Project Background:

In some remote areas of Sydney, people struggle to access nutritious and affordable food due to transportation challenges and rising living costs. This project aims to explore a simple, eco-friendly way for residents to grow their own food using discarded items like old shoes or plastic containers — a step toward food self-sufficiency.

Goal:

This two-day experiment seeks to explore:

• Whether people without gardening experience are willing to join this activity;

• How difficult it is to participate without professional guidance;

• Whether this activity inspires interest, confidence, and a desire to continue.

What you need to do：

1. Use a discarded item (e.g. old shoes, cup, plastic bottle) as your container;

2. Plant a simple herb or vegetable (e.g. spring onion, coriander, mint);

3. Share your observations, photos, and thoughts under the “Day 1” and “Day 2” columns;

4. Feel free to leave comments or feedback under the “Free Feedback” column!

Thank you for participating — your contributions are valuable for our design research!

Use containers: Old sneakers

Plant: 绿豆

Observation: Just planted, no change

Feeling: The first time to try, feel very novel, but do not know if I’m did it right, worried that it will not sprout

Photo upload: ……

• Sowing seeds and taking photos

• Write down your observations and feelings about the first day.

Sift the beans, wash them, add water and soak for 6 hours

It has grow a little bit

• I placed some adzuki beans in a clean lunchbox filled with water.

• Soaked them overnight at room temperature (about 10 hours).

• No visible changes yet, but the beans look slightly bigger and feel softer.

• I felt a bit unsure if this would work, but also curious and excited to try.

• Took the soaked beans out and placed them on damp paper towels in the same lunchbox.

• Kept the paper towels moist and placed the box in a cool, ventilated spot.

• Some beans started to split slightly — signs of early sprouting.

• I was surprised and happy to see some changes. It made me feel hopeful.

• The beans look the same as yesterday. No obvious growth or sprouts.

• I kept the paper towel moist and checked them regularly, but there was no change.

• I’m not sure if I did something wrong, like using the wrong kind of bean, or if the temperature and humidity weren’t suitable.

• I would still recommend it as a fun and simple experiment, especially for kids or families. But I’d suggest trying with more types of beans and making sure the conditions are right.