Blitz 128 in Preston
On a chilly winter’s day a large group of keen folk joined Preston renters Theo, Roger, Alex, Crystal and Tristan in their garden.
With an understanding landlord giving them the go ahead to do what they liked, provided they didn’t pull up his beloved roses, the plan was to get the most use of the large space.
The dark clouds and even darker Nick Cave soundtrack blasting from the makeshift DJ booth (ie. the shed) didn’t deter the collective enthusiasm, as numerous projects got underway. Carol and Brenneman showed us how to make a hügelkultur bed and more to the point, what it is exactly (it involves composting lots of woody material to make a raised garden bed). Brenneman had brought in some hot compost from his garden, tenderly swaddled in a blanket, and we cooed over it as he passed it around. Campbell led the wicking bed construction and Raf got us planting more fruit trees. Mel and a focused bunch of blitzers put their heads together on how to make a rainwater system, although due to time and resource constraints this didn’t end up coming together on the day – but then again, it’s not always the destination, but the journey getting there…
The day was also filled with lots of cardboard sheet mulching, pruning, chopping, stomping and a yummy hearty lunch. The housemates harvested some broccoli and tended to the previously planted produce. With 5pm approaching, a James Brown record was thrown on and everyone sped up accordingly, under the watchful eye of a curious neighbor observing from his balcony. Although not everything that was planned got done on the day, significant progress was made and it was fantastic to see just how much had been achieved.
