earthen render Archives - The Desert Echo

EDIBLE GARDENS OPEN DAY

March 19, 2013 No Comments

the garden wasn’t finished until it was filled with the laughter of community.

Photo credit Hobsons Bay City Council

Almost a year ago we opened our garden up to the residents of Moonee Valley & Hobsons Bay Council for the My Smart Garden’s Edible Open Day. As the days begin to shorten and the the cold creeps through the gaps it seems like a nice time for reflection on the last year, the first full year since our Permablitz. These are the photos taken last April by the council photographer, it was such a pleasure to have all the lovely people visit especially the little kids running on top of the garden beds, running toy cars over the wall like it’s a race track.

Sharing knowledge and community spirit embodies Permaculture for me.

A striving towards a friendlier, more loving world – for people, for animals, for the earth. Kelly Heffer is the driving force behind the My Smart Garden scheme and she was such a delight. I’d like to thanks her again for such a beautiful day and the lovely MINTI volunteers. I remember people beginning to filter in, a stream becomin a flood and when it was time for our two talks I could not move their were so many people packed in to our little suburban garden. What a beautiful thing, that people are so inspired by permaculture.

After a year in our garden, I’d like to move outwards, strive further. See if I can transform gardens like we did ours to create a better quality of life for their urban inhabitants. We are certainly happier and healthier for our urban oasis.

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Garden

ENTHUSIASM IN A TIGHT SPACE

April 26, 2012 No Comments

Kids rendering the earthbags at the Flemington Permablitz

SSitting up with a gasp at 4am we heard rain rocketing down on our tin roof as loud as gunfire and we rush outside to make sure our newly rendered garden beds didn’t bear any rain shaped bullet wounds. We were lucky, it had dried just in time.

With a backdrop of grey morning we began to set up the garden for the Edible Gardens Open Day. As the sky darkened Kelly from our local council and the volunteers from MINTI (the Flemington Transition Group) began to arrive with 50 fliers in hand to give out, 50 we laughed, perhaps 30 people will come to have a look. Between 10:30 and 4pm the skies cleared to a glorious blue day and over 200 people passed through our front gate!

It is quite surreal to see 80 people at a time crammed into our small garden, with a bemused sense of unreality we explained our design to the group. The overwhelming sense of good will they offered us with their smiles and eager questions was beautiful. After our rush to get our garden ready, which the bees resented giving us two stings the day before, it was delightful and relieving to see everyone having such a good time (and no stings!). Even the render stood up to being walked on by children and adults alike, being used as a motorway for toy trucks and as a springboard for gymnastic tricks (children only).

My uncarefully laid plans of showing the time-lapse of our garden to a small huddle of people was unrealistic, so I will share it with you here and hope you get as much a kick out of it as me. After the first few viewing I had way too much fun watching minor details like our sunflowers growing and dying and where the neighbours’ cat is going to show up next!

Garden

AUTUMN FLOWERS AND UNRULY CLIMBERS

March 19, 2012 No Comments

For a while the garden was inconsolable, having missed the spring flush it went into a right sulk, but with autumn here, not even the shyest runner bean has been able to resist unfurling for a sun bake. We have been in a mad flurry trying to get the garden into order for our open day in April. Through January and February beach weather demanded a lot of our attention, but now with the threat of judgmental strangers raising a questioning eyebrow at wilting vines and sorry spring remnants we have to get to the business of patching up the render and getting onto that damn earth oven!

Garden

A GARDEN COMES TO LIFE

February 19, 2012 No Comments

Our raised earth bag garden beds are rendered like a patchwork quilt, marked by dozens of helpful hands. Little details are cheeky and drag on for months and months and what began as a fun excuse to revert back to early mud pie days took gritted teeth to finish (let’s not talk about the fact that this is only the scratch coat). It was such a relief to get some green back in the garden, bare earth is something I hope has been banished from our garden for good. Luckily we have agreed to show our garden as part of a permaculture open garden scheme for our local council in April, nothing lights a fire under you quite like the fear of public humiliation!