tending

[LUCAS]:

Yikes, it’s been two months since the last blog entry!

Diego and I have been very busy, together and separately, which has (besides the events chronicled in the previous post) kept us away from our gardening.

We both worked our butts off recently on something else which, like Tending, was also of a “greenish” nature – the Green Bans Art Walks, in Woolloomooloo. Diego was our tireless project manager, and it was a huge project. It was our way (in collaboration with many others) of getting in touch with a small corner of Sydney’s spatial activism history. Via the Green Bans, The Builder’s Labourers Federation effectively put a halt to dodgy commercial building developments. These bans were first implemented in the early 1970s.

I’ve also been working on Yeomans Project with Ian Milliss (who, coincidentally, was one of the squatters on Victoria Street which collaborated with the BLF on the green bans).

And Diego’s begun a long-awaited site-specific project out at Casula Powerhouse Art Centre, called Wild Stories, which should see him involved in a manure-load of foraging, in the local environment, running weed-cooking classes, facilitating community skill sharing and story-telling.

And while we’ve not been around at TENDING much, it’s been growing itself quite well in our absence, thank you very much (and, it must be said, thank you very much also to Aanya, our local hero of Balmain who keeps popping in to plant and pick with her young son Rufus).

I was curious to see how the garden was going, and so it was pleasing to see this blog post by Kirsten from Milkwood, with the above photo and more.

Judging from Kirsten’s photos, the plethora of peas we planted with Aanya have become superabundant, and it looks like our broadbean planting has been going well too (though we won’t see the fruits of that investment til November). And I’m very curious to see how the large scale garlic crop is going…

Kirsten had popped in to visit Ross, our benevolent overlord, and talk through some possibilities for Milkwood to do some permaculture workshop teaching activities down at SCA and TENDING. I really hope that comes to pass!

Oh, and the other reason(s) I’ve been busy and away from TENDING are also, in a way, related to the growing of stuff. Lizzie (my partner) and I are having a baby! And we’ve moved down the coast to boot.

Anyway, TENDING we miss you! I’ve put in some tomato seeds down here, and hopefully soon Diego and I will converge (with seedlings galore) for a little spring plant-in day.

…’til then, Tenders!

[DIEGO]

..few things, first, last week I went along to one of the saddest moment of Tending (if not the only one): Betty, the manager of the Cafe’ at SCA didn’t get her contract renewed, so left the Cafe’!
On Thursday a number of people came along for a bite and a thank you. One last bite at Betty and staff’s food and a thnkyou, for that food, the laughs, the chatty times, the support, the hints and advises, and -as for Tending’s direct benefit- the plants, the compost, the coffee, the cakes, the recipes, the keen involvement and general great, outstanding support..
Now you understand why I feel sad about the departure..

But as they say, bad news never come alone, they come in triplets.
Second bad news is that Tending didn’t get the funding it applied for, which means we are now officially in limbo: the end of June marks the end of the year ‘contract’ originally envisaged by Ross Gibson, to start off this pilot adventure, and indeed it has been an adventure, and a far-fledged one on that regards too.
We are still waiting for another application lodged in which might rescue the research project, but as it stands we will have to cull our enthusiasm and hold back our dreams of food forests, effective integration of agricultural practices within an art curricula and definitely, most definitely, no wink at relational art as a legitimate tool for social interaction..
Third reason to be sad is personal, weeds.
As the news came in that we didn’t get the research grant, the campus management decided to act on some complains from the public, who allegedly were concerned for the safety of Callan Park, particularly in regards to the possible encroaching of weeds on the surrounding areas.
It was also felt that a general tide-up of the courtyard were Tending is hosted was due, to satisfy care-taking commitments in regards to Richard Goodwin’s artwork Carapace.
It is my experience as a crusader battling for the reappraisal of the value of ‘weeds’ (whatever that might mean), that most gardeners and ground keepers understand my concerns and appreciate the logic behind it. They are tightened up by the constrictions of presentation though. When something looks ‘unruly’ it is deemed to be messy, unhealthy, poorly managed and therefore un-economic.

The people coming over on the week-end did an amazing work, there was a lot of organic material in that back block, which got collected and removed. They went around and pruned the bushes, see here the cassia (I believe) and the frangipani.
Me and Michele were a bit concerned about the use of Round-up though, which apart from the fact that it is highly un-ethical to use the poison anywhere near growing vegetables, it is also illegal within the boundaries of the Leichhardt Council.. carefull guys, you might follow-up on some complains by a dissatisfied citizen, yet you might also be liable for using restricted products on public land..
With all due respect of course.
I’ll finish off with a cartoon I made to complement an article which hopefully is gong to be published on the Plant Protection Quarterly, the leading scientific journal from Australia featuring local and international original papers on all aspects of plant protection:

[DIEGO]

Today was absolutely wet. The ghastly rain of the past week didn’t stop yet.
So braving the weather, we went off to Tending.
We started the day collecting a bunch of dirt from Glenn, the chief gardener from WHOS, the help center situated in Callan Park.
This association deserves a dedicated posting, so today I’m just going to talk about the rain:

Bucketing down..

Luckily we had the chance of putting down a garlic bed, in the intermissions, as it is getting late for it. Apparently the garlic should be planted by solstice (next week) so we were kind of in a hurry..

Below is Lucas explaining what, why and how of the garlic planting:

[DIEGO]

A sharp and wholesome review appeared on RealTime Magazine #103, by Alana Hunt.
Below are a few paragraphs that I particularly enjoyed:

There is a genuine warmth and unpretentiousness that characterises the project both in person (on site) and via the blog (online). Characters emerge in the unfolding narrative of Tending—characters that can just as easily be plants as people.

But Tending is not an artistic process without products. Indeed, gardens themselves provide ideal places to explore the dynamic between process and product. As Ihlein explains, “one would quickly tire of digging the soil if, season after season, there were no yields.” Some products Ihlein and Bonetto have seen emerging from the collective labours of Tending include: physical pleasure; a clear mind; some lettuces, cucumbers, pumpkins and lots of basil; knowledge about what to plant at different times of the year; new friendships; heated discussions about the definition of art; some small wages; a series of guest lectures; an open-air studio; an improvement in soil quality; a restful place on campus…

Read the full article here.

A few weeks back, we reported on 3rd year student Bryden, who is using the Tending Garden as a site to develop his project called Techno Tree.

With the help of Tending, Bryden was able to secure a small amount of funding from the Sydney University Student Union to buy some electronics for his project.

I asked Bryden to describe what he’s been up to for our readers:

Hi Lucas.
I’ve been busy of late doing bits and pieces on my weeping willows so I thought I’d write you a few lines and send through some pics of the processes, outcomes and related stuff on the Techno Tree Project.

Where I grew up on my parents property in the Blue Mountains, we had a lot of trees and open spaces to spend most of our days. There used to be a whole row of big old willow trees in the gully where our mud brick house is but most of them have since been knocked over by wind, given way under their own weight and struck by lightning. Within a matter of weeks a bunch of new sprouts would emerge from the remaining branches and the tree brings itself back to life.

Having cultivated a collection of branches from a particularly old and interesting looking Willow, I wanted to position simulated images and sound amongst the living off-cut branch in a kind of gardening-experiment media-object that pays homage to the willow tree. I also wanted to draw attention to plants, technology and human interaction between the environment and the technology we use amongst it.

Moving images as part of a sculpture seem to work really interestingly in an interactive space. Macro photographic videos of leaves, bark, branches and surrounding natural features are worked into an atmospheric soundtrack of similiar organic dimensions.

Power supply for the video, sound and light in the trees is designed so that it may be self sufficient once a solar or wind powered input is connected. For now there is a sine wave invertor and a small 12v battery providing all the power the work will need.

Talk Soon!
Bryden.

As an addendum, today Bryden sent through the following philosophical thought:

Hi Lucas.
Hope you’re well.
Had a little quote I wanted to shoot to you re: Techno Tree:

“When we are seeking the essence of ‘tree,’ we have to become aware that what pervades every tree, as tree, is not itself a tree that can be encountered among all the other trees”.
- Martin Heidegger

Hope you can use it on the tending blog!
Talk soon,
Bryden

Wow! thanks Bryden. If anyone can help interpret this densely packed cryptic utterance from old Marty Heidegger, be our guest!

(Hint: it comes from his classic essay The Question Concerning Technology…)

[DIEGO]

The number of people taking advantage of the possibilities Tending offer are steadily growing.
Thanks to the organizational skills of Gemma, Tending recently hosted a night of performances, Agar Dish, an ongoing commitment to performative practices.
Agar Dish has been staged in several location through out the campus, allowing for the emergence, presentation, promotion and trials of various students works loosely connected by the need of audience interaction for their activation.

Great work were presented, most in developing stages, and therefore wild, not precious and playful, like the reading tent, (sorry I still don’t know who was the artist and what the title of the work would be, if there is any).
In it the artist sat and read about evolution, allowing for the public to inhabit the small, intimate construction.
Or the glass blower, who on the night, via a series of striking gestures amplified in the dark by the glare of the blowtorch, made a glass tree!

Both work’s remnants are still in the garden for people to have a look at.
I am in negotiation with the organizers to have some of the documentation shots presented here on the blog, soon to come.

Next week then Michelle will be coming to Tending with a number of disabled people from the area.
Michelle has been running gardening activities for the group from sometimes, and the possibility to have access to dirt for her group is of great advantage, as they will only have to come up Victoria Rd and down Balmain St. As local as it gets.

In the meantime yesterday on a rainy day, Lizzie and Aanya sowed what the termed ‘The Lady’s Garden’, a patch of flowers and blessings:

Finally. hot off the press, Alana Hunt just published an article about Tending, questioning the process of a growing garden.
You will find it on RealTime, see the link here

[DIEGO]
Here’s the video from Peter, AKA Pedro TV, when two weeks ago came to visit the garden.
Me and Peter have been also making wine together, infront of a camera, you can see the process here and the tasting here.

In the video below I briefly introduce Tending, what it is, what it does, and laugh about silly morning jokes that one gets.. uhmm

here it is:

tv

Aerial photos showing some developments at TENDING!

Nearmap is so cool, you can go back in time and see the developments…

View Large Map
15 June 2010

View Large Map
1 August 2010

View Large Map
16 September 2010

View Large Map
30 December 2010