permablitz melbourne Archives

Farnham St Community Garden

October 3, 2018 2 Comments

No time to obsess over paint swatches for the nursery, my nesting was all about gardening.

Normally winter hits me hard. It’s cold, it’s dull and leaving work when the street lights are lit, deflates what little spirit is left in me. The weather is not conducive to plant growth or a sunny disposition. This winter was different though. Perhaps the promise of our little babe softened its chill. Definitely the addition of a bedroom heater made mornings a little less spartan; the outrageous power bill was a problem for spring me to deal with. Of course, those frigid days make it the perfect time to plan and prepare the garden for the spring. However my activities were limited as our baby rapidly cycled through the fruits and vegetables from poppy-seed towards watermelon. By the time she hit cantaloupe size I had great empathy for hedgehog “trying to get out of bread”. I was able to do the dreaming, but needed to call in some physical philanthropists to do the doing.

Time was running out before I popped and I feared, quite justifiably it turns out that after she was born I wouldn’t have time to get anything done. Less than a month before giving birth, saw me join the rosy-cheeked group of permablitz volunteers to completely renovate the Farnham St Community Garden.

The design

Key features

5 seat height wicking beds
5 standing height wicking beds
2 large communal garden beds with drip irrigation
4 reused corrugated metal garden beds
Mulch paths

Existing features

Adjacent to neighbourhood house, food forest and playground
Water tanks connected to roof
Worm farms
Hot compost bays made from recycled pallets
Compost bins

The Problem

The garden had a lot of heart, but only the hardiest gardeners ever stuck it long enough to see multiple summers. When our little one starts toddling I want her to have a beautiful space to learn about growing food, surrounded by a passionate community. We needed to reinvigorate the garden to attract and keep the young professionals and families who to this point found the upkeep too hard. Accessibility needed to be improves as well for the stalwarts who have kept it running. It had to be a joy to maintain not a chore.

The existing garden was shaded and sucked dry by the towering eucalypt. It demanded a twice weekly watering roster in the summer holidays when everyone would rather be relaxing at the beach. The low sleeper beds with their narrow paths between also excluded people with back issues or disabilities from enjoying the garden. We warred a hopeless battle against Kikuyu grass which was continuously invading and pillaging nutrients from the gardens, it was hard, demoralising work.

The Plan

The invasive grass needed to be completely removed. We suggested it be replaced with mulch paths that could manage the water over flow from the garden beds. Near the gum tree, raised wicking beds in two different sizes were custom-made by MODbox to suit our geometric design. These beds will only require fortnightly filling of their water reservoirs once plants are established. The layout is as aesthetically pleasing as it is functional. The paths are wide enough for a wheel barrow and even a pram, something I never would have thought about before being pregnant. I am really grateful for this now!

The tops of the beds are capped to allow them to double as seats with sustainably harvested cypress used instead of merbau on special request. The L shaped border beds will be connected to the food forest’s drip irrigation system. This is where we will grow communal crops that can be harvested for use in the houses’ cooking classes. Hopefully soon the less than charming chain link fence will be covered with lush pumpkin vines, ripe strawberries dripping over the edge to be plucked by little hands.

It is exciting to have the opportunity to breath new life into the garden. All this was made possible by the tenacity of Pip from FSNLC who had the unglamorous task of securing grants. Let’s hope that this new garden will encourage more community members to invest some time into the garden.

The Permablitz

Every great cause needs a tireless leader. Pat made sure the day was a success, not only by facilitating the permablitz, but spending weeks beforehand coordinating: the deconstruction of the existing garden, re-use of resources and the inevitable mountains of gravel, sand and soil that wicking beds require. Besides, it is no mean feat to keep a motley crew of blitzers happy, hydrated, sated and on schedule!

The MODboxes arrived on pallets and once we got our head around the instructions it was great fun putting the beds together, like adult lego! We were lucky to have some tradies attend, and they were good-natured enough to let us bully them into setting out all the beds to make sure they were level. The layout is the moment when installations by volunteers can veer from wonky charm into a hot mess. I’m not going to lie, having some experts involved took the pressure off considerably. We could confidently leave them to work away while we instructed the other volunteers to build up the layers. By the end of the day it looked amazing, leaving us itching to get planting.

It is always astounding the amount of work blitzers can accomplish in a day, that magic moment when a sketch becomes a reality. By lunchtime it always feels like you will be left with piles of unmoved soil. Then suddenly, perhaps reinvigorated by lunch, the crew shovels, and barrows and the garden in transformed. How beautiful to have such a fantastic bunch of people sacrifice their weekend to make this happen.

Planting the communal beds with salvaged strawberries

Links

Garden

Building community

June 15, 2015 2 Comments

Big thanks to the volunteers and Nola for her amazing photos from the day!

The food forest has flushed green after a harsh summer that stripped the ground bare. The survivors: those born hardy or who retreated to the shadows of apple trees.

It was clear that we hadn’t quite gotten the balance right in terms of perennial plants, I blame the nasturtiums, they make everything seem so lush in spring but when it gets hot they are gone over night abandoning their companions to bake and burn. The same thing can happen in winter when a icy wind dislodges the last of the orange leaves and herbaceous plants tick their faces under the soil until next spring, it ends up looking like a forest of twigs and dirt, not ideal. That elusive perfect blend not only of the 7 layers of a food forest but of evergreen, deciduous, semi-deciduous, herbaceous and annual, a continuous dance of seasonal succession.

But thanks to a surprise donation from some nuns (I just love the randomness of that sentence, thanks ladies!) we were able to have a “take two” with our planting plan. And what a turn out! Despite our number limit, facebook invites are always a game of chance – is a yes a yes? what does maybe mean? This time Yes Yes Yes. Overwhelming at first, but once we got into our groove everyone worked together so well and we got so much done. We cheekily extended our boundary into an overgrown tree planter that the council’s gardening henchmen had neglected, it was a nest of grass and my hat goes off to the brave souls who bravely hacked back the jungle.

The most exciting part of the day was seeing our special flip top signs oiled and installed. Tom and Pat are the superstars who made my sign designs a reality.
Next food swap/permabee will be 2-3pm on Saturday 27th June! I hope to see you there to finish putting up the signs and adding the laminated “treasure hunt” style plant descriptions! It’s going to be so much fun! Check out the Flemington Food Swap facebook for information. (No facebook? Just comment on this post and I’ll add you to the mailing list) We will be having a potluck afternoon tea/food swap afternoon tea afterwards at 3pm! Hope to see you there!

The food forest a month earlier in need of some drought tolerant plants!

Drought tolerant plants are concentrated around the edges whilst moisture loving plants are sheltered in the "natural swale" of the land near the fence which is supplemented by drip irrigation. — Drought tolerant plants are concentrated around the edges whilst moisture loving plants are sheltered in the “natural swale” of the land near the fence which is supplemented by drip irrigation.

Hardy indigenous bush tucker that was once eaten by Victorian Aborigines and is accustomed to our harsh, dry summers.

Signs are made from off-cuts from Tom's renovation! Can't get much more sustainable than that! — Signs are made from off-cuts from Tom’s renovation! Can’t get much more sustainable than that!

shop discount beach wedding dresses UK at instyledress.co.uk — shop discount beach wedding dresses UK at prombee.co.uk

Taming the jungle! It is important to control grass at the edges especially fences and under trees where it is hard to remove once the garden grows up.

two piece prom gown UK — Running grass gone! Looking so much more spacious!

This was a beautiful, fun and productive day. Activities like Permabees are a fantastic low stress way to build a sustainable community. I’ve tried organising other social community building events like picnics and food swaps, but when the main attendees were my friends and my family I realised two important facts: strangers are shy and won’t show up to “social” events without a “pack of friends” as a buffer, I’m shy and organising these things stresses me out too! You just can’t force these things. And after repackaging the food swap as a permabee, it made it clear if you make it attractive they will come and if it involves and activity rather than talking you’ll have 30 people there without even trying and it will be a blast! We’re already planning our July Food Swap as a documentary night. I’ve learnt my lesson.Below is a little brainstorm about the highs and lows of building a community, the things that make it worthwhile and the pitfalls to avoid. Maybe you can help me add to the list! At the end of the day if it’s stressful and isn’t fun for you, the organiser, then it’s time to rethink the path you have taken or perhaps you just need to find more people to support to make the going easier. A highlight of the last Food Swap Permabee was that one of my uni classmates showed up who I hadn’t seen for about five years! We hadn’t actually spoken much at uni, but we soon found out we had SO much in common and it was exciting to discuss possible joint ventures and remember that Architecture can be holistic if you can shake yourself free of all that convention spouted as truths.

Attractive

Activities and workshops where you can meet like minded people without social pressure.
Sharing knowledge, learning a new skill.
Swapping tools and food
Supporting each other, banding together for or against an important cause
Making hard tasks easier by delegating and utilising individuals’ strengths
Building friendships, combating the loneliness of the city and the isolation one can feel when fighting the sustainable cause. Connection.
Being re-energised by other people’s passionate and determination
Having fun, celebrating and eating amazing food other people have brought along
Mentally and physically healthy alternative to sitting alone on the computer or watching TV.

Unattractive

Awkward social situations
Burning out because everyone relies on you (or a small group of you) to take charge and organise everything
No one showing up to your events
Stress of organising events where a lot of people come
Insurance and oh&s associated with community events
Pressure to come up with ideas
Pressure to instigate other people’s ideas
Lack of privacy when you have one of those yuk days when you don’t want anyone to recognise you and you run into about 5 acquaintances on the journey. (don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean)

barbara-planting-australian-edibles-native-raspberry-pigsface-saltbushg

Dylan installing drip irrigation along the fence. We wanted to minimised irrigation so we have concentrated plants that need moisture like berries along the fence leaving outlying areas for drought tolerant herbs, shrubs and bush tucker.

Garden

community rehabilitation garden – stage 1

November 2, 2014 5 Comments

Hidden away, just off busy Mount Alexander Road there is a little community with a patch of lawn that dreamed of being something more.

After months of life-affirming moments: fly-fishing with a reconstructive surgeon in Oregon, building Earthships in New Mexico, green woodworking in the Sussex forest, wild camping in Napoleon’s pine forests; it was hard to find inspiration touching down into the old rhythm. After weeks of work, eat, sleep, finally a project brought me out of my stupor and gave colour, energy and meaning back into my world. I hope it touches others as deeply.

The residents of Norfolk Terrace are coping with long-term serious mental illness and disability and we were asked to design a permaculture garden to engage them in growing their own fresh food. We hope as well as turning a bland patch of grass into an edible garden, this becomes a place to building connections and community.

6am awaking with a start to a downpour, 3 years to the day since our own Permablitz was a near wash out, who says Melbourne weather is unpredictable? 8:30 ticked over and the rain had eased so…what the heck, let’s just go for it, if only a hand full of people show for two hours it would still accomplish more than us slogging to complete it by ourselves (and more importantly the sausages and vegetarian delights were already prepared and waiting)!

The residents hadn’t slept well, what with the hot night and the storm, they might not be roused to show up, Greg, a staff member, informed us with an apologetic grimace. We’d heard it before, don’t expect too much, wandering enthusiasm, and the like, but in my honest heart a Permablitz without the residents would be disappointing. Oh well, our volunteers (those undeterred by rain) were pouring in and there was a promising crevasse in the clouds, we threw ourselves into the business of making a permaculture paradise!

It only took a few minutes for Tony to prove him wrong, rocking up to observe, joke and water when required despite his tricky heart. Then another shy smiling resident came to tuck our pile of turf into bed, our main man when it came to covering grass with hessian to stop it sprouting. Tony pointed out it looked like the grave of someone with a loooong body, a boa constrictor a volunteer suggested.

levelling-ground-timber-garden-bed

norfolk-terrace-watering-sheetmulch-no-dig-garden

To the delight of the workers the rain restrained itself to only spitting and that only after we had worked in warm sun long enough to need cooling off. Smiles were wide and laughter was easy, everyone was excited to construct raised garden wicking beds, despite having to do some tricky levelling off the ground beforehand. Elsewhere the brick laying gang finished their pretty angled edging of the no-dig gardens and were rewarded with a little planting. Although unplanned the CERES donations of punnets and punnets of corn and white cucumbers meant we could try out the three sisters’ method of planting: hungry/thirsty corn, with trailing vines to keep the soil moist and beans to climb up the stalks and fix nitrogen into the soil.

Lunch was ready just in time as hard working bellies began to growl. Sausages went down a treat with the omnivores who were also pleasantly suprised by the vegetarian fare of beetroot burgers and delicious quinoa salad with grilled mushrooms. The work had been going along well so volunteers, residents and staff relaxed for a chat while everything digested.

After the last crumbs were brushed from beards and raincoats Dylan ran a wicking bed workshop, which I will paraphrase in a future post. Sand and compost went in and then those who had been pushing wheelbarrows for most of the day had a chance to finish it off with some onions and eggplant seedlings.

The sun started to halo our workers as the afternoon wore on just as the finishing touches were going into the second brick no-dig garden. It was planted with adwarf manderine, buddha’s fingers, tea plant, maqui berry and artichokes which would form an edible evergreen hedge to the south of the raised vegetable gardens. As the sand was levelled in the second wicking bed it struck 5pm and Dylan could only usher everyone off by promising a second Permabee to finish off the two other wicking beds this Tuesday. Now if having to bribe your volunteers with another day of labouring isn’t a sign of a happy and successful Blitz, I don’t know what is! Thanks to everyone who came and a special thank you to Norfolk Terrace and the Flemington Neigbourhood Learning Centre for making this happen.

If anyone is interested in attenting the Permabee on Tuesday 4th November contact us at info@thedesertecho.com and to be involved as a volunteer at the Norfolk garden please contact pip@fsnlc.net 9376 9088, we will be running workshops for residents every Friday morning and welcome volunteers to help out.

P.S. You might like to our Community Food Forest Permablitz post

enjoying-permablitz-vegetarian-lunch

norfolk-terrace-resident-shovelling-sand

beetroot-tofu-burger-quinoa-salad

wheelbarrow-moving-compost-norfolk-terrace-flemington-permablitz

Garden

MAKING CONNECTIONS

December 2, 2013 3 Comments

building community in the suburbs

Our little seedlings are tasting their first summer morning in the Farnham street park. After some toddler tramping, dog watering and the first furnace of hot days everything is firmly rooted and getting lusher.

Pip from the neighbourhood house has reported that the trees have never looked so good. Heavy with fruit, the apples are swelling and blushing with every sunny day. They were our inspiration, alternatively choked with grass or risking ring barking with every careless contractor’s whipper-snipper cut – there was a better way.

Time and money saved for the council in maintenance, an abundant garden for the community and wildlife.

After years of architectural training, I’ll never be able to shake my drive towards creating beautiful (and practical) edens, but the Flemington Food Forest is not just for the eyes and stomach as community is what feeds the soul. In our world of work and stuff, we need people more than ever. Sometimes I forget how much, but since its creation and everyday I tend it I remember; falling into easy conversations with strangers.

The other week Dylan and I found ourselves giving an impromptu children’s gardening workshop when planting some seeds. First one then two and then three under 5s marched up asking what we were up to. the first pronounced that she was wearing her special sparkly birthday shoes and wanted to help.

Their joy was my joy, the design had children in mind, with a curving “fairy path” interlaced with the more practical, direct “adult path”, little “tea party” circles dotted along the way that would eventually become secret food forest glades as the garden grows taller, wilder.

It was lovely that they, and hopefully more children, will be part of the creation of this space. Like links in a chain, the garden provided not only a conduit to them, but through them to their parents who animatedly spoke about gardening trials and offered the neighbourhood house their spare compost bin.

There are so many opportunities for workshops, and not just ones run by us or other permies, but elders with their experience in preserving fruit and olives, migrants with their knowledge of edible weeds and anyone who wants to share a recipe and harvest from the garden.

I want to thank everyone who contributed their time to the permablitz again. I had such a warm feeling of community at the end of the day, we accomplished so much in a short time and I hope you all return in the new year to watch the garden grow with me.