Need to escape the Christmas rush?

An amazing permablitz happening at Ascot Vale Special School has just been announced! This school started its food garden earlier this year and the kids absolutely adore it! Now it is time for chickens! So get your gardening gear ready for this day as we build a chicken coop and run so the kids at the school can enjoy their lovely hens when they come back from holidays! We will also gear up this garden for the upcoming summer holidays by transforming some corrugated iron beds into wicking beds! And of course, they’ll be plenty of opportunities to get down and rip some weeds off the ground, take home cuttings from the established ornamental garden and enjoy lovely food prepared by our lovely kitchen specialist! Just email me to reserve your spot michellelab@hotmail.com or 0422567807

Sunday, 11 December 2011, 10:00am - 04:30pm

Worm Wicking Bed MiniBlitz/ Workshop
Sunday 9 October 10am-2pm*
Angela and Alex’s in Maidstone

Very limited numbers due to space
RSVP to permablitz@pow.org.au for address details

*If you’re interested in future MiniBlitzes drop us a line at permablitz@pow.org.au

Angela and Alex are hosting an impromptu MiniBlitz/ workshop at their townhouse in Maidstone this Sunday.

We will be making 2 worm wicking beds in our newly constructed raised beds, made of recycled palletts.

What’s a wicking bed? Wicking beds are the perfect way to ensure your plants have all the water they need to flourish, and really come into their own in the hot summer months when high rates of evaporation and transpiration can seriously affect plant growth rates and yields.

Wicking is a technique of creating self-watering beds that water from below rather than above, and is incredibly valuable in minimising water use and maintaining gardens over the hot summer and when you go away for holidays. We will also make small wicking bed using a recycled polystyrene broccoli box perfect for raising seedlings.

These will be worm wicking beds because the design will also include a worm farm to maintain nutrient levels in the closed system bed.

There are loads of articles on wicking beds and worm wicking beds on the internet. Here’s one of them.

Very limited numbers tho due to space. RSVP to permablitz@pow.org.au for address details.

Please bring a shovel and/or bucket if you can and a plate of food to share.

FLEMINGTON PERMABLITZ
Sunday, 30 October 2011, 10:00am - 04:00pm

Flemington share house requires help building a new permaculture garden. We will be constructing raised earth bag veggie bed’s for rotational crops, an earth oven, a straw yard and doing some spring planting. BYO gloves and shovels if you can. We also have a bee hive, so be warned if you have an allergy or phobia to the fine little creatures. Limited numbers, so please RSVP to dylan.newell@gmail.com

Saturday 13 August 2011

10.00am – 4.00pm

RSVP to Vivienne for address details

*We’ve set a cap of 40 people for this Permablitz so get in quick!

Grab your spades and gloves, get sweaty, have fun, learn lots and feel all warm and fuzzy afterwards at a fantastic community based Permablitz for Braybrook & Maidstone Neighbourhood House!

BMNH brings together residents from vast cultural and social backgrounds in their inner west location. They recently lost all of their veggie garden when their premises were renovated so we’re starting again from scratch! This permablitz will transform the backyard into a beautiful edible oasis that will provide much needed food for the users of the house, as well as a wonderfully welcoming social and educational space for future workshops and community gatherings.

This permaculture design will incorporate a mixture of ground level and raised garden beds for easy wheelchair access, plantings of perennial and annual vegetables and companion plants, a scented garden, herb spiral, productive fruit and nut orchard and dripper irrigation installed. We’ll be maximising use of vertical space by espaliering many of the fruit trees as well as including some edible vines. There will also be other interesting workshops run on the day.

Location : Braybrook & Maidstone Neighbourhood House

Contact : Vivienne’s contact details: phone 9317 5610; email vivienne2bmnh@virginbroadband.com.au

If you can please bring along a wheelbarrow, some vegie/ herb seedlings and a shovel. Public Transport: Train to Footscray Station Walk to Paisley St and take 410 bus up Ballarat Road, get off at Melon Street

http://permaculture.org.au/2011/05/13/the-grass-isnt-greener/

We’ve been getting lots of interest from folk keen to attend a Permablitz!

At this stage, there are none scheduled in the west until April. We’re doing our darndest to get more on the go before then though.

As mentioned earlier this week, for a limited time only we’re opening it up to folk who have only attended one Permablitz previously (usually it’s 3).

If you’re keen to get some ‘blitz action under your belt here are the next ones scheduled to happen so far. Sign up to the Permablitz Melbourne newsletter for the latest details for ‘blitzes happening across the Melbourne region.

If you’re interested in having a Permablitz at your place shoot an email through to permablitz@pow.org.au

Next on the Permablitz schedule:

Thornbury Blitz
Saturday, 05 March 2011, 10:00am - 04:00pm
Get in quick to RSVP for this one as there will be limited numbers!
Details on the Permablitz Melbourne website: http://www.permablitz.net/calendar/icalrepeat.detail/2011/03/05/212/14/thornbury-blitz

Altona Blitz
Sunday, 03 April 2011, 10:00am – 05:00pm
Details on the Permablitz Melbourne website: http://www.permablitz.net/calendar/icalrepeat.detail/2011/04/03/200/14/altona-blitz
Getting in early for a date next year! Mara is hosting a Permablitz on Sunday April 3rd, 2011 with the help of the amazing permaculture design team of Paul Wiragliotto and Michelle Young

On the day we’ll be working on…

Main Yard: Semicircular design, similar to a rising sun. Fruit trees arranged in a grove style planting (Jackie French is big on planting in groves; she writes about it a lot in one of her books)…Fireplace positioned to the front. Grey water utilised through mulch pits, connected with mulched  pathway. Pathways mulched with woodchips.

Western Cement Slab: Acknowledged as an unwanted heat trap. After discussion of possible solutions, such as removing it with a sledgehammer, it was decided that we span a wire trellis over the top for grapes.

Chicken Coop: Sited to the south of the garage. Include straw yard. Grow tagasaste along the fence .

Rainwater Harvest: Recycled plastic drums connected in a row to backfill. Positioned to eastern side of house. Use information from Angelo’s blog. Have them elevated for head pressure. Run as workshop.

Art: Keen to tap into the potential of those attending the blitz by providing them materials and giving them a bit of creative freedom. For example, if we were to provide ceramics from an op-shop or something, we could get people to do mosaics for the fireplace. And they could come up with their own design. or what about a wood carving for the chicken coop?

Workshops interspersed during the day… topics still to be decided but most likely: creating and cooking with a hangei, keeping chooks and chook house creation, fruit tree planting and water collection from roof, grey water collection, safety and use…

Lunch will be provided but people are welcome to bring a plate of food to share if they wish

Celebration: Cook up at the end of the day with a hangi …

sounds good hey … !!!

cheers Mara

Location : Altona (RSVP for address)
Contact : mara [at] internode [dot] on [dot] net or 9398 3103

It’s a new lunar year and POW is pumped to get Permablitzin’ again!

Don’t know what a Permablitz is? Check out some photos of a recent Permablitz in Braybrook here

Permablitzes are a one day working bee, in which an army of enthusiastic volunteers transform an average suburban backyard into a productive, low maintenance urban food forest!

Permablitzes are free events, open to the public, where you learn a lot, share food, get some exercise and have a wonderful time. See www.permablitz.net for more information.

Generally, to qualify to host a permablitz you should have come to at least three beforehand. This is both to stick to the model of reciprocity, and also so you know what you’re getting yourself in for. But we’ve had a bottleneck of people wanting to permablitz and not many blitz dates confirmed. So to get the ball rolling again, for a short time only, we’re keen to hear from people who want to host a blitz even if you’ve been to just one before… as long as you promise to come to a couple after!

Find out more about getting blitzed here

If you’re keen to know how more about Permablitzes and live in the west, drop us an email permablitz [at] pow.org.au

And check out the fabulous Permablitz Melbourne site for all the news on Permablitzes Melbourne-wide! They’re also hosting a stall at the Sustainable Living Festival:

18 – 20th Feb, 10am – 5pm
Permablitz will be sharing a stall at Birrarung Marr with our buddies Very Edible Gardens (VEG), Rick Coleman (Southern Cross Permaculture Institute) and Pete the Permie. Come down and say hi. More info on SLF.

We Need Your Help!

We are a Kitchen Garden Program at Thomas Chirnside Primary School in Werribee. We have spent most of this year building and preparing the area for a productive yield all year round, so we can learn about growing food, self sufficiency, health and cooking. We have come as the summer holidays approach (we want our garden to be set up to handle the hot and dry weather. So we are calling on anyone with a passion for food, the environment, education, permaculture or all of the above to come and spend a day with us in the sun, helping prepare the garden for the year ahead.

The Activities (at this stage) for the day are going to be:
•    Building a bathtub worm farm
•    Composting
•    Setting up an irrigation system
•    Building an arbour (climbing frames for vines)

There are many incidental lessons and rewards gained from coming to a permablitz’. It’s always an
inspiring and fun day. And…
YOU WILL BE SERVED A GOURMET LUNCH!
EMAIL ME TO HITCH A RIDE/OR OFFER CAR POOL
RSVP to hollyvkirby@gmail.com
When? SAT NOV 27 from 10am
Where? TCPS 85 Walls Rd Werribee.

Date: Saturday, 27 November 2010, 10:00am – 04:00pm

The Activities (at this stage) for the day are going to be:

1. Building an Arbour (or two) for our vines.
2. Building a worm farm bath tub (this will run as a workshop).
3. setting up some kind of irrigation system
4. Setting up some shade domes for the school holidays (summer)
5. composting horse manure
6. general gardening (propagation, planting, mulching, staking etc).

RSVP to hollypvkirby@gmail.com

Listed on the Permablitz website

ATA has partnered with the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre to conduct an eco-retrofit blitz of their rented premises in West Melbourne. We have a team of ATA members and ASRC supporters who have volunteered to help out on the day and we will be implementing energy, water, waste and garden retrofits.

We’re seeking donations of the following: mint, rosemary, sage, lemongrass, lemon balm, parsley, corriander etc

When: Sunday, 10 October, 2010
Time: 10am – 3pm
Where: 12 Batman St, West Melbourne
Refreshments: Lunch provided
RSVPrequired: Email Wendy Clarke at wendy@ata.org.au or ph:(03) 9631 5407
More information http://www.ata.org.au/news/ata-asrc-eco-retrofit-blitz/