. The UN climate panel says developed countries would have to cut emissions by between 25 and 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to avoid the worst of climate change.
- IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS: Scientists have trained a genetically engineered virus to make a more efficient and powerful lithium battery. More on and BBC
- GM MAIZE PROBLEM: Of the 1,000 South African farmers who planted Monsanto’s GM-maize this year, 280 suffered extensive crop failure, writes Rapport. The plants, grown from three varieties of GM maize, apparently looked healthy but failed to produce seeds. According to the report, Monsanto said a mistake had been made in the laboratory and the company immediately offered to compensate farmers in Mpumalanga, Free State and North West. Marian Mayet, director of the anti-GM Africa Centre for Biosecurity, called for an urgent government investigation and an immediate ban on all GM-foods.
- COTTONING ON TO ORGANIC: Global sales of organic cotton clothing and home textile products rose by 63 percent last year to $3.2 billion, according to the Organic Cotton Market Report. The amount of organic cotton farmers grew worldwide in 2007/08 increased by 152 percent. Organic cotton is grown without the use of fertilisers, pesticides or genetically modified seeds. (Reuters)
- FISH OIL AND FLATULENCE: Researchers at an Irish university have found that adding fish oil to the diet of cattle reduces the methane emissions they emit via flatulence. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. More than a third of all methane emissions, about 900 billion tonnes every year, are produced by bacteria in the digestive systems of ruminants such as cattle, sheep and goats, the researchers say. (Science Daily)
- DOLPHINS: THE GOOD NEWS: A stronghold of rare Irrawaddy fresh-water dolphins, numbering nearly 6,000 individuals, has been found in Bangladesh’s Sundarbans mangrove forest by researchers from the World Conservation Society. Last year the dolphins were listed as vulnerable on the IUCN red list.
- ... AND THE NOT SO GOOD NEWS: Mass dolphin and whale beachings could become more frequent because of climate change, say researchers in Australia. More than 500 whales and dolphins have beached in southern Australia in the past four months. Scientists say that changing ocean current cycles are at the root of the beachings. (AFP)
- SASOL CDM PROJECT GETS A NO: A United Nations panel has rejected a Clean Development Mechanism application for a Sasol project to replace coal with natural gas piped from Mozambique as a feedstock for its Secunda synthetic fuel plant. Sasol had argued that the project would result in a significant reduction of greenhouse gases. (Engineering News)
- SA SETS CARBON CAPTURE TARGET: South Africa expects to build its first carbon capture and storage pilot by 2020, Bulyelwa Sonjica, the minister of minerals and energy, was reported as saying at the launch of a new carbon capture and storage centre. Sasol and Eskom, the country’s biggest emitters, Anglo American’s coal unit, Exxaro, Xstrata Coal and the British and Norwegian governments are all part of the project. The centre has R25-million in funds. (Reuters)
Join a community drive to clean up the Jukskei River
April 2, 2009
Posted in Lifestyle
Stretch of the Jukskei River. Photo by NJR ZA. Licenced under Creative Commons licence
A group of volunteers in Douglasdale in northern Johannesburg have decided to start a clean up campaign on the Klein Jukskei River and want other people in the community to get involved.
“It is in a state of absolute filth. The banks of the river are disgustingly littered with household rubbish,” says Candice Smith, who organised the clean-up campaign.
Candice is a firm believer in the idea that if a group of people work together for the collective good then change is inevitable.
“I am rounding up support in my complex, trying to get the residents involved and I would like to extend this to the rest of the community that makes use of the area (dog walkers, kids, etc). Although currently not many people want to use it and, frankly, I don’t blame them.”
But think of the “Broken Windows” theory, says Candice. If a building has a few broken windows that are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building. The same could apply to a river where litter accumulates. Eventually, people may even start dumping bags of rubbish there.
“What impact would this have on the surrounding community?” Candice asks. “We can’t continue to sit back and allow it to be someone else’s problem.”
Candice has gathered together a team of volunteers who will meet once a month to clean up the river banks. It’s not just a chance to do something for the environment, it’s a great way to get to know the people in your community, she says.
The first community clean up effort is going to be on Saturday, April 4, at 9h00.
If you’re interested in joining in, the group plans to meet outside the new Covenant Church Complex along Hornbill Road. You can contact Candice on 082 442 0068 or candice.smith[at]caterplus[dot]co[dot]za.
“Small acts can and will lead to big changes!”
Is this the dawning of the age of alternatives?
April 1, 2009
Posted in Renewable energy
The renewable energy feed-in tariffs announced by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) yesterday appear to have been well received by industry players.
The tariff guidelines set the price renewable energy suppliers will be paid for a unit of electricity and they need to be high enough to encourage investment in the industry. Until recently, renewable energy had to compete with South Africa’s incredibly cheap (but very dirty) electricity from coal. There were no incentives for renewable energy investors. So it’s not surprising that, at present, South Africa has only one operating wind farm which produces 5MW of electricity.
But in 2004 South Africa set a renewable energy target of 10,000GWh by 2013 and to meet this target it needs to kickstart the industry and get things moving quickly. The tarrifs announced yesterday are perhaps a sign of a commitment to increase the role of renewables in the energy mix. They are a significant improvement on those in the consultation paper released by Nersa in December, which had been criticised for being too low to encourage investment.
Under Nersa’s new tariff guidelines, developers will receive R1,25/kWh for wind (up 65c/kWh), 90c/kWh for landfill gas (up from 43c), 94c/kWh for small hydro (up from 73c) and R2,10/kWh for concentrated solar power (up from 65c).
To give you something to compare this to: on my January electricity bill, I was charged about 40c/kWh. But Eskom’s prices will increase and a levy on electricity generated from non-renewable sources is likely to come into effect sometime this year.
The power purchase agreement with suppliers will last for 20 years and the tariffs will be reviewed every year for five years and every three years after that. Eskom, the state energy utility, will act as the renewable energy power purchasing agency.
Don’t rush out to buy solar panels to generate electricity on your roof, though. The new tariffs don’t mean that ordinary households will soon be able to generate electricity from rooftop photovoltaics and get reimbursed for feeding it back into the grid. Nersa’s feed-in tariffs exclude photovoltaic panels and biomass generation. The regulator’s focus appears to be on utility-scale generation.
Consumers will most likely have to bear the increased cost of renewable energy – but at least we can look forward to some alternatives to coal and nuclear in the future.
