{"id":14874,"date":"2015-06-15T20:58:29","date_gmt":"2015-06-15T10:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/?p=14874"},"modified":"2018-09-18T16:35:25","modified_gmt":"2018-09-18T06:35:25","slug":"building-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedesertecho.com\/blog\/building-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Building community"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Big thanks to the volunteers and Nola for her amazing photos from the day!<\/h4>\n

The food forest has flushed green after a harsh summer that stripped the ground bare. The survivors: those born hardy or who retreated to the shadows of apple trees.<\/p>\n

It was clear that we hadn’t quite gotten the balance right in terms of perennial plants, I blame the nasturtiums, they make everything seem so lush in spring but when it gets hot they are gone over night abandoning their companions to bake and burn. The same thing can happen in winter when a icy wind dislodges the last of the orange leaves and herbaceous plants tick their faces under the soil until next spring, it ends up looking like a forest of twigs and dirt, not ideal. That elusive perfect blend not only of the 7 layers of a food forest but of evergreen, deciduous, semi-deciduous, herbaceous and annual, a continuous dance of seasonal succession.<\/p>\n

But thanks to a surprise donation from some nuns (I just love the randomness of that sentence, thanks ladies!) we were able to have a “take two” with our planting plan. And what a turn out! Despite our number limit, facebook invites are always a game of chance – is a yes a yes? what does maybe mean? This time Yes Yes Yes. Overwhelming at first, but once we got into our groove everyone worked together so well and we got so much done. We cheekily extended our boundary into an overgrown tree planter that the council’s gardening henchmen had neglected, it was a nest of grass and my hat goes off to the brave souls who bravely hacked back the jungle.<\/p>\n

The most exciting part of the day was seeing our special flip top signs oiled and installed. Tom and Pat are the superstars who made my sign designs a reality.
\nNext food swap\/permabee will be 2-3pm on Saturday 27th June! I hope to see you there to finish putting up the signs and adding the laminated “treasure hunt” style plant descriptions! It’s going to be so much fun! Check out the Flemington Food Swap<\/a> facebook for information. (No facebook? Just comment on this post and I’ll add you to the mailing list) We will be having a potluck afternoon tea\/food swap afternoon tea afterwards at 3pm! Hope to see you there!<\/p>\n

\"The
The food forest a month earlier in need of some drought tolerant plants!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Drought
Drought tolerant plants are concentrated around the edges whilst moisture loving plants are sheltered in the “natural swale” of the land near the fence which is supplemented by drip irrigation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Hardy
Hardy indigenous bush tucker that was once eaten by Victorian Aborigines and is accustomed to our harsh, dry summers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/section>\n
\"Signs
Signs are made from off-cuts from Tom’s renovation! Can’t get much more sustainable than that!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"little-girl-reading-laser-cut-signs\"<\/p>\n

\"laser-cut-flip-top-signs\"<\/p>\n
\"flip-top-sign-demonstration\"\"screwing-bracket-sign\"<\/section>\n<\/section>\n
\"Sign
Sign posts in! Thanks Tom!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"geranium-pruning\"\"raking-leaves\"\"wedding<\/a><\/p>\n
\"shop<\/a>
shop discount beach wedding dresses UK at prombee.co.uk<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/section>\n

Taming the jungle! It is important to control grass at the edges especially fences and under trees where it is hard to remove once the garden grows up.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\"two<\/a>
Running grass gone! Looking so much more spacious!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
This was a beautiful, fun and productive day. Activities like Permabees are a fantastic low stress way to build a sustainable community. I’ve tried organising other social community building events like picnics and food swaps, but when the main attendees were my friends and my family I realised two important facts: strangers are shy and won’t show up to “social” events without a “pack of friends” as a buffer, I’m shy and organising these things stresses me out too! You just can’t force these things. And after repackaging the food swap as a permabee, it made it clear if you make it attractive they will come and if it involves and activity rather than talking you’ll have 30 people there without even trying and it will be a blast! We’re already planning our July Food Swap as a documentary night. I’ve learnt my lesson.Below is a little brainstorm about the highs and lows of building a community, the things that make it worthwhile and the pitfalls to avoid. Maybe you can help me add to the list! At the end of the day if it’s stressful and isn’t fun for you<\/i><\/b>, the organiser, then it’s time to rethink the path you have taken or perhaps you just need to find more people to support to make the going easier. A highlight of the last Food Swap Permabee was that one of my uni classmates showed up who I hadn’t seen for about five years! We hadn’t actually spoken much at uni, but we soon found out we had SO much in common and it was exciting to discuss possible joint ventures and remember that Architecture can be holistic if you can shake yourself free of all that convention spouted as truths.<\/p>\n
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Attractive<\/h3>\n