This guest post has been written by Peter Kearney who created and runs the excellent City Food Growers web-sit from Brisbane in Australia.

Peter uses his expert horticultural knowledge and practical experience to explain how vegetable gardens can adapt to changing temperatures and unpredictable weather.

Being in tune with your local climate is one of most important success factors for gardening. Climate change has complicated the picture for vegetable gardeners, but there is a silver lining. With the right knowledge at the right time, food gardeners can actually grow more because of climate change.

Changing climate has in general brought greater extremes of temperatures with warmer and longer summers and often more extreme cold in winter, but on average, higher temperatures throughout the year. Food gardeners are finding that choosing vegetable crops with the methods they have always used is giving them results they don’t expect.

For many gardeners, figuring out when its right to plant vegetables is based on one or more of the following:

1. What they have always done - This is reliable so long as it has worked in the past, but climate change alters the picture.

2. Planting calendars - Most planting calendars use very broad zones for recommendations which do not account for local temperature variances. These zones are based on climate definitions which may be up to 100 years old. So with temperatures changing, the zones are becoming more inaccurate each year.

3. Advice from a nursery - Seedlings are often grown in temperature controlled environments and may come from thousands of kms away, so it very possible they are not in season for your local climate.

4. Emotion - Whenever you do things in the garden without some objective thought, the results will invariably tell you to go back to drawing board.

Vegetables are very sensitive to temperatures at planting and over their growing period. Frost is a killer for many vegetables. If you plant too early or too late in the season you may be hit with frost. If it is hotter earlier in the season, there are many crops you could get underway which you would not normally grow at that time and because of extended warm periods you could be staging your crops for much greater production. There may be crops that you thought would not grow at all, but are actually now very suitable for your climate.

In a changing climate, the biggest opportunities for a healthier and more productive garden include:

1. Extending your cropping time due to more heat and by becoming more aware of protecting your plants from frost and temperature extreme’s.

2. Planting new crops that were not previously suited to your climate.

3. Reducing the potential for crop loss by getting more accurate with your planting times.

Our web site planting calendar has been specifically designed to deal with these three opportunities . We have detailed local climate information and climate profiles for all the food plants in our web site. So you don’t need to know how to work through climate data, our Gardener subscriber planting calendar does it for you at the click of a mouse. It incorporates:

1. Local temperatures - Averages over the last 7-20 years (Australia, NZ and USA) . Its fascinating to see how much average temperatures have changed in Australia over the last 100 years compared to the last 10. Our web site deals with this climate change by you simply choosing your closest weather station to create your climate profile and you can easily fine tune this for your location in relation to the weather station and for micro-climates you may have created in your garden.

2. Frost data - Our site incorporates frost data for all the weather stations (Australia only at this point) so you can see your frost profile and easily manipulate the profile if you can protect your plants from frost, thereby increasing the number of plants you can select and your cropping time

3. Detailed climate profiles on more than 130 vegetables and herbs - These are all matched to your climate profile in the site calendar so when you search by day, by month or by crop and you get a list of ideal or OK crops to work with. This not only gives you the best times to plant the crops you know, but opens up the opportunity find crops you have not worked with before.

4. Climate warnings - Based on averages, the site tell you when there will be frost days, too much heat or cold during the growing period of the crops you have selected, so you can have advance warning to protect your plants.

In these times of climate change, the objective knowledge on planting and climate in our Gardener subscriber site and its ease of use, gives you the power to make timely decisions on managing your vegetable garden. It will help you achieve greater success in your food garden.

Visit:  http://cityfoodgrowers.com.au/about.php

This excellent site currently provides gardeners living in Australia, New Zealand and America the opportunity to adapt to climate change by simply choosing their closest weather station to create a local climate profile. This can then be fine tuned for your location in relation to the weather station and for micro-climates you may have created in your garden.

Peter is planning to launch this useful system in the UK during 2011. If you would like to be included in the trial please e-mail at debbie@globalgardening.org.

Explore this new site offering discounts and special deals that have been negotiated for the Grow2eat community - members of allotment associations, vegetable societies, garden clubs and individuals who are enthusiastic grow2eaters.

http://grow2eat.com/

On my patch of the Village allotment I have a delicious glut of green and red tomatoes, courgettes, green peppers and chillis that inspired me to try out the River Cottage Glutney recipe.Two hours later and my freshly picked produce is now preserved in a delicious chutney that is filling the house with a delectable aroma.

http://www.rivercottage.net/SeasonalRecipes~August/122/Glutney.aspx

Speaking about River Cottage reminds me to mention Landshare and the clever iPhone App that has been launched to bring together people who have a passion for home-grown food.

The Landshare App allows you to:

* Join the growing Landshare community.
* List or find land to grow on.
* Ask the community questions about growing.
* Find helpers for all kinds of help.
* Apply to the councils for land from the app (they have a legal duty to provide you with land).
* Identify derelict land to help create new spaces.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/landshare-by-river-cottage/id381256716?mt=8

This amazing project is literally “growing” all the time .They organise regular networking events aimed at bringing together all those involved in community food growing projects across the capital.

It is free to Capital Growth members and £5 for individuals or groups not supported by Capital Growth.To reserve a place contact Seb or Sarah on 020 7837 1228 or email capitalgrowth@sustainweb.org stating your name, number, organisation and whether you are part of a registered Capital Growth project.

GROW YOUR OWN TRAINING

If you need advice with how to grow your own produce there are also practical sessions run by Capital Growth:

GROW YOUR OWN TRAINING

Capital Growth run  practical sessions about how to grow your own produce:

Growing in Containers

Sat 4th Sept 10.30am – 1pm or Wed 8th Sept 5.00 – 7.30pm

The Autumn series will including training on Soft Fruits, Preparing Leaf Mulches and Low Cost Gardening.

Visit http://www.capitalgrowth.org/training/ for a full list of dates or to download a flyer.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/aug/22/severe-weather-southern-england

With heavy rainfall it is a good time to think about the value of harvesting some of this precious resource:

• Rainwater harvesting in the UK has increased by approximately 300% in the last two years
• Rainharvesting can replace up to 50% of a household mains water consumption, and up to 85% on commercial installations
• Collecting rain from your roof reduces surface water by approximately 60% per plot
• Rainwater harvesting in Germany is over 100 times the current use in the UK
• The payback period can be as quick as 3 years on buildings with large roofs and a high non-potable water demand

http://www.revolutionpower.co.uk/rain_water.php

http://www.kingspanwater.com/

http://www.rainwaterharvesting.co.uk/

Green or red - it doesn’t matter what colour - they all go to making chutneys, salsas, sauce or are eaten in delicious home grown salads.

Anyone can grow tomatoes - just follow a few simple steps  http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/digin/vegetables/tomato.shtml

Harvesting fresh produce is a unique experience that literally brings home the importance and value of   sourcing quality produce that will keep you and the planet healthy.

This can be challenging for people living in cities but in London more initiatives are sprouting every day.Like this supermarket in Crouch End, north London which has transformed its roof into an organic vegetable garden.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10424392

The situation is more developed in the US where rooftop gardening is  big business.This amusing video about a tale of two tomatoes makes you think about the future possibilities for home grown food in cities.http://www.cityscapefarms.com/videos/

The climate data shows that the seasons have been getting longer and the winters are getting milder.

“We can even answer sceptics about climate change – no one can argue that climatic data shows it is changing,” he said.

“We need to work out what we are going to do about making sure we can grow our own food and address the question and at least begin to explore the potential of other things.

“We don’t want the scenario to turn into a tragedy where we do not know what we are able to grow.”

The centre has recorded increasingly milder winters and longer seasons. Dr Atkinson said the changing temperature should be used as an opportunity to explore new crops and spoke about someone who had successfully grown a banana outside in Cornwall.

http://www.kentnews.co.uk/kent-news/Climate-change-brings-fruit-farmers-opportunites–newsinkent38035.aspx?news=local

The gardening ‘renaissance’ was revealed by a recent survey of 100 of the Society’s affiliated gardening clubs - 73% of clubs saw their membership increase or stabilise over the last year. Some clubs were full to capacity and have had to create waiting lists for people to join.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/News/High-in-garden—allotment-club-membership

Only half the average amount of rain has fallen in the North West in the last six months, so even though the area was flooded last year, reservoir levels have depleted.

To maintain water stocks, water supplier United Utilities has issued a temporary ban on people using hosepipes or sprinklers to water their private gardens and wash private cars.

The firm says a hosepipe can use as much water in an hour as a family of four would use in one day, while a sprinkler left running overnight uses as much water as a family of four would use in a week

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_189209

In the past watering your garden was one of life’s pleasures, but climate change is making this a real challenge.Gardeners regularly have to adapt to long periods of drought often followed by short periods of heavy downpours.Here are some ways to use water more wisely in your garden this summer:

MEASURE WHAT YOU USE

Why not have a water meter installed to ensure that you use water wisely in the garden - this might also save you money. Most households in the UK are entitled to a free water meter from their water company on request. This will help you to think about how and when you use mains water.

RE-USE WHAT YOU HAVE

Think seriously about how you might harvest and re-cycle your water supplies?

Harvested rainwater can produce healthier plants as well as saving our precious supplies .

In fact, most plants prefer rain water to tap water. It contains more pH and is free of chemicals such as chlorine.

CHECK WHAT WATER PLANTS WILL NEED

Before you buy ANY plant from ANY nursery, it is always a good idea to check how much water it will need to establish itself and to grow in summer drought conditions. It is obviously better not to buy plants that will require lots of water unless you are prepared to harvest or re-cycle your water on a regular basis.

Hanging baskets for example require daily watering and during dry periods will dry out very quickly. You may loose the plants in your display if you do not think about how you will keep them moist before you buy.

Here are a few simple SAVE WATER IDEAS

Save water by having a water metre installed

Autumn planting is better than summer as plants require less water to establish themselves

Very good organic manure mulched in late winter will help retain soil moisture in summer

Experiment with drought tolerant plants

Weeds use water so remove them

Avoid watering lawns - see lawn pages for further advice

Tap into using water butts to collect rainwater

Ensure that pots and containers have trays to ensure rain water is not wasted.

Recycle kitchen and bath water without detergents if you can.

]]> http://www.myglobalgarden.com/blog/nw-england-endures-hose-pipe-ba/feed http://www.myglobalgarden.com/blog/capital-growth-inspires-edible-estates http://www.myglobalgarden.com/blog/capital-growth-inspires-edible-estates#comments Thu, 01 Jul 2010 06:25:37 +0000 Debbie http://www.myglobalgarden.com/blog/?p=8935 This week Capital Growth announced an incentive for housing estates in London to get involved with growing their own food via community gardens:

“We want every housing estate in London to have a community food growing project, we want to see communities coming together to celebrate good food and we want Londoners to go to their local community garden and pick the potatoes for that night’s dinner. The Edible Estates Competition wants to encourage residents of housing estates to start a community food growing space or to enhance their community food growing space.

http://www.capitalgrowth.org/edibleestates/

Capital Growth has been set up by the Mayor of London in order to transform London into a green and productive city, with thriving communities and delicious fresh food being produced in 2012 new community growing spaces by the end of 2012.