| | | It's been hot, then a cool change, then hotter, then a cool change. Then freaky hot. Sigh. |
| |  | | Hot in the City (and the country, and everywhere else) | The last few months have been hot and hotter, and despite the cool change that’s sweeping across the city right now, we’re pretty sure we’re in for some more. We’ve had a ripper of a break though, swimming in gorges and waterfalls in northern Victoria before enjoying staying on a farm down on the Mornington Peninsula – and we’re now ready and raring to go for an awesome year of blitzing!
For now though, we’re stepping back in time to the 80s for our song of the month, with Billy Idol’s Hot In The City. (Because it is).
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| |  | | 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 | Over the Christmas break we’ve been very lucky to be joined by some great new PDC graduates eager to design a blitz – interior designer Jen, architect Sonia, Randa from Jordan and soon-to-be PDC teacher Vanessa – let’s hear it for this great group of permies!
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.
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|  | | | | | | | | | | Hero of the Month: Snow Peas and Sugar Snap Peas | | | These delicious peas should be grown at home, as their sugars convert to starches once picked, so half of the sugars are gone within an hour of picking. You’ve never tasted a snow pea unless you have picked it yourself.
Sounds yummy yeah? Find out more about these sweet peas here!
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| | Beets and Pieces |  | | | The Buy Nothing Project | The Buy Nothing Project is an experiment in gifting what we have to prevent the overproduction of unnecessary goods and reduce our carbon footprint.
The project offers people a way to give and receive, share, lend, and express gratitude through a worldwide network of hyper-local gift economies in which the true wealth is the web of connections formed between people who are real-life neighbors.
Sounds good right? Find out more here.
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|  | | | Melbourne's most productive gardens open for inspection | 3000acres and Open Gardens Victoria are presenting the most productive gardens in Melbourne for people to check out, and it was no surprise to see our very own superstar Kat Lavers included in the mix. With veggies, fruit trees, quails, chooks, bees and more – there’s definitely something in these gardens to get you inspired…
There’s quite a few to see, make sure you check some out!
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|  | | | From kitchen to compost - and bypassing landfill! | All Warrnambool households are expected to receive a fortnightly Food Organics Garden Organics (FOGO) kerbside collection by July 2019.
FOGO allows food and garden waste to be processed separately from rubbish, which costs less money and is better for the environment. It sees this organic material collected and turned into compost rather than going into landfill.
Approximately 45 per cent of material in the average household rubbish bin is FOGO material.
Diverting FOGO from Warrnambool’s garbage bins has the potential to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 4000 tonnes of CO2 e (carbon dioxide equivalent) annually.
This equates to removing 857 cars off the road every year.
To read the full article, check out the Warrnambool City Council press release here.
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|  | | | National Sustainable Living Festival | If you’ve not been to the SLF (the National Sustainable Living Festival) before, then we reckon you should put next weekend aside and get on down!
“With over 100,000 visits every year, we are the largest sustainability festival in Australia — and not just in numbers, but also in impact. By showcasing cutting-edge solutions to ecological and social challenges, we foster and provide tools for the change we want to see and the difference we want to make in the world.”
This weekend is the Long Weekend, with over 100 free events to challenge your thinking and inspire your actions – see what’s on here!
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|  | | Back in the Garden | We’re now in the last month of summer, but the heat shows every sign of ramping back up, which makes getting anything done that much harder. When you water though, make sure you do so less often and water deeply. This encourages roots to grow down, making plants less vulnerable to heat and drought.
When you do your weeding, lay the weeds on top of the soil to dry out and become mulch, but make sure you remove and dispose of the seeding parts first!
It’s also a good time to do the summer pruning of your fruit trees as well as giving your citrus trees a good feed.
Seeds you can plant in February include:
| | ● | Beetroot | | ● | Mustard Greens | | ● | Brussel Sprouts | | ● | Oats | | ● | Broccoli | | ● | Onions | | ● | Buckwheat | | ● | Parsley | | ● | Cabbage | | ● | Parsnip | | ● | Caraway | | ● | Potato tubers | | ● | Carrots | | ● | Radish | | ● | Cauliflower | | ● | Rhubarb crowns | | ● | Chervil | | ● | Salad Burnett | | ● | Chicory | | ● | Salsify | | ● | Chinese Cabbage | | ● | Shallot bulbs | | ● | Cress | | ● | Silverbeet | | ● | Endive | | ● | Spring Onions | | ● | Kohlrabi | | ● | Swedes | | ● | Leeks | | ● | Turnip | | ● | Lettuce | | | |
| 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!
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