Permaculture Out West

Archive for March, 2010

This coming Tuesday, Council will decide on our proposal to save from sale the old Maidstone community hall site in Thompson St. Please come and show your support. Tuesday 16th March, 7pm Council chamber, corner Hyde and Napier Sts. There will be opportunity to ask councillors questions at the beginning of the meeting, so please be on time and bring a pertinent question.

The agenda for the meeting, including the officer’s recommendation to council can be viewed from Friday 12th March at www.maribyrnong.vic.gov.au. Councillor’s email addresses can also be found on the Council website. They’d love to hear your thoughts on the officer’s report when it is published.

Details of our submission can be found here.

Want a bigger garden?

Or a chance to share seeds, cuttings, seedlings and ideas?

A group of people are interested in starting a Community Garden and want to hear from others in the Avondale Heights area who might want to dig in!

Following the success of the Keilor East garden allotments – in Tuppall Reserve (see Melway 15 E9 home.vicnet.net.au/~eksscg) – the time is ripe for a similar scheme in Avondale Heights.

Possible locations could be in the communal – but largely unused – open spaces behind Ridge and Glamis drives; Arcade Way and Rimcross /River drives, or behind Park and Prospect drives.

What do you think?

Come along and have your say – good or bad – at a public meeting on Thursday, March 18, from 7.30pm at Milleara Primary School GP room, off Glamis Drive, Avondale Heights.

Contact Ann – annstevens@optusnet.com.au

One our POW members made a startling discovery on the weekend….have a look at what’s in the chook’s beak…is that….no, it couldn’t be…

Some of that dinosaur ancestry still lurks deep in the brain of the chicken.

On a more serious note, chickens are omnivores. They do eat bugs and insects, and if the opportunity presents itself, other animals. Eating mice is not an unusual occurrence. They peck it death and then usually swallow it whole.

FRESH SAUSAGE MAKING
with Sausages Made Simple
Tuesday 23 March 2010
6.30PM—9.00PM
$99/$88 CERES member/concession
Location: CERES Eco House
Learn the wonderful secrets of sausage making by taking part in this informative and fun workshop run by SAUSAGES MADE SIMPLE. You will learn how to make fresh sausages using a traditional Italian method. Two recipes are presented and allow for hands-on participation. The made sausages are cooked during the course and are available for tasting.

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO HOME ENERGY SAVING
with Trevor Plumridge
Wednesday 17 March 2010
6.00PM—9.00PM
$66/$55 CERES member/concession
Location: CERES ATA Building
This is an introductory workshop for renters and homeowners and includes answers to those tricky questions, like “What is energy?” What am I REALLY using? and “How do I make a positive change to reduce my impact on the planet AND reduce my energy bills?” This workshop covers the basics for doing your own home energy audit and provides tips and techniques for personal and household energy use reduction.

Tackling Climate Change with Behaviour Change
Community Symposium
Thursday 18 March
5-8pm
CERES Education Centre, corner Stewart and Roberts Streets, East Brunswick
CERES is on a campaign to reduce our carbon emissions to zero by 2012. As part of our efforts CERES is holding Tackling Climate Change with Behaviour Change
Find out what works, what doesn’t work. Expert presenters share their experiences of changing behaviour to achieve greater sustainability.
Keynote Speaker Caitlin Scott, Senior Consultant with Sinclair Knight Merz discusses her recent research into sustainability-focused behaviour change. Other speakers cover behaviour change programs including:
Sustainability Street
Castlemaine 500
Transition Towns
Zero Carbon Moreland
The Symposium will conclude with a Q & A Panel and open mike session. It is intended for sustainability focused behaviour change practitioners and anyone else who is interested in engaging individuals in climate change. Also a great opportunity to network, talk to presenters and other participants.
Cost: $15 per head. Refreshments Provided. Bookings essential
Bookings and more information phone 9387 2609 or email david@ceres.org.au
or go to go to www.ceres.org.au/zecbehaviourchange

Growers and Eaters Forum

Monday 19^th April 2010

South Gippsland

Presented by Slow Food Melbourne

and community partners

with special guest Carbon for Life founder, Dr Christine Jones

TIME: 9am-5pm

LOCATION: Masonic Hall, Korumburra

COST: $25 Full/$15 Concession – delicious lunch & refreshments incl.

“Eating is an agricultural act.”

– Wendell Berry, farmer, philosopher and writer

Please join us at the 2^nd Growers and Eaters forum as we come together to discuss what the connection between farming and eating means for the vitality of our communities.

The purpose of the Eaters and Growers forum is to explore what makes for a truly local food system, to celebrate the farmers who grow our food and to inspire a deeper understanding for those who eat it!  In this one-day forum, we will have the opportunity to:

• · hear about Community Supported Agriculture and other alternative models for food production and distribution that not only feed people good food, but strengthen and enliven local communities.
• · explore convivial spaces and community food projects such as community kitchens, farmers markets, community gardens and school gardens.
• · learn about why our lives and livelihoods are dependent on healthy, living soils and hear from people who are changing how we grow, cook and distribute food in Australia.
• · delve into some big questions about food – Are we legislating against a diverse agricultural future?   What does it mean to eat locally?  How can we create food systems that are Good, Clean and Fair?

Speakers and other details coming soon…

Places are limited.  Hope to see you there!

For more details contact Peta Christensen 0411899618 peta@cultivatingcommunity.org.au or

Kelly Donati 0402 081 832 kdonati@internode.on.net

Message from Katerina

Apologies for not getting the news to you sooner – yesterday was such a big catch up day after all my efforts being put in to last minute campaigning on the hall.

For those of you who did not hear, Council voted unanimously NOT to sell the old Maidstone Community Hall site until they have thoroughly investigated ways of holding onto the land and making it economically viable and a place of community engagement. Council noted this could take years, but they will not rush the process. Councillor Carter was chairing the meeting and as such, was not supposed to speak. However, she made a point of standing anyway to note that she had been particularly impressed with POW’s submission and articulate presentation of the arguments. She was clearly moved by the community spirit demonstrated by our submission and campaign and is excited about working with us in future.

This is a fantastic result for POW. Whether or not Council offers us involvement in the rejuvination of the Maidstone Hall site, we are thrilled. Our objective with our proposal was primarily to keep the site in public hands. The market garden was secondary to this objective. However, given council’s positive response to our group, I am sure that eventually Council will support is in such a project, whether on this site or another.

It should be noted, however. That decision does not save the site forever. Should council not be able to find a viable community project for this site, it has not ruled out selling the land in future. I, therefore, urge all of you who are residents of the Maidstone and nearby areas to let council know you are interested in being involved in any future plans for the site. It is important that whatever happens on this site a) is viable and b) engages the community. So please keep an eye on it and take any opportunity you can get to be involved. We will keep you posted about any further developments.

In the meantime, thank you to everybody involved in the campaign, especially those who wrote letters and turned up to the Council meeting. Thank you for the all the personal emails of support people sent me and thank you to Nina who instigated the campaign in the first place.

Well done everybody!

Living Museum West is launching the Triennial Arts Program with its eight member

Artist Run Initiatives under the banner of Memorybyrnong Artist Republic, this Sunday, 21 March 2010 from 2.00pm till late.

Pipemakers Park Maribyrnong will be enlivened from 2.00pm in the afternoon into the evening with works produced on site under the theme of sustainability.

“The Republic Project presents ‘now’ works by cultural practices on the technological traditions, the people and places and natural and cultural heritage environments in Melbourne’s West”, said Dr Srebrenka Kunek, Creative Director.

Future Arts Research are launching Tequinox as part of their quarterly artist gathering with installations made from discarded materials represented as sculptural works, metal represented as human form and sonic sound installations wrapped in wool.

Maribyrnong River Edge Art Movement present The River - visual art works which comment on the Maribyrnong River through mixed media and painterly works.

Mutoid Waste Company Robin Cook’s giant works of technical and pyrotechnical vavoom – is Artist in Residence assembling the Earth Dream Container 2000-2012.

Permacouture with the motto “recycle, rejuvenate and reinvent” through food and fashion presents works pieced together from discarded materials and food from public places.

Airgineering is about, “incorporating bio-structural design principles within air filled creatures”, said Felipe Reynolds who works with Ed Boyle to present his forms with human movement.

The T7Project focuses on a Men’s Shed and the industrial heritage of the site. David Wakefield aims to reintroduce local people to the construction of garden sculpture and machinery conservation work at the Park.

Spill Collective Ella Harvey, Alison Wiltshire and Chloe Boreham are producing physical theatre pieces on the site commenting of the built and natural landscape.

“It’s Melbourne’s one and only sustainable recording studio”, says Marc Peckham aka Monkeymarc – Monkeymarc Solar Sound Studio is presenting works produced in the solar and wind powered self made premises. Beat Brokers -djs – Matt and Hannah, who are also working on Birthing Woman, are also joining the LMW team.

Chainsaw Chix have a presence as Angie Polglaze plans for Artistree 2011 where she has invited chainsaw artists from a number of countries to join her to produce works of timber art at LMW Pipemakers Park.

Pump House Theatre in association with Anne Harris filmmaker and with VU are producing site specific works. Films West with Lunabella, Marko and Karol are gathering local moving and still image buffs to join their group. Reverse Rubbidge and Schomozzle are in the process of starting children’s puppetry workshops making puppets from recycled useful rubbish. And, much, much more.

Come along to the inaugural POW garage sale being held today at 180 Pilgrim Street, Seddon. There’s books, clothes, toys, bar fridges and lots, lots more.

10% of the proceeds will be donated to a local charity.

Click here for map