Orchids Forest Park

PROBLEM:
Our client had a commitment to greening a reclaimed patch of land within a Parsi colony in the suburbs of Mumbai. We were asked what we would do given a chance to work on this. Was there a way to make something that would be useful to the community within the colony?

The site was a barren acre-or-so piece of land that had been so far used only as a debris dump. The soil was full of concrete blocks, limestone chunks and sod. A neighboring slum had even been using the gullies around the boundary as a toilet. Limited water was a concern, and growing plants that could deal with the degraded soil and exposed conditions would be crucial.


SOLUTION:

Our solution in this case was to restore the ecology of the site, and create a system that could in the long term become a sort of forest park for the community to use as a space to recreate.

A tank was made for water storage, and we created a recirculating system with five ponds and several streams.

Overflow systems were created so if any water spilled out, it would flow in sub-surface channels that led to groups of trees and plants that we brought in, minimizing water loss.

We designed and created small ecological patches that would bring back birds, butterflies, and frogs that could control any mosquito adults and larvae breeding in ditches and gullies next to the site.


Gravel paths were made for people to walk through the park, and large rocks were placed by hand for people to sit on, that framed certain view of ponds or views of the space, or were under shade trees.








By creating an overhead canopy as quickly as possible and allowing many wild plants to colonize along with our plantings, evaporation loss from water is lowered.

We visited a few times after we finished, and now one can regularly see different types of songbirds, finches and herons that visit, and there is even a resident Kingfisher at one of the ponds! Life self organizes, and were glad for it.

Client: Orchids Etc
Location: Jogeshwari, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Date: 2011
Link: www.orchidsetc.in

Client/Collaboration/Work with us

The choices are simple: Co-creation, or procreation.

Cocreation

We believe that collaboration is the key to creating any change in the world, and basing our work on this, we are open to working with anyone who is interested in, in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, being the change they wish to see in the world.

ALMs, Resident Associations, Government agencies, NGOs and Private Citizens can use our services and advisories to gain valuable insight into design/development and implementation of sustainable development mechanisms at any scale.

-We also provide opportunities for hands-on learning and believe that students should be involved in our work

We wish to work with the enthusiasm and creativity of our young people and to create the opportunity for such people to learn, work and grow with us.

CONCEPT :CITY FORESTRY/PUBLIC FOOD FOREST

What does this have to do with me?

Everything.

Our cities need transformation from the inside out. This means working with the natural systems we have around us in order to set up a new kind of city development paradigm. Forest cities.

HOW

Collaboratively

With the help of urban agriculture, we can begin to grow a few crops, working on

vertical surfaces of the city.

Horizontal spaces, planned and developed as forest, will allow for many levels of interaction in cities, and clear traffic congestion completely if designed appropriately (ahem…we have concepts if you want to talk).

In all this forestry, wood and biomass become the primary resources, producing a system of energy, edible matter and secondary (non timber forest) products for economic benefit.

Wood for smoke and fire are also needed based on season.

By creating a forestry regime in the city, not only are the trees given back their respect and place in society, they can be actively worked with to provide for neighborhood needs.

Sense of space is very important, not only for local communities to adapt to their surroundings, but even for refugee communities, and working this angle, we could create healthy, collaborative, diverse, and dynamic cities, as is the need today. Not only that, it looks that it is one of the ready to catch waves forming on the conceptual reef of the human movement.

Embedded technologies and 'Interaction' landscapes

Interaction landscapes are an idea that across species and technologies, that we may be able to, through our current understanding in science, technology, and living systems, 'talk' to the architecture as well as the ecological systems around us.

By creating 'embedded' ecological technologies into current urban architecture, through festivals, art, scrap re-engineering and gardening, we could create a new level of urban architecture, that ties people back into the spaces they inhabit. By creating these systems in small scale, and in easily replicable architectural and time-based construction models, cloning becomes easy for anyone.

Sharing economy and pop up 'beacons' such as this are already beginning to show results, and communities are again slowly awakening to their spaces and environments. A move to demonstrate such projects exists in the realm of festivals, however, urban planners and land management agencies must also be willing to work for the future, being able to merge such decentralised technologies into the city plans.

Mushrooms

May soon be on the menu.

Work currently underway in our 'Fungalist' project include searching for (and in some cases, home-growing) of urban edible or medicinal fungi.

Nursery/Plants

PLANTS@NURSERY

At our nursery, we produce a mix of edible, native as well as a limited set of ornamental plants.

Urban Stewardship

In a bid to address food security issues, we began efforts to work on technical and practical expertise, in-situ.

This meant work in urban agriculture, vertical gardens, wild plant and mushroom foraging, and as much as possible to try and merge these concepts into even the ornamental garden projects we undertook.

Food and forage/plants and fungi/

We use edible or medicinal plants in most of our projects. However there was a need to also study foraging techniques as well as forage species that could be used to bring back traditional forage species into use in contemporary urban gardening.

Borer Bling: Alternative Livelihoods - Forestry/NTFP

Problem:

Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) has been destroying valuable Ash trees across large swaths of landscapes in North America since its introduction into this non-native habitat in 2002.

Monitoring and management strategies (like the purple traps) are being drawn up as this non-native insect chews its way through forests. What else is possible?

Solution:

Small and interesting interventions are possible when working in redesigning forestry and alternative livelihood and employment creation is always high on our list. Why would farmers want to conserve wild lands unless there is a reason to do so?

Case study?

Beetle Bling - A one of a kind (OOAK) jewellery line made from a close relative of the Emerald Ash Borer.

The genus Agrilus is among the jewel beetles, and although some may not be particularly amazing on the outside, they are still a very valuable resource when looked at closely, especially when looked at through the eyes of jewellery design.

This could be an example for control and management of populations, but more importantly can become part of a larger effort to manage forests and rural lands through alternative livelihoods which depend closely on forestry and allied non-timber forest products (NTFP).

Once the armour is removed, the drab wing case makes way for beautiful blue wings, which unfortunately are quite fragile and dont make it far.

Then emerges the strange exoskeleton suit, with reflective surfaces that 'glow' at an angle

Pop some metal in, problem solved.

 From the looks of it there may even be a ready market for OOAK products, and even better, live versions. - http://www.odditycentral.com/news/maquech-beetles-mexicos-controversial-living-breathing-jewelry.html

Planter systems - Oikos Panel

MODULAR GREEN WALL / GREEN ROOF PANEL

Greening anything, toys for the urban agriculturist

Based on our understanding of green wall systems as well as the needs of the Indian market, Oikos' modular panel system is a versatile tool for quick and easy greening of many different surfaces.

Our panel can be installed vertical, on a sloping roof or even on horizontal surfaces. This allows for use as a vertical garden or for green roofing systems.

The panel size allows for use in the smallest spaces, even for balconies or grills.

- Wall garden -

- Car garden -

- Grill garden -

We supply empty panels, panels with soil as well as fully  planted panels, and can even do custom planted systems on request. Our panels are perfect for small scale urban agriculture projects and small space design.

 

Panels at the nursery, waiting for a home.

For full information on all our modular green wall panel contact us by email at enquiry@oikos.co.in
or go straight to the Product Catalog.

Urban Agriculture

Since inception, we have been deeply involved in urban agriculture and have stayed in touch with the latest developments in the movement. Our work has been in this direction since our founder worked for the International City Farming Institute, run by Dr. R.T. Doshi, an early proponent of rooftop farming in Mumbai, who himself was in touch with Dr Fukuoka, author of the one straw revolution.

Since then any work we have done has included at least some edible elements and techniques gleaned from practice done here.

Habitat

The goal is to create sustainable habitats, ones in which the lines of division between man and nature can be erased, both mentally and physically. 

The scale of these habitats can go from balcony scale, to country scale. 

However, the final goal is a merging of both ecological and economic worlds. 

This gap can easily be bridged even today, if it were not for the archaic mindset that hold us back, the scenario that growth can be unlimited. Im not disagreeing. Im just saying that the design isn’t right. At least not in the habitable realm.

The internet, mushroom biology, and in fact all of nature seems to be full of references to fractal and infinite growth, and we seem to have gone so far from it, that we are quickly coming head on into that perpendicular brick wall of our own making.

 Its not just man that has the problem, it seems that the lack of respect and distance we have kept has made the world of nature also seem to not understand us very well. They have also forgotten that once we lived together. 

These skills could today only be learned from the people that still inhabit wild areas, living WITH the rest of life, not against it. 

Fungalist - Urban Forage/Mycocatchers

As a personal though, I wondered, since there is so much wood around, very little information on regional mushroom species, and limited time, how could I work on mushroom work in the city?

Documenting local species occurrences no doubt yields a large amount of data -

Click to see species occurring in Mumbai

Fungi in Santacruz, Mumbai
Fungi in Juhu, Mumbai
Fungi in Seven Bungalows, Andheri
Fungi in Goregaon, Mumbai


However, something I worked on with Oikos in rural areas earlier, was a mycocatcher. There is no real special science here, more like if we put out a resource, and since life self-organises and competes, you will usually land up having a range of species that will readily colonise wood or earthen debris.

Bringing wooden debris home from a dead tree next door was possible. so I did that. I had noticed mushrooms growing on the trees (killed by a boring beetle - see Borer Bling), and negotiated to take the sawed logs and wood debris away with me.

Creating this kind of mycocatcher allows an up close and personal view of the process and one can study closely the mechanisms of growth of mushrooms, and have quality control over any edibles that you may happen to 'catch'.  

 

Freshly picked Oyster mushrooms from a harvest from logs

Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus, above, right) and Wood Ears (Auricularia, below) are among those that can be grown and harvested when such logs are innoculated or ..erm..put out to colonise.

A mesh screen with sawdust and wood chips catches Coprinus (Great for making old school inks)

Schizophyllum commune, very widespread, is apparently used as a medicinal by the Chinese.

And then there are others species that colonise that we should become more familiar with. The polypores are a strange, slightly different bunch, some highly medicinal, part of a billion dollar pharmaceutical industry.

Look, it’s the plants that can bring down water ok? Not us. Cloud seeding and stuff is all fine, but how about we begin to think of some plant seeding?

Up next:

Do plants pray for rain, and can we help them to better OUR chances of water from the skies?