If you've ever wanted to have a blitz of your own, the time to apply is now.
Permablitz
Blitzes, Tomatoes, City Permaculture and a new Urban Farm!
Some may remember that last month we did a call-out for new Permablitz Collective members… We were completely blown away with the response – such amazing people! A big thanks must go out to everyone who applied, and all those who joined us at our regular meeting early last month. We’re really looking forward to seeing you all again!

And speaking of all things Permablitz – if you’ve been wanting to have a blitz of your own, the time is now – make sure you check out the article below!

Now I’m sure it isn’t just us, but this weather has us completely bamboozled… Is it Autumn? Summer? Both? Neither? It’s all so confusing. But thanks to Angus and Julia Stone I know that I wish that I had a mango tree in my backyard… They’ve given us our song of the month with Mango Tree!

  Have you been to a blitz and want a permablitz of your own?

Now's the time to get your name on the board for our trusty Designers Guild to transform your garden into an edible oasis!

Not sure if you qualify? Find out all the details here!
Blitz Requests
In the last month or so we’ve been joined by a number of skilled new PDC grads – Michael (who just finished a course with Very Edible Gardens, Jon (who did a course with Pete the Permie), landscape designers Scott and Raphael, and occupational therapist Harriet – we can’t wait to see what this talented group of permies can do!

If you’ve recently finished your PDC and want to flex your design skills, get in touch! We can arrange a mentor if it’s your first design, and are always available to make sure the process runs smoothly.

We’re currently looking for designers to help with a site in Gisborne right now – are you up for it?

 
Reservoir
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Barwon Heads
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Sunbury
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Crib Point
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Wheelers Hill
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Hero of the Month: Oregano
 
Donna from Edendale Community Environment Farm was good enough to contribute this month’s Hero of the Month, and it’s a cracker – Oregano!

It’s the perfect time to learn about oregano, since there’s still an awful lot of tomatoes around and they are simply delish together. If you’re a first-time gardener it’s a great herb to start with, and will live happily in your hot spots – but isn’t a fan of frosts.

To read more about this amazing plant (and where to plant it), click here!

 
  
Beets and Pieces
 
Kat Lavers gives Happen Films a tour of The Plummery
Kat Lavers is a Permablitz super-star and Melbourne City backyard gardener, and uses the thoughtful permaculture design of her 10mx10m garden to grow over 400 kilos of food a year. She talks with great passion about why she feels small-scale urban gardening is so important for the resilient future of our cities.

Happen Films has just released a short documentary called Urban Permaculture, which covers Kat’s garden, her philosophy and how she lives her life.

Check it out!

 
Melbourne Food Hub kicks off New Urban Farm in Alphington
The Melbourne Food Hub is developing an urban farm in the heart of Alphington, to grow fresh food for sale while serving as an educational site to help aspiring farmers and gardeners learn all they need to know about growing great produce.

Launched last May, The Melbourne Food Hub is a project designed to provide greater connection between farmers and consumers, and foster a more sustainable, resilient and fair food system. Alongside the urban farm, the Food Hub is creating a community kitchen to help incubate small food business start-ups, a food distribution program aiming to increase fresh food availability in aged care homes and hospitals, a weekly farmers market, a community composting facility, a farmers depot and extensive workshop programs looking at all aspects of local food systems from growing, selling and processing.

If you’d like to get involved and have a strong interest in food and sustainable agriculture, get in touch with The Melbourne Food Hub. There are a variety of roles suited to different skill sets, including construction and building, watering and weeding, planting, installing irrigation, harvesting food and more!

 
Karen Sutherland teams up with Penny Woodward to bring us Tomato!
Tomato: know, sow, grow, feast is a new hardback book celebrating Australian heirloom tomatoes. These colourful heritage gems are full to bursting with juicy deliciousness and are enjoying a renaissance in Australia today. Inspired by this, Karen Sutherland (designer of many a Permablitz, and director of Edible Eden Design) has teamed up with horticultural expert and author, Penny Woodward to create a book brimming with information about heirloom tomatoes, so that tomato lovers throughout Australia could identify, learn to grow and enjoy them. Tomato explains why a ‘red tomato is red’, why ‘real tomatoes’ taste so good, and why tomatoes are so ‘good for you’.

You can find this book at a bookstore near you, or via Karen’s online store. She may even sign it for you!

Back in the Garden
March is the officially the beginning of Autumn, so there’s plenty to do! It’s a great time for planting new trees once the weather begins to cool as there will also be time for the trees to establish before the onset of winter. Yes, winter is coming… apparently…

Of course, it’s still pretty hot out there, so make sure you keep all your pots well watered, and ensure all of your veggie patches and fruit trees are well mulched.

If you’ve got pumpkins in your patch, it will be time to pick them soon – make sure they are fully ripened (there shouldn’t be any green on the stem or skin), and cut them when the vine starts to die off.

Seeds that do well in March include…

Seeds you can plant in March include:
Beetroot Mustard Greens
Broad Beans Oats
Broccoli Onions
Buckwheat Orach
Cabbage Parsley
Caraway Parsnip
Carrots Potato tubers
Cauliflower Radish
Chervil Salad Burnett
Chicory Salsify
Chinese Cabbage Shallot bulbs
Cress Silverbeet
Garlic clove Spinach
Kohlrabi Spring Onions
Leeks Strawberry runners
Lettuce Swedes
Mizuna Turnip
Remember: some seeds do better starting off in punnets, some in pots and some in the ground. To get the best from your seedlings be sure to check the best methods first!

Permablitz

permablitz melbourne
eating the suburbs, one backyard at a time

www.permablitz.net

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