Nuffnang

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Edible Balcony - Green Wall Goes Up

The big day has arrived! I'm having a vertical green wall installed that can accommodate up to 15 herbs and salad greens.


This is Jock. He's a horticulturalist so I can't show you his face.

Jock's company Junglefy has spent the past 2 years perfecting their ecoVert domestic green wall planting system. I am one of the first people to trial the ecoVert as it is still not commercially available. It will be soon though. 

It consists of a super-light recycled plastic shell that is mounted on a wall.... and tray-like modules with holes for the plants to sit in.

The plants and planting medium are held in place by a bag that allows water to pass through but holds the soil in tact

Junglefy developed a planting medium that delivers plants support and nutrients but is lighter than soil. It contains coconut fibres, perlite, organic matter and a slow release fertiliser.
It has sufficient nutrients to support plant life for 5 months. You can then start adding a water-soluble fertiliser into the water reservoir.

Each compartment needs to be packed firmly with the growing medium making sure it gets into all the corners. Make a little incision into each pocket and you're ready to start planting.
Feverfew, Some chives, Spanish sage , Mint Julep

Plant in alternating holes so the seedlings have room to expand


Now give them a good water


And screw compartments into the Ecovert shell

It takes a little time to get the hang of it but by the time you do the second compatment you're an old pro.


The ecovert has a water reservoir and pump at the bottom that is controlled by a timer (silver box to the left). The timer needs fine tuning so I'm hand-watering for the time being. But eventually the Ecovert will take care of the plants with only a little pruning now and then required from me.

Well that's the herbs planted.... now the lettuces...

So by making use of a disused wall and saving on floor space at the same time I've managed to plant 15 new edibles.
From the top down and from left to right they are:

Warrigal Greens - Mignonette lettuce
Feverfew
Watercress-Sorrel
Butter lettuce
Vietnamese Mint-Japanese Greens
Sage
Tatsoi-Cat Nip
Zataar (oregano)
Chives- Red Coral lettuce
Mint Julep
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Over the next few days I'll be monitoring the plants carefully. We get strong winds up here quite regularly which the plants will not take kindly to - especially the long-leafed varieties. Also, there won't be a lot of direct sun on this East-facing wall until the end of March.
How will my new tenants survive  in the big city?
Stay tuned.......

11 comments:

  1. Thats pretty exciting. I wait in anticipation to see the results.

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  2. Congratulations, it's beautiful! Go Jock!
    Now just grab a glass of vino and sit back and watch your herbal babies grow! I bet you can't wait to snip off your first sprig!

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  3. I have serious garden wall envy!!!!! Lol

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  4. Lovely blog you have!!! I'm a big fan of growing, cooking and eating :) This Junglefy-solution seems perfect - we have 1 meter snow at the moment, but as soon as the growing season starts I'll try to find one over here. Looking forward to follow how it works for you. And now I'll look thru you blog and get some more inspiration. Greetings from Sweden, Minna :)

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  5. Genius. Utter genius.

    Small on space, and big on taste!

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  6. Great vertical garden.

    I have a small courtyard in Melbourne with a herb wall and I love going outside and getting fresh herbs.

    Well done.

    Lushe
    www.lushe.com.au

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  7. Wow, that looked fast. it is a sleek design. well detailed step by step. thank you and Jock.

    Matti

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  8. That looks great! I hope your edible wall is an overwhelming success:)

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  9. what a fantastic idea! Hope all grows well :-)

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  10. Hi Mark,
    thanks for your post. I'll keep you updated. Indira

    Hi john@heneedsfood,
    oh fingers crossed I don't kill it! Indira

    hi Suziwong66,
    If this trial goes well hopefully ecoVert will be commerically available for everyone!Indira

    Hi Lushe,
    love your website. V.Inspirational. Thanks for your interest. Indira

    Hi Minna,
    so lovely to hear from you from across the world. Sounds frosty where you are. Excited to inspire you to explore vertical wall technology. Indira

    Dear Coby, Garden Beet and Alibongo. thanks for all your well-wishes. Once the direct sunlight hits the wall hopefully it will begin to thrive. Indira

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