edible gardens Archives - Page 7 of 10

FLEMINGTON PERMABLITZ PART 1 – RESILIENCE DESPITE THE RAIN

November 13, 2011 5 Comments

Filling earthbags at the Flemington Permablitz

My chalk lines began to wash away with the first rain shower at 9 o’clock and I felt the first tinglings of stress in my fingertips. Dylan had been anxious the last few days getting everything ready and I had been smug in my serenity, I should have known better. We sprang to erect tarps as the first Blitzers arrived and the rain was constant, the one time we couldn’t say ‘well at least it’s good for the garden’. So the day started creakingly slow, but with tarps up and people warming into their work things started running beautifully. Due to the rain only the most exuberant workers showed up and there was not one spade leaner in sight, My spirits rose exponentially to see everyone working together with such enthusiasm.

Eco building, Garden

GUARD DOGS IN T-SHIRTS

November 3, 2011 No Comments

Clay and sand became a neat, slightly wrinkly, row of earth bags outlining our first garden bed. However, satisfaction turned upside down when we saw how quickly the pile of clay had diminished with so few bags. Luckily our friends Nicholas and Minna saved us by offering up their trailer to collect more clay.

We returned to the building site greeted by guard dogs in t-shirts, if their wagging tails and liquid eyes didn’t diminish the quality of their threat then their wardrobe sure did. The owners were kind enough to take photos of us at work, we noted that the number of people we owed a crate of home brew thank yous was rising.

As a thanks for the trailer we delivered a load of clay to Minna at her house in Heidelberg for cobbing. She and Nicholas have been running earth bag workshops in their backyard and we were met with the glorious site of their earth dome rising proudly amongst post-war brick houses with ubiquitous tiled hip roofs.The contrast will make their dome all the more delightful when they have it rendered. I don’t think you’ll find a sauna like this anywhere else in Melbourne, it’s a shame!

You can see progress of their dome at their Permastructure website.

Eco building, Garden

CHANCE OF RAIN

October 27, 2011 2 Comments

We have finally started construction on the two earth-bag garden beds we want to have tamped and ready for the Permablitz! It is exciting to see the plans starting to take shape in front of us, but oh there is so much to do before the day!

The first sight that meets your smarting eyes at most Permablitzes is a mound of compost so tall that if you were unfortunate enough to have it dumped over your head you would be lucky to have your nose in daylight. The main task for the day is moving this pile shovel after shovel and barrow after barrow from its current location to another one some metres away. Even those with the sunniest outlooks can find this a little uninspiring.

We were determined that our Permablitz would involve a lot more variety, some interesting skills to learn and some fun, less back breaking jobs like rendering earth bag walls and planting out garden beds. Unfortunately for people to render and plant they need some of the garden beds made before the day. That is how we, and our poor dear housemates, have found ourselves shovels in hands and wheelbarrows full for the last few weeks. Hopefully their sunny outlooks are not as overcast as the weather forecast for Sunday. Hold off on the rain dances please.

Garden, Recipes

ONE PERSON’S CLAY…

September 24, 2011 2 Comments

The countdown to our Permablitz has begun and we put our new housemates to work not five days before they moved in, after all manual labour is the building block of a beautiful friendship right?

Sadly, at our house the greater part of our subsoil languishes under a thick layer of bricks, concrete and, on preliminary investigation old rusted metal including the odd bike. The foundation of a permaculture garden shouldn’t be built upon bought earth. We had to look elsewhere. You don’t have to look far when you are an architect.

After filling a few wheelbarrows of some quite uninspiring clay* we left the building site with Gracie dog in the back of the ute riding high on the mound. (She didn’t find it as amusing as we did.) Then a quick refreshment of Russian Caravan tea and a brief push of the vintage car that has been renting space in our driveway to make way for the mound of clay. Just your average Saturday really.

*Note: uninspiring earth is the best kind of earth for an earth bag garden bed.