Permablitz #191 – Richmond (Dame Nelly Melba Kinder)
Statistically speaking if anyone from Melbourne receives a Nobel Peace Prize in thirty years time they will no doubt mention Permablitz in their acceptance speech.
There has been a strong partnership between kinders and preschools around Melbourne and Permablitz.
Everyone helping out with the garden bed
On a lovely Saturday permablitz volunteers as well as some parents completed the transformation of Dame Nellie Melba kinder, which just celebrated its 100 year anniversary, into a sustainability wonderland. This 100 year old kinder already features solar panels on the roof but lacked a kid friendly veggie garden.
The hero of this blitz was Juan, our new photographer extraordinaire. We spent the day building raised garden beds and learning about irrigation system whist surrounded by the ancient gum trees and a beautiful garden. While creating a bean tepee the enchanted surrounding made Juan start to reminisce about his own childhood. Juan, it turns out, was a bit of guerrilla gardener as a kid. He used to “rescue” beans from his mum’s kitchen and give them second chance in life by planting them in the backyard. I’m sure his mum was very impressed with the early show of entrepreneurship.
Juan’s hot permie tips:
- Garden beds. Cypress is great. Pine is usually treated with arsenic that can leak into the soil.
- Sunflowers are good cleaners and can absorb some heavy metals if you’ve got an existing pine garden bed.
- Make friends with Columbians. They know how to throw a great dinner party.
It was just another inspiring example of a community initiative when kinder staff, parents and, of course, kids get together with Permablitz to complete a wonderful sustainability project and create a learning opportunity for the younger generations.
Thanks team for an amazing job!
You can check out the full gallery here. All pics taken by the talented Juan Maralunda.
