Terraforming Planet Earth
Heard of ‘terraforming‘? That’s the technical term for taking inhospitable planets and changing the atmosphere and introducing life to make them habitable to humans. Kind of a sci-fi thing at this stage. And since we’re so busy making this planet uninhabitable to humans, it may stay that way.
Indeed the most famous terraforming sci-fi author, Kim Stanley Robinson, of the Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars trilogy, says we should start thinking about terraforming planet Earth. Ie. return it to its former state of health. And that, he says, is exactly what permaculturists are doing already .
So don your space suit, pick up the garden fork and get ready for fun and action. For this is another permablitz newsletter. We’ve got advice for poor people, activism, passivism, upcoming courses and more…
~~~ Upcoming Blitzes ~~~
It’s winter hiatus time, but we’re working on bringing you some blitzes in the next couple of months…
If you want to be blitzed, contact us.
~~~ Upcoming Courses ~~~
From Very Edible Gardens:
June 13 and 20th 2 Day Intro to Permaculture (St Kilda)
June 18 Beginners’ Guide to Compost and Worms (Fitzroy)
July 2 Drought Proofing Your Garden (Fitzroy)
July 16 Beginners Guide to Chickens (Fitzroy)
July 30 The Backyard Ecosystem: Organic Pest Control and Adventures in the Microcosmos (Fitzroy)
Aug 2 Intro to Organic Gardening (Yarraville)
Aug 4 Beginners Guide to Compost and Worms (Yarraville)
Aug 16 Intro to Organic Gardening (Selby — contact VEG for details)
Aug 18 Drought Proofing Your Garden (Yarraville)
Aug 23 Living Food: Wild Fermentation and Raw Foods For Your Health (Yarraville)
Book now for Forest Edge Permaculture weekend permaculture design certificate (PDC) starting September:
www.forestedgepermaculture.com/courses
Or Cydonia Permaculture, residential PDC in Seymour, October:
www.cydoniapermaculture.com.au
Or Southern Cross Permaculture, residential PDC in Leongatha, November
www.southerncrosspermaculture.com.au/pdc.html
~~~ Climate Rally Tomorrow ~~~
A long time permablitzer and the artist formally known as M.C. Feecee writes:
I had such a great time, drumming, singing & dancing last week when the PM visited Emerald high school, that we”ll be doing it even bigger & better on JUNE 13, for the National Climate Emergency Rally, 1pm at (you guessed it!) The State Library. See www.climateactioncentre.org and www.climaterally.org
Down with repetitive chants that both frighten & bore. Up with the People Power Planetary Funk Fiesta, where with your percussive, vocal & dancing/jiggling help, we will add some musical flavour & move things up an octave at the rally. Onlookers will be informed, inspired & amazed.. “Like, wow, I never knew protesting could be so much fun!”.. (M.J. Citizen).
~~~ Rent on the Green Side ~~~
Two excellent resources for renters wanting to go green:
GreenRenters.org is a blog site full of practical advice, with quicklinks to things like fig wine recipes, while the headline ‘Is there nothing cardboard boxes can’t do?’ takes you to a story about DIY solar ovens. Check out: www.greenrenters.org
Meanwhile Environment Victoria have produced a downloadable booklet. “Are renters legally able to change their showerheads? How can you make your toilet waste less water when you don’t have dual flush? Sometimes it’s not easy to find answers to these questions, so Environment Victoria has put together the Victorian Green Renters’ Guide, to answer these and more. It’s full of suggestions which can be done on a shoe string budget, and the guide also includes information on government rebates, a checklist for people looking for a new place to rent, and an explanation of renting law in Victoria. The Victorian Green Renters’ Guide can be downloaded from www.envict.org.au/rentersguide/. It’s free. ”
Big shout out to Enviro Vic. who gave permablitz a collection of garden tools last year!
~~~ Food politics is, like, so cool right now ~~~
From the New York Times:
“Some students say food is the political movement of their time. ‘I no longer wish I was born in the ’60s,’ said Mr. Katz, 20, who discovered farming as an outgrowth of his interest in environmental issues.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/dining/24interns.html?_r=1&hp
Get into your wellies and be seen.
~~~ Eltham College Cert IV in Permaculture ~~~
Certificate IV in permaculture is being offered as a part-time course due to requests from many people who cannot do the full-time course. The course is planned to run on Wednesdays and Saturdays from the week beginning July 13th. Enquiries should be directed to Julie Bowry-Needham at [email protected] or via the website at www.ects.vic.edu.au
~~~ Permaculture Publications ~~~
The wonderful Rosemary Morrow has a new booklet/CD package about retrofitting houses for sustainability, see: www.retrofittingyourhome.com (Review at: www.permacultureprinciples.com
)
Geoff Lawton has a couple of DVDs out which we haven’t mentioned here before: Establishing a Food Forest and Harvesting Water the Permaculture Way
While we’re at it, check out Darren Doherty’s online vids produced by Taranaki Farm: http://www.youtube.com/user/TaranakiFarm
~~~ Podcast ~~~
I did an interview for a US podcast about blitzes and it sounds like I’m on Mogadon. But podcaster Jarret had done some pretty wild and spacey production. So you can hear me um and ah with music and echo effects.
http://thenextstep.podomatic.com
~~~
We’ll heat up this city with some blitzes soon — see you there!
Adam @ The Permablitz Decentralised Terraformers Union
