Episode: Six
Date: 23rd May 2009
Story: Building a sustainable home and garden
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane

Visit one of Australia?s most sustainable homes with Trevor. Its ecological benefits and beautiful gardens will inspire any gardener to reduce their environmental footprint.

Feature: Kanthi?s Garden

• The house was strategically built on the block so that it could be solar passive. This means that the low angle winter sun can pour into the house and provide warmth. This greatly reduces the need for supplementary heating.
• In summer, the higher angle sun can?t get in to heat up the house as the eaves provide shade, thus reducing the need for air conditioning.
• The garden has a big vegetable patch that is divided into four sections. Kanthi creates her own organic compost which she uses to sustain the vegetable patch.
• The self-made compost is simple and effective and goes through three stages:

-First stage: raw material from the garden that would have otherwise ended up in landfill is mixed with a little bit of manure.
-Second stage: after a couple of weeks, it has broken down and heated up.
-Third stage: has become black organic soil which is great for vegetable growth.

• Kanthi also reduces the amount of kitchen waste going to the tip, by depositing it into her worm farms. The worms eat the scraps, converting it into castings and liquid juice. This is an amazing organic fertilizer which will do wonders to your garden.
• The native garden has a real purpose. Apart from just looking fantastic, it also provides a refuge for native wildlife, such as birds. These birds are the best natural pest controllers for the vegetable garden, which removes the need for chemicals.