tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38681552946425373172024-02-19T21:02:56.069+11:00pitchfork projectsA blog about projects to do with permaculture, education and growing food.Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-41722642524693557092011-01-11T11:26:00.000+11:002011-01-11T11:26:18.655+11:00Rainfall 2010The first rainfall of 2011 has prompted me to add up the rainfall for 2010. We only started recording rainfall in March, 2010 and our records have already trumped previous years. 971 mm has fallen on our property in the last 10 months. In 2009, the annual rainfall at the nearest weather station was just over 500mm. We've had almost double the rain last year as in previous years. I've had quite a bit of fun over at the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/">Bureau of meteorology</a> looking at their graphs of climate data. I'm very glad we got our new roof on just before those big spikes in November. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovH4mcx3lOVTJi8aCJHiCdrNSegt3If1HKrwG6mqz2aLO274Gru3ZBSxRUSZ6uDUEkdTDAG87CEF8DQVS7Tw-v_kVEoyAoh89a2-q23BUK88uyQeEZN6f49936-Sf_Yn5cudmTvyslWg/s1600/climatedata.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovH4mcx3lOVTJi8aCJHiCdrNSegt3If1HKrwG6mqz2aLO274Gru3ZBSxRUSZ6uDUEkdTDAG87CEF8DQVS7Tw-v_kVEoyAoh89a2-q23BUK88uyQeEZN6f49936-Sf_Yn5cudmTvyslWg/s640/climatedata.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
Our swales have been almost constantly full since we dug them in late March, drying up for the first time three weeks ago. Have you ever seen such green grass in an Australian summer?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-uvpP_fvFX1VnFvkioD7wxkVh3Ewed0HVFrcfdPYiI0RylxE-KdMCltPf-KcFkimVRNCf93lR66bVjEWm_1JjWF4G_BJsHL8a4KIPqG8JikDsBbzDT8nmLOW3QfzyjgCu6UHaTN8tWVQ/s1600/minisheds-tiltshift.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-uvpP_fvFX1VnFvkioD7wxkVh3Ewed0HVFrcfdPYiI0RylxE-KdMCltPf-KcFkimVRNCf93lR66bVjEWm_1JjWF4G_BJsHL8a4KIPqG8JikDsBbzDT8nmLOW3QfzyjgCu6UHaTN8tWVQ/s640/minisheds-tiltshift.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing with <a href="http://tiltshiftmaker.com/">tilt-shift generators</a> to make our place look mini.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>There's been no rain around here since before Christmas and a run of hot days have seen everything drying out very quickly, except the soil in our orchard below the swale, which is still moist. Looks like the swales are doing what we'd hoped - the fruit trees are looking very healthy. 30mm in the last two days and everything is full of water again. Nothing like a storm to take the edge off summer.Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-46021149640062288412011-01-06T12:25:00.000+11:002011-01-06T12:25:27.492+11:00Food resolutions and a new year linkfestI began this post as a quick new year linkarama to some of the great online holiday reading I've been indulging in and some quick thoughts on food resolutions, inspired by <a href="http://www.good.is/post/good-s-2011-food-resolutions/">this slideshow</a>. The post quickly grew into a congolmeration of several current thoughts and inspirations about food. Surely this is a testament to my love of food growing and eating. Food: what's not to get excited about?<br />
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</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The cumulative result of the last decade of food resolutions has resulted in some changed eating habits for the better. There are more vegetables in my diet (particularly raw ones), less sugar, less fried food, and I've made it a habit to reach for the healthy takeaway option most of the time. I plan well, when I can, and recognise the situations that see me sliding back into food choices that do no favours for my waistline. So for, 2011, I've made a list of food resolutions that are practical, diverse, and dare I say exciting. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">1. Design a food uniform for stressed, sad and sick times. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhClrzVImwUL3IkweyrioHp7Zag_C_X6BX_eEYdhwkAF_cfgPKONsSMR-XhyphenhyphenDW1vi-xKFaKkt3HU91kP2t6U0Za7xUTGzRxlKNjrca6LRkRK-_eFvlwHWl-J__PC-smEOlu94dOP9pRfdc/s1600/vegemite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhClrzVImwUL3IkweyrioHp7Zag_C_X6BX_eEYdhwkAF_cfgPKONsSMR-XhyphenhyphenDW1vi-xKFaKkt3HU91kP2t6U0Za7xUTGzRxlKNjrca6LRkRK-_eFvlwHWl-J__PC-smEOlu94dOP9pRfdc/s200/vegemite.jpg" width="150" /></a>I like the idea of creating a clothes <a href="http://www.danyelle.org/2010/11/fiftyrx3-redoing-the-math.html">uniform</a> for oneself. A basic wardrobe of 20 or so items that suits your clothing needs and lifestyle and helps to keep spontaneous clothes consumption under control. One of the things I love about travelling is only having a few clothes to choose from. I want to apply this thinking to comfort food. When I apply time and thought to what I eat and cook, all the people in my house eat really well. When I am out of time and preoccupied I eat vegemite on toast and chocolate, two reliable and ubiquitous comfort foods. In 2011, I resolve to create a nutritious, easily prepared comfort food for hard times.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-Ygj9G7pvoJNQTb7JguqkI7jGkVRtCMjrDgneQHvgb2P-LTrVzr2Q2uDD5CcTzoShVCMy9roFWVOxob-Y6LY_ymZscVcIj1PLyPUkr_RGDCiA5ix7kQwHBZwEvVRlX9LzBU2uXnJsqE/s1600/eggs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-Ygj9G7pvoJNQTb7JguqkI7jGkVRtCMjrDgneQHvgb2P-LTrVzr2Q2uDD5CcTzoShVCMy9roFWVOxob-Y6LY_ymZscVcIj1PLyPUkr_RGDCiA5ix7kQwHBZwEvVRlX9LzBU2uXnJsqE/s200/eggs.jpg" width="200" /></a>2. Find more things to do with eggs.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I have chickens, who lay more eggs than I can eat for breakfast each day. This year I perfected the parsnip frittata. I have a hunch there is a secret to food texture that involves the structural magic of parts of the egg. In 2011, I resolve to do more things with whole eggs, yolks and whites.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH5j47arPBan5j3OGNrXJLFJKkoZTb2SqXZ7VXRvBMcTKAdnbGilCmFDecxEFcPoFbYpNyROFJbkXK-gx3_xMXVcQdzxeOxTC4sWM8kabqkXsUELQkhnd9TOwjuBdcXqYaejT4I5k1L-4/s1600/minipaddock-tiltshift.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH5j47arPBan5j3OGNrXJLFJKkoZTb2SqXZ7VXRvBMcTKAdnbGilCmFDecxEFcPoFbYpNyROFJbkXK-gx3_xMXVcQdzxeOxTC4sWM8kabqkXsUELQkhnd9TOwjuBdcXqYaejT4I5k1L-4/s200/minipaddock-tiltshift.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
3. Create food theatre</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I usually cook for two people and on a nightly basis we revel in flavours and textures. Theatre, with taste and smell added is <a href="http://www.roundangle.com.au/comments.htm">an experience that defies description</a>. I would like to train my tastebuds, <a href="http://www.ediblegeography.com/the-dessert-crisis/">with or without blindfold.</a> The best food experiences involve <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/12/FD1F26JG.DTL">a sense of theatre</a>. Sometimes it verges on the pretentious, but food should be fun and creative. In 2011, I resolve to create food theatre for a crowd of people, cooking them a meal to remember to be served in our paddock. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">4. Celebrate food carts<br />
Last year's travels in India spoiled me with street food, ingenuity and creative reuse. A Jaipur meal of Indian mashed potato patties and baked beans will stay in my memory a long time. So much simple joy from a Saffron lassi served in a disposable ceramic mug. Bowls made of leaves and magazine bags for the deep fried edibles. A hand-pulled cart laden with fresh bread in an empty street in the early morning hours. In 2011, I resolve to explore the concept of the mobile food cart and creative packaging at local markets.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjde4tukTVdNSurDbK_d1yifNEBHKM8ZiAc3tQe8QqRKT7ErOAiSb7LB08xty8eF4WSGEET_iqkmucIsSplgA0HeRQEt-qIAg_2pm2SNowuzmYZPt66PR-ptBdn2ymb_u9zKQXv2Ad-S0U/s1600/leafbowl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6GHAi0TssKWivKNNaey6bMKjSuuJWA7MS6b_1f1Q-I3td284c2lnr2CxKNxMrk8HIvAaMA2cfSjzgl3yFuraZUHrfGZB19XeQGrU6nQ78LOaOv0TXq5FH6J8MFBuVOXqsyS-co2R04s/s1600/saffronlassi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6GHAi0TssKWivKNNaey6bMKjSuuJWA7MS6b_1f1Q-I3td284c2lnr2CxKNxMrk8HIvAaMA2cfSjzgl3yFuraZUHrfGZB19XeQGrU6nQ78LOaOv0TXq5FH6J8MFBuVOXqsyS-co2R04s/s320/saffronlassi.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjde4tukTVdNSurDbK_d1yifNEBHKM8ZiAc3tQe8QqRKT7ErOAiSb7LB08xty8eF4WSGEET_iqkmucIsSplgA0HeRQEt-qIAg_2pm2SNowuzmYZPt66PR-ptBdn2ymb_u9zKQXv2Ad-S0U/s320/leafbowl.jpg" width="320" /></div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3IGmieoI3G0W8quyhCvEz0ETToL0HACXPTiIvd1G0VbvcLCaUZHsVxyc0vPFh9_YxS2-rE_RAOUZGZkElrPrJ6bduvNyLQ_7mbAnp1om2DqWC6eO7krfR2y5S08oom5H60lABePNEeOI/s1600/georgiegoat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3IGmieoI3G0W8quyhCvEz0ETToL0HACXPTiIvd1G0VbvcLCaUZHsVxyc0vPFh9_YxS2-rE_RAOUZGZkElrPrJ6bduvNyLQ_7mbAnp1om2DqWC6eO7krfR2y5S08oom5H60lABePNEeOI/s200/georgiegoat.jpg" width="200" /></a>5. Foray beyond the orchard and vegetable patch<br />
2010 saw the realisation of a long-held dream, a patch of dirt to call my (our) own. Orchards were planted, vegetable gardens developed. But there is a world of farming beyond fruit trees and vegetables called grains and animals. In 2011, I resolve to grow grain and set up a rotational grazing system and add more animals to our small flock.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyJCiPODcmqCnb4sFU9h0mBzXs8oVn7rQP2BSpDeBk8tb5q94cKu42xrQkbte0kINPQnO_CSWhJ5Vo5zv9q4d8nWYP5GqVzrAMXV_HI4d5ooV5rzRCOONVqYt4DPj6ChhSJpAG16JSsI/s1600/P1040857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyJCiPODcmqCnb4sFU9h0mBzXs8oVn7rQP2BSpDeBk8tb5q94cKu42xrQkbte0kINPQnO_CSWhJ5Vo5zv9q4d8nWYP5GqVzrAMXV_HI4d5ooV5rzRCOONVqYt4DPj6ChhSJpAG16JSsI/s200/P1040857.JPG" width="150" /></a>6. Build a solar cooker</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://solarcooking.org/plans/">So many to choose from!</a> In 2011, I resolve to build and cook with my own solar cooker. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">7. Explore food culture </div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.randomspecific.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/mobile_repair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://www.randomspecific.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/mobile_repair.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mobile business inspiration. Image from <a href="http://www.randomspecific.com/mobile-enterprise">randomspecific</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The history of desserts and the "cheap sugar revolution" <a href="http://www.ediblegeography.com/the-dessert-crisis/">described here</a> is enlightening. Food traditions are inspiring and constantly developing. I miss eating Ethiopian food, and Footscray is too far away to satisfy my regular cravings. In 2011, I resolve to grow and learn to prepare two essential ingredients in Ethiopian food culture, teff grain and coffee.<br />
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Hope 2011 gives me, you and all of us occasion for a proper food celebration!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></div>Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-10245442333280224962010-12-16T13:02:00.000+11:002010-12-16T13:02:43.789+11:00Wild harvest - bird poo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-Ha0M5iUKAFTdvDIIFTv6HmC6eTc5hFeK6HPIvJNHV1NZQz-GXipZhtKFgmFODozFxBPfwh5vCMm1cXM-el5F63lXXHV9c7IowexcPmxUrrX2sMMGyjsBIM_XibzXv-gqLLAdQkBSzU/s1600/pigeonhouse2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-Ha0M5iUKAFTdvDIIFTv6HmC6eTc5hFeK6HPIvJNHV1NZQz-GXipZhtKFgmFODozFxBPfwh5vCMm1cXM-el5F63lXXHV9c7IowexcPmxUrrX2sMMGyjsBIM_XibzXv-gqLLAdQkBSzU/s400/pigeonhouse2.jpg" width="295" /></a>I was riding my bike down the Yarra to Southern Cross station recently, when this strange structure caught my eye. Closer inspection confirmed my suspicion that this was a pigeon loft. The description on the sign (abridged) states:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixiIA8FXakeaN8V6NYcgetKGWv6iIJtAlKYIjIRNqZbJvyfYGqyE_XzrCZbxYlcZWk7C6mmIm8VO9DcbmqkQdQqYhIZKOf3NJuKV4d-ZTNikDJwALhAtkjYZ2mcYGPWsmaKb6Hir-rFcI/s1600/pigeonmanagement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixiIA8FXakeaN8V6NYcgetKGWv6iIJtAlKYIjIRNqZbJvyfYGqyE_XzrCZbxYlcZWk7C6mmIm8VO9DcbmqkQdQqYhIZKOf3NJuKV4d-ZTNikDJwALhAtkjYZ2mcYGPWsmaKb6Hir-rFcI/s200/pigeonmanagement.jpg" width="200" /></a>"This pigeon loft has been placed here in Batman Park as part of the City of Melbourne's pigeon management program. It is intended to provide an alternative home for the city's pigeons...Pigeons in the CBD have been a nuisance for decades and their droppings cause uncleanliness generally and also damage to city buildings...It houses two hundred nesting boxes for pigeon breeding. Eggs laid will be replaced with artificial eggs intended as a humane way to control and reduce pigeon numbers. Bird feeding around the loft base is permitted to attract birds out of the CBD to this area. Bird feeding is not permitted in any other area around the CBD."<br />
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If pigeons roost in here, there must be a lot of droppings. What does the City of Melbourne do with them? I hope they compost them. Pigeon poop is high in phosphorus and nitrogen, making it an excellent fertilizer when composted or brewed into compost tea.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBB_RLOMV1rXKqO0AoStBTiQEgjAf-QAhRyenokoOrXU1Uwlcn5lD9migJKEZuYUw7n0g5KPdANjY77gymwmSEj9AyGbLr4bY5_sjMhsYdDGEpi0r2-HS1ngcfiVUQDjjMtSrYn9vVe3Q/s1600/railpigeons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBB_RLOMV1rXKqO0AoStBTiQEgjAf-QAhRyenokoOrXU1Uwlcn5lD9migJKEZuYUw7n0g5KPdANjY77gymwmSEj9AyGbLr4bY5_sjMhsYdDGEpi0r2-HS1ngcfiVUQDjjMtSrYn9vVe3Q/s320/railpigeons.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Below a railway bridge </td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
The easiest way to get pigeon manure into your food system is to get the pigeons to fly it in for you. Pigeon coops are used in desert food systems to bring in nutrients for the soil. There's a short descrpition of this on the update to the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Cobject%20width=%22640%22%20height=%22385%22%3E%3Cparam%20name=%22movie%22%20value=%22http://www.youtube.com/v/wTZ0LbvUoOY?fs=1&hl=en_US%22%3E%3C/param%3E%3Cparam%20name=%22allowFullScreen%22%20value=%22true%22%3E%3C/param%3E%3Cparam%20name=%22allowscriptaccess%22%20value=%22always%22%3E%3C/param%3E%3Cembed%20src=%22http://www.youtube.com/v/wTZ0LbvUoOY?fs=1&hl=en_US%22%20type=%22application/x-shockwave-flash%22%20allowscriptaccess=%22always%22%20allowfullscreen=%22true%22%20width=%22640%22%20height=%22385%22%3E%3C/embed%3E%3C/object%3E">Greening the Desert</a> video (starts at 6:10).<br />
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My eye is now finely tuned to spot these piles of wild compost ingredients. Birds have their favourite roosting spots, and beneath them there is usually a pile of poo.Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-55618792319112130022010-12-03T10:19:00.001+11:002010-12-06T19:06:06.261+11:00Pitchfork Projects Christmas offer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNg6Nvk6yrLKvRsMY9NI1n7Q_kKHKS42ZW_qU4yZcj7Fn-v_qwGbSPTYv1EDr5wlqmTvggZ_Ose6eTWGuiEwxxbGvahZj2Gqb0Lgf4e056DQbJT-1lRetkAmvM9THLKk5gNagNAf-0sNk/s1600/cherries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNg6Nvk6yrLKvRsMY9NI1n7Q_kKHKS42ZW_qU4yZcj7Fn-v_qwGbSPTYv1EDr5wlqmTvggZ_Ose6eTWGuiEwxxbGvahZj2Gqb0Lgf4e056DQbJT-1lRetkAmvM9THLKk5gNagNAf-0sNk/s320/cherries.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>I've posted a few specials over at <a href="http://pitchforkprojects.com/">pitchforkprojects.com</a>. Permaculture consultations or online lessons available until end of December at $50 per hour, and gift certificates are available for any value $5 and over, calculated pro rata. Permaculture consultations are a great gift for both the person who has everything, and the person who has not much at all!<br />
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Shorter consultations are ideal for answering quick questions by Skype or email...what do I do about these flies in my compost?...what should I plant this time of year?...how do I care for this chicken?...what is happening to the leaves on my fruit tree?<br />
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One hour consultations enable a focused discussion of permaculture applied to your project, including as opportunities to harvest water, siting infrastructure and designing for as efficient a project as possible.<br />
All gift certificates valid for the rest of 2010 and all of 2011.Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-85970990558121762622010-11-29T15:58:00.001+11:002010-11-29T20:58:36.992+11:00Managing gorse (Ulex europaeus) - a permaculture approachIf you're a first generation farmer and you manage to find a dirt cheap property to begin your farming endeavours, there's a good chance there'll be some kind of weed that you'll have to deal with. In our case, it was Gorse, ulex europeaus, a weed of national significance. In permaculture terms, gorse is a pioneer plant. It colonises disturbed ground, and is often seen in erosion gullies, which is the niche it occupies on my property.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYiFbjGNFNEvi5p20g2JIJrk-TZ09uPOQtgl0R2hmK2rR6ojjdyQDAzhcnzSCttK6Sgq2zHF6eyqKS8IjUp0CN1vtXqzYzk0nMeMD0rTPbr5wmceiBX0QVrndz2IazWB7r1VC6eXLs3to/s1600/gorsemacro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYiFbjGNFNEvi5p20g2JIJrk-TZ09uPOQtgl0R2hmK2rR6ojjdyQDAzhcnzSCttK6Sgq2zHF6eyqKS8IjUp0CN1vtXqzYzk0nMeMD0rTPbr5wmceiBX0QVrndz2IazWB7r1VC6eXLs3to/s400/gorsemacro.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gorse with flower and seed pods</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Like most weeds, gorse provides important ecosystem services. A member of the pea family, it fixes nitrogen, its prickly, bushy growth habit provides habitat for birds and animals and its dense root structure helps combat erosion. Given that it is a weed of national significance and in order to maintain good relations with our neighbours, managing the gorse was a priority. Most advice we received was to "cut and paint" - cut back gorse bushes and paint with the appropriate herbicide. Chemical management is not an avenue I was willing to pursue due to the potential effects of herbicide on soil and animal life. A permaculture approach requires an analysis of the species to understand its growing needs, potential harvestable uses and its interactions with other parts of the system.<br />
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I initially turned to the <a href="http://www.weeds.org.au/">Weeds Australia</a> website, which provides a comprehensive manual on the biology and management of gorse. Gorse is extremely hardy and fast growing, and young shoots resprout from stumps and sticks that remain in soil. It was clear that any management required a range of strategies, including grazing, mechanical removal, slashing and competition. By far the most useful and easily understood description of gorse was found at this <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/1Getting-rid-of-GorseUlex-europeans-with-New-Z/">instructable</a>, and if dealing with gorse, I'd recommend reading about the experience of gorse management there. It has been <a href="http://www.konsk.co.uk/resource/gorse.htm">recommended</a> as a nurse plant to establish<span class="f"><cite></cite></span> forests in the UK, and is eventually shaded out as the trees establish.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY8G66pZeITEJHoo0vX7-0REXM8iRjKR4oXVLQPRnsuP7B9KsNT0vpRbLud466JE-CQTiJDvx8mKcMD0lR1IpjS6AuQ_S_Ae6vHfqrHzJQFV0bEmRAxvZBMGF-co_jGd1dzHt07SeUK50/s1600/gorsesprouts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY8G66pZeITEJHoo0vX7-0REXM8iRjKR4oXVLQPRnsuP7B9KsNT0vpRbLud466JE-CQTiJDvx8mKcMD0lR1IpjS6AuQ_S_Ae6vHfqrHzJQFV0bEmRAxvZBMGF-co_jGd1dzHt07SeUK50/s320/gorsesprouts.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New gorse sprouting from pruned branches</td></tr>
</tbody></table>As a fuel it burns hot, and living gorse burns readily due to the high concentration of oil in its branches. This makes it a fuel for bushfires in southeastern Australia. Burning is not a useful means of management, as both heat from burning and hot weather encourage seedpods to pop and seed to disperse widely. Gorse seed can remain viable for as long as 70 years. It has some use as winter fodder during cold winters in Europe where it is native, and I have used its spiny branches as a fire starter. The <a href="http://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Ulex%20europaeus">Plants for a Future</a> database indicates some uses for gorse such as soaking the seeds in water to use as a pesticide against fleas, and pickling the flower buds in vinegar to make a food reminiscent of capers. The flowers have a fragance of coconut oil and can be used to make gorse wine.<br />
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Gorse occupies an area of about 1000 square metres on our property of one hectare. The gorse forest was at least 15 years old when we turned up and was almost impenetrable as gorse is so prickly. The area it occupied was at the bottom edge of our property, far from the house and bounded by two neighbouring properties. We designated this area a permaculture zone 4/5, with potential development as a woodlot or wildlife zone. The land is fairly flat with some steep banks leading into a stormwater gully. This meant that it would be possible to get into most of the area with a tractor to slash the gorse back. Our management plan would begin with slashing, and we intended to promote competition by planting fast-growing and productive local indigenous species. In this way we could utilise the features of gorse that promote forest establishment, including their nitrogen fixing capacity, while providing competition and eventually shading them out once our trees and shrubs are established. We got our local machinery man on the job, with the instruction to try to maintain as much of the wattle and other plants that had self-established amongst the gorse.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4b2L8eTCOQBZxySszRQtxfPiXfj4S_xB101_ruj3q5uGFXVMDHYSIHLV-GWw-8R_i8L9_xvGjB4_FxCz653LMXcGt3LpL5y9iS-rxQAgrVKVtCzK9zobsdSRceerpSl93ro8EGbxzHi0/s1600/12+-+crush+the+gorze+-+konica+-+1436+-+elphinstone+manor+-+jan10+-++michalki+-+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4b2L8eTCOQBZxySszRQtxfPiXfj4S_xB101_ruj3q5uGFXVMDHYSIHLV-GWw-8R_i8L9_xvGjB4_FxCz653LMXcGt3LpL5y9iS-rxQAgrVKVtCzK9zobsdSRceerpSl93ro8EGbxzHi0/s400/12+-+crush+the+gorze+-+konica+-+1436+-+elphinstone+manor+-+jan10+-++michalki+-+.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wattle emerging through the gorse</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_rm8UvdjLjXxoC9f7J2wrfynNatiOZS5f7oc_FTgG4A38orTIvNRHi6om97FaqeuW45fqU4JKunNuJGKEqQDicCT9JZIUYJKfsw-F0QVarjok522IGpwruYqPpUcBhoW1qPBjS70300/s1600/03+-+crush+the+gorze+-+konica+-+1405+-+elphinstone+manor+-+jan10+-++michalki+-+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_rm8UvdjLjXxoC9f7J2wrfynNatiOZS5f7oc_FTgG4A38orTIvNRHi6om97FaqeuW45fqU4JKunNuJGKEqQDicCT9JZIUYJKfsw-F0QVarjok522IGpwruYqPpUcBhoW1qPBjS70300/s400/03+-+crush+the+gorze+-+konica+-+1405+-+elphinstone+manor+-+jan10+-++michalki+-+.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Slashing the gorse forest</td></tr>
</tbody></table>We bought a couple of goats to graze some of the areas that we couldn't get to with the slasher, particularly the steep banks of the gully. The goats have been mildly successful at keeping the gorse down, but they tend to prefer eating other things when available. They have been most useful for eating back the new gorse shoots before planting occurs, but once new plants have gone in, the goats have to be kept out of the area. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1JKZ26LAaqzIlk3ggCOEQ6jiF1jaOMQw95NbXrrPui_T-uVfenL1geNwQbgNqIGWNnfxdaSY3Pkk_qXa3_MfP4dINmFWxktrtPx8a4i_P1NNmP2VfWef8kjhc_SYbSPPp5K5JS1quYI/s1600/slashandreplant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1JKZ26LAaqzIlk3ggCOEQ6jiF1jaOMQw95NbXrrPui_T-uVfenL1geNwQbgNqIGWNnfxdaSY3Pkk_qXa3_MfP4dINmFWxktrtPx8a4i_P1NNmP2VfWef8kjhc_SYbSPPp5K5JS1quYI/s640/slashandreplant.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New plantings along edge of gully where gorse has been slashed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The steep banks of the erosion gully have also been cut back by hand. It was decided not to attempt to pull out gorse by the roots here, as they were doing a good job holding the soil to prevent erosion. After cutting back the branches, the banks were planted with prickly wattles, including Acacia verticillata (Prickly Moses), Acacia genistifolia (Spreading wattle) and Acacia paradoxa (Hedge wattle), to provide a similar habitat for native wildlife.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVO13JvMUM-EZs-F3D3KJsO4I23sRXX2n2MoRjPQeHHziauMAaPHbB2TwQKHY2fRt06KdGfdgfx8FXWIAzs1BBaBk8QtA6yNEZxgXdfVwjP84qAsA7Nk9rR_IfiCJN7xSZ2I76mGLTbJI/s1600/gorsemulch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVO13JvMUM-EZs-F3D3KJsO4I23sRXX2n2MoRjPQeHHziauMAaPHbB2TwQKHY2fRt06KdGfdgfx8FXWIAzs1BBaBk8QtA6yNEZxgXdfVwjP84qAsA7Nk9rR_IfiCJN7xSZ2I76mGLTbJI/s320/gorsemulch.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where gorse has been slashed, deep mulch of gorse needles remains. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>I've been regularly checking the progress of plants and keeping an eye on the gorse resprouting. Where the gorse has been slashed, the gorse needles are providing a thick layer of mulch for the new plants. There are some areas where gorse is vigorously resprouting from the root system and others where the plant seems to have been killed. During mid-winter as the ground was so damp, it was not too hard to pull up the entire root of some of the larger plants by hand. In spite of the long tap root, the plants would squelch quite easily up through the mud. I removed about three large plants this way, but began to regret it, as manual removal of the entire root system greatly disturbs the soil.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwulwtUgPxf0un-i16ESmOnnazgfm95tlO-0v5bmvu6ZHoUotpjlSf0HfGyjfBizx7IKjPnZ2-_2XfGVvBr3kzG6PAlRho2cfOq_cVGXodetePXJGnZqy6y8FiqgzV0NIAANKxY7G_Ec/s1600/gorseground.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwulwtUgPxf0un-i16ESmOnnazgfm95tlO-0v5bmvu6ZHoUotpjlSf0HfGyjfBizx7IKjPnZ2-_2XfGVvBr3kzG6PAlRho2cfOq_cVGXodetePXJGnZqy6y8FiqgzV0NIAANKxY7G_Ec/s400/gorseground.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where the root system was entirely pulled out, the soil is very disturbed.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcP6CkSNtu74xxt3YcNrdpSd_Qtgg98XWzURl7mnAXY73olxghWu7pqmXtAiZwiSDvlT2JDqIknMzOIwPvBVt_rPuv5ZKLCmUS-nY5Wnp_UsUdhbxd-bopznrvXxeZDyprbeFkMXJ4Dew/s1600/gorseroot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcP6CkSNtu74xxt3YcNrdpSd_Qtgg98XWzURl7mnAXY73olxghWu7pqmXtAiZwiSDvlT2JDqIknMzOIwPvBVt_rPuv5ZKLCmUS-nY5Wnp_UsUdhbxd-bopznrvXxeZDyprbeFkMXJ4Dew/s400/gorseroot.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gorse has long tap roots. The length of root shown was entirely underground.</td></tr>
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During Spring, Yorkshire fog, a pasture weed, came up everywhere that the gorse had been slashed. Rosemary Morrow describes Yorkshire Fog in the <i>Earth User's Guide to Permaculture</i> as being caused by increased light and ground disturbance after tree removal, which is indeed what we have done by slashing the gorse. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUjjayEFIaciozo2LP6djDg3OHkwVH7rMOlIQLIqlBbvdZN5EZjF2NjY35sRtokvqBVOSgb8d6Qi_XlwQc1sQqFwJ7vUOyPozRco1w-s1SsghIty-tRZIxg-ZQrslzDfjRjcOrLaitcUk/s1600/yorkshire-fog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUjjayEFIaciozo2LP6djDg3OHkwVH7rMOlIQLIqlBbvdZN5EZjF2NjY35sRtokvqBVOSgb8d6Qi_XlwQc1sQqFwJ7vUOyPozRco1w-s1SsghIty-tRZIxg-ZQrslzDfjRjcOrLaitcUk/s400/yorkshire-fog.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yorkshire fog growing where the gorse was slashed.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It's evident that no matter how you approach it, gorse management is a long-term process. Having the large stems and branches slashed to ground level has allowed us to keep any new growth trimmed with the mowing attachment on our small tractor. Following advice for most weed infestations, we are following up the initial work by moving from areas of least to greatest infestation and beginning upstream in the gully and moving down. All the same, it's frightening to see how quickly some of those branches resprout. I'm interested to try soaking the seed for flea control for some of our animals but need to find further information on how to safely go about this. It's ironic that you can end up developing the closest relationships with the plants that cause you the most trouble. The crash course in local indigenous species has been most beneficial however and I'm glad to say that these are growing very well indeed.Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-28902944398286736542010-11-03T16:35:00.003+11:002010-11-22T12:57:38.876+11:00Solar Cookers and Grass Roots Education at the Barefoot CollegeIt's hard to believe that a year has passed since we visited the <a href="http://www.barefootcollege.org/">Barefoot College</a> in Tiloniya, Rajasthan. Desperate to break off from the tourist trail, we travelled by bus from the Pushkar camel fair, onto a train from Ajmer to Kishangarh, then jumped into a jeep for the last leg to Tiloniya. Tiloniya is a tiny town, and the train stops only once a day. There is no problem finding the Barefoot College, especially if one of the residents has jumped off the jeep with you.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNiJjn9IgoAqUKHt_4xBquQKB_v6h7SvIAu030PpThlO_GS7pywCtkEBRFKwa-fQPT29AaemyNID6g1KcY7lWZOaWA-EDUfhprx9TkwLDyDzmktwiXxCbwRMsikMnvzD9FOpXec_niSR8/s1600/P1040923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNiJjn9IgoAqUKHt_4xBquQKB_v6h7SvIAu030PpThlO_GS7pywCtkEBRFKwa-fQPT29AaemyNID6g1KcY7lWZOaWA-EDUfhprx9TkwLDyDzmktwiXxCbwRMsikMnvzD9FOpXec_niSR8/s320/P1040923.JPG" width="240" /></a>Set up in 1972 by Bunker Roy, the Barefoot College is a home-grown NGO with a beautiful philosophy and effective world-changing approaches. The barefoot concept was best summed up by resident, Ram Nivas, who told the story of the beginnings of the Barefoot College radio station. A local man, Raju, had discovered upon rewiring his transistor, that it was able to pick up the signal from his cb radio. Experimentation led him to set up a local radio station, Raju Radio, which featured local news, reports of missing water buffalo and musical requests from the community. When the media bureaucracy got wind of Raju Radio, operating without a licence, they shut him down. Raju now works at the Barefoot College radio station, in a studio lined with recycled egg cartons for soundproofing. He is the classic example of a Barefoot engineer, with minimal schooling, a head for innovation, using what he has available to create useful tools for his community. <br />
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Situated in the Rajasthan desert, Tiloniya receives an average of 400mm of rainfall annually, all of which falls in a period of four days. In the last few years they have received little more than 200mm annual rainfall. Across Rajasthan water issues are at crisis point. With years of drought, well water is increasingly brackish and the water table is rapidly sinking. Barefoot College is working on this in a number of capacities. The entire college is situated on underground water tanks which collect thousands of litres of water annually. This was the only place in India in which we drank the water directly from the well, with no further purification required. They are implementing education programs on rainwater harvesting in villages through puppet shows and theatre. The puppet workshop was a sight to be seen. There were puppets of animals, political figures, there was even a puppet of the founder, Bunker Roy in the mix.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHILeu1FFfGgYdqiqnuxD_x-k2g_Ib8fCG03-SYBiBSbdlI2gpOu9fNeJ56zLLkHBpKOh3Ihn1gDjAJgyuWnUcMf1oUmvU6frAWdghZiyYI016KBHgsNX-Ke4ZTfoQe8ZhcJYNVcCQok/s1600/P1040865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt94JQ5_p_8p4TomQM2qA1E0lz7SSVwfbwS7KmVv4w0TH84FUeBnkZQkV_EoLjLpp99wbdwBAHqPKVhv1bc7tjcCKwM293pd0oWqjbrh2o9Xa-NG9FjC0zXouxd3xMX6uypeCUQGAFZq0/s1600/P1040884.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt94JQ5_p_8p4TomQM2qA1E0lz7SSVwfbwS7KmVv4w0TH84FUeBnkZQkV_EoLjLpp99wbdwBAHqPKVhv1bc7tjcCKwM293pd0oWqjbrh2o9Xa-NG9FjC0zXouxd3xMX6uypeCUQGAFZq0/s200/P1040884.JPG" width="200" /></a>One of the most impressive of their projects is the solar barefoot engineer program. While we visited, a group of women from African villages without electricity were spending six months training as solar engineers. They would return home to set up solar electricity workshops to run solar lanterns for their villages, with the capacity to wire and repair any part of the system that broke down. This is all funded and run by a home-grown NGO in India and it works. It works because the people setting up and maintaining the systems have both the skills and the interest to keep it going. Impressed yet? There are a number of other programs running across the College. A recycling workshop uses paper and other recycled materialss to create toys, tools and bags for the Barefoot College gift shop. I particularly liked this simple maths tool that was used in one of the evening school programs.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHILeu1FFfGgYdqiqnuxD_x-k2g_Ib8fCG03-SYBiBSbdlI2gpOu9fNeJ56zLLkHBpKOh3Ihn1gDjAJgyuWnUcMf1oUmvU6frAWdghZiyYI016KBHgsNX-Ke4ZTfoQe8ZhcJYNVcCQok/s1600/P1040865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHILeu1FFfGgYdqiqnuxD_x-k2g_Ib8fCG03-SYBiBSbdlI2gpOu9fNeJ56zLLkHBpKOh3Ihn1gDjAJgyuWnUcMf1oUmvU6frAWdghZiyYI016KBHgsNX-Ke4ZTfoQe8ZhcJYNVcCQok/s640/P1040865.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
My favourite program by far at the Barefoot College was the manufacture of solar cookers. Three times a day I sampled the meals cooked with the solar cookers, experiencing the joy they created through sight, smell and taste along with an appreciation of their engineering. The solar cookers are constructed from materials that are readily available at the local marketplace. The mirrors are individually cut from glass and painted with reflective paint before being wired onto the frame. Recycled bike cogs are used to create a clockwork system that allows the cooker to follow the path of the sun from morning to night. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdwBmnotdVhIkzyexbbRae8d2JAVqkyODoSTwYjhqPSP85N2Kr6JDM0HUK1X7IhmwFkOhpbjH5KnDO9idsUc5jj-Tbf5lik2fGTpkafbyIOKOeYT7GcR1FFmkztWdXhqMFGCsRmNc0Qg/s1600/P1040970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdwBmnotdVhIkzyexbbRae8d2JAVqkyODoSTwYjhqPSP85N2Kr6JDM0HUK1X7IhmwFkOhpbjH5KnDO9idsUc5jj-Tbf5lik2fGTpkafbyIOKOeYT7GcR1FFmkztWdXhqMFGCsRmNc0Qg/s400/P1040970.JPG" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQ1yP2ZTJ-5xKuwFqpigBaz6Yix6I8ha62rZcvPcJnfs6BFyftqced8BoKhq0MUu1Le0z9eqMoHd2Uh7xz9y12w3i9kzS_RhvBRD2za9byyLe38iLDIHVwmyXAg7GXo7TdOscS63GLA0/s1600/P1040953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQ1yP2ZTJ-5xKuwFqpigBaz6Yix6I8ha62rZcvPcJnfs6BFyftqced8BoKhq0MUu1Le0z9eqMoHd2Uh7xz9y12w3i9kzS_RhvBRD2za9byyLe38iLDIHVwmyXAg7GXo7TdOscS63GLA0/s400/P1040953.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
The parabolic shape of the cooker focuses the sun's energy onto the cooktop for cooking rice and stews in pots or frying in a pan. Every now and again I'd walk across the path of the focused rays, forgetting their power. Ouch, hot! Sensibly, the specifications for building these cookers was written to scale on the floor of the workshop, (see pic below right).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpMcn5tYgrLQ5kPeF_7tDty8epOCxbehUqnHvfCzmQXcvxY4cuv9R02zAo0dw2iTZXePHWzVNUWVHfYSg3qG7-rcGya-2nk-H2Vm2tqxyKIJjZ9wTd7BY_RdGmihsT8jqKLcrHs48zzdM/s1600/P1040956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpMcn5tYgrLQ5kPeF_7tDty8epOCxbehUqnHvfCzmQXcvxY4cuv9R02zAo0dw2iTZXePHWzVNUWVHfYSg3qG7-rcGya-2nk-H2Vm2tqxyKIJjZ9wTd7BY_RdGmihsT8jqKLcrHs48zzdM/s400/P1040956.JPG" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA2d6Wnoflc0-oyKKcs6yteSIAAx_dxw89H6yD14ovAv5MDZhQQj6Z2CUTVA970cQZ9gqSbYu_XoUOAzLycIDm50GqtO7x5YniA66I1A1i8hcpqW-SnZkJOKZCMNBPgNT110Svz2F8Byk/s1600/P1040954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA2d6Wnoflc0-oyKKcs6yteSIAAx_dxw89H6yD14ovAv5MDZhQQj6Z2CUTVA970cQZ9gqSbYu_XoUOAzLycIDm50GqtO7x5YniA66I1A1i8hcpqW-SnZkJOKZCMNBPgNT110Svz2F8Byk/s400/P1040954.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA3XD2NFef1LR6xfDlFYdOdu_FMklnT-NTZfNCzR8FahishEPL_aGxVNynTWViDzr3CjrRpK4NqA6sG_okQzgVR-jHOEyf4dfxVsX48wjtIM-HSdZnc6RyqFXeEwvJ5_gQduRPlds8UZI/s1600/P1040975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA3XD2NFef1LR6xfDlFYdOdu_FMklnT-NTZfNCzR8FahishEPL_aGxVNynTWViDzr3CjrRpK4NqA6sG_okQzgVR-jHOEyf4dfxVsX48wjtIM-HSdZnc6RyqFXeEwvJ5_gQduRPlds8UZI/s400/P1040975.JPG" width="300" /></a>These cookers are manufactured for sale by women at the Barefoot College, creating both livelihood and an alternative to cooking using wood-burning stoves.<br />
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Not much food is grown locally, due to the dimishing rainfall in this area. All grey water at the Barefoot College is put into groundwater recharge, and the overflow from the well is channeled to a small pond for water buffalo. A local tree, Babul, which I later identified as Babul Acacia Nilotica also has medicinal properties. A very spiky tree, I saw the branches wrapped around trees in the college to protect them from grazing goats.<br />
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The Barefoot College also runs a small hospital which places great value in preventative homeopathic medicine and a shop selling handcrafts by local artisans. We heard a lot about Neem and its medicinal and dental uses. The Barefoot College provide accommodation and three meals a day, along with chai in the evening. There is a comprehensive library on site which is the perfect place to laze around on those hot Rajasthani afternoons. They'll show you around all their workshops and there is much cricket and fun to be had in the evenings if you seek it out. For 2000 rupees per person per night. See more at <a href="http://www.barefootcollege.org/">their website.</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNqDNSAYFRAGkS0g1EjPFUHwPVKTauYyLimU7G4cuKimH59k5oFv5_ZdG1RIF8EK0TRrbMDxfwYrZljjuH-mP0jhJY43xAJsIDcqoeLh8uYVsIFuOdD-WpDSoIg5SW3yI8XUo-zt4xs6g/s1600/P1040900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNqDNSAYFRAGkS0g1EjPFUHwPVKTauYyLimU7G4cuKimH59k5oFv5_ZdG1RIF8EK0TRrbMDxfwYrZljjuH-mP0jhJY43xAJsIDcqoeLh8uYVsIFuOdD-WpDSoIg5SW3yI8XUo-zt4xs6g/s400/P1040900.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJFbKKcOLhI6gyC-V71oDna6VqMTi3PHeuRO8M7kldF7iP4pTI-iBfwe0jsishl_8v5ly7jsl2RA5iWaxntLhutdMKCTGKpMhChGnFgS42VHxpNciQWcxFULkH3igza2oqzrnjhYMfyjE/s400/P1040862.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Babul branches protecting tree from goats</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-65489482617734181972010-10-14T15:06:00.007+11:002010-11-03T20:58:25.579+11:00APC10 - and the Atherton Tablelands Permaculture Bus Tour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdoYo5ac3X31iYkxrOaXWyyqTM56utmSneQpf2e8BdTnzigb_ii9gm4G_0eX21N2uRGtslExK0jZeigSpr4VV7Fr7lmafn12nr5OVK99ueAk6iUjbpeq8IxBZEQ6Mb5KCuuXTAb8ntvM/s1600/botanicalarklunch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdoYo5ac3X31iYkxrOaXWyyqTM56utmSneQpf2e8BdTnzigb_ii9gm4G_0eX21N2uRGtslExK0jZeigSpr4VV7Fr7lmafn12nr5OVK99ueAk6iUjbpeq8IxBZEQ6Mb5KCuuXTAb8ntvM/s400/botanicalarklunch.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Where do you usually have lunch? I pondered my regular lunchspot, an alternately frosty or dusty stoop off my front porch, while sipping on tropical fruit smoothies and snacking on flowers at the Botanical Ark. Three weeks ago in the wee hours of the morning, I flew into Cairns for the Tenth Australasian Permaculture Convergence. What followed was four jam-packed days of presentations, design processes and meeting the elders and newbies of the permacultural movement in Australia and overseas, set to the backdrop of tropical rainforest in Far North Queensland. Alternately inspired, exhausted and enthusiastically manic, I spent four days refining my introduction to strangers from "I run a permaculture consultancy business in Central Victoria", to leaping from from a haybale stating "I'm committed to excellence in integrating permaculture, literacy and numeracy, running workshops from my place and interactive theatre", during Robin Clayfield's Leaps of Faith session. I made good on the interactive theatre soon after, see below...<br />
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It's not easy to coherently write about all the mind flutterings that overtook me during the Convergence. I was regularly scribbling good ideas in my notebook as they came to mind. One idea, however, kept coming back to me, in the form of a permaculture principle, "Use edges and value the marginal". The people that I was most drawn to were working on the edges of permaculture, following their passions and integrating permaculture into the things that got them bouncing out of bed in the morning. From <a href="http://balconyofdreams.blogspot.com/">Cecilia Macaulay's</a> balcony gardening and share house permaculture, to <a href="http://permaculturevisions.com/">April Sampson-Kelly</a>'s online Permaculture Design Courses to the <a href="http://www.thegardenattheendoftheworld.info/">Garden at the End of the World</a>, I got most inspiration from those people working through different media, in far-off places, or finding their own niche within the movement. <br />
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One of the major issues leading up to and during APC10 was the call for a national representative permaculture body for Australia. Robina McCurdy, Robin Clayfield and Rowe Morrow, some of the best facilitators I know of, ran a participatory workshop to develop a needs analysis for the nation. The results are posted <a href="http://groups.google.com.au/group/permaculture-australia-/web/what-australia-needs-from-permaculture?hl=en-GB">here</a>. I came away from the Convergence, disappointed that there wasn't more of this. At APC9 in Sydney in 2008, there was ample opportunity to participate in workshops. Rowe Morrow's Water Workshop had hundreds of people brainstorming solutions for water issues for a number of types of human settlements, including small towns, cities, country/urban fringe, drylands, etc. In all, at APC10, I spent too much time sitting on my backside watching powerpoints, a common problem with conferences, but from a permaculture convergence I expected more. The first opportunity I had to participate in a presentation saw me bouncing off the walls. I made a personal commitment that next convergence I will only attend if I also present a workshop.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_3zBLhd4ak9g6p3dfiU_CucTyI9diWksiIdnjvyUjNEgYcWulvoMS32ef6mBTwhQHzJ-eWM6EpJmYGQ4wd8ZuXSdC33wY2Mw63br4ldXo5kT3fJXT3W9woomjxtT72HBiT5w0YyVabY/s400/apc9workshop.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">APC9 Water workshop: Source unknown</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_3zBLhd4ak9g6p3dfiU_CucTyI9diWksiIdnjvyUjNEgYcWulvoMS32ef6mBTwhQHzJ-eWM6EpJmYGQ4wd8ZuXSdC33wY2Mw63br4ldXo5kT3fJXT3W9woomjxtT72HBiT5w0YyVabY/s1600/apc9workshop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>I made good on an earlier personal commitment involving what I called, for want of a better term, 'interactive theatre'. I had decided before the convergence to take advantage of any future opportunities to facilitate dance events. The final night party of the Convergence was scheduled, with Costa, TV's gardening guru, as MC I put my hand up to run the Interpretive Permaculture Bush Dance. Loosely based around a traditional bush dance, with some permaculture principles thrown in for good measure, it culminated in a spiral of dancers being dragged into a vortex screaming, "This is so much fun!". Suffice to say, it went off, and I am now addicted to the power of telling people what to do on the dance floor.<br />
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Lastly, one of the most exciting features of a Permaculture convergence is the tour that inevitably follows. The APC10 post-convergence tour took us through dry savannah of Mareeba and back to the tropical paradise of the Atherton Tablelands. So many things I haven't seen before, eggplant trees, green ant highways and creative approaches to cracking coconuts (see below right).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSq-2I0zOmTFBnRb5vkyPAOxeqhxGhPoSoZPFtlJfYB120BTJE0xqAUwpoHrbAAEd51OLir5rf8tv3I4vJ8V8qUZNoEOS7NTluxA1rrK7sahaHJ6neb0RVCkm3D2SyYJwI1cgF322YouE/s1600/coconutcracker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSq-2I0zOmTFBnRb5vkyPAOxeqhxGhPoSoZPFtlJfYB120BTJE0xqAUwpoHrbAAEd51OLir5rf8tv3I4vJ8V8qUZNoEOS7NTluxA1rrK7sahaHJ6neb0RVCkm3D2SyYJwI1cgF322YouE/s320/coconutcracker.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhioKF5KqYLDYra22Xc1ITqM6KoiAkxjTprrXKR8JYWDRP4Po7ewX5zXEWNZlKCoSrtl0JoP0B8hm1AJwNL2tpPxLMwgUeFmZtziidgViC7JaT8of5uOJpA0n3CePrMTs-lLXnfq4iYnXc/s320/eggplanttree.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr>
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</tbody></table>My deepest gratitude goes to permaculture elders <a href="http://www.bluemountainspermacultureinstitute.com.au/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=The-People-of-the-Contours.html&Itemid=1">Rowe Morrow</a> and Phil Gall for their graciousness and effusive generosity. It's always humbling to meet those for whom you have so much respect and for them to be willing and happy to give so much of their time. Further opportunities to rub elbows with heroes, <a href="http://www.permacultureinternational.org/Members/pacificedge/our-people-our-permaculture/robina_mccurdy.jpg/view">Robina McCurdy</a> and <a href="http://dynamicgroups.com.au/">Robin Clayfield</a> on the bus tour, sounds captured below. <br />
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A couple of years ago I made my first foray into raising chicks. With a borrowed incubator we started incubating our first batch of eggs just before our chickens got broody themselves. After three weeks, we had eight chicks being raised by their mother hens (the country chicks) and seven chicks raised by us in a brooder (the city chicks). We set up a skype account and camera to keep an eye on the city chicks while we were working away from home.<br />
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They grew up quickly and it soon came time to relocate the city chicks to the chicken run outside, but we didn't expect the country chicks and their mothers to be too happy about sharing their coop. It was decided, then to let them get to know each other slowly across the chicken wire and construct a new coop in the 'forage zone', where I'd planted amaranth, oats, and some sunflowers and sorghum that had come up from a handful of chicken grain I'd scattered around. Having just come across the work of <a href="http://www.stickwork.net/">Patrick Dougherty</a>, I decided to put my fibre craft skills to work and weave them a new coop out of whatever materials I could find on the farm. Finding some fencing mesh attached to galvanised posts on the scrap metal pile, I wired it into a semi-circular shape, weaving wisteria prunings in and out of the grids. The plan was to make a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wattle_and_daub">wattle and daub structure</a>, an earth building technique in which a mixture of clay and straw is daubed onto a woven wooden lattice, called the wattle. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZoZkCj4N1rytB8izwVNHVLlANRP3-3AI9aHgNar7nk4CfVIGxGKh5V51HE5fjDxrIiDtClGKpkqm2V23OuuUqcgcEwrkgpd5LV3AM8BChBAAmI5W5hTuDuKwrMWrwN_VeYfczRZd9y0/s1600/wovencoop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMZoZkCj4N1rytB8izwVNHVLlANRP3-3AI9aHgNar7nk4CfVIGxGKh5V51HE5fjDxrIiDtClGKpkqm2V23OuuUqcgcEwrkgpd5LV3AM8BChBAAmI5W5hTuDuKwrMWrwN_VeYfczRZd9y0/s400/wovencoop.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvivOHvgeQhFH0cbv_9UE3rTE9T7Te873YfDahWf-s5tjbe1EM6ZquXgCJeAb_R1jR_R-OBiIV_wycrJqouJVwFvnv6Mtm12U-nHNiJ-8d8lFcD0YXg2Wq4MvULd8BU_qKeOpu_WWQrys/s400/wovenwisteria.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvivOHvgeQhFH0cbv_9UE3rTE9T7Te873YfDahWf-s5tjbe1EM6ZquXgCJeAb_R1jR_R-OBiIV_wycrJqouJVwFvnv6Mtm12U-nHNiJ-8d8lFcD0YXg2Wq4MvULd8BU_qKeOpu_WWQrys/s1600/wovenwisteria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>We mixed straw with mud dug out of the dam until it felt about the right consistency, roughly a 50/50 mix of mud and straw. Then a team made it into patties to be daubed onto the wall by builders.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW7Yw4rE4rtiQBSBAcHvAiD_zhRxJZiM0By1R_qUEGAmdvW3muD1NK6PE9lvkSikD57onPi0TujOLq7mbZueV-5jzehJr6vJZYEvfTfaQ_JLwhUZU29o36twIYYfVAH6RVJALNRVltpbY/s400/mudballs.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvdfsXllK_kUtLurIpmX1_CGwQhIV_5FDC4CEzR5ypBPeWAKwGng6mIx3C63sL_dYtLGCOsA_zNoLsgWKaHGQIkPSHiliIwaadjryEDkF_E7h3aJFR1NBczRXR2-TUGsyqyAn9pnBEg8/s1600/mudandstraw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvdfsXllK_kUtLurIpmX1_CGwQhIV_5FDC4CEzR5ypBPeWAKwGng6mIx3C63sL_dYtLGCOsA_zNoLsgWKaHGQIkPSHiliIwaadjryEDkF_E7h3aJFR1NBczRXR2-TUGsyqyAn9pnBEg8/s400/mudandstraw.jpg" width="300" /></a> <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW7Yw4rE4rtiQBSBAcHvAiD_zhRxJZiM0By1R_qUEGAmdvW3muD1NK6PE9lvkSikD57onPi0TujOLq7mbZueV-5jzehJr6vJZYEvfTfaQ_JLwhUZU29o36twIYYfVAH6RVJALNRVltpbY/s1600/mudballs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>Stick perches were put in place before the daubing began, and the clay and straw layer was slowly built up onto the wattle.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVhvC6fTeIBNM4f__wRpAOyaUua4yA6vAzKUbxDaDTo0c9P0boWjVVzvoQjOa5vdazPz9GjDMTPik4luO_7slG7WfvLC_BlLRuagAMA_fR2zkaA3A15cXis6xGcEc0tjlWrKittXepRY/s1600/buildthecoop2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The big people help the small people work in tight corners</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVhvC6fTeIBNM4f__wRpAOyaUua4yA6vAzKUbxDaDTo0c9P0boWjVVzvoQjOa5vdazPz9GjDMTPik4luO_7slG7WfvLC_BlLRuagAMA_fR2zkaA3A15cXis6xGcEc0tjlWrKittXepRY/s1600/buildthecoop2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKi0lj5WZR87LosnXb_r9SrK4o5wR0BpLEGAw4j8u6Etuz1VmwfJLEZR4pr8VkHMAlaMpuuClUjvycF8xEjlVnsIpm7O9MzzyXhnkYAWjVL4cDNPdrG1jIdoYsRnh2Gsld_cFafV3mXlw/s1600/coopdrying.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6EUtYjaB5zvO4-E5-FBvLaTCGXVmxV5q2x4nUiOQB7SvSsKi9BQANp4EUdRr80W_4wktsaIKDe8F1gf_HubRJ7UosI8oRazwEHhYe2NjuaMqOZ9oZrFXtc8Q8KPIqZpI1kLXMWWpWGAw/s1600/romyinspecting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKi0lj5WZR87LosnXb_r9SrK4o5wR0BpLEGAw4j8u6Etuz1VmwfJLEZR4pr8VkHMAlaMpuuClUjvycF8xEjlVnsIpm7O9MzzyXhnkYAWjVL4cDNPdrG1jIdoYsRnh2Gsld_cFafV3mXlw/s1600/coopdrying.jpg" /><br />
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As some of the branches were thick, it was difficult to get a tight weave in the wattle, which resulted in troubles getting the daub to stick in places. As it dried, we kept an eye on any clay that dropped off and fixed up small gaps with more daub.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6EUtYjaB5zvO4-E5-FBvLaTCGXVmxV5q2x4nUiOQB7SvSsKi9BQANp4EUdRr80W_4wktsaIKDe8F1gf_HubRJ7UosI8oRazwEHhYe2NjuaMqOZ9oZrFXtc8Q8KPIqZpI1kLXMWWpWGAw/s1600/romyinspecting.jpg" /> </div><br />
After the clay had dried the coop was roofed with the lid of an old water tank, which sat on the top of the posts, allowing some cross ventilation at the top of the wall. This proved to be a much better coop than the corrugated iron coop the country chicks grew up in, staying cooler in the heat and providing a lot of choice in sticks for the chooks to perch upon. Two roosters lived in comparative harmony in their separate coops, sharing the same forage zone by day and retiring to their different coops by night. Contained in a fenced in enclosure, this open structure worked well. However, I'd love to build a fox-proof elevated chicken coop for our orchard like this one from the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOnMzgRvXe0">Planet Repair Institute</a>.Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-91779682105611751882010-09-23T00:06:00.003+10:002010-11-03T21:01:39.246+11:00'Tis a Mighty SwaleOne of the major assets of our property is a storm water culvert which brings storm water runoff from a number of roads nearby. Water begins to flow through the culvert whenever we have rainfall of more than 8mm. After 25 years of water pouring through, a large gully has been washed away, and this is one of the places in which gorse has found a niche. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6b28n73WsXEDDDXGYgxb7VK-f9bqgfn_Qk1ChWJqiGvQT2k4EfwNIjIY68Cs7eX69yQThwwdJxCBe1JQkUg2MTc0QVihyphenhyphen6zp9CrUKES1t1IoNsZm-7hb1UIQqaqH5q_Tc8WEqXE_ViFU/s400/hoinsvillesat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This satellite pic shows the course the gully runs and the growth of gorse around it. The main swale bisects the water course and now directs water across the property on contour.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6b28n73WsXEDDDXGYgxb7VK-f9bqgfn_Qk1ChWJqiGvQT2k4EfwNIjIY68Cs7eX69yQThwwdJxCBe1JQkUg2MTc0QVihyphenhyphen6zp9CrUKES1t1IoNsZm-7hb1UIQqaqH5q_Tc8WEqXE_ViFU/s1600/hoinsvillesat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>The first priority was to more effectively use the water currently running straight off the property and to slow it down to help with the erosion problem. This led to a design for the mainframe swale, running on contour at the highest point that traversed the longest line across the property. This was partly determined by looking at contour maps, to help decide where we would begin surveying. Online contour maps promised a level line that ran from one far corner to another, beautifully traversing boundary fences and sheds. However, there's nothing like getting outside with a laser level or A-frame... and while pegging it out it began to look somewhat different. South of the gully the swale would run just where we wanted, but on the north side, it ran into the boundary fence. We opted to build the south side swale and come back to the northern paddock at a later date.<br />
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Digging the swale at the end of summer, the ground was too hard for the bucket on the little tractor. First the pegged line was ripped a number of times and the loose earth was scooped and piled on the downhill side of the swale.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilOTNNu-M2Y5udCIsp9aqP4x_4Mp95XLHEvUqJ_k7ZGs5qlJrl0nXS0IMbknJsmOoJTCqouLvHUfZxZXnoLQsd61x_kuT9LSjonrnFEUf9P11CQRWv8bZdW7ZfmitkIcYRacCem9g4lF8/s400/digtheswale.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scoop and dump ... scoop and dump</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilOTNNu-M2Y5udCIsp9aqP4x_4Mp95XLHEvUqJ_k7ZGs5qlJrl0nXS0IMbknJsmOoJTCqouLvHUfZxZXnoLQsd61x_kuT9LSjonrnFEUf9P11CQRWv8bZdW7ZfmitkIcYRacCem9g4lF8/s1600/digtheswale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>Levels were checked by hand by moving along the swale with metal tubing and a spirit level. Constructing swales seems to have a magical meteorological effect... I'm not the first to be rewarded by rain the day a swale is dug. Water is the ultimate spirit level and indicated the need to dig a bit deeper at the bottom end. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-pj2PiRlfFrzcKv-aNxXD041C_mgAos2KAiIZJZdT6t3Mw_fmeGhBY_Z0fTk65TuWsHKOPGRbAAOeY2mBX0QtIx6P0Omm6DAVEUwtC6r5tIJIllnZ0_v1_5JXmQZ3_fzTwWTJY26mHI/s1600/checkinglevels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc-pj2PiRlfFrzcKv-aNxXD041C_mgAos2KAiIZJZdT6t3Mw_fmeGhBY_Z0fTk65TuWsHKOPGRbAAOeY2mBX0QtIx6P0Omm6DAVEUwtC6r5tIJIllnZ0_v1_5JXmQZ3_fzTwWTJY26mHI/s320/checkinglevels.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGQ4G9u1YcvUBl_PuqRd3EpotY2gb7LtkRjMTn8K7oI7oA4bhMFz3qA1-dIOhKBSSqi4zPeiTiN2CTDEiLwo9wMPPgehCUTeeRRYucZG9tamtDV7fcEuvKwP4U1ubCddhazKIJFRZw3Jk/s1600/swale2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJM6jlqQDLubUao725G1wUifumK5h97KcUMb8I-iUE9l9m12KtaMYkIf-62zTSPaAuwcz_9zfOlbNnhvBzumUBjFC8u-sypjqMCeJZ0kukF2sLEceAi77pNALbIqADipbpg2_kz4OnNdU/s1600/63+-+konica+-+1756+-+elphinstone+manor+-+mar10+-++michalki+-+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJM6jlqQDLubUao725G1wUifumK5h97KcUMb8I-iUE9l9m12KtaMYkIf-62zTSPaAuwcz_9zfOlbNnhvBzumUBjFC8u-sypjqMCeJZ0kukF2sLEceAi77pNALbIqADipbpg2_kz4OnNdU/s400/63+-+konica+-+1756+-+elphinstone+manor+-+mar10+-++michalki+-+.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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The top side of the swale was planted with a variety of acacias - blackwood, black wattle, lightwood and wirilda in the mix. The last thing to do was to make a bridge to the lower paddock.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-eOAroGTGenYc1IqdJ7w369GrO0He2c7vVE5f09kA9-vUUY3Yuaf4OktVZj0FgKheD_I8csB8VCaxRRYJAAXvDEx8LFzJVvvqrAtVwFXcHn7aVUNeBIRfbIAZHGKVVCWN0TZUEZpGNUA/s1600/swaletrees2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-eOAroGTGenYc1IqdJ7w369GrO0He2c7vVE5f09kA9-vUUY3Yuaf4OktVZj0FgKheD_I8csB8VCaxRRYJAAXvDEx8LFzJVvvqrAtVwFXcHn7aVUNeBIRfbIAZHGKVVCWN0TZUEZpGNUA/s400/swaletrees2.jpg" width="266" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK7NbBJZAQSxyNgk8GSqE7O8rdljGEOXEFFgiaMcyIy5_e33C8tlG_KUalWjfT2u6K3fNbPG8LPodOXS8O2-nnmrLzT0U6AhhouWYOGxVoA2Vms4s6NISMNG0k3oo7GcYuJjcscEa0qck/s1600/swalebridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK7NbBJZAQSxyNgk8GSqE7O8rdljGEOXEFFgiaMcyIy5_e33C8tlG_KUalWjfT2u6K3fNbPG8LPodOXS8O2-nnmrLzT0U6AhhouWYOGxVoA2Vms4s6NISMNG0k3oo7GcYuJjcscEa0qck/s400/swalebridge.jpg" width="266" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWm9Oiwq14I-_vDGtvQyeH4-84d9CoyUgnohDuu8_N1cnGSnJlVZP6p7VlwmppDofbC9L5dbJZGVed-ahoBjlTy8ynUDZGx1UgAN1z7Uee7lIlrUmhL3AHGY6dl3N3g7twgcZlNAoGBww/s1600/swalefull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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After years of drought, rainfall this autumn and winter has been constant. The swale has been full since April, resulting in waterlogging in the paddock below. When it came time to plant bare-rooted fruit trees, we decided to mound them up to prevent them drowning. As it turns out, the bottom end of the swale is somewhat higher, which means the ground below is less damp, and a good place to plant cherries, peaches and apricots, which are more susceptible to waterlogging. When things dry out again, the plan is to deepen and widen the swale. Having thought in terms of water scarcity for so many years, I didn't account for how much water would be coming through that culvert. 80mm fell in 24 hours in August, blowing out the walls of small ponds we had constructed to slow down the remaining water that travels through the gully.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ0AK3z7d3bWkaF9JBxw5vXnTVfGJca7OGJ_orIgYQIyUSENACiUNRB_RouvWgUcTwAw1s7JKLugIMjvYNkNqe5RO0BLRLFoKlBEQuz_jmh6lcvc-h5N6GpuWw7R0-q5jmgY5IoMFvAKc/s1600/04092010014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ0AK3z7d3bWkaF9JBxw5vXnTVfGJca7OGJ_orIgYQIyUSENACiUNRB_RouvWgUcTwAw1s7JKLugIMjvYNkNqe5RO0BLRLFoKlBEQuz_jmh6lcvc-h5N6GpuWw7R0-q5jmgY5IoMFvAKc/s400/04092010014.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
This represents a major challenge. We're grappling with how to deal with the force of the water flowing through that small channel in big rain events. There's also a concern about contaminants coming onto the property that have washed off the roads, particularly for the two small dams scheduled for future works. For the time being, the big rains are cleansing, washing up an assortment of rubbish and old bottles that have been thrown in that gully for countless years.Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-90853289761171439002010-09-20T16:59:00.006+10:002010-11-06T22:10:30.625+11:00Pitchfork Projects<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUGcFiUgsx-yzhyEevHICWKcH2UQGAhyTLtiy4FlQjOs9iRLzl0Y5K18s3vtQ9F10OPoBnGZaeo0v5IHe8kMYCwdf1u5rzMj-7DH5IsE8siFxlvUdxZ-1i6b_vwr4jilIDpiDQOhORLo/s1600/Pitchforkbusinesscardjpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZUGcFiUgsx-yzhyEevHICWKcH2UQGAhyTLtiy4FlQjOs9iRLzl0Y5K18s3vtQ9F10OPoBnGZaeo0v5IHe8kMYCwdf1u5rzMj-7DH5IsE8siFxlvUdxZ-1i6b_vwr4jilIDpiDQOhORLo/s400/Pitchforkbusinesscardjpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"> I've launched a <a href="http://pitchforkprojects.com/">new website</a> over at pitchforkprojects.com and am now offering services both on the ground and over Skype. So now you can contact me for permaculture design and advice wherever in the world you are. Designed for people who want to be hands-on with their own projects, and are seeking design advice, solutions or ideas on how to move forward with their objectives. I also offer tools for teachers and parents on using the garden as a tool for learning language, literacy and numeracy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGy-5dOlOHRHTediid2ZyqDHafnyi0pkAKVYkrRCBJxd2mM5mA9cBdyJLF4fLl770yiJH7Fc_qeGQP4hCp9Tu3otY65XN2Xg7Rv2Aa9G_DAWWo-udwGvmT4_r2mrDJD0wqa0OSdcv5ef8/s1600/Pitchfork-Card-Trials2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGy-5dOlOHRHTediid2ZyqDHafnyi0pkAKVYkrRCBJxd2mM5mA9cBdyJLF4fLl770yiJH7Fc_qeGQP4hCp9Tu3otY65XN2Xg7Rv2Aa9G_DAWWo-udwGvmT4_r2mrDJD0wqa0OSdcv5ef8/s640/Pitchfork-Card-Trials2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Business card designed by <a href="http://andreashaw.blogspot.com/">Andrea Shaw</a>. <br />
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P.S. I didn't realise at first, but that's our place on the card! Look at that!<br />
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</tbody></table><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNfpJ5idPVBpLseHs9wNzrBHR2ONnylfPR2IgYFbXIRPDpXGkP2aOmVbKMsgCpdo11nXE0WufS2_mdurgjq6tLZ5RqWt3fCp_1XnHobOYXMNjgtaJLN-naemLqGYs1eBd6VbxE_1XbJxc/s1600/topswale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiqwSsz9bbx3Z8A2sP6HDQVRJm7Pq9_mpxjXFrFhwj0aO3m2FaxsNYO-8jAfvtfNClYyptBwOgM7AVJG46irXPk7ndGzG14njARv-3J2bk9I77Nemb5aHH0aOoyspfrul8j3_2GZEFSUQ/s1600/Pitchfork-Card-Trials2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-44296287132383595752010-09-15T16:43:00.007+10:002010-11-03T21:03:24.329+11:00Our Place<div style="text-align: left;">In September 2009, I spied online what looked like my dream country place. Low price tag, enough land to play with and most amazingly an old house that looked to be in a fairly liveable condition. Tim and I had agreed upon what we wanted for our budget: a watercourse, even if only running in winter, a shed or basic structure, close to a train line and suitable for m permaculture wants, food growing and a few animals.</div><div><br />
</div><div>What we got: An old house with town water and power connected, storm water outlet running onto property, plenty of sheds, old pigeon coops, a couple of old pear and plum trees.<br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHyfDu74lnRz0c3a6TLMci5BwFCCzvfZFktckZZQswTJnFBqmjcAt-chX9maPtCECparyfFHI6PVESvUJJcqvTHJiyB1txBujMh0U9ACVQXO65DaRmsHMBZTg5amIzAp_k2hCABDdz-j8/s1600/ourhouse.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517050967496249858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHyfDu74lnRz0c3a6TLMci5BwFCCzvfZFktckZZQswTJnFBqmjcAt-chX9maPtCECparyfFHI6PVESvUJJcqvTHJiyB1txBujMh0U9ACVQXO65DaRmsHMBZTg5amIzAp_k2hCABDdz-j8/s400/ourhouse.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></div><div>Challenges: Storm water coming onto the property had created an erosion gully that had been overrun with gorse for the last 20 years. The property had been overgrazed and then neglected for years. Rubbish, car parts and broken glass were strewn everywhere. The first focus was on cleaning up and using whatever resources we could find in sheds and strewn about.</div><div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee;"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee; font-size: 15.8333px;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517050963149714498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRyv7izp5nnxgnO5moccgCLLeSGLxhkfag5Hcod7DzilH-md_RPnbzCU7akcsay3RliRy6SUKUwYbeBwNNgBU6VH_I_CrpIzN4veoqZH784gJe5D7DSloNxrjKzEWzSUEFLyoOqP6FT_8/s400/gorse" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></span></span></u></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee;"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee; font-size: 15.8333px;"></span></span></u></span>We started work to retrofit the house for energy efficiency, attack the gorse forest without the use of chemicals, utilise the storm water more effectively to tackle the erosion problem and find the pipes that bring mains water to the house.<br />
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<div>A lucky resource was the years of pigeon poo that had collected in the pigeon coops over the years. It was old, dry and very dusty, but a fantastic resource. I set to work almost immediately to start composting the pigeon poo goldmine. I used the <a href="http://milkwood.net/2007/11/07/how_to_make_compost_pt_1/">Berkley method</a>, and made a pile using a a mix of straw, newspaper and pigeon poop. This I turned after four days and then every second day til 18 days had passed. Check CSIRO's publication 'Composting - Making Soil Improver from Rubbish' for a guide to mixing your materials for the right carbon/nitrogen ratios, <a href="http://www.nuganics.com.au/2008/01/11/composting-making-soil-improver-from-rubbish/">downloadable here</a>.</div><div><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee; font-size: 15.8333px;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517050955962340818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvoccCRqjHIdNxFck7NOcz5LMnGouzIni4MWoGuMmlMHRVJkUWIQ_7DlcPmsKG9x_FJOjcug0gCqwwCXXhGxhnQm7_GJVucq2fg2zPhczWBzyqJMhNm_hVTZ-uZkPA62u1RCIO6gnD5fA/s400/pigeoncompost.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 150px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></span></div><div><br />
</div></div></div></div>Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-44655187654110402552009-04-25T21:47:00.035+10:002010-11-03T21:03:56.325+11:00Econospace Framing - step by step<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwtQbn-fUIL2O7KkqgQ_Zpoc1DQGOSp1kzsc9wUbxmlBmJ5dBAe5OYUzwbBEab0wUJjRlOBnedOlSKifDT7DpF9zNL_eEH4PYnOSL6Q3eEFESancW3xiigO7_L3dlrDVEF7FsBdsc8Nw/s1600-h/econospacebrick.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328627349882123618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwtQbn-fUIL2O7KkqgQ_Zpoc1DQGOSp1kzsc9wUbxmlBmJ5dBAe5OYUzwbBEab0wUJjRlOBnedOlSKifDT7DpF9zNL_eEH4PYnOSL6Q3eEFESancW3xiigO7_L3dlrDVEF7FsBdsc8Nw/s320/econospacebrick.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 240px;" /></a>Some very good workshops happened near Castlemaine this summer and I was lucky enough to catch one of them. For a long while I'd been wishing for the skills to build my own shed, houseboat or composting toilet, but the mystery of how to make walls and roofs stay up on their own eluded me. This changed after I attended <a href="http://www.livingarchitecturecentre.com/">Peter Cowman's Econospace framing</a>. In one weekend, the construction of a small building had become something within my range of experience. What follows are my notes on how to build an Econospace - in our case, a 10 square metre structure.<br />
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We began with some theory: the principles of foundation and triangulation, the benefit of a good work bench and appropriate tools.<br />
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We quickly saw these principles in action. The foundations: basalt crushed rock under a brick foundation covered with ant guard. The floor is raised to keep it accessible to check for termite damage, which should be held at bay by the rock and ant guard.<br />
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The floor was constructed before our arrival. The framing was laid and levelled and beams placed across and attached to frame from below. The cross pieces tie it all together. The lip here where the frame joins the beams allows for the placing of insulation.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsdMgpMth6-d3MCxIlY4bfgcGJ6g2lpP6wDlEYcN5ikCcTcimH5f_v402iLqFvihOudizE1LRcaDOJtUe2GmL9f6DXCCblq8zcCsnHJzY40kMsbUZdXw3N9uPRTiAoehwwVCrmxup8xk4/s1600-h/econospacefloor.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328808509508191458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsdMgpMth6-d3MCxIlY4bfgcGJ6g2lpP6wDlEYcN5ikCcTcimH5f_v402iLqFvihOudizE1LRcaDOJtUe2GmL9f6DXCCblq8zcCsnHJzY40kMsbUZdXw3N9uPRTiAoehwwVCrmxup8xk4/s320/econospacefloor.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 300px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 400px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMD9KHrYldxbJuZ5r60DgcDEnixhB-OHxE8MtNY3zxncUIf1l6UzQmAhPta8OyMyaJ7XzmR3y_Ix8Dtgby5EJuPzKfIPJ1U5RdbPNc4SS8bNkE_FK9HTYktD3TdOYf0jKA_Y832Sr2s8M/s1600-h/econospacediagonals.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328630744293759250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMD9KHrYldxbJuZ5r60DgcDEnixhB-OHxE8MtNY3zxncUIf1l6UzQmAhPta8OyMyaJ7XzmR3y_Ix8Dtgby5EJuPzKfIPJ1U5RdbPNc4SS8bNkE_FK9HTYktD3TdOYf0jKA_Y832Sr2s8M/s320/econospacediagonals.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 400px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 300px;" /></a><br />
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Notice how the triangulating pieces run opposite ways at each end.<br />
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The basis of frame of the Econospace is the Peter post. The peter post is designed for exterior and interior cladding, with space for insulation in the middle.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoPXcdl308kSBYsQ0GCk-u_L3ufkbig73DLDk9PE2G85Ob4ITrkTt6WZIEr4juSqMnKDhUuHvcFzRB1FHq1-RDBWdK_25NXVscXxaMcBzinGdTv0i3dRN0U9PmJlTG5LEz7ItTBokN_X4/s1600-h/econospaceclosepeter.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328633012409502514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoPXcdl308kSBYsQ0GCk-u_L3ufkbig73DLDk9PE2G85Ob4ITrkTt6WZIEr4juSqMnKDhUuHvcFzRB1FHq1-RDBWdK_25NXVscXxaMcBzinGdTv0i3dRN0U9PmJlTG5LEz7ItTBokN_X4/s320/econospaceclosepeter.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 240px;" /></a>We made up the peter posts on a jig and nailed them together with 75mm flathead nails.<br />
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One problem you can encounter with conventional timber framing is thermal bridging, where the timber provides a bridge - points at which wood can transfer heat inside to outside. The peter post avoids this problem, as no part of the wood travels all the way through from inside to out. <br />
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With our peter posts ready, we built the frame. Firstly, we made a temporary floor and laid out 4 peter posts, lining them up with the foundation and measuring the distances carefully. 4 sheeting rails were nailed across, with one laid diagonally along the top for the sloping roof.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACYXM8m7k7T4TXfF935Iqh6_t5R0muAjsHxlNZaFnBBn5VCTdSK0jIrqSPmLuNIrjf0lxs4BLtInBupXgpr2s7qRz-wuvFF8V-7zhRHLsu9-RNjqDd3qtrYBMOeqdDNCVO44-KKW2Xug/s1600-h/econospacewall.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328802932278200754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACYXM8m7k7T4TXfF935Iqh6_t5R0muAjsHxlNZaFnBBn5VCTdSK0jIrqSPmLuNIrjf0lxs4BLtInBupXgpr2s7qRz-wuvFF8V-7zhRHLsu9-RNjqDd3qtrYBMOeqdDNCVO44-KKW2Xug/s320/econospacewall.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
A diagonal cross-brace was added, running in the opposite direction to the diagonal roof rail. Two bottom rails were added.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpapZQHPfpCuRF4-gKRzZ1BiWqaHwDNGcNGkYg9qsf0vguYoO5UgctWJ0TsaqfWs4mADp9WMlSRAzv3rYrbyH0-bZ7L7wqVcOhZ5Vqm6Zi4ylEHhRej5IqD0N7iX7DINMac_dd6W5GuSk/s1600-h/econospacecrossbrace.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328802935377866578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpapZQHPfpCuRF4-gKRzZ1BiWqaHwDNGcNGkYg9qsf0vguYoO5UgctWJ0TsaqfWs4mADp9WMlSRAzv3rYrbyH0-bZ7L7wqVcOhZ5Vqm6Zi4ylEHhRej5IqD0N7iX7DINMac_dd6W5GuSk/s320/econospacecrossbrace.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqE9GTTrxy2DORwt35zIup3Aq0n3Lq-zMKqeAYYZUtVOUIVE4pBgG2wHdjyWwYazC8MSd_10qLP4sFsvAaDaUSjoWM8L5GRoXeB4PRVFfNw7SpIIf3aC4gmWUcaELAMZOV37DxrMF7Mgk/s1600-h/econospacebottomrail.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328802936735811090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqE9GTTrxy2DORwt35zIup3Aq0n3Lq-zMKqeAYYZUtVOUIVE4pBgG2wHdjyWwYazC8MSd_10qLP4sFsvAaDaUSjoWM8L5GRoXeB4PRVFfNw7SpIIf3aC4gmWUcaELAMZOV37DxrMF7Mgk/s320/econospacebottomrail.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
Bracing beams were fixed at a single point, to allow them to pivot. Then we raised the wall and braced it in position.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAijGt4WGqKdyJEPyVfLcSaHQ4WrTf0re3JQ2DgjJL68mFrprmqoTi4ZVd4RVi9eNa8xwcU82xFhT4219q1DhyphenhyphenUDhf8BClLOntjYdZ8-rf78KFbu4RDZohr9tL_8cxa6y3dsqhGYU2-Ls/s1600-h/econospacebracing.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328802938738878994" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAijGt4WGqKdyJEPyVfLcSaHQ4WrTf0re3JQ2DgjJL68mFrprmqoTi4ZVd4RVi9eNa8xwcU82xFhT4219q1DhyphenhyphenUDhf8BClLOntjYdZ8-rf78KFbu4RDZohr9tL_8cxa6y3dsqhGYU2-Ls/s320/econospacebracing.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
The front wall was constructed in a similar way, except that the wall sat on the floor joists when raised. It is essential to accurately measure the width of the peter posts relative to the floor joist to ensure it fits. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgujc9ubZaFsW1GVGmt_ang7EU2rP4qyBzR5-OZOOLgmR-YKsVrVwcSILx2Wa-tL6HTPTOkHzsf3V6ggbliOFWq0LhWa9P8W_oS9jsWzdmlfV-T6Qg8Ju_1T5lMQroyEnIgLZdGfVfzByQ/s1600-h/econospacefloorjoist.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328804054213941602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgujc9ubZaFsW1GVGmt_ang7EU2rP4qyBzR5-OZOOLgmR-YKsVrVwcSILx2Wa-tL6HTPTOkHzsf3V6ggbliOFWq0LhWa9P8W_oS9jsWzdmlfV-T6Qg8Ju_1T5lMQroyEnIgLZdGfVfzByQ/s320/econospacefloorjoist.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 256px; margin: 0pt 0px 0px 0pt; width: 192px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglNloyLXZfN-5Pl1Xnh9KrBaw_kysEJzPsZU3UvcWkULcnlNtz2qLy2ymfqQINjp4XDzkcM3t0ASDCvlk4XoqXhFXrYoJu6SUzupMfPtaZsSMdLDpbtHUneTOLsKUJVsF3Yv2_vrk0G-o/s1600-h/econospacewallfits.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328812808782169906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglNloyLXZfN-5Pl1Xnh9KrBaw_kysEJzPsZU3UvcWkULcnlNtz2qLy2ymfqQINjp4XDzkcM3t0ASDCvlk4XoqXhFXrYoJu6SUzupMfPtaZsSMdLDpbtHUneTOLsKUJVsF3Yv2_vrk0G-o/s320/econospacewallfits.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 256px; margin: 0pt 0px 0px 0pt; width: 192px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYhgiMsIyScDTeU98bUZJJitEtFtoIPyCDPubnWwd1DvDKqDNi9KT2ztcWKss8xZQ9MRjB0rfUj56Lc1QSm2mU5a6IsJ5dxZ1_hqCDn_26HTKa7ukLLXpGFUmalrmaeM76dRt5hpclBw0/s1600-h/econospacefloorfits.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328812511657449138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYhgiMsIyScDTeU98bUZJJitEtFtoIPyCDPubnWwd1DvDKqDNi9KT2ztcWKss8xZQ9MRjB0rfUj56Lc1QSm2mU5a6IsJ5dxZ1_hqCDn_26HTKa7ukLLXpGFUmalrmaeM76dRt5hpclBw0/s320/econospacefloorfits.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 256px; margin: 0px auto; text-align: center; width: 192px;" /></a><br />
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With all four walls raised, we secured them and removed the bracing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFFpU6BgIGJDf1nMBJkCjJkzqAhVzEEjR6ddSJ9I6BRzJbnZ14DNaDtzjW1lXFkU9Oojsm_MKTFaku3YQsZ6GuFKTn4hT8Xhl0nTNxX_Qdkd4lwJv0Ww-912Vo-Yni3x7PfyguKiezQA/s1600-h/econospacesecuringwall.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328805128031777954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFFpU6BgIGJDf1nMBJkCjJkzqAhVzEEjR6ddSJ9I6BRzJbnZ14DNaDtzjW1lXFkU9Oojsm_MKTFaku3YQsZ6GuFKTn4hT8Xhl0nTNxX_Qdkd4lwJv0Ww-912Vo-Yni3x7PfyguKiezQA/s320/econospacesecuringwall.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LJFsvwhpo6fDFLJHD1pvB3eoCrnwu5tvhPIVTCWJIb4v1lqAD6Rfr-ySPh8kg3iFCJ-GaBJV_guAz3qtQQfu7bRysWPVBK_6SMDzpD_2oZ62WfFHmTWQCIqfFC2DliLzr-Bp-76_G_E/s1600-h/econospaceremovingbrace.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328802940149270082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LJFsvwhpo6fDFLJHD1pvB3eoCrnwu5tvhPIVTCWJIb4v1lqAD6Rfr-ySPh8kg3iFCJ-GaBJV_guAz3qtQQfu7bRysWPVBK_6SMDzpD_2oZ62WfFHmTWQCIqfFC2DliLzr-Bp-76_G_E/s320/econospaceremovingbrace.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0aiJ4Pdl6mbXu7cX0Ji4qA47PMW3AbZpp1uNCGKd1TAtx2UnD9fI_E-P0yNZDsVtfkdc6un9v3j3HM41-K59fuAcPixZLLqkVSgCS03n_41164MZn8WEKhp4bBFvaj6rBGerLhGyBiI/s1600-h/econospace.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328805124233244626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0aiJ4Pdl6mbXu7cX0Ji4qA47PMW3AbZpp1uNCGKd1TAtx2UnD9fI_E-P0yNZDsVtfkdc6un9v3j3HM41-K59fuAcPixZLLqkVSgCS03n_41164MZn8WEKhp4bBFvaj6rBGerLhGyBiI/s320/econospace.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a>Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-15317906048572112082008-08-15T20:26:00.004+10:002010-11-03T21:04:32.045+11:00Playing Music on a Bike - Outrageous!I love this kind of outrageous gadgetry. When I was a bike courier, people would kit their bikes out with over the top suspension and mountain biking gadgets, which on city streets just seemed a bit much. This is kids doing what kids do best. Making weird but cool stuff.<br />
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<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GsoL7NBScNY&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GsoL7NBScNY&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-26302045801765818912008-07-23T19:58:00.008+10:002010-11-03T21:06:09.218+11:00Concord School Garden<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQglMx1paSlXN-lr0XMIIN6438Y4vIcJtooHmg9XcwRwgliVo-7XQctWywzeoRqSj34KJLS_N7GTIWeKmyiLIIIwdgHem7xkHjaX94EAmBPpDP6tTlSuNspGMjkSYNUazFZTx5BFtupzc/s1600-h/concordbeds1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226162045420850530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQglMx1paSlXN-lr0XMIIN6438Y4vIcJtooHmg9XcwRwgliVo-7XQctWywzeoRqSj34KJLS_N7GTIWeKmyiLIIIwdgHem7xkHjaX94EAmBPpDP6tTlSuNspGMjkSYNUazFZTx5BFtupzc/s400/concordbeds1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
Concord School is a special school in Melbourne's north that's seeking to feed the entire school with the produce from their school garden. The design brief was six beds, two sleepers high - a bed for each group of students. It was a fairly cramped space to work in, but the beds have been staggered to maximise space while creating interesting flows around the space. I made the most of vertical growing opportunities by placing garden beds up against fences. I was pretty impressed by the transformation. There's ample room for wheelchairs, wheelbarrows and two people to walk side by side around all areas of the garden. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZs-H-khe3eQgshA43B4abrv77oaA7pv8W2owPPsgxLYSCJBZCC_eCL7cwRb_-Lw-jZpNw9BFULb0DIMtia5c60LgYH6kQXOxTrxmXikokDmerYPoZ8G37e9CTJykbPCu2OMx4nTZdTIk/s1600-h/concordbefore.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226162044880773938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZs-H-khe3eQgshA43B4abrv77oaA7pv8W2owPPsgxLYSCJBZCC_eCL7cwRb_-Lw-jZpNw9BFULb0DIMtia5c60LgYH6kQXOxTrxmXikokDmerYPoZ8G37e9CTJykbPCu2OMx4nTZdTIk/s400/concordbefore.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
We built it over the Easter holidays, so the kids came back to school to find a brand new set of garden beds to work with. The year 10 and 11 horticulture teams are working in the garden and managing food production and composting. As we worked, grounds maintenance were making mulch out of trees that had been felled on the school grounds to be put down on the pathways. That's the kind of cycling of materials you hope that schools can implement for projects like this one.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsS7fOdNakWdeSeR3cA1HwFx86XMk1SfSk2Qj_h6VI4iC9s4LqvTkTcAh4fjpqq2hT36qjzL0xPcvhiwdYqQpLDfXQ9nbhh2E3WUWSWF_TqXPQ5fzHfA0PxytdPQsYY_YosXAY-Sa5uI/s1600-h/concordbeds3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226162038752202450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsS7fOdNakWdeSeR3cA1HwFx86XMk1SfSk2Qj_h6VI4iC9s4LqvTkTcAh4fjpqq2hT36qjzL0xPcvhiwdYqQpLDfXQ9nbhh2E3WUWSWF_TqXPQ5fzHfA0PxytdPQsYY_YosXAY-Sa5uI/s400/concordbeds3.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBYX__sBJPxDA9WMz3E5UtrdlrKwSy1BgvC3ByR-G8mTgbR8oPqe4l_PZ4F29-FOndPRBoEbgJbyxi-h7cTcDhTIWQtxdKJZnJFHFq_nuKFy6DlioW497zZed4i-xibf2bnA9MY8U8fM/s1600-h/compostbay.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226162046136251522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBYX__sBJPxDA9WMz3E5UtrdlrKwSy1BgvC3ByR-G8mTgbR8oPqe4l_PZ4F29-FOndPRBoEbgJbyxi-h7cTcDhTIWQtxdKJZnJFHFq_nuKFy6DlioW497zZed4i-xibf2bnA9MY8U8fM/s400/compostbay.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
Concord School decided to do away with their tumblers and compost bins and do all their composting in a bay system. We set this one up which looks pretty damn fine! That's me. I'm feeling good to be body tired and covered in a layer of fine dirt after a hard days work.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iWa8qCI1zNC4eRoJXjVD0xc_zrd3Vz_i4wjCUrPZTCRum82iY3_siGRetq9AZ2x6hyphenhyphen1hhBTqgYsP8voZ-96gCn0uj3IQlT2t4ePXi6ihF7lQCRFXTA8SyYbY1EOLoltooe7_M0aDcwY/s1600-h/samhungry.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5226162046545733650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9iWa8qCI1zNC4eRoJXjVD0xc_zrd3Vz_i4wjCUrPZTCRum82iY3_siGRetq9AZ2x6hyphenhyphen1hhBTqgYsP8voZ-96gCn0uj3IQlT2t4ePXi6ihF7lQCRFXTA8SyYbY1EOLoltooe7_M0aDcwY/s400/samhungry.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-11942468110595122492008-06-24T21:58:00.004+10:002010-11-03T21:06:34.395+11:00Vegetable of the month: Kale<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGjU4OU-84gSrWX5U7eEeN9sU62O1Xq6hxuA7jwm68YpoenCcOfRfniRs0Q_sp0GunVedpFkU7h3G3bXijPJAO6Cp2GL33bogDXGhQnqfSTInunMJ9sTY2dxYmpFipKXN-pklcOwO24I/s1600-h/kale1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215423207980021026" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGjU4OU-84gSrWX5U7eEeN9sU62O1Xq6hxuA7jwm68YpoenCcOfRfniRs0Q_sp0GunVedpFkU7h3G3bXijPJAO6Cp2GL33bogDXGhQnqfSTInunMJ9sTY2dxYmpFipKXN-pklcOwO24I/s400/kale1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-RK9-De5uZufmvftW9TurgK_Hu0ZE5IMlKi2luaxwbtkd4Qw2aO3VW-nCZiEqHWeROEdU_tcf-vh7vh1GKOpwdGOixFtehPOUfXhAZRaPFfUlfrf6KAjdLXDTB28VMGjUjL2vV-FmqSA/s1600-h/kale3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215423272895347218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-RK9-De5uZufmvftW9TurgK_Hu0ZE5IMlKi2luaxwbtkd4Qw2aO3VW-nCZiEqHWeROEdU_tcf-vh7vh1GKOpwdGOixFtehPOUfXhAZRaPFfUlfrf6KAjdLXDTB28VMGjUjL2vV-FmqSA/s400/kale3.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
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I've grown Kale before, but never have I experienced such culinary delight from a leafy green vegetable. Fry it lightly with some lemon juice...mmmm. I'm now determined to plant a 'new for me' vegetable every month. This weekend was a winter's garden delight. I couldn't get enough of coriander walnut pesto, and carrots were ripe for the picking too.<br />
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A Canadian organic grower told me that kale was always the last wilted vegetable left at the farmer's market stand. <a href="http://iheartkale.blogspot.com/">I love Kale</a>, though I'm sure millions of Canadians would roll their eyes in disdain.Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-80653250656792231792008-06-22T23:00:00.005+10:002010-11-03T21:06:51.665+11:00Ruby Saltbush<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5cqWcPta1WjCj9exlpbuh5GPsevUp9qUDbtqfCP-znk9NBj-Bi5vZ5Uh51ru_vYWHE6lB5A_hR-kLcLKocMC2L2oVoBwKR8gPFketPOzhSL-8_8fIokkuZqZu7obo2uLHuUoqRS1GKRI/s1600-h/rubysaltbush.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214690413868072738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5cqWcPta1WjCj9exlpbuh5GPsevUp9qUDbtqfCP-znk9NBj-Bi5vZ5Uh51ru_vYWHE6lB5A_hR-kLcLKocMC2L2oVoBwKR8gPFketPOzhSL-8_8fIokkuZqZu7obo2uLHuUoqRS1GKRI/s400/rubysaltbush.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
A bushfood. You can eat the berries. These are in season at the moment, so I'm snacking wherever I find them. The fruits are sweet with a slight saltiness, they taste lovely though there's not much flesh to them. Apparently you can make a sweet drink by soaking them in water.Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-69902579332772074422008-05-29T22:59:00.013+10:002010-11-03T21:07:42.175+11:00Things are usually harder and better than you imagine.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIPGk5CuFMLimmpjQNiCHm5nOrcGlHuMU0j0SEUbwiHZJHD_c6B32ssuiY9jK2LxTr_HZmDoVrh6J_xV7uZo71DYyhBktO9sS-em7miY6eBoutrx5i_7Hz8dd9th48Tf_ksxdk1uNFT4/s1600-h/swanhillisred.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205804144599602530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRIPGk5CuFMLimmpjQNiCHm5nOrcGlHuMU0j0SEUbwiHZJHD_c6B32ssuiY9jK2LxTr_HZmDoVrh6J_xV7uZo71DYyhBktO9sS-em7miY6eBoutrx5i_7Hz8dd9th48Tf_ksxdk1uNFT4/s320/swanhillisred.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
When I headed off to my Indigenous Bushfood Community School Garden project earlier this year, I thought I'd be posting regularly about permaculture successes, community renewal, breaking new ground in engaging young people in the politics and joys of growing their own food. I was full of big ideas and big energy, which kept me going through a first term of impending school closure, unbearable workplace politics, wild kids and boys who would greet me with challenges like, "I'm going to make your job impossible," and "You won't last a year here," and "Are we the worst kids you've ever taught?" <br />
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Our forays into the garden involved most of the class shouting, "I'm not walking down there...It's too hot...It's too cold...How come those other kids can just walk off?" Building projects involved groups of boys focused one minute, and the next hurling hammers into gum trees. Everything we planted died over the school holidays.<br />
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This term has been better. I cracked through the cement-like soil and planted some fruit trees with the little kids. Some of the seniors have been getting into throwing soil around and we're slowly creating beds. A bunch of them love jumping in the bus and heading to the hardware store for things we might need. This week, I found some street trees loaded with olives that we can harvest on our bike ride tomorrow. So we're chugging along. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVyG5SQ17NhYhgJmCHISXJuC1yGGnme-3J9eXGtqMUnrhFCFPF5Ljrauxi9ZqE-V0fFmvkobVIW5-S_96VBnHT1nvvUZyl06dmGv1u_1L-Q-POidzFWGSO0XOwhPIKFohbbVe3w2Lvfk/s1600-h/grandtheftauto.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205802284878763298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPVyG5SQ17NhYhgJmCHISXJuC1yGGnme-3J9eXGtqMUnrhFCFPF5Ljrauxi9ZqE-V0fFmvkobVIW5-S_96VBnHT1nvvUZyl06dmGv1u_1L-Q-POidzFWGSO0XOwhPIKFohbbVe3w2Lvfk/s320/grandtheftauto.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
Mostly what is getting better is that I'm getting to know my students and I really like them. The tough ones are really softies at heart, and a couple of them stand out for their beautiful openness, willingness and creativity. We've been on two trips to Melbourne and after a four hour train ride we ran around Melbourne after dark, exploring the Yarra, the Art Play playground, and finding things I would never have seen, was I not being led by a bunch of excited teenagers. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzsZoSdVdfq-ZoRRAnVq72211_ui23nY14f-KkNaCQqUaALZGQDFMMFGEZV-3_we1dQfQfuVHK2TWxxi-beQ3w16GlNgl04J_95iTJ5-UkGIowNZ8MZgxJs_7SYlo21JZaZWfA1jMJvNU/s1600-h/bogafish.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205802293468697906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzsZoSdVdfq-ZoRRAnVq72211_ui23nY14f-KkNaCQqUaALZGQDFMMFGEZV-3_we1dQfQfuVHK2TWxxi-beQ3w16GlNgl04J_95iTJ5-UkGIowNZ8MZgxJs_7SYlo21JZaZWfA1jMJvNU/s320/bogafish.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
We've talked about suicide and families and how much it sucks to be a teenager and not have control of your life. We've visited <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/load-of-rot-fish-deaths-cause-stink-in-lake-boga/2008/01/03/1198949988111.html">Lake Boga</a> and photographed dead carp on the dry lakebed and sunk in the mud of a salt lake while chasing each other around. They are a fun and funny bunch.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNmC-Yue5gGPEYIpeUFISX9dl6lv_2WfL3dClGEAbpRBYI6qFsnOgUcmXE0Tzd7Lb_2E1ZHViGwRxN1dfJ-eyNKfEadKvLUip9CIjZjwLd09EPj14PkyEfJSv5yOERXGPuYhgYGSv2yiA/s1600-h/rockon.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205795795183179010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNmC-Yue5gGPEYIpeUFISX9dl6lv_2WfL3dClGEAbpRBYI6qFsnOgUcmXE0Tzd7Lb_2E1ZHViGwRxN1dfJ-eyNKfEadKvLUip9CIjZjwLd09EPj14PkyEfJSv5yOERXGPuYhgYGSv2yiA/s200/rockon.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" /></a> When the boys <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_%28gesture%29">give me the finger</a> now, I do this. They think I'm weird but it seems to be working. Flipping the bird doesn't seem quite as cool anymore!<br />
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I'm understanding very clearly why schools get me in to build the gardens for them. It's hard to be a teacher and create things with kids that take time and hard work and planning and that exist outside the known, understood classroom. But I'm persisting. I think some of them are starting to see growing and harvesting food as something I value and are willing to give it a try, simply because I'm into it. And that feels good.Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-33079292855083176112008-04-20T10:15:00.006+10:002010-11-03T21:09:08.437+11:00Gravity Force Kitchen<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzkvKM_vOLvwlyg36lyqizhyphenhyphenFwUzO_bBC90tytrV49ofP1SJ4jThiR7FfaYbijCMH1f5S2OZf0usWrIm-RCihy1Ogq_0UXTvSTfjJXWxcJSGknFnnuPV8TcnPz2THHUdCi6urO3k9V6uY/s1600-h/akshayapatra.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191125682673509970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzkvKM_vOLvwlyg36lyqizhyphenhyphenFwUzO_bBC90tytrV49ofP1SJ4jThiR7FfaYbijCMH1f5S2OZf0usWrIm-RCihy1Ogq_0UXTvSTfjJXWxcJSGknFnnuPV8TcnPz2THHUdCi6urO3k9V6uY/s400/akshayapatra.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://news.staging.sbs.com.au/dateline/india39s_free_lunch_543882">Dateline </a>recently featured a story on school meals in India. I particularly enjoyed the piece on Akshaya Patra's "gravity force" kitchen in Vasanthapura. <a href="http://www.kurma.net/essays/e4.html">Hare Krishna restaurants</a> have done a fine job of feeding hundreds of people each day in this city, and are now shipping school lunches to feed 820,000 pupils a day in India.<br />
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The kitchen is truly something upon which to marvel. Dry foods, like rice and dhal are kept in silos on the roof and are fed down chutes into cauldrons on a floor below. There is also a food chopping level, where the food is also chuted down to a lower level for cooking. The cooked meals are then chuted a further level where they are wheeled in trolleys to a waiting fleet of vehicles to be delivered to schools within a 50km radius of the kitchen. This kitchen is like something I might have invented in my wildest 10 year old dreams. Except I might've added some employee slides as well.<br />
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The school lunch program seems to have successfully combined centralized and individual solutions to feed thousands of hungry school kids. Not every school can employ staff to cook fresh lunches each day. Nonetheless 820,000 kids are eating fresh, healthy meals that would put most Australian school canteens to shame. As Madhu Pandit Das, a Hare Krishna Missionary says, "We definitely feel that there is a divine touch in the food that comes out of these kitchens."<br />
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I must say I'm spoiled at my workplace. All school lunches are freshly prepared, and 3 times a week we are served stew, pasta or shepherd's pie with damper and johnny cakes. For the very reasonable price of $2 a meal.<br />
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Image from <a href="http://www.akshayapatra.org/">Akshaya Patra: Unlimited Food for Education</a>Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-80056093163809103972008-04-13T16:45:00.008+10:002010-11-03T21:09:49.866+11:00The New AdventureThings have been very busy in the land of Pitchfork of late. There is a good three months of news to update. The year so far has been dominated by a new adventure for me, a full time teaching role in a school, working with teenagers to develop an indigenous bushfood community permaculture school garden. This project doesn't have a snappy name yet. I have acquired a sturdy, economical vehicle to take me 3 and a half hours away from my home to reside in the Murray Mallee four days a week.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jd23Bm_A-JogkoIzJmK1cf3k2GIJdk5-F4JpnDHGcJZf6qZT0yBvAJFh4diBi5x1vnXw8wQ0ZjaQPeB6-hadwG9rhg37HoEi0OYPPj3eCg5RyrWGVCwEm59qlf6D_BfqyUNZWCAQUJA/s1600-h/volvo2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5188628319395498834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3jd23Bm_A-JogkoIzJmK1cf3k2GIJdk5-F4JpnDHGcJZf6qZT0yBvAJFh4diBi5x1vnXw8wQ0ZjaQPeB6-hadwG9rhg37HoEi0OYPPj3eCg5RyrWGVCwEm59qlf6D_BfqyUNZWCAQUJA/s400/volvo2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>The area we are developing is a dusty, dry, flat layer of schoolyard. There has been no significant rainfall in the area since I arrived on the 29th January. There was a good duststorm though.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmKPSJ6kb1FBODEb5lh9kuesYJ8cez7q9_xWHHltD6m_NAIZhVMT_d_oQzKlblvVmj2e6q3njYd36KZSjTVLRSWxW4_xhGP9HZ_ra3YMKJBIQk2H08zvqXYIYl91MN08a02pdCVOFG2k/s1600-h/bushfoodgardenarea.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5188628315100531522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmKPSJ6kb1FBODEb5lh9kuesYJ8cez7q9_xWHHltD6m_NAIZhVMT_d_oQzKlblvVmj2e6q3njYd36KZSjTVLRSWxW4_xhGP9HZ_ra3YMKJBIQk2H08zvqXYIYl91MN08a02pdCVOFG2k/s400/bushfoodgardenarea.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>The first challenge will be for me to find contour on this levelled ground. Once that is done, we will be putting in swales, and planting nitrogen fixing trees and fruit trees. I listened very closely to a talk <a href="http://www.permaculture.org.au/">Geoff Lawton</a> gave recently and am well inspired by what can be grown in the desert in Jordan. Now, I have great hopes about what we can grow here.<br />
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So far, we have set up compost systems, a worm farm, compost bays and are well on the way to constructing a chook shed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ZklXBHTZ4wQp1LaiwLUt85QF2VYJui-M2vLI8qlk_l4mC-hj9cGio159lKyFW_9p3dRPF7cGNVqoQTREXSL7Q3nm2xo_y2vYwckmM0dm8nUlIrfDKe0GmQH0H5jOUwOEQdctfrDjIcU/s1600-h/makingcompostbays.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5188627834064194354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ZklXBHTZ4wQp1LaiwLUt85QF2VYJui-M2vLI8qlk_l4mC-hj9cGio159lKyFW_9p3dRPF7cGNVqoQTREXSL7Q3nm2xo_y2vYwckmM0dm8nUlIrfDKe0GmQH0H5jOUwOEQdctfrDjIcU/s400/makingcompostbays.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-71683479129235033252008-01-03T21:56:00.001+11:002010-11-03T21:10:34.796+11:00Update: Belle Vue Primary School<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRb8mShaNYEXIsKIpd4aqNb_nPBQBuy0Swa8DcL3BhWWzdwyf_BLh9HyjgEDvbiNK3Kph1-5ofk6N8CaInPDC6ijeiUnJxERuX2C1nMEqobgJGC_b2rF_Wf-y5YkkHTV0bV_5Gbx308b8/s1600-h/bellevuebefore.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5151212157128729986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRb8mShaNYEXIsKIpd4aqNb_nPBQBuy0Swa8DcL3BhWWzdwyf_BLh9HyjgEDvbiNK3Kph1-5ofk6N8CaInPDC6ijeiUnJxERuX2C1nMEqobgJGC_b2rF_Wf-y5YkkHTV0bV_5Gbx308b8/s400/bellevuebefore.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>Look at this amazing transformation! This is a project I developed at Belle Vue Primary in the middle of 2007. This garden was built at a working bee back in late July and it has bloomed like crazy this spring. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9N45fqPOdaTjIySB7p0rE6ylbzgywe_Vf5nLJ7BE82tkqpmR4GuxPpvtQ0gu7k7kzLk26coqqwDMuAY8VDJVqqThOCBErSzO9yRZ0l590PEMWvAQ-IT6WiKb0jQzdxcBQaMznro98LXk/s1600-h/bellevueafter.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5151212152833762674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9N45fqPOdaTjIySB7p0rE6ylbzgywe_Vf5nLJ7BE82tkqpmR4GuxPpvtQ0gu7k7kzLk26coqqwDMuAY8VDJVqqThOCBErSzO9yRZ0l590PEMWvAQ-IT6WiKb0jQzdxcBQaMznro98LXk/s400/bellevueafter.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>All the kids at the school are spending a morning a week planting stuff and eating stuff. When we dropped by in the middle of a Christmas party, there were a bunch of kids hanging out in the garden, eating peas.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggqTf7CTdH4RM6q9l8vNfpKOXv74RyYOe_4AmIQN0POzHOljwwTUrrIqejc4nMkLbcl7O_WfC9V0qfSPWoZOqznJ0IxW4xsBPSxsc8_fjy25pNuPur7fIBzUFgtm12o-sH2ryBt0EflTo/s1600-h/terracedbeds.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5151211646027621730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggqTf7CTdH4RM6q9l8vNfpKOXv74RyYOe_4AmIQN0POzHOljwwTUrrIqejc4nMkLbcl7O_WfC9V0qfSPWoZOqznJ0IxW4xsBPSxsc8_fjy25pNuPur7fIBzUFgtm12o-sH2ryBt0EflTo/s400/terracedbeds.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>I'm particularly proud of these terraced beds. They required many finely tuned cuts in the sleepers to make the angles fit together snugly, but they were worth the effort, don't you think?Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-6357766534002397262007-10-21T17:27:00.001+10:002010-11-03T21:27:34.857+11:00The Food Project, Boston City FarmFrom Lincoln we jumped on trains and buses and headed for Dorchester. We couldn't miss their excellent painted office at West Cottage and Dudley streets.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOwi8-YfF1pJn3D21RKByavAsT2CpcjxKklHVxbI7GFA8tG_GDJuT3bu7KG_w3VVRle8D_tlFNbz3HAqfpBvAQJP46jC4vVOxnum_t3WM9iIaq8SVnpvrqKQr4l8oWgt6hEt8DaIHtyl8/s1600-h/foodprojecturban.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123688737011572818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOwi8-YfF1pJn3D21RKByavAsT2CpcjxKklHVxbI7GFA8tG_GDJuT3bu7KG_w3VVRle8D_tlFNbz3HAqfpBvAQJP46jC4vVOxnum_t3WM9iIaq8SVnpvrqKQr4l8oWgt6hEt8DaIHtyl8/s400/foodprojecturban.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We met up with Bob, who showed us around the 3 urban lots that The Food Project grows their produce on. The neighbourhood bore a striking resemblance to the artistic interpretation featured in their office.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq82wd98PRazj6yZHWgdOWO0DxU2Pm5O9TACZ4SGBI20qTLz3WelagPJyxlBfn03MLHGxDR8lC1Jx0PCoHZnsxEbHkb-DFeIRVhNdN9vm_QFtA1bEk5LA7mF17qzWe8HXHOIoumzA7Wlc/s1600-h/foodprojectart.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123688732716605490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq82wd98PRazj6yZHWgdOWO0DxU2Pm5O9TACZ4SGBI20qTLz3WelagPJyxlBfn03MLHGxDR8lC1Jx0PCoHZnsxEbHkb-DFeIRVhNdN9vm_QFtA1bEk5LA7mF17qzWe8HXHOIoumzA7Wlc/s400/foodprojectart.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbd5lNszHRQsFXRX13d0vsP1dst5N77Z5KZ5F7bew71Z8EYjXdTmJjtmMg0umktSL0AkE2vflhJfIO0YZI52gkgTh1kpzm0o7Hr8pCAkGSD9IVZFQp4OnWe3bysm1nRT5tgxCjvb4hyO4/s1600-h/urbanfield.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123689325422092514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbd5lNszHRQsFXRX13d0vsP1dst5N77Z5KZ5F7bew71Z8EYjXdTmJjtmMg0umktSL0AkE2vflhJfIO0YZI52gkgTh1kpzm0o7Hr8pCAkGSD9IVZFQp4OnWe3bysm1nRT5tgxCjvb4hyO4/s400/urbanfield.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8x_9xUR4ieTF8I-HOO8za_Myv1IHMUoadUyOGFCpYalhBcaa0QLC7ZMAVRIIYux5M8J2fZLinr7LsWehZYc1u3t3vL195GaQpuhX9YvesWRmRLgIcyApcPSyZsi5N_C9-W51ZwWdIRqM/s1600-h/urbanpaddock.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123689329717059826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8x_9xUR4ieTF8I-HOO8za_Myv1IHMUoadUyOGFCpYalhBcaa0QLC7ZMAVRIIYux5M8J2fZLinr7LsWehZYc1u3t3vL195GaQpuhX9YvesWRmRLgIcyApcPSyZsi5N_C9-W51ZwWdIRqM/s400/urbanpaddock.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDIIeMqeNO89gG38hDkYG3pwBxMZm3v4ySxuBrmiXaZ3MbRRcChredaXCwCAFKTeiYhsvVrG2KK0_f6CXGttaNonq_9n47oLCJlRpTwbAqHYSpeAlR59yjxtCfC0QWWjL_Nb4G9MbfN4/s1600-h/urbanworker.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123689329717059842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoDIIeMqeNO89gG38hDkYG3pwBxMZm3v4ySxuBrmiXaZ3MbRRcChredaXCwCAFKTeiYhsvVrG2KK0_f6CXGttaNonq_9n47oLCJlRpTwbAqHYSpeAlR59yjxtCfC0QWWjL_Nb4G9MbfN4/s400/urbanworker.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
Their West Cottage site features a composting system built by the university. It spins, it aerates, it spills out the bottom.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX89WMkHvKZWNjB_NySAPW0Qe1GYdJluNw7CvCLxMJBAMP54Wu4a2sXSJup71HiVaCtcJa6SwazB_c4D74RJM1ctNSc71L-BxdmYHgCU-685Qs4_ozTmSKVRvMjjY_NhsBwdQPtvvAvvM/s1600-h/composter.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123688737011572834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX89WMkHvKZWNjB_NySAPW0Qe1GYdJluNw7CvCLxMJBAMP54Wu4a2sXSJup71HiVaCtcJa6SwazB_c4D74RJM1ctNSc71L-BxdmYHgCU-685Qs4_ozTmSKVRvMjjY_NhsBwdQPtvvAvvM/s400/composter.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
One of the most exciting things about visiting North American gardens was seeing produce that isn't commonly grown in Melbourne. These tomatillos are pre-packaged beauties. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaFJbW9jKFWBDQDA0Z35Yuu1NVN8vvXlk8TWpQvXRatDNIPNB5hSk2sCYjDMmzttCSGcr0M4G10D96XBG40pjAFI2_8trb3PkJVIOhDeJ18cWytHUpfJSpqKal9wwaB3o7Sx_rUabH08Q/s1600-h/tomatillos.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123689325422092498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaFJbW9jKFWBDQDA0Z35Yuu1NVN8vvXlk8TWpQvXRatDNIPNB5hSk2sCYjDMmzttCSGcr0M4G10D96XBG40pjAFI2_8trb3PkJVIOhDeJ18cWytHUpfJSpqKal9wwaB3o7Sx_rUabH08Q/s400/tomatillos.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
I'd been wondering what Callaloo was after seeing it in a Jamaican restaurant. It's this beautiful green vegetable you see before you.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhvp0G5uOiX9pgqCh0JXji60urVT1g_eehejqG38nQE9oBgo3bt2KosG-ZhHVZTwQXx1xKbeS-ST550qTch2_xFguZCUlLQhJ9sGkWtKM9kDgBf4uCeCWbkXngH4fk1QUf1tg_xgKqjg/s1600-h/foodlove.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123688741306540146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhvp0G5uOiX9pgqCh0JXji60urVT1g_eehejqG38nQE9oBgo3bt2KosG-ZhHVZTwQXx1xKbeS-ST550qTch2_xFguZCUlLQhJ9sGkWtKM9kDgBf4uCeCWbkXngH4fk1QUf1tg_xgKqjg/s400/foodlove.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
The Food Project's urban agriculture has had an astounding effect on the neighbourhood, with many people beginning to grow in their own urban lots. This resident looks out on his corn field from his back porch. We passed lot after lot of cornstalks. I wonder how they deal with cross-pollination with so much growing in just a few blocks.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDtgOAu7hYEP_nMMTD3ONMt-qbDfZcT4SZzVXxKM9ZkDZshzoIgYcpt9OGBisaTFlvEhXS70EKyDjizN1cIssFKzJfX4igd72F3DhKqW9b5mKEGnQ49JZJkpYiezOM_Bg63cqQii2sdY/s1600-h/localfarmers.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123689041954250898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDtgOAu7hYEP_nMMTD3ONMt-qbDfZcT4SZzVXxKM9ZkDZshzoIgYcpt9OGBisaTFlvEhXS70EKyDjizN1cIssFKzJfX4igd72F3DhKqW9b5mKEGnQ49JZJkpYiezOM_Bg63cqQii2sdY/s400/localfarmers.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
One of the great things about these kinds of projects is the carry on effect they have on the neighbourhood. As we were walking back to the office, a man came up to Bob and asked about some of the people he had known at the Food Project. He was looking for landscaping work and needed a reference. He spoke so highly of his Food Project experience that we almost could have believed that Bob had set the whole thing up. (which he hadn't)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoSrALmTEV_QbcpOfOafkQefVmCUZTt_LwTf0Ei97T0DiOxcmrEe8E-kKb8SpjRt1_yP0gvk8G0Wv_M8MFxz2I21ASa4DJWvJxHrN2JJenBKWwEqcAr5j96KaWA8VfElkeA1GGjtbDQVk/s1600-h/nubianroots.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123689041954250914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoSrALmTEV_QbcpOfOafkQefVmCUZTt_LwTf0Ei97T0DiOxcmrEe8E-kKb8SpjRt1_yP0gvk8G0Wv_M8MFxz2I21ASa4DJWvJxHrN2JJenBKWwEqcAr5j96KaWA8VfElkeA1GGjtbDQVk/s400/nubianroots.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
As Cammy from the Lincoln farm explained, supplying fruits for the Farmer's market can be difficult as the Food Project grows mostly vegetables. However, they've taken over management of a heritage orchard at the historic Shirley-Eustic House in Roxbury.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcGltkgOMMBI_jLoUbLRHy3cVRnTYy6wioedgLqdUl1jxcm0ubY0-DTpVEpwbdBPhQEkZihsE_r12KIRnsABIBhG6Bt19xWG6MJxeWf9l6D8gp61OrDGmcPiTxD0InW7CjxkBARTvWII/s1600-h/orchardandfolks.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123689046249218226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcGltkgOMMBI_jLoUbLRHy3cVRnTYy6wioedgLqdUl1jxcm0ubY0-DTpVEpwbdBPhQEkZihsE_r12KIRnsABIBhG6Bt19xWG6MJxeWf9l6D8gp61OrDGmcPiTxD0InW7CjxkBARTvWII/s400/orchardandfolks.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
The Food Project was staffed by the most generous, committed, unpretentious people. They really went out of their way to pass their knowledge on to the Australians who rocked up on their doorstep.<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrgAtKcWExlNhFEQG0wCGRqLrD2jHAwzusprvbPNpJTGd08PumBVhMOb35qJwHO8ob1_rogJR7CJiXiy91KK8T8D2STd58bFc6nB4F-wcdhX2CyDpxvk7X3_R57P-T7SZwxf26ZHpLmcA/s1600-h/meandbob.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123690059861500178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrgAtKcWExlNhFEQG0wCGRqLrD2jHAwzusprvbPNpJTGd08PumBVhMOb35qJwHO8ob1_rogJR7CJiXiy91KK8T8D2STd58bFc6nB4F-wcdhX2CyDpxvk7X3_R57P-T7SZwxf26ZHpLmcA/s400/meandbob.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOl3ZHA5Tr2_DSmu_Q9mQOfNQ5GT_stSvpixqRDYSWcbo2AL7NiDMsKm1YxqmlsH1Dt8IgStvhhIQ5yQzvl6K3mQuLokedx1i58Jifql-mb60yiFeJoOaZkVVs2NqfrzAKU8FA5bFJeoM/s1600-h/foodprojectsign.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123688737011572802" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOl3ZHA5Tr2_DSmu_Q9mQOfNQ5GT_stSvpixqRDYSWcbo2AL7NiDMsKm1YxqmlsH1Dt8IgStvhhIQ5yQzvl6K3mQuLokedx1i58Jifql-mb60yiFeJoOaZkVVs2NqfrzAKU8FA5bFJeoM/s400/foodprojectsign.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a></div>Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-38255409017632800642007-10-20T19:53:00.004+10:002010-11-03T21:28:43.224+11:00Boston Community Gardens<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cI-WWW5X7Ro7St1wMnu1n8yOgyhb9KFZ_IaJLvpgQGewKvDJHdkD3vAYIxe_yTS5eATKLdqjCoQbeML9Ct_xTGdSv31vm_ZYP3YK3r-04q68oZ56SEAnpCHIrzF7JPNk6HOEu6iETcg/s1600-h/bostongardeners.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123363998829289266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6cI-WWW5X7Ro7St1wMnu1n8yOgyhb9KFZ_IaJLvpgQGewKvDJHdkD3vAYIxe_yTS5eATKLdqjCoQbeML9Ct_xTGdSv31vm_ZYP3YK3r-04q68oZ56SEAnpCHIrzF7JPNk6HOEu6iETcg/s400/bostongardeners.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>In Boston, we stayed with a <a href="http://courtesycommon.blogspot.com/">friend</a> who lived along the Southwest Greenway. The bike path into downtown Boston passes community gardens of all shapes and sizes, playgrounds and seats for repose. The Southwest Greenway has an interesting history. It runs along the Orange Subway line, which was due to become a 12-lane highway in the 1970s. The community managed to stop this project and instead of highway, created a greenway<span style="font-size: 85%;">.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgkYu0p0HjBcCDbZtNMvH_URsW1VwomHZg32YHg92vQH_CyWbAC7qp1lDtWve81fW6CF9LugV1p55QB6jKRurwNQPrS1xMLS0glwq_qQyxF0Ii0hClnUleMOTHkn3tt4nJ34rn_EPMtpg/s1600-h/bostongarden.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123364003124256578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgkYu0p0HjBcCDbZtNMvH_URsW1VwomHZg32YHg92vQH_CyWbAC7qp1lDtWve81fW6CF9LugV1p55QB6jKRurwNQPrS1xMLS0glwq_qQyxF0Ii0hClnUleMOTHkn3tt4nJ34rn_EPMtpg/s400/bostongarden.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>A courtyard wall in Jamaica Plain with highly creative re-use of containers for growing plants.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYu0CaXuF7rGHcr5zr0-e5XIeYuWwJPsq3rZgV3E-WB1k4EXopPtAL8ukATsWI8jbN0jJZxeHx2hNDBd48t8vC-cK3kNe9cLP-1gjN5sqaAwthn5KguRyFJRCXEDvlcSQr1xuxaBUdgsU/s1600-h/bostonwall.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123364003124256594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYu0CaXuF7rGHcr5zr0-e5XIeYuWwJPsq3rZgV3E-WB1k4EXopPtAL8ukATsWI8jbN0jJZxeHx2hNDBd48t8vC-cK3kNe9cLP-1gjN5sqaAwthn5KguRyFJRCXEDvlcSQr1xuxaBUdgsU/s400/bostonwall.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>There's even a plastic bag doing a fine job of containing soil and green material.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nMFJdm5_JwjGuDwuHV8Wdk2syoSa6JlwPRq0CUKFP1nDw5Oi57i_3qMKfiEWR1BuKpaNTxr4EXe-IaJB11I7ZsZRRnLRRdjnvlgCH3oMKaN1EOPTWaCFc4gNjclsxy4rrb8CWbnqCX0/s1600-h/bostonwallcloseup.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><span class="down" id="formatbar_CreateLink" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseup="" style="display: block;" title="Link"></span><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123364003124256610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-nMFJdm5_JwjGuDwuHV8Wdk2syoSa6JlwPRq0CUKFP1nDw5Oi57i_3qMKfiEWR1BuKpaNTxr4EXe-IaJB11I7ZsZRRnLRRdjnvlgCH3oMKaN1EOPTWaCFc4gNjclsxy4rrb8CWbnqCX0/s400/bostonwallcloseup.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>And <a href="http://sustainableroute.com/">Ashley</a> <a href="http://sustainableroute.com/"></a>harvests the first radish of the season from her community garden plot.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG47YJl69UwOxl_GKnrpOEK0mKOOQs6_X6PtfurK4lJObniNaB4CtAF68PnfJ1fQ56p4Dvl7GrPKkJJBa-RXG5v7Lvkgu8PVDvGJGK2aIpwF0BNXin-StI7cvJoBuUpu9UH30nzz2MiF4/s1600-h/firstradish.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123364007419223922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG47YJl69UwOxl_GKnrpOEK0mKOOQs6_X6PtfurK4lJObniNaB4CtAF68PnfJ1fQ56p4Dvl7GrPKkJJBa-RXG5v7Lvkgu8PVDvGJGK2aIpwF0BNXin-StI7cvJoBuUpu9UH30nzz2MiF4/s400/firstradish.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-76248351826903667282007-10-20T19:53:00.003+10:002010-11-03T21:28:04.859+11:00The Food Project, Lincoln, MAThe Food Project is a sustainable agriculture program that focuses on youth leadership and empowerment.<br />
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They have city farms in inner-urban Boston along with rural farms in the surrounding countryside in <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Massachusetts</span>. We took the commuter train out to Lincoln to see what they do.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkh59tIkrq0OjACujjXr0Sx5NHCqf3juyWVGlqgqbH26AvViAC8CXOhPayS9yNUFv09jlXoWKSe_fWswXpuybpekA7Nc_bUjYotfr0da_ouuv8A_QhRGe6G0VkZQbrI5Fvh51A7xGWDkk/s1600-h/tractor.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123686241635573794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkh59tIkrq0OjACujjXr0Sx5NHCqf3juyWVGlqgqbH26AvViAC8CXOhPayS9yNUFv09jlXoWKSe_fWswXpuybpekA7Nc_bUjYotfr0da_ouuv8A_QhRGe6G0VkZQbrI5Fvh51A7xGWDkk/s400/tractor.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
The Food Project operates a Summer Youth Program, in which young people spend time working on both the city and rural farms. The produce grown is sold at a farmer's market in Boston and distributed through <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">CSA</span> boxes from their Lincoln farm. There's a lot to like about the way the Food Project runs their program. For starters, the young people are paid for the summer, so they are not forced to choose between being involved in the program or finding a summer job. There is a strong focus on diversity, recruiting youth from urban, suburban and rural areas and from a variety of cultural backgrounds. They sign a strict work contract. If <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">they</span> are late, they lose a certain amount of money - which they can regain by being on time every day for 2 weeks.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaicdmgAIZ9YuQVyLLR-LobX_bJZQi-sfsOIq4u8rM5xh-fC4y7nBnJIJy1C_H8t5yQj3i13jVPvVyWHDHC3xH55AnCFWsOG4AILI4Fv5WV5ZXU38B8lrutkAMcLPxYxfUKD7Bc3m6Id0/s1600-h/youthgrowing.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123696205959700770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaicdmgAIZ9YuQVyLLR-LobX_bJZQi-sfsOIq4u8rM5xh-fC4y7nBnJIJy1C_H8t5yQj3i13jVPvVyWHDHC3xH55AnCFWsOG4AILI4Fv5WV5ZXU38B8lrutkAMcLPxYxfUKD7Bc3m6Id0/s400/youthgrowing.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> The summer program youth rotate between both the Lincoln and Dorchester sites, either working the farms for produce for the CSA boxes or to sell at the Farmer's market in downtown Boston. The Food Project spends substantial time on both Agricultural workshops and Social workshops on topics such as 'Diversity'. This is the dual focus on youth leadership and sustainable agriculture in action! <br />
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123685842203615218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhztG-ZWmXjC83eso2L4Cmd7BDL1Qwqc5Spvne78fHoaduPwb0RUTA6Kq2snFw_NFqWT0UX-oisSRQ9ZuHuzak9Vh-KiiqL6N9bYqiMeHJBRT26EDZoTz5c62JsJBN73vxzpd7JYcbzbII/s400/greenhousework.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /> The Food Project also run an Academic Year Program with the D.I.R.T crew (Dynamic, Intelligent, Responsible Teenagers) and Internships. These interns are braiding garlic in one of the greenhouses at the Lincoln Farm.<br />
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123685468541460386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoKhdoidE92fqIrS4lkme-3GixjZZnNLmTxmXX6fNgNo7Fn51n0kKD2p93N4lgd0jZmp-rAar511jCUDEN-7eCHnUX9D0Be88Gi-Y_u_zXoHufDer8eP4PJJ7tasRTv8vKI0VsvMjyqPI/s400/kidsworking.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" />A local beekeeper looks after the beehives, which are an important part of the food web/fertilization process.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNspTx1INSyMzJ_iiGMQYE7_Z7x8i0fBnmV0jHGCwOJvnHlfrHtm3aP16zhfu0i-LQRaNM7wVcUuL8ECdModMGEmBkC8gbodKwoMmoVfi08BH5gEbHmqBrEGvsW9AadB8z7xQjuYvJEUw/s1600-h/beekeeping.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123685842203615186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNspTx1INSyMzJ_iiGMQYE7_Z7x8i0fBnmV0jHGCwOJvnHlfrHtm3aP16zhfu0i-LQRaNM7wVcUuL8ECdModMGEmBkC8gbodKwoMmoVfi08BH5gEbHmqBrEGvsW9AadB8z7xQjuYvJEUw/s400/beekeeping.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8maqMz-rDM8lRkyVpW4AesMOYuTHu8eXhu4-2JjK9Lh2V6QvQCIqqv8y3-IOCWYBLvnwvyCKDE5qYemNyAm9D6JXByAxbbtxvfmzld2JJ1Wpfe8lF_Yy-Lv0VhAkhLTUcc-nJfmXn64/s1600-h/tractorinpaddock.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123685459951525762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8maqMz-rDM8lRkyVpW4AesMOYuTHu8eXhu4-2JjK9Lh2V6QvQCIqqv8y3-IOCWYBLvnwvyCKDE5qYemNyAm9D6JXByAxbbtxvfmzld2JJ1Wpfe8lF_Yy-Lv0VhAkhLTUcc-nJfmXn64/s400/tractorinpaddock.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-22200458806803788552007-08-19T23:05:00.001+10:002007-10-29T22:50:28.096+11:00Holyoke BuildingsFrom Boston, it took me four hours on a Peter Pan bus, then a local bus to get to downtown Holyoke, MA.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1MUotG-qtoMJCG35ox1-O4qWdLGUybDd2bC9jgB9qVpH_2ZFVXaMrfYYihDJFjSLID-5IY21g2ds__0R-Aqrl2n6ERgxpX3MmLouC4PoENI87Ux7SCY-fJT63zYpkShyphenhyphenW81A1KiAZWs/s1600-h/holyokebus.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1MUotG-qtoMJCG35ox1-O4qWdLGUybDd2bC9jgB9qVpH_2ZFVXaMrfYYihDJFjSLID-5IY21g2ds__0R-Aqrl2n6ERgxpX3MmLouC4PoENI87Ux7SCY-fJT63zYpkShyphenhyphenW81A1KiAZWs/s400/holyokebus.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123363453368442658" border="0" /></a>Holyoke is an old paper mill town. Like a lot of smaller US cities, the heart has been ripped out of the downtown. Holyoke Mall is located a fair way out of the centre of the city, off the interstate. So people are moving out of the downtown and driving to the mall for everything they need. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWlhitNYT5BIz4Uu7BNd51gnFacSh94JnzTJUynQYfn-Ffu3-GS1hLMusGEbPJw1lpDyhIdXqTk13d1NEy-XwW9GT9xuKiZTCFvr9inSqul-WLytQybieJc8_Gy6Ur6Y84_SKni3YFOOI/s1600-h/milltown.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWlhitNYT5BIz4Uu7BNd51gnFacSh94JnzTJUynQYfn-Ffu3-GS1hLMusGEbPJw1lpDyhIdXqTk13d1NEy-XwW9GT9xuKiZTCFvr9inSqul-WLytQybieJc8_Gy6Ur6Y84_SKni3YFOOI/s400/milltown.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123363298749619922" border="0" /></a>Downtown Holyoke is beautiful, but strangely deserted. There are two canals running through the centre of town. Seems like it's only a matter of time till folks catch on to the cheap red brick buildings and Holyoke will be on the road to gentrification.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPwzXd1A3OlpVQgOw4ZCCyrKjpGyVtDVnCM1MSJ4a44N1Zm7ag0ooJOO5utxGNIaYam2uOBDhM8_hsDyyRIyPLEIRsXYu9Jny0oTw61IB8gUJc51QEwcUl-cTWB01nR-ztGQCtWe0Pxk/s1600-h/holyokeriver.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPwzXd1A3OlpVQgOw4ZCCyrKjpGyVtDVnCM1MSJ4a44N1Zm7ag0ooJOO5utxGNIaYam2uOBDhM8_hsDyyRIyPLEIRsXYu9Jny0oTw61IB8gUJc51QEwcUl-cTWB01nR-ztGQCtWe0Pxk/s400/holyokeriver.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123363303044587234" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5p3gSNTRtVgKJ03a_BLWxcgls5B6TJ0MVB6U68-gcT-Evp_Ii2PVwU1pVQOoQW5uWX5ZNK39DpF7jhRO4sjgd572oBck53ffHYJ4uFzk5SgAp_oNdWBxR20ISmpcObR7ZSXaZBFXeZUc/s1600-h/parsonspaper.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5p3gSNTRtVgKJ03a_BLWxcgls5B6TJ0MVB6U68-gcT-Evp_Ii2PVwU1pVQOoQW5uWX5ZNK39DpF7jhRO4sjgd572oBck53ffHYJ4uFzk5SgAp_oNdWBxR20ISmpcObR7ZSXaZBFXeZUc/s400/parsonspaper.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123363303044587250" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-TJWdUdEzIf1dYvV05lUD90mZN2R7O8r-jX8TLK1vu5_w8r5mFgbA43wv_MbsnUksji5-Fo3gdTdEdRpJQ0JOkMG01KlSX7_v2W5BhKoPjtEFiNbsXSmFxejryOIB9jIzc2k9l1Heq8/s1600-h/fireescape.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-TJWdUdEzIf1dYvV05lUD90mZN2R7O8r-jX8TLK1vu5_w8r5mFgbA43wv_MbsnUksji5-Fo3gdTdEdRpJQ0JOkMG01KlSX7_v2W5BhKoPjtEFiNbsXSmFxejryOIB9jIzc2k9l1Heq8/s400/fireescape.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123363303044587266" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGDoqYm-_AwNVVtVA_FCDNSe4pI-dtw1UXzN2m-JucTyxQKsnHvWnl3vSAZ5cReRdd0iPwrI2wmDM-qEZN6D19iwgbUbRDvSYybgTKPg37c4j6Ind5MNg-EZV5Ioddxrn0VY3GiFzOYY/s1600-h/adscloseup.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGDoqYm-_AwNVVtVA_FCDNSe4pI-dtw1UXzN2m-JucTyxQKsnHvWnl3vSAZ5cReRdd0iPwrI2wmDM-qEZN6D19iwgbUbRDvSYybgTKPg37c4j6Ind5MNg-EZV5Ioddxrn0VY3GiFzOYY/s400/adscloseup.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123363307339554578" border="0" /></a>Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3868155294642537317.post-14351663413561650342007-08-19T23:04:00.006+10:002010-11-03T21:30:30.214+11:00Nuestras Raices, Holyoke<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirKfrnwbJR9iSCkeIMNrx0muXuPMKSFfvM29vN9gfTTQjhbs256mFN7ZCAS9xxMbZPxxuluBMkYy20hkyFu5mRm_p7pfdaVOtHl1kU5PG9oM_OvXtKoFVqVkBy7wB2i9mLf8RyKT1Cf_w/s1600-h/tomarket.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123355877046132226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirKfrnwbJR9iSCkeIMNrx0muXuPMKSFfvM29vN9gfTTQjhbs256mFN7ZCAS9xxMbZPxxuluBMkYy20hkyFu5mRm_p7pfdaVOtHl1kU5PG9oM_OvXtKoFVqVkBy7wB2i9mLf8RyKT1Cf_w/s400/tomarket.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>Nuestras Raices (Our Roots) began as a organisation that managed community gardens in Holyoke. Now it encompasses a range of projects, many of which are based on a 4 acre farm on the Connecticut River in Holyoke. 40% of the population in Holyoke is Puerto Rican, many of whom were born in Puerto Rico, growing up on farms or working on farms in America.<br />
<br />
Nuestras Raices has three main aims:<br />
Celebrate Puerto Rican culture<br />
Support local business<br />
Environmental Justice <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR7yUgtGNy77qF8CT6hYllV4dIMf1-PibD2jCVnSuCifrqtB8OeaLgdE81wdY0QnKF7wWWQSEJjy2BLxwopENeHIK5RGhgnIKEby08SrCE0oP-IgUqPsf-1MCUpGThcwdQTH5lzpdPPiw/s1600-h/smallbusinessfarmer.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123355881341099538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR7yUgtGNy77qF8CT6hYllV4dIMf1-PibD2jCVnSuCifrqtB8OeaLgdE81wdY0QnKF7wWWQSEJjy2BLxwopENeHIK5RGhgnIKEby08SrCE0oP-IgUqPsf-1MCUpGThcwdQTH5lzpdPPiw/s400/smallbusinessfarmer.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvQF29Ozluio7xyv0NrEkFvp5-udPzYub41z1O_rYW9pTlin2orTBo2t6vZjwrPlHgTDEZgP5D64bZy-EI9NA55ElQcmYl8y7AnKMbAjiPxV5Rz2zi4AUBUCNrMQl7F0OKGbc5gG1n3E/s1600-h/commumity-gardener.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123361413258976946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvQF29Ozluio7xyv0NrEkFvp5-udPzYub41z1O_rYW9pTlin2orTBo2t6vZjwrPlHgTDEZgP5D64bZy-EI9NA55ElQcmYl8y7AnKMbAjiPxV5Rz2zi4AUBUCNrMQl7F0OKGbc5gG1n3E/s400/commumity-gardener.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>Nuestras Raices runs business courses and leases plots to participants who develop successful business plans. They also manage community garden plots, though the business plots are significantly larger. The businesses operating on the Nuestras Raices farm include food crops, cut flowers, Paso Fino horse stable and a youth run petting zoo.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyzNv6sYd4hzPsrt-s8A7LpwKau354vedzRVL9hNUS2d4tX5SNnMUCTLP0Mcf825zZCQtEJXm1JwI-y7To5uISWlNRxqYRllcckPvvm2C1mhC_s-ajkSZb7LUJdHSRm-mKkNjy1_UMNjA/s1600-h/casitas.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123361417553944258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyzNv6sYd4hzPsrt-s8A7LpwKau354vedzRVL9hNUS2d4tX5SNnMUCTLP0Mcf825zZCQtEJXm1JwI-y7To5uISWlNRxqYRllcckPvvm2C1mhC_s-ajkSZb7LUJdHSRm-mKkNjy1_UMNjA/s400/casitas.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>You will see Casitas like this one in most of the community gardens around town. They were constructed as tool sheds, but resemble Puerto Rican cottages. The gardens and farm provide an opportunity for teenagers and older people to work and learn together. Teens are involved in decision making processes and are paid to work on the farm, among other things running the petting zoo. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjxNu-DGgXjveHeKRKr8quqeUZuYf-d3heul6CR4844BDOcRxv3dFAGILZ5XIs-BI4PjuHOXFUZvC0oGZj-Srvaotw5EcgI1p7DbkvLtIpQDD6IbKJUcU00ElPB5udCi254yy0h6NBmyM/s1600-h/calabaza.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123355881341099570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjxNu-DGgXjveHeKRKr8quqeUZuYf-d3heul6CR4844BDOcRxv3dFAGILZ5XIs-BI4PjuHOXFUZvC0oGZj-Srvaotw5EcgI1p7DbkvLtIpQDD6IbKJUcU00ElPB5udCi254yy0h6NBmyM/s400/calabaza.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>There is a lot of Puerto Rican food grown in the Massachusetts climate of Holyoke. I was interested to know if there were issues of land contamination. The paper industry was responsible for much of the industrial waste that polluted the Connecticut River. These days, the river is <a href="http://www.nuestras-raices.org/Environmental%20Protection.htm">contaminated by raw sewage</a> which overflows into the river during storms. Holyoke youth are involved in <a href="http://www.nuestras-raices.org/new_page_10.htm">environmental stewardship programs</a> addressing some of these issues.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjwIrPBxrqN-nFYgLK29yRhukJ-ADIWKzma4VzR1K3GJYfmMU1eam07wuBxGwN1Ryp4c5nbuGhyGqXZ7_Cywz9FdTZautOy4vcCMYu4glZuET5oX758Urut1kTwIp2EuhUyZqiLm-PLs/s1600-h/coconutsoda.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123355885636066882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjwIrPBxrqN-nFYgLK29yRhukJ-ADIWKzma4VzR1K3GJYfmMU1eam07wuBxGwN1Ryp4c5nbuGhyGqXZ7_Cywz9FdTZautOy4vcCMYu4glZuET5oX758Urut1kTwIp2EuhUyZqiLm-PLs/s400/coconutsoda.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>The Farm Store sells coconut soda. Delicious. I wonder where I can get it in Australia?Samantha Downinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15129679795842641482noreply@blogger.com2