The film will be shown in the meeting room behind the Coburg Library at 3pm on Sunday the 26th Feb. (entry via the mall)
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Free Screening - The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil - Sun 26th (Transition Coburg)
The film will be shown in the meeting room behind the Coburg Library at 3pm on Sunday the 26th Feb. (entry via the mall)
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Community + Food + Forest: Help plan a food forest for Darebin (25th Feb)
A Sustainable Living Festival local event |
With a push within the Darebin Environmental Community for a Food Forest to complement the Northcote Library Food Garden, interested locals and others are invited to join a discussion and site visit to plan for an approach to Council.
When: 25 Februray 2012, 3 to 4.30pm (2.30pm for registration and tour for 3pm to start)
Where: Northcote Library Food garden, 32-38 Separation St, Northcote.
Afternoon tea provided.
There will be a maximum of 30 people so please RSVP by Email : deepgreenpermaculture@gmail.com
or contact John on 0449 508 318 or Charlie on 0403216252 for further information.
Collaborative Groups: Heritage Fruit Society, Transition Darebin, Permaculture Inner North, Friends of Herring Island, Deep Green Permaculture
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Imagine if our street trees gave us food... Grafting guerrillas make street trees productive on the sly
- They provide habitat.
- They clean and cool the air and provide shade.
- They make our city easier on the eye.
- They add character.
It's challenging to secure land for more traditional urban agriculture projects like community gardens but imagine if even 10% of our street trees produced food...
The Guerrilla Grafters of San Francisco decided if they couldn't get their council to plant productive trees, they could make them productive anyway (the even came up with ways to placate the council).
"[They]graft fruit bearing branches onto non-fruit bearing, ornamental fruit trees. Over time, delicious, nutritious fruit is made available to urban residents through these grafts. [Their] web application helps grafters to find graftable trees, to track how grafts are doing, and helps to facilitate gleaning of fruit."Check out this video about their work and ponder the possibilities for food security and food miles and imagine how cool it would be to grab a couple of apples off a tree on the footpath to take to work with you each day or to put in your kids' lunch box.
How can we get more productive trees in our streets?
Monday, February 20, 2012
Hot Diggity!! Luscombe St Community Garden fundraiser - Sunday 26th 12-8pm (Brunswick)
Incorporating Disability Access and Therapeutic Spaces in Permaculture Design
Ilma Lever Gardens garden designed for wheelchair access
When working in various gardens for community usage I found we often needed to consider access for gardeners of a range of abilities without compromising the overall function of the design. I want to outline some things I have found useful to make spaces disability-friendly whilst also maintaining the permaculture principles of multiple use values and productive landscapes. Access issues you may need to consider include wheelchair movement, limited bending, blindness, unstable gait from stroke or acquired brain injury.
Many permaculture systems are beneficial as they already aim to reduce the amount of physical labour e.g. no dig, animals doing the work for you, zoning, etc. So here I will focus on more specific elements.
Access
Have wide, even paths for a section of the garden with plants that do not overhang too much. Soft plants that hang a little over the edges are excellent as they add to the sensory experience. Espaliered fruit trees and arbours for vines or beans etc. make good use of space. These paths do require a higher energy input to be made wider and level so consider using them as heat traps or shade tunnels.
Wide gate on the chicken yard for easy access
The full article by Elspeth Brock covers appropriate tools, sensory garden design, raised beds and therapeutic gardens, to read it go to the Permaculture Research Institute website.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Looking to swap shuffle and share with your neighbouring food gardeners? Here's How.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
PepperTree Place open garden event Sat 18th and Sun 19th (Coburg)
A first for this unique community greenspace, the Open Gardens Australia event will showcase the edible landscape of PepperTree Place on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th February, 10am – 4:30pm.
Take a closer look at ways to “grow your own” at home while exploring the unique story of a garden steeped in history. Fun and friendly guided tours for adults or kids throughout the day, garden fresh lunches and quality baked goods from the Cafe Cooperative social enterprise, and quality plants on sale at the PepperTree Community Nursery.
Garden tour info:
- Sat 11am: People, Plants and Place with Steven Wells, Horticultural Therapist and Landscape Designer
- Sat 10:30am: Bugs Alive (for Kids) with Lizzie Bickmore, Family Gardening specialist.
- Sat and Sun: PepperTree Place; Past, Present and Future with Sustainable Garden expert Diana Cotter
This beautiful and productive urban landscape provides living examples of innovative, creative (and sometimes down-right-old-fashioned) ways of growing food organically. Each garden space and community initiative is managed with environmentally sustainable principles in mind and with the aim of being a practical learning tool for the individuals, families and community groups who access the space.
For further information please contact:
Claire Hetzel on 0431 494 773, chetzel(at)kildonan.org.au
Gunyah edible garden, open over this weekend in Coburg
Australia’s Open Garden Scheme
Sat 18th & Sun 19th February 2012 -10:00am to 4:30pm
Gunyah – 22 Lochinvar St., Pascoe Vale
(thanks to SGA for this text)
Gunyah, the aboriginal word for ‘resting place’, is both an affirmation and a contradiction when applied to this wonderful garden hidden away in a secluded street in Pascoe Vale. Passerbys looking over the front fence, see a beautiful cottage garden typical of this quiet and picturesque street. And as its name suggests, Gunyah does provide plenty of cool restful spots to escape this summer’s heat. But as you enter the garden and meet Karen Sutherland, the vibrant and passionate owner of the garden, you quickly realise that you are in a very special place with surprises around every turn of its meandering paths.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Food Swap: Inner North Urban Harvest - Saturday 18th Feb (Coburg)
Contact: 0430586500 or ekeogh(at)hotmail.com or aliciahooper(at)hotmail.com
Check out our Food Swaps page for more info on where you can find a food swap near you and for general info on food swaps.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Investigating: Sickly Citrus - using leaf colour to identify trace element deficiencies
While my lime and orange trees have dark green foliage, my Eureka Lemon leaves have been a sickly, uneven green despite nesting in deep, damp loam and receiving some modest applications of complete trace element powder and decomposing sugar cane mulch over time.
It would be nice if nature had colour-coded deficiencies in the major plant nutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium) in the color of foliage, however it is not so simple.
Edible Gardens Tours - Bellfield/Heidelberg West, Heidelberg, Watsonia, Montmorency (Saturday 11th Feb)
Urban Farming by donkeycart on Flickr |
Transition Banyule are offering you a Banyule Edible Garden Tour on Saturday 11 February, as part of the Sustainable Living Festival.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Sharing Abundance in Moreland - bringing together those who grow, those who pick and those who...eat

Read on to find out how to register.