Permablitz 158 in Brunswick
The most wonderfully located Blitz happened on May 31st in Brunswick near the Merri, CERES and the Russian Orthodox church.
Our host, Jan has been involved with Permaculture through a PDC in 2012. A mini talk on Permaculture was delivered by Jan who gave a smashing intro to the concept of wicking beds before the Blitz even began! Everyone was briefed on the goals of the day and with work zones carefully labeled and a few helping hands the entire day ran like clockwork.
Over the last 30 years in the “Hipster Fringes” of Brunswick, a unique and highly productive garden has emerged. Jan also walks the talk and lives a sustainable lifestyle where a lot of neighbours and passersby often stop to chat or comment on the structure of the house and block generating a very social place in suburbia, easily one can forget how close to the city it is.
A massive amount of work completed with irrigation ditches dug between fresh garden beds. The watering system is part filled with scoria, topped by wood chips and soil to be replenished by a grey water reticulating system. A couple of wicking beds repaired and ready to yield to the sky again. The sheer volume of leafy green treats that can be grown in a small space was impressive, when we had our fresh lunch, which was picked before our eyes as we toiled.
There were some issues with the setup of wicking beds in the morning however by sundown two beds were reworked and wicked with another well under way to being insulated with a new design adjustment. Around 14 eager Blitzers contributed to an amazing day. A group of students completing a course in Permaculture at Monash University didn’t shirk and rolled up their sleeves. On the day we also had a gentleman and his friend from Mexico orchestrating in perfect unison to really push all the way to deliver on time and in style another Permablitz success. Already Jan is planning to attend more and maybe hold another Blitz in the future.
Amongst the happy throng was a gentleman from Byron Bay, with some people coming in from the Yarra Valley, smattered with a few locals wanting to share and join the Blitz. Jan benefits from the proximity to CERES: “Living so close to Ceres has been great with good discussions with the nursery’s staff; an Indonesian tour with Ceres global in 2012 and this year.” All in all it was a very successful day, friendships formed, good food was eaten and a spirit of co-operation that can only be had by attending a PermaBlitz emerged. See you at the next one.
