Permablitz #196 Brunswick – the follow-up!
Well thankfully the permabee follow up to Lenka and Fergus’s rain-washed, mud encrusted, cheer-filled permablitz a few weeks ago, was perfectly dry. If rather cold and grey.
It was amazing to see how much lighter and more open the backyard looked after Alexander’s assault on that pesky privet, and how well the alternative lawn was settling in.
How good does that alternative lawn look?
Our main goals for the day were to secure the clothes line in its new position, continue running the greywater system to the back of the yard and test it out, plant out the fruit trees and complete the wicking bed. Enthusiasm was high. Higher, fortunately, than the big pile of soil which sat exactly where the fruit trees where destined to go, and squarely in the way of goals one and two.
Whilst this was being shifted, two of us got to work on the wicking bed, sieving scoria from dirt so as not to have the water reservoir turn into a mud reservoir and potentially clog both inlet pipe and drain.
Also, it turned out, a good way to warm up. By the time we were ready to lay the geo-textile fabric and add water, the soil had been shifted into the chook pen, giving Desert an elevated platform from which to view proceedings, the grey water system was almost complete and the fruit trees had been transplanted into large pots, which were then themselves planted into holes in the ground. The benefits of this were to allow easy watering using the grey-water system, better insulate the trees’ roots from the extremes of temperature, but perhaps most importantly to make it much easier for Lenka and Fergus to take them along when they make their next move.
Over coffee and cake, Alexander requested that a load of washing be put on… Eyes promptly turned to the grey water outlets, and Fergus continued his work with the clothesline with even more urgency.
For some, the anticipation was kept at bay by focusing on filling the wicking bed with soil and compost, and watching happily as the water in the overflow pipe dropped a millimetre, then two as the wicking action commenced.
Finally there was the faint sound of water bubbling out of the first grey-water outlet at the roots of the Japanese maple. Whoo-hoo! Then the grape vine… and after a small amount of adjusting valves, all the way back to the orchard. SUCCESS!
Imagine looking out to this every day!
No-one actually did break into dance. But we could have!
It’s the Team Supreme! Leva, Alexander and Brooke celebrate a design well done
To see more images of the day, check out the full gallery here!
