Sprig » Niall

The great compostable lid experiment

Niall — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:03:53 +0000

Vide e are now selling all their take-away coffees with compostable lids. My understanding of this, is that they are made from some kind of natural starch and if put into your compost pile, will degrade. As a little experiment I thought I’d put a couple of lids in a pot, cover with soil and leave to compost. Will check them in a few weeks and report back on the state of the lids.

In any case, I think this is a really positive step forward and if more plastics could be replaced by this product, it would result in a lot less waste being produced.

Zulu Barbwire

Niall — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:54:50 +0000

This excellent creeper has such deadly thorns that it has been colloquially named ‘Zulu Barbwire’. One plant at the base of a fence or hedge will quickly grow up and out, creating a near impenetrable barrier to would be thieves. And with its delicate white flowers, its a much more attractive solution than barbwire or an electric fence.

Anyone else have suggestions for natural barriers we could use in South Africa?

Chili balls

Niall — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:36:31 +0000

Last year I bought a packet of random chili seeds and planted them in various pots around the house. Only one plant survived and it turned out to be the most interesting chili plant I have ever laid eyes on. Every couple of months it produces these bright red, fire-hot, perfectly round chilis. I know you can get a great variety of chili plants in places like Mexico but we generally seem to have two varieties, big and small

If anyone knows anything about these guys, please share the knowledge …

Chili balls

Lilies of the city

Niall — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:22:28 +0000

Another short post about our visit to the Durban Botanic Garden, this time to share some pics of the lilies in bloom.

Cannonball!

Niall — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:58:11 +0000

We went down to the Durban Botanic Gardens last weekend in search of the Living Beehive. The Beehive was unfortunately undergoing renovations but we did spot this amazing Canonball tree, in full bloom.

Chris vs the Cannonball

Cannonball in bloom

Trees for Zambia

Niall — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:03:38 +0000

For 3 weeks in July 2012, Greenpop is hosting a reforestation and conservation education project in Livingstone, in partnership with Zambezi Nkuku.

Zambia has the second highest deforestation rate in the world! In an effort to fight this drastic deforestation, Greenpop is planting 5,000 to 10,000 trees in Livingstone and spreading education. Interested in volunteering?

Find out more at http://www.greenpop.org/projects/trees-for-zambia/

Trees for Zambia

Why granny’s tomatoes are great!

Niall — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:27:02 +0000

A tomato should be round and red – right? Actually, wrong. Some tomatoes are red and round, others are yellow and oval, while others are lumpy and black. Tomatoes have been especially bred over the past 50 years to conform to the red and round stereotype (I blame the Americans), at the cost of diversity and flavour. Happily, the trend these days is for more adventurous, authentic eating and other varieties of vegetables (heirloom) are being rediscovered.

We visited the south of France last year. I was amazed at the quality and variety of vegetables, especially tomatoes, on display. The French have a very independent approach to eating and were never influenced by the desire for the ‘perfect’ tomato. Unfortunately, us South Africans were and we’ve chosen good looks over taste for way too long. Luckily, the tide appears to be turning with many small-scale and market farmers experimenting with heirloom varieties of vegetables, thanks in part to the success of online seed shops, such as Livingseeds. They provide an astonishing array of heirloom seeds, from tomatoes to beans and carrots (and anything in between), all locally grown and open pollinated. I was lucky enough to get some tomato seeds for Christmas (thanks Chips) and will be planting them this week and documenting their growth on Sprig.

Apart from the flavor-burst these veggies offer, they are also meant to be more hardy and pest-resistant. Has anyone had experience with growing heirloom veges in South Africa? What were the results? Are they as much fun to grow as they are to eat?

French Tomatoes - ooh lala!

And we’re back!

Niall — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:51:58 +0000

Hopefully everyone had a good holiday and are rearing to go in 2012! We have some exciting things planned for this year, including a site revamp and the launch of our newsletter. We’re back in the blogging mode as of today so will start publishing photographs, questions and articles this week …

Priority Zone Rooftop Garden

Niall — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:40:07 +0000

So COP17 is now behind us but Durban is stilled geared up for green. Go check out events at the Green Hub (http://www.durbangreencorridor.co.za/greenhub/), take a cycle along the beachfront or visit the Priority Zone Rooftop Garden (free entrance, coffee for sale), pictured below.

Climate Change Response Expo

Niall — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:40:38 +0000

We headed down to the Climate Change Response Expo on Saturday. Located in a gaggle of tents next to The Workshop, the expo hosts a number of stalls – from climate robots (courtesy of UKZN) to solar water heaters, electric cars and enviro-NGOs. Cape Town has an excellent stand showcasing all their green products. Durban’s is smaller and not quite as impressive – sigh! But the expo is in general excellent and I would encourage all Durbanites to head down there this week (it closes on Friday)!

More info on their website http://ccrexpo.com