You Can Have Your Environment and Eat It Too
Collaborate with nature. Then eat it. That’s the permaculture ethos in a nutshell.
“And that’s a good thing?” you ask. Why, yes I say. You see as mammals we eat, we breath, and we excrete. And since all animals naturally tend to serve ecological roles, so too can we integrate ourselves into healthy ecological cycles. We can learn from and act in unison with natural forces, until the very act of eating and growing our food (and recycling our wastes) actually becomes ecologically enhancing through soil building, nutrient cycling and improving biodiversity. I’m talking about integrating ourselves into systems where the distinction between nature and humanity blurs so much it’s only defined by who’s wearing the Dunlop Volleys.
As they say, each journey starts with a single step, so come step out onto the turf and help transform a backyard into a food producing ecosystem at one of the exciting upcoming permablitzes!
So welcome again to a permablitz newsletter with exciting blitzes, an absolute plethora of upcoming courses, plus good news and tit bits…
~~~ Upcoming Blitzes ~~~
Blitz #62: Malvern East April 5
All are welcome at this Permablitz to help transform the backyard of Steve and Emily into a food producing oasis. Sunday is also Steve’s 30th birthday! Lots to do in this big blank slate, and there’s be lots of workshops on the day so should be a great blitz. NOTE: This blitz is going to be filmed for a new SBS lifestyle show, do maybe skip it if you don’t want to be on the tube. Make yourself famous…
Permablitz Geelong no 1! April 18
A Transition South Barwon event (see gsg.shuttlepod.org). Details to be confirmed. Check the website for updates.
Blitz #63 PBPB = Pre-birth PermaBlitz Smiths Gully April 19
Come to Smiths Gully – less than one hour Nth East of Melbourne – to help Shaun and Susie make progress on their 3 acre property less than one month before they begin parenthood. We’ll be planting out vegie beds, adding pathways, planting green manure crops, preparing a chook area, building a huge berkley method compost pile and more, before relaxing in the beautiful green gully. We’ll also be checking out the swaled orchard area, their bath sized worm farm and the beautiful surrounds. More info…
Diarise now: May 2 Return to Koo Wee Rup permablitz.
And this weekend, Bega’s first permablitz!
Been to three or so? Want to get blitzed? Whisper in our virtual ear: [email protected]
~~~ Upcoming Courses ~~~
Coming at you thick and fast through the months of April and May! Come to one or come to all…
APRIL
Thurs 9 Apr Beginners Guide to Compost and Worms (Fitzroy) 6:30-8:30pm. Get wiggly in this two hour hands on intro.
Thurs 23 Apr Drought Proofing Your Garden (Fitzroy) 6:30-8:30pm. Learn abundance with low water.
Sat 25 Apr & 2 May Intro To Urban Permaculture (St Kilda) 9am-5pm. The long awaited return of the two day intro course! For the first time over two Saturdays! Get in quick.
MAY
Sat 2 May Beginners Guide To Compost And Worms (Yarraville) 6:30-8:30pm
Thur 7 May Beginners Guide To Chickens (Fitzroy) 6:30-8:30pm
Sun 17 May Living Food: Wild Fermentation And Raw Foods For Your Health (Yarraville) 10am-5pm
Sun 21 May The Backyard Ecosystem: Organic Pest Control and Adventures in the Microcosmos (Fitzroy) 6:30-8:30pm
(All of the above fantastic courses are presented by Very Edible Gardens (VEG) — check the website for more.)
~~~ 1000 words ~~~
(From theage.com.au)
~~~ In case you haven’t heard… ~~~
The Obama’s not just making a community garden at the Dept of Agriculture, they are now digging up the Whitehouse lawn to plant vegies.
Via EatTheView.org
The Obamas’ garden will have 55 varieties of vegetables grown from organic seedlings started at the executive mansion’s greenhouses.
And better still:
Almost the entire Obama family, including the president, will pull weeds, “whether they like it or not,” Mrs. Obama said laughing.
~~~ Dare to glare into the future ~~~
Permaculture co-orginator David Holmgren has released a new book Future Scenarios: How Communities can adapt to Peak Oil and Climate Change, an updated version of the content on this website. It is available through Chelsea Green in the US and is soon to be released by Green Books in the UK. (Both sites include gratuitous plugs for the work from your newsletter writer). Australian customers will be able to buy the title shortly through the Holmgren Design Services website.
~~~ Drink it up ~~~
Brad Lancaster of the US was kind enough to send through some copies of his Rainwater Harvesting books (volumes 1 and 2), which promise to “help bring your site to life, reduce your cost of living, endow yourself and your community with skills of self-reliance and cooperation, and create living air conditioners of vegetation growing beauty, food, and wildlife habitat.” (!)
There’s a strong focus on cleverly using run off from hard surfaces such as roofs and paths to fee plants — so there’s a great relevance here for suburban permaculture on this dry continent.
Check out Brad’s incredible website and order the books at www.harvestingrainwater.com
~~~ Random news item: The Toaster Project ~~~
James on BoingBoing comments “There’s probably easier ways to illustrate our disconnect from the consumer products around us, but none this crazy:”
UK resident Thomas Thwaites is trying to make an electric toaster, from scratch. Beginning with mining the raw materials. And yes, that means extracting oil to make plastic and even processing his own copper (to make the pins of the electric plug, the cord, and internal wires), iron (for the steel grilling apparatus, and the spring to pop up the toast), mica (around which the heating element is wound) and nickel (for the heating elements!).
~~~
See you at a blitz! Adam @ Permablitz Decentral
