Wicking beds make for a water-smart garden.

IN the car space of his Clifton Hill flat, Frank Fisher now grows vegetables. Late last year, together with neighbours and enthusiasts, he fitted two old apple crates as ‘wicking’ beds – a water-efficient system in which the plants quench their thirst from below.

A long-time bike rider and sustainability professor at Swinburne University, Mr Fisher has no need for parking, but he spends much of the week out of town, so he wanted a garden that wouldn’t require constant attention.

Wicking beds can consume as little as half the water of a normal vegie patch. The technique mimics the natural system by which plants access moisture rising up from the water table.

“They’re optimally self-maintaining,” he says. “I’m growing a big selection of vegies, from leafy lettuce to carrots, tomatoes, broccoli and all sorts of herbs.”

Hannah Moloney, from Cultivating Community, says wicking beds can be used in large-scale cropping or backyard pottering. They’re ideal for container gardening in courtyards, balconies or rooftops.

To start, you need to line a container with strong black plastic (or use a water-tight vessel such as an old bathtub with a plug). Place an L-shaped length of piping along the bottom of the container, with holes on the underside and one end protruding for an inlet.

Cover the pipe with gravel, then lay shadecloth or geotextile on top, and add soil or compost (no more than 30 centimetres). Drill a drainage hole level with the shadecloth.

“Invest in the best organic soil you can get,” Ms Moloney advises. “It’s the difference between making or breaking growing in containers.”

Water your new vegie patch by pouring directly into the pipe. If you mulch the soil well, you’ll avoid evaporation altogether.

“The plants draw the water up by capillary action, through the gravel, through the geotextile or shadecloth, and into the roots where it’s most needed,” Ms Moloney says. “Wicking beds are the most water-efficient way you can grow vegetables.

“You can kill plants by not giving them enough water or by drowning them with love – that’s very common amongst urban growers. Wicking beds are really good because you know there’s enough water when it comes out the overflow. You can’t over-water, so it’s a fantastic technique for nervous or forgetful gardeners.”

The technique was pioneered by Queensland engineer Colin Austin during an aid project assisting African farmers to maintain food production under drought conditions.

“He found that the problem often wasn’t permanent drought, but that they had erratic rain – a monsoon or flood and then nothing for six months,” Ms Moloney says.

“He experimented lining small ditches with plastic so the crops’ roots could always access a reservoir. The beds are designed to consistently provide water to vegies, so they have a reliable food source.”

As climate change brings on more extreme weather patterns, the system may prove increasingly important to ensure food security.

For Mr Fisher, the garden has also become an easy way to spend time with neighbours. “We planted the boxes and had a beaut little celebration and BBQ. And there are various residents who are helping with the watering and maintenance,” he says.

“I’ve got the middle flat. Everybody goes past it. All I have to do is get out there and tend to the garden and the passers-by talk to me.”

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Zero-carbon housing is one mission of this year’s Sustainable Living Festival.

FOR the cost of a standard house, renegade architect Michael Reynolds builds Earthships: off-the-grid homes constructed in part from waste materials such as tyres, bottles and aluminium cans.

“The designs are always evolving,” he says. “Our latest building is performing really well: it’s maintenance-free and fuel-free, and it’s carbon zero living. But it’s obsolete because we see that we can do it better and cheaper each year.”

Mr Reynolds, who lives in New Mexico, USA, was the subject of the cult 2007 documentary Garbage Warrior. He is a keynote speaker at this year’s Sustainable Living Festival, which began yesterday and continues until February 27.

The Festival’s theme is “Mission: Safe Climate”, and main event at Federation Square runs from the coming Friday to Sunday. There will be nearly 200 exhibitors, events and talks, covering topics from eco-homes to global campaigns.

In his talk next Sunday, ‘The Art of Carbon Zero Living’, Mr Reynolds will detail the lessons he’s learned over the course of 40 years building Earthships. He’s also running workshops at CERES in East Brunswick, as well as Kinglake, Daylesford and the Yarra Valley.

He argues that while many people devote their time to individual aspects of sustainability, the biggest challenge is to combine all the elements.

“There are a lot of people doing great things working with water, power, sewage, heating and cooling, recycling or food. What we’re saying is that the art of zero carbon living is putting all those ingredients together,” he says.

“There are thousands of different ways to deal with those issues. But we have to deal with them in every home and every commercial building.”

Mr Reynolds says it’s possible to take the Earthship approach to retrofitting existing buildings. “If you live in a home that has eight rooms, that’s an energy-hog home,” he says. “Take one room and make it your safe haven – the room you retreat to when it’s super cold.”

He advises choosing a north-facing room, for the best solar exposure, and then thoroughly researching topics such as thermal mass and solar gain.

“Take it step by step. If you try to do your whole house you’re going to have to get a $200,000 loan. But if you take one room you can do it yourself with information you find online. And the next year you do another one, and another one,” he says.

“We’re trying to empower people with knowledge. We’re working hard to make our website a wealth of information that reflects what we’ve learned.”

A key lesson is that reuse is possible on a much grander scale. “So many materials are thrown away in the modern developed world. Every month we’re expanding the materials we can use, and some of them turn out to be better than materials we can buy,” he says.

Mr Reynolds argues that we have no choice but to reassess our approach to housing, given the challenges posed by climate change. Homes must no longer simply be engines of resource consumption and waste production.

“If you’re going on an adventure hike in the Himalayas, you don’t take a grand piano with you,” he says. “Living in the future on this planet is going to be an adventure and travelling light is a big first step on that adventure. But it’s not about doing without.”

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Homeowners in unsewered areas can choose greener systems than septics.

MANY years ago, John Eldridge decided to retrofit the septic tank on his Red Hill property with a worm farm treatment system. The system, made by A & A Worm Farm Waste Systems in Hastings, works the same way as the forest floor, he says. “In the forest you’ve got all sorts of things dropping out of the trees – twigs, bird poo, the odd dead bird – and the water that falls is filtered through it.

“At the top of the pile the material is coarse, but as it moves down it is broken down more finely.”

His worm farm mimics the natural composting process. “The material disintegrates in the liquid. We never need to pump it out and there is absolutely no smell at all,” he says. “We noticed a huge difference.”

Septic tanks are still the most common wastewater system in unsewered parts of Australia, but they don’t actively treat the wastewater to remove pathogens. The effluent must be disposed in trenches more than a foot deep, and the tanks regularly pumped out.

Like a septic tank, Mr Eldridge’s worm farm is classified as a primary treatment system.

Sarah West, from Environment Protection Authority Victoria, says secondary treatment systems are best for recycling the nutrients found in wastewater, by way of sub-surface irrigation. There are many kinds available, including aeration systems, reed beds, sand filters and trickle filters and some worm farms.

“With any of those higher quality secondary treatment systems, you are permitted to irrigate the effluent through the garden in the topsoil layer, where plants reuse the nutrients in the water,” Ms West says.

“Those nutrients are a resource, but septic tank trenches are too deep in the soil for most plants to access them.”

If you are planning a wastewater system in an unsewered area, Ms West suggests you first consider how you’d like to reuse the treated effluent. “Do you want to irrigate the garden, or use it in the home for toilet flushing?” she asks. “To recycle it back into the house, you need to choose a greywater treatment system approved for toilet flushing.”

But if you just want the treated water to irrigate the garden, you can use an all-waste method such as those listed above. Be aware that you must only use an EPA-approved onsite treatment system, and must obtain a permit from your local council.

The various technologies have very different ongoing costs. “Find out how often the system has to be serviced and how much electricity it consumes,” Ms West recommends. “Ask about the cost of spare parts and consumables – some need chlorine tablets or a new UV lamp every year.”

In Red Hill, Mr Eldridge opted for the worm farm system because it requires minimal ongoing maintenance and no chemical additives, and uses little power. “We have a small pump at the bottom of the tank, but it doesn’t run for very long,” he says. “The other advantage for us is that we can put any other organic matter in there, so it is an easy way to reduce our waste to landfill.”

The worms chomp through black and greywater, together with organic material such as vegie scraps, paper, cardboard and garden clippings. For a typical three-bedroom house, a new system costs about $8000 to $9000, including installation.

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