maldon : photos : Our growing dome : Everything working perfectly. It's April as I write this, the start of our southern hemisphere autumn (or fall). We are eating the children. Cannibalistic, I hear you say. Don't care. Yuuummmmm. Can't wait for some of those soft....squishy....red.... tomatoes....

Here it is -- the first "Growing Spaces" dome in the southern hemisphere! WE live on six acres just 20 mionutes north of Christchurch, New Zealand, and we have been increasingly alarmed at what's in our food. We decided we weren't going to dance to that tune any more. So I did the homework and, for me, the dome is the best. So after lots of talk and emails, here it is. This site will tell the story of its growth and its part in our lives. At the time of writing, April '08, there's still a lot to be done, like the water tank and we don't have the floor finished yet. But it's extraordinary. I am watching climbing beans grow up the wall four inches a day. Amazing.

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maldon > I worried a lot about climbing things, like tomatoes. Stakes, string... what to use. Finally I invented this system. It's plastic mesh and through top and bottom is threaded some bamboo poles from our local garden shop. It'll be easily removable when the time comes and we can clean it, leave it in the sun for a while and then re-use it. I hope. Or burn it and start again. What do I know about plants. I've spent all my life in business, living in airplanes..... this is just another business problem to be solved.....

maldon > Closeup of the mesh. The bamboo poles go two under and two over, for the entire length of the piece. It'll be easy to move, because those poles are held in place by bend-pressure. The hooks are just cuphooks, available anywhere.

maldon > Everything working perfectly. It's April as I write this, the start of our southern hemisphere autumn (or fall). We are eating the children. Cannibalistic, I hear you say. Don't care. Yuuummmmm. Can't wait for some of those soft....squishy....red.... tomatoes....

Everything working perfectly. It's April as I write this, the start of our southern hemisphere autumn (or fall). We are eating the children. Cannibalistic, I hear you say. Don't care. Yuuummmmm. Can't wait for some of those soft....squishy....red.... tomatoes....