Permaculture Out West

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Violet Town plaque

State of Design Festival at Violet Town Saturday 24th July 11am – 4pm*

Join us and see what is happening design wise in a small country town.

For less than the cost of the local produce in your lunch, come along and learn more about the changes underway through a walking tour of retrofitted community buildings, solar houses, creek revegetation, community forest and Murrong permaculture development.

Stops along the walking tour include:

The energy efficiency retrofit of a 1970s Community Complex and the Early Childhood Centre in Violet Town demonstrates a great range of appropriate strategies to improve the way this building works.

HREP is a community powered restoration and design project for the Honeysuckle Creek and environs.

The Violet Town Community Forest, planted in 2006, is designed as an example of analogue forestry, to mimic the structure and functions of natural forest, while giving amenity, habitat, and future wood product yields.

Murrnong is designed as a permaculture community subdivision, with an established tree crop agriculture to provide for residents and local community.

Timing suits V-Line timetable from Melbourne.

Cost $10 adult – $5 child (under 16) Lunch included.

Pre-register by phoning 5798 1735 or email rplandvogt@gmail.com

LOCATION: Community Complex, Cowslip Street, Violet Town
CONTACT NAME: Rob Landvogt PHONE: 5798 1735
EMAIL: rplandvogt@gmail.com
WEB: www.violettown.org.au
http://vtecoliving.blogspot.com

HOW TO MAKE PASTA

POW (permaculture out west) has organised a workshop showing us how to make pasta!

The Chef from Delizia Cucina will be showing us how to make fresh pasta. Possibly Sage and Pumpikn!

Class will cost $25 per POW members and $30 for non POW members.

Date: Sunday 25th July

Time: 10am to 12 noon

Location: Maidstone Community Centre
21 Yardley Street
Maidstone 3012

RSVP: Please email workshops@powvic.org if you would like to attend as we need to know if you are coming so we have enough ingredients!

Pasta making - Yum!

VEG’S MEET YOUR GARDEN LIFE (AND ORGANIC PEST CONTROL)
Wednesday, 09 June 2010, 6:30pm – 8:30pm

Adam from VEG has offered free participation for POW paid members to come along! THANKS ADAM! You MUST RSVP to confirm your place.

Please RSVP to adam@veryediblegardens.com to confirm your place and location of course.

What: Be introduced to the many creatures that inhabit your garden, from wondrous soil microbes, to problem and beneficial insects, and beyond. Learn about the life of your soil and how to care for it. How do we invite in the good insects and other natural predators so we can garden without sprays? We’ve collected some spectacular footage from our own gardens to make this course a visual feast. We’ll help you turn your backyard into a balanced ecosystem

Where: Yarraville Community Centre. 114 Blackwood St., Yarraville (5 minute walk from Yarraville train station – on the Werribee or Williamstown lines)

Cost: $30/$25concession (Attend all 5 Yarraville Community Centre courses for $120)

Info: http://www.veryediblegardens.com/vegucation

HP A4 Fact Sheet_Banksia

Here is an invitation to attend the VicHealth Making a Difference – Food for All forum in Melbourne on the 25th June. The forum focuses on food security and will highlight the outcomes and key learnings of the five year Food for All program.

FFA Forum_Flyer_FINAL_11 05 2010_
Registration form for 25 June forum

Update. June 2010

Join us for … No Impact!

No Impact Man, screening at our next ‘Meal & Movie’ night, on Thursday 10th June, Yarraville.

No more automated transportation, no more electricity, no more non-local food, no more material consumption… no problem. Author Colin Beavan, a newly self-proclaimed environmentalist makes a vow to make as little environmental impact as possible for one year. And drags his espresso-guzzling, retail-worshipping wife Michelle and their two year-old daughter along for the ride.

>> dinner 6.30 – 7.30pm – byo ‘food and thoughts’ to share >> movie 8pm – 10.30pm.
>> RSVP nick@ethical.org.au or 0417 114 492

Upcoming nights – 8th July – screening The End of the Line, focus on fish and seafood choices
- 12th August – screening Michael Moore’s Capitalism – A Love Story
>>More about Meal & Movie nights

News …

Greenpeace Kit-Kat campaign is successful as Nestlé commits to stop using products that come from rainforest destruction. Nestlé new policy commits to identify and exclude companies from its supply chain that own or manage ‘high risk plantations or farms linked to deforestation’. This applys to supplier Sinar Mas, notorius for forest destruction, and also have implications for Cargill.

Over 1,5 million people have watched their ‘Have a break?’ Kit Kat ad spoof and over 300.000 people sent e-mails directly to Nestlé.
Find out more.

Researching behind a T …

One kilogram of cotton, a fabric used in 40% of textiles, needs 11,000 litres of water to grow produce and dye. The water footprint of 1 cotton T-shirt is about 2,700 litres. www.waterfootprint.org

Of all insecticides used globally each year, the estimated amount used on traditional cotton is 25%. Five of the top nine pesticides used on cotton in the U.S. (cyanide, dicofol, naled, propargite, and trifluralin) are known cancer-causing chemicals. www.ecochoices.com/1/cotton_statistics.html

Sweatshops, subsidies, pesticides, child labour… Are you interested to know more about the stories behind your clothes? We are!

We’ll be putting together our 2011 print guide shortly which will focus on clothing. We’re looking for people to help with research on the issues connected to clothing (see a snapshot here) , as well as the companies behind the big brands. If you’d like to be involved, contact Nick at nick@ethical.org.au

New trends in Transparency …

When you buy clothes from New Zealand’s Icebreaker, the world’s largest producer of merino wool outerwear, there’s a code on the label. Enter the “baa code” – on the company’s website and you can find out which farmers grew the wool that went into your sweater, jacket or long underwear. You’ll meet farmers, see what life is like on a sheep station in New Zealand’s Southern Alps, or watch videos that take you to factories in Shanghai, China, where the wool is cleaned, spun and made into sportswear and undergarments.

Some great resources …

Want to know what to plant when? Check out www.gardenate.com
(In June it’s Broad beans, Cabbage, Garlic, Kale, Lettuce, Mustard greens, Onion/Shallots, Peas).

Are you looking to shop locally and reduce your transport footprint?
Find your closest eco-friendly products on The Saved Planet enviro directory, which groups listing according to location www.thesavedplanet.com.au
Upcoming workshops …

Friday 4th June, 12pm & 1pm >>Maribrynong Green Lunch-box supermarket tour
Friday June 4, 5-8pm >> Tasy Choices – Sustainable food, St Kilda Town Hall
Saturday June 5, 9.30am -12noon >> Farmers market tour & workshop, Port Philip
Thursday 29 June, 6pm – 8.30pm >> Public workshop & Supermarket tour,Footscray
Saturday 21st August, 10am- 12.30pm >> Knox Library Supermarket tour, Knox City

Register online here . (download full text list here).

World Environment Day – 5th June

It amazes me that we can have one special day a year to acknowledge the environment.
“If human life is to survive on this planet, the old dualistic worldview, with people on one side and the environment on the other, must yield to a new vision that connects us with everything else and leads us to care for and take responsibility for it.” – Huston Smith

I encourage you to take time on the day to reflect on this connection and what it may mean to the way we choose to live. (See some events being run over the weekend: Melbourne Canberra Brisbane Sydney ).

Get the Guide! – pocket guide, iphone app, hemp bags – www.ethical.org.au/orders
See news and print guide updates at www.ethical.org.au/news
Find out what’s being Twittered at http://twitter.com/ethicalshopper
To view this newsletter online go to www.ethical.org.au/newsletters/jun2010.htm

For those who couldn’t make it to the big launch on Thursday night for the Werribee Park Community Heritage Orchard (as well as those who could make it), we are holding a special sneak-preview Open Day and Tour at the orchard this Sunday at 2:00 PM.  Come and see what all the fuss is about: You won’t be disappointed!  Even if it’s raining, bring a brolly: It’s definitely worth it.

Take the freeway out to the Duncans Rd exit and proceed down K-Road, Werribee South, to meet at 2:00 PM at Gate 5 (same entrance as the Shadow Fax Winery), and drive through to the car park next to the Pavilion. From there, we’ll walk down to the orchard.

Kids and their families are very welcome (watch out for the river if you have toddlers).

The security gate will only be manned for about 15 minutes, so be on time or be prepared for a slightly longer walk.

Invitation to Heritage orchard launch

The Western Alliance for Greenhouse Action (WAGA) and Brimbank City Council  have launched an exciting new competition for Brimbank residents which aims to recognise and reward the great work of Brimbank residents for the most innovative and creative ideas that make a sustainable  home.

Entries will be judged according to a number of categories including:

• Most creative sustainable renovation or retrofit
• Best reuse of materials that would otherwise end up in landfill
• The most innovative & effective water or energy saving invention or design
• Additional prize for an outstanding applicant from a newly arrived community group

For further information and to register see attached flyer and entry form

or visit www.envirogroup.com.au/sustainablesuburbs,

Participants have the opportunity to win great prizes that include:

1st Prize: $1000 EnviroShop Voucher

2nd Prize: City West Water Hamper valued at $400

3rd & 4th Prize: $100 Ladybird Organic voucher and $50 Iramoo nursery voucher

SEE FOR ALL DETAILS http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/22/2852292.htm?site=news

By Brigid Andersen

Updated Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:27am AEDT

Veg Out’s one-acre block now caters for up to 700 families, individuals and community groups. (www.vegout.asn.au)

RELATED STORY: Buy local, sink the export industry: researcher
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RELATED LINK: Follow Hunger Pains on Twitter
If you’re thinking of starting a community garden, gather a big group of people and get ready to work hard, both on and off the land.

That’s the advice of Rob Taylor, president of Veg Out community garden in Melbourne.

Conceived following the closure of St Kilda Bowls Club in 1998, Veg Out’s one-acre block now caters for up to 700 families, individuals and community groups.

It has become a model for community gardens all over Australia.

Mr Taylor says local governments are often opposed to community gardens and it can take a lot of work to get plans for such projects approved.

He says the first step to getting approval for a garden is to get a community group together.

“What they need to do is get a lot of people involved and they need to go and look at other community gardens, have a barbecue, have a beer, get a big group of people together, then start approaching local council and stuff like that,” he said.

“You can just disappear into a mindless morass of bureaucracy. Planning processes just go on for years and years and years.”

He says parklands, vacant blocks and land owned by businesses can all be used to grow fruit and vegetables.

But he warns that a lot of work goes into maintaining a community garden.

“You’ve got to use your garden, it can’t be some abstract concept or a fashion accessory. It’s a garden and you’ve got to grow stuff,” he said.

“Stuff grows for a few months, then it needs to be pulled out and replaced. The soil needs to be built up and garden edges need to be built up and you need to harvest water. It just goes on and on.”

He says understanding the seasonality of produce is key to ensuring a decent harvest.

“Obviously you need to time it so there’s no gap between seasons where you’ve got [no produce] coming out. I mean you won’t be getting any basil in winter, but if you can deal with that trauma you should be alright.”

He says people easily feed themselves from their gardens at Veg Out.

“You look at a city like Melbourne or Sydney – I don’t know if you’re going to grow enough food in community gardens to feed all the people, but what you do is you become like a beacon and we get people all the time. They go: ‘Oh that’s how you grow that. What about the soil? How do I build these raised beds?’,” he said.

“We put in solar power and water tanks and all this stuff and people are always coming down and asking questions or taking photos.”

Mr Taylor says many people are realising the benefits of growing food in the city.

“There’s all kinds of health benefits that aren’t necessarily just about food. There’s social benefits of people getting together and there’s certainly the food benefits,” he said.

Mr Taylor says Veg Out has also been a boon for local community groups, which have reaped about $150,000 from the garden’s fund-raising activities.

“We have all these other events, like Christmas carols, or Carrots by Candlelight we call it,” he said.

“We run a farmers market. We have 50 or 60 stalls, farmers from all over Victoria, once a month and we get thousands of people at that.

“So that gives us an income. And we support all these other groups in the community from schools to lifesaving clubs.”