Thats What I'm Talkin' 'bout

So often I am seeing people talkin the talk - and not even crawlin the walk. I know, my self included, that the idea of being a responsible visitor on the earth is a very appealing one. But how often does this translate to transformative action? Watching a Green Peace add on TV recently which advocated bullying in the work place as a means to overcome car pollution really highlighted the hypocricy of a movement that places "peace" as their catch cry. With the Federal Election Campaign in full swing at the moment there are so many ideas and good intentions thrown around and no tangible change. Recently at my place of employment which is a very large high profile government public building, a communications committee has been established to help us to be better communicators. The first result of this meeting was a poster which highlighted all the areas which were needed in order for better communication to take place. What is more pressing in the workplace and more generally is the simple act of looking one person in the face at a time and giving them your attention. Respecting and exchanging information. Basically its back to the manners that your mother and grandmother past down to you at the kitchen table and it comes back to self respect. How does this relate to a permaculture blog? Well the place of domesticity is the vital hub - before Zone 1 there has to be a center which is the home. And before there is a home there must be a heath. There must be a person tending to the heath and that person must come from the heart in order for the flow to come from an essential place of healing and positive transformation. So yes - weed, plant, harvest and learn but remember why your doing this rather than going to the supermarket - dear lord you know it is cheaper these days but the grace of change which happens to me and the little space that I have some control over is the true blessing.

A worthwhile read on this topic:

Radical Home Makers

and closer to home:

Domestic Blitz The Age

Patrick Jones' In Trouble

CERES

I went to Ceres last Sunday to get some plants and seeds and also to check out thier permaculture design course. Some ideas that I got there included using all of our bricks to build a chimney style pot! I just loved the way it created a little landscape in the raised garden bed. Also the propagating area - the shade cloth could be done simply over any area. They have also constructed a series of green houses (well white houses actually) I saw a similar example of this structure at the Southern Cross Inst. of Permaculture with simply created with steel star pickets with plastic piping placed over the picket and stretch over (creating a rainbow) to the other picket. This makes it very easy to assemble - and dissemble and recyle the material! I think some thing of this kind will be put in the back garden beside the shed.

I have planted some artichoke seeds bought at the Ceres nursery. These are heading into the back yoga studio plot. Plans for the back include splitting the rhubarb and also I have added a Cardomon plant where the fuscia came out due to the heat - it is a real hot spot so lets see. The cardomon plant - as well as its seeds - has great leaves for wrapping fish or scallops for cooking!! It gets to three metres which is a little higher than I was hopeing but surely I can prune the top off if it gets too big. Right now it is in front of the yoga room - in between the windows.

http://www.ceres.org.au/

Front Key Hole Stage 2

Planting has began.
I am realising that this is a very sunny but also a very small little patch really. Therefore rather than fill it up with annuals I am going more for a perrenial garden bed interspersed with annuals. So far the herbs are in. I have found the sunniest and also the driest patches and made these the mediterranean corner! This is the top corner. I have planted thyme here and some New Zealand spinach and Nasturtiams. I have also replanted a dear blue berry which was struggling where it was. I have placed this at the top of the path. Along the V at the top of the path I have planted lemon grass which was in need of splitting after two years or so of no harvesting! This lemon grass wall provides a wind break and also stops the pup from running across it to get to her favourite past time of patrolling the front fence (as seen in photo two the mad white flash across the fence!). The area where the compost bin is now will be planted with tomatoes this summer and root veg next winter. I want to put some asparagus in with the lettuces and some garlic (if its not too late). The bird bath is a bit of an experiment at the moment. So far the birds are loving it and scratching around in the soil which was something I wanted to encourage with not having chookies to serve this purpose. They splash about and sprinkle a little water down below. Also their gifts of poop are full of nitrogen - not to mention unwanted seeds - but eh they are great entertainment. chen was having her bone the other day and took a leap in the direction of the bird bath - the bird didn't faulter - kept on with its morning cleanse and ignored the protest of pup who quickly went straight back to her bone.

Tools in Self-sufficiency

Last weekend lead to an impromptu lesson in

#1 How to use a chain saw!!!!
and
#2 How to split wood!

After watching the big guns give it a go - Lisa and I had a crack at it and following some encouragement from a passing neighbor who shouted out his car window "harder harder"... we had some serious success and got the wood into some great sizes for the fire.

Back Sprial Garden

Now the front key hole garden has taken shape I have focused my energies on the back spiral garden. It took shape this weekend and I was able to navigate a lot of the roses to find a path way that would give me access and at the same time nurture what is already planted.

After finishing the initial spiral I stood at the front of the garden - under the plum tree and knew already that I would be much too tempted to walk through the middle - rather than walking the full length of the spiral in order to do a little weeding or picking.

Then AHA an image dropped in ! The chokurei symbol which I had been inducted into during Reiki 1. Is is absolutely perfect for the garden. It allows a long spiral path for meditative walk and instant access to the center - or right across to the top of spiral near the olive.

I am absolutely thrilled with using this healing symbol and maintaining a functional space.

An example of a Chokurei
www.energyenhancement.org/MorePictures/chokurei.jpg

Inspiration

What a dynamic duo.
This episode of Grand Designs reminded me - take the drama away and just make it happen!!!

http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/597142

Aloysia triphylla or Lemon Verbena

It is this time of year when I am ever so grateful for having dried the Lemon Verbena leaves cut during summer to make a warm tea. I always knew of this tea's high Vitamin A content - and that it was good for the skin but wasn't aware of its anti stress and spasm qualities as well!! Aha perfect, will be tucking up on the couch with a cup soon. I am very lucky to have a neighbor who I garden for that lets me take her cuttings and am hoping my weee little verbena will take off this summer - where to put it once it is out of the pot is something that needs some thought. I have just removed a fuscia from the yoga room window perhaps the verbena can tolerate this sunny spot.

http://www.ageless.co.za/herbal-encyclopedia.htm

Kale

After being ravaged as seedlings the Kale has finally taken off!! As for the broccoli it bolted - but is now providing a nice bit of white to keep the cabbage butterfly away - although I think they've all gone for the winter!

Key Hole Garden

Well a weekend of no rain - meant getting the roses pruned and also finishing off preparations for the front key hole garden! I am determined to have produce in it by spring and the soil from the compost and piling cutting is looking great! After seeing the food forest at Southern Cross Permaculture Institute I got thinking about natural edging methods. Listening to Rick speak about the food source created by dead trees and hard cuttings I have decided to use ALL of the woody prunings that have piled up in the back garden as an edge. I am also going to use this method for the back keyhole garden also. So to make this work - I have edged the boundaries to make a ditch and cut the prunings into lengths to be stacked continuously around the circle and also around the edge of the 'keyhole' beside the pavers. This provides a use for a huge amount of waste - which would otherwise end up on the nature strip and will hopefully house helpful insects and healthy bacterias. I am yet to discover how well it will keep the weeds away - but if it is thickly stacked enough with plenty of small mixed in with large cuttings - hopefully it will work well. It will also work as a water catching mote when it rains! I am rather thrilled with this as I haven't seen it anywhere else - but like all good ideas - probably it has been done before ! Most of all it just looks lovely - like a big nest in the middle of my garden waiting for life!

This brings to mind on of my favorite artists - Andy Goldsworthy and his use of 'nesting' spaces:

http://www.rwc.uc.edu/artcomm/web/w2005_2006/maria_Goldsworthy/TEST/index.html

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2323/2051798939_ae41855034.jpg

Southern Cross Permaculture Institute

Queens Birthday weekend was spent at the Souther Cross Permaculture Institute taking the tour with Rick. It was fairly overwhelming to stand on the land - knowing that it had been flat grazing land just 16 or so years ago and that every tree planted had been done so by Rick and Naomi. The use of water as a Sun Catcher was the most impressive element that I came away with and have since been paying more attention to the reflection of water in even small things around the garden like bird baths. Photos and video to come!