Castles in the sky.
Monday 14 June 2010
Vertical Gardens
With the ever-diminishing urban space, created by an ever-increasing world population's demand for more living space, plus the already sprawling cities, space is at a premium often leaving little room for the inclusion of a reasonable amount of greenery. For those fortunate enough to have a garden this is not such a problem, but for those with little space or any kind of garden area to speak of, vertical gardens could be an interesting proposition.
Being myself the proud owner of one such pocket-sized space in the form of a balcony, I am well aware of the limitations when it comes to planning one’s greenery for the summer. What to choose, flowers or edibles or a mixture of both? It only takes a few strategically placed terracotta pots and the space is full, leaving only enough room for a small table and a couple of chairs.
So, why not plant upwards, vertical space is plentiful? In doing so, a living wall can also transform the whole side of an ugly concreted and blokish building just by the use of greenery. This is a visually more pleasing picture to the eye and is environmentally friendly too. Possible on any type of wall this can be applied not only to the outside but also the inside of buildings as well. For example to residential courtyards, shopping malls, businesses - just about anywhere with a wall and access to a water supply.
As far as setting up goes, using soil is optional and plants don’t mind growing vertically without it, as long as the all important irrigation system is in place. Plants used are dependant on what is seasonal and available in the area. This is according to the findings of Patrick Blanc, a Frenchman and artistic pioneer in this field.
The increase of green areas within the urban grey, are important not only environmentally, but as people friendly spaces inviting people to linger a while. In this day and age we need more places where it is possible to pause for thought, away from our frantic lifestyles and soaring stress levels, and what could be better than being surrounded by vertical gardens.
Back to my balcony, so how does one realize a vertical garden on a postage stamp? Easy! No, it’s not the trellis/plant rack option. Take an old bookcase; lay it flat on the ground and drill holes in it so that a hosepipe can be threaded from top to bottom in and out of all the compartments. Puncture the hosepipe at intervals to ensure that every compartment will be irrigated. (It would be at this point if I was on the craft section of Blue Peter, a children’s TV programme in the UK, I might say ‘and here’s one I made earlier’, but I digress…) Fill all the compartments with soil and then cover the whole thing with a hessian sheet or sturdy gauze and staple round the sides. Lift up the bookcase to an upright position. Make holes in the hessian at intervals, and now you’re ready to plant plant away in abundance!
As a thing of the future, vertical gardens (also known as sky farming), could provide city inhabitants with a source of fresh herbs and vegetables in limited space, although levels of pollution in some cities might be a cause for concern. As for me, although I like the idea, right now I don’t have a spare bookcase kicking around to give this idea a whirl, and storing one’s books in terracotta pots just to realize this project, just wouldn’t look quite right.
© Alison Day
What's Hot, What's Not! - Geocaching
Geocaching is a way to take a walk in the
countryside, which is a combination of both sport and game. If you are tired of
just looking at flora and fauna whilst listening to the trudging sound of your
footsteps on a walk, why not take a walk with a purpose that will keep your
brain as well as your body fit?
With Geocaching, the idea is that with the aid of a
handheld GPS receiver (using co-ordinates obtained from the Geocaching website),
you follow what is rather like a high-tech treasure hunt. At the end of the
hunt, hidden somewhere in the world, you will find a cache. The cache is
generally a watertight box complete with logbook (the finder can document
finding the cache), and ‘treasure’ inside, with which items can be swapped or
added. Anyone can hide a cache and the location is made common knowledge via
Internet. Once found the cache is returned to its original hiding place and
your Geocaching stories and photos can be shared online at various forums.
So, it is also possible to choose the type and grade
of difficulty of the Geocache; whether it’s a normal, earth, multi or mystery
cache. The earth cache for example is educational, whilst with the multi cache
a point has to be reached before the co-ordinates of the final hiding place are
given. Another popular variety is the collation of information found at given
points in a hunt, which lead to the end destination and, you guessed it, a
cache.
The game has been around since May 2000; Dave Ulmer
hid the first cache on 3rd May. In order to play the game one has to
create an account and become a member, which is free. Currently there are
Geocaches placed in over 100 countries around the world and on all seven
continents including Antarctica.
So, dust off those walking boots and take your brain
for a jaunt!
Sources: Wikipedia
What's Hot, What's Not! - Alice TT Assen, 79th Edition 2009
For those of
you interested in motorbikes, the 79th annual TT motorbike race
in Assen will be held from the 25th – 27th June
2009.
With 100,000
motor enthusiasts eagerly descending on Assen for this event, this famous motor
race is dubbed as the Dutchman’s answer to Formula 1 in Monaco and Wimbledon in
London. A bit of a high-flown comparison there chaps, but I’m not going to stat
bursting any bubbles!
For this
motor spectacle, entrance with standing room begins at € 20,00 for adults
(dependent on the day). For children entrance is free up to age 15 on the first
two days, but only up to age 12 on Saturday 27th June.
The tribunes
can seat up to 56,000 people. For more information and to book tickets please
see their website here (Dutch). As with everything popular, these sell very quickly. The circuit in
general is clearly visible by all and if that wasn’t enough there are also ten
Big Screen Vidiwalls so that you won’t miss a thing.
So, whether
or not you are a motorbike fanatic, with a penchant for men dressed head to toe
in tight leathers, sitting astride an enormous hunk of metal that shoots around
a track at mind bending speeds and belches out more CO2 than should actually be
allowed in this day and age, why not try the TT Assen and decide for yourself
as to whether it’s Hot or Not!
Photo source
here
Thursday 10 June 2010
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