Musing With My Mouth Full
Musing With My Mouth Full Tim Darby. January 2011 As I sit down to write this I’m chewing on a delicious slice of sourdough bread, still warm having been pulled from the oven just minutes ago. Mmmmm, so am I going to talk about sourdough and recipes? Well yes ….and, then again, no, not really. The oven the bread was cooked in is a mobile pizza oven that I finished putting together a couple of weeks ago. I’m pretty proud of it (don’t you love it when a plan comes together?). So am I going to talk about building pizza ovens? Well, sort of ….but not really. Yes, no, recipes, building, sort of , pizza ovens, not really…. What’s this all about? I guess what I want to talk about is how a piece of commonly owned infrastructure (in this case, a mobile pizza oven ) can be part of the recipe for building a strong community. This story begins a couple of years ago when a friend of mine decided to hold his wedding at our Eco B and B, The Painted Fish. The wedding was really beautiful (and deserves another story all of its own), but all that sloppy romance stuff aside, the thing that really struck me was the way in which a large number of wedding guests were fed. My mate, Wade, hired a mobile pizza oven from a local manufacturer and set it up in the driveway of The Painted Fish. The oven arrived still hot from the previous gig so my partner, Shani, never one to waste an opportunity, popped in a tray of our freshly harvested potatoes and we had baked potatoes for dinner. The next day I helped out, whipping up pizzas for the throngs of wedding guests. It was so quick and easy once I got the hang of it. I ended up feeding half the neighbourhood kids as they wandered past on the way to the beach. The next morning the oven was still hot, so Wade used the last of the pizza dough to make up some breakfast damper and Shani cooked up a load of roast beetroot. So much food with so little effort. It really got me thinking; “Hey, why don’t we make our own?” On the other hand, how often would we really use it? Probably not often enough to justify taking up some of the near-200 square metres that we live on. Then, on the other hand (how many “other hands” is a Libran allowed?), what if we made it mobile and got everyone in the street to chip in to pay for it? I asked around and to their credit about half the people in the street put in $100 and I went shopping. As it turned out I had underestimated the cost so the idea went on the back-burner awaiting the right moment to boil over into action. . . . . Then, in 2010 a remarkable thing happened. Our annual Hulbert Street Sustainability Fiesta ran at a profit (a surprising and fortuitous accident). What should we do with the left over money? Hey, why don’t we build a mobile pizza oven? During the fairly chaotic discussion that followed it emerged that there was a strong feeling that at least some of the money should be given to a local community group in need of funds for a worthy project. I suggested that maybe we were a local community group in need of funds for a worthy project and, in addition, I figured that if we built the mobile oven then we could lend it out to other similar groups to raise funds for their own projects (for example, during the 2010 Fiesta a group of Hulbert Street residents hired a pizza oven and sold enough pizzas to raise $1000 to help fund the Fiesta). Somewhere there’s a saying “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to make pizzas and he can raise enough funds to pay for his own fish”. So now we have a street-owned mobile pizza oven. People are now drawn together through the sharing of food and fire, two elements that serve as powerful social adhesives due to our common history as cave dwellers (well, at least that’s what I think). For the past year one of our neighbours, Sean, has been hosting an open invitation afternoon tea on Wednesday afternoons. Since the pizza oven has been available people have started bringing toppings and dough and afternoon tea has morphed into dinner, feeding half of the street and anyone who happens to be passing by. These weekly pizza fests provide an excellent opportunity for the sharing and showing off of homegrown produce. Last Wednesday we used tomato sauce (made with homegrown tomatoes, onion, garlic, herbs etc cooked earlier that day in our solar oven), olives (grown by our neighbours and pickled by us using a recipe from another neighbour), cheese (made by our visiting friend Nunzio), herbs (from the Hulbert Street Guerrilla Garden and the verge gardens) and smoked trout (raised in my aquaponics tanks and smoked by a nearby mate Jeremy). Yum!
The “Official” Post Fiesta Report
The goals of the Hulbert Street Sustainability Fiesta are to : 1) Celebrate Sustainable Living in Hulbert Street and to 2) Inspire others to take on sustainable actions So How did we go?From Colin Ashton Graham (our official evaluator!) The Fiesta was a success on a number of levels: About 5,500 people attended and over 70% were first time visitors to the event (showing that the event is reaching new audiences and not ‘the usual sustainability suspects’); 50% attended because of a recommendation/ invitation from friends (showing that previous visitors recommend the Fiesta); Almost everyone who attended in previous years reported taking a new sustainability action as a result (84 actions for every 100 people who previously attended); Of the people attending this year there were 90 new learnings/ ideas and 95 intentions to act on a sustainability change for every 100 people through the exit: Most of the Fiesta features/ events/ services were rated as very interesting/ interesting by at least 80% of attendees. The number and length of positive unsolicited comments shows that the Fiesta set up a ‘social contract’ with the people attending, hence people wanted to give back. See the end of this blog for a list of unsolicited emails and letters received. ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Community’ were the major motivations for people to attend and ‘seeing sustainability’ (through homes, gardens, demonstrations etc) were the most highly appreciated aspects of the Fiesta. For most of the actions tested at the Entry and Exit to the fiesta, the overall likelihood of implementing actions increased. Further measures of the actual implementation of new sustainability actions and changes in intentions and attitudes will be measured over the coming months. Improved communication (in advance, in programs or over an event PA) could improve the engagement with speakers, commitment flags and activities. There was also demand for more/ more choice of foods, more shade for sitting in and some toilets lower down the street. And financially? This was the first year the Fiesta was in the black (eg last year we ran at a $1,500 loss) The Fiesta costs an estimated $69,361.18 to put on, with $48,650 of this being in kind support. The great debrief meeting About a month after the Fiesta a meeting was held with street residents and other interested volunteers. There was a great deal of support for running the Fiesta again next year, with a similar format. The date for next year’s Fiesta was set (September 24th and 25th 2010) and suggestions and issues discussed. Ideas for next year included: Add pack up procedure to volunteer list instructions Offer free accommodation to people to stay at the Painted Fish over the weekend – have to clean etc on Friday and be out all day! Keep street layout (ie stall tents on one side open homes on the other) All stalls out on the road (eg Pledges and LS in drive of Painted Fish did not work) Put more tables for sitting in PF driveway. Have free water and sunscreen available! Comment ideas box at entrances/ exit. Get someone to be an official money collector . Get someone to coordinate and keep an eye on Living Smart Stall. Order 600 posters and 1500 postcards. Have an Aboriginal Welcome each day. Toilets at both ends of the street with better signage. Better labeling for bins – have a “waste depot” with information. Don’t go over Douro Road for couch race . A couple of open garden homes are interested in running a tea stall. Sandra suggested she needed a better entry statement to bring people in to her studio. Discussions Several suggestions for next year were discussed. It was suggested that the Fiesta should be meat free. It was decided not to do this, but to encourage all food stalls to have a choice for people. It was also suggested that a display could be set up with information about the environmental impacts of eating meat. There was a suggestion that there be an organic beer tent next year. It was decided this was inappropriate and would add a more complex level of risk. There was quite a bit of discussion about the Speakers Tent. Most people seemed positive about the idea of a Speakers Tent but agreed that the tent site was inappropriate. Ideas for next year included several smaller “show and tell” tents, gathering a “crowd” for the beginning of each talk, and ensuring the set up allowed for good views of powerpont type displays. There was a feeling from some that the Fiesta had got a bit too big and commercial in nature. Processes for decisions about stalls and participation was discussed. While it was suggested that there should be less entertainment, the discussion that followed suggested most people felt that the busking areas provided a great opportunity for local groups to showcase their love of music or dance. Much discussion about the identification of street residents. Issues included finding an easy ways to identify a number of people without creating more “stuff” (eg Tshirts). It was also suggested and agreed that there were so many non Hulbert Street residents that volunteered and deserved to be recognized as well. Ideas included an apron with a screen print that could list a house number. It was decided that since Fiona was willing to take this job on again next year, she would make any final decisions. The centrally coordinated activities at this year’s Fiesta were considered a great success and the combination of remaking stall, basket weaving, wood work and the fairy garden were well supported. Ideas for consideration for next year included: A kid’s drawing/ painting area, Feltmakers Association, Spinners Guild, Pottery Clay workshops, Sandcastles, Mosaic workshops, Paper making workshops and a Story teller. The Fiesta is in many ways an “Open Space” for people to come and share and try ideas. It was agreed that the Fiesta should remain as open as possible, and in the end those people who were willing to organise a stall,
Hulbert Street Sustainability Fiesta 2010
By Tim Darby How do you feel about sequels? As an avid reader, when I find that a book I’ve enjoyed has a second book to follow, I get really excited. I start day dreaming about long winter evenings reading, wrapped in a cocoon of warm fluffy doonas and steamy hot chocolate being transported to another time and place through the magic of words. On the other hand (did I mention I’m a Libran?), there can be few things as sad as the lackluster sequel Son of … or Return of….. or …… meets Godzilla etc – the formulaic remake, of the copy, of the follow on, of the dramatisation of an idea which in its original form may have had some merit With this in mind, I approached the 2010 Hulbert Street Sustainability Fiesta (Son of the Return of the HSSF 2007) with a tingling mixture of apprehension and excitement. For those who missed the original. In 2007 my partner Shani and I opened our bed and breakfast, The Painted Fish, with Solar House Day and accidently precipitated an invasion of Hulbert Street by 800 people, eager to take a peek at the beginnings of our eco retrofit and gardens. Seeing the impact that the open home had on our long suffering neighbours, we invited them to join in. The 2000 people who visited our street in 2008 were greeted with a series of information stalls, eco products and some food. By 2009 a large number of “Hulbertians” had taken part in a Living Smart Course, 20% of the street had installed photovoltaic systems and, as well as our home and business being open to the public, there were 7 gardens 5 artist studios and 50 different stalls ( 1/3 artists, 1/3 community groups and 1/3 providers of sustainable products and services). We also expanded the provision for local entertainers and added a speakers’ tent. At the last moment we hired one porta loo … which proved to be just as well. Despite rain on both days, the street was visited by nearly 5000 people over the weekend. The 2009 Hulbert Street Sustainability Fiesta was described as ‘the peak sustainability event of the year’ (And no, that is not just a quote from my Mum!) So 2010 and where to from there? The 2009 Fiesta, while hailed as a great success, had taken a fairly heavy toll on us financially and personally. For the three months prior to the event, Shani had been increasingly debilitated by a spinal herniation and spent the Fiesta (about three week post spinal surgery) confined to a rainbow coloured gopher and pumped full of powerful pain numbing (not to mention mood enhancing) chemicals. For my part, I spent the six months following the Fiesta plagued by a series of illnesses and mysterious but debilitating fatigue. We received lots of support from Freo’s Sustainability Officer, Alex Hyndman, the backing of almost everyone in the street and over 100 volunteers, without which, it would have fallen in a heap. But still there was some question in our minds – was the whole thing actually a Sustainability Fiesta or just a fun and colourful party? When you are so close to something, it’s hard to see it objectivity, particularly for Shani propped up by chemicals and me running on my chocolate and endorphins habit. We decided that if we were going to initiate HSSF 2010 we wanted to be sure money and time and energy were being usefully spent. Enter Colin Ashton-Graham (no relation). Colin describes himself as a behavioural economist … economists as in numbers, patterns and predictions, behaviourist as in what people do and why. Colin developed a series of questionnaires to examine changes in peoples’ attitudes, intentions and behaviour as a response to participation in the Fiesta. Our experience presenting Living Smart has been that once the seed of an idea has been planted, it can take some time for change to precipitate so the study is to be followed up at three months, six months and 12 months intervals. Is this all starting to sound frighteningly economic rationalist? Relax and read on. It’s not all cost benefits and analysis. For example, we decided that bigger is not necessarily better. In 2010 we were asked if we would promote the event through the West Australian, our local State newspaper. We decided, given the parabolic increase in attendance over the previous years, that while the Fiesta offers a great example of sustainable community (which should be spread like organic butter on hot toast) any more than 5000 people would detract from the quality of the experience for guests and probably overwhelm our Hulbert Street hosts. Maybe the seeds of change, like broad beans, are best planted in your own backyard? On the Friday night before this year’s Fiesta I noticed Shani looking unusually calm amongst the chaos of experimental pizza cooking, last minute signage construction and a flurry of bumble bee costumes. I asked her what was going on? She explained that she had adopted a new approach based on some open space facilitation theory she recently trained in. “Our job is to create the space, send out the right sort of invitations and then trust that the right people will come”. Sounded a bit too hippy for me, given the huge logistics, but she was right (either that or the planets were in alignment)- the moments that made this year’s Fiesta really special were all to do with events and activities instigated by the Hulbertian hosts, volunteers or guests, with very little to do with us. Shall I give you some of my favourite examples? On that same chaotic Friday afternoon our friend Amy asked if she could borrow a ladder. I waved one arm in the right direction and thought mo more of it. It wasn’t until the next morning that I realised that Amy and a mob of her knit bombing mates had needed the ladder to turn our street sign into a beautiful piece of collaborative
Hulbert Street Sustainability Fiesta – The Final Report
In 2008 Tim Darby and Shani Graham from The Painted Fish hosted the first Hulbert Street Sustainability Fiesta. The Fiesta featured the opening of The Painted Fish South Beach Eco Village with the Australian Open Garden Scheme, in conjunction with a series of stalls, demonstrations and activities with a sustainable focus, flavoured with food and music. This event was a great success, providing a focus for the creative and environmental efforts of the Hulbert Street community and attracting an estimated 2000 visitors. The 2009 Hulbert Street Sustainability Fiesta held on Saturday and Sunday September 19th and 20th 2009 built on this success, expanding the educative and participative content in response to a growing interest in sustainability of the Hulbert Street residents and the broader community. Despite a cloudy and cold weekend with several showers, this year over 5,000 people visited the street over the two day event. The vision behind the Fiesta was one of celebrating sustainable living, encouraging people to take on a more sustainable lifestyle by coming to visit us and demonstrating the most sustainable accommodation option in WA – The Painted Fish and Fremantle’s “Sustainable Street” – Hulbert Street. Sustainability and community are an important aspect of life on Hulbert Street, with over 25% of the houses being connected to their own solar power, over 50% of the houses growing some of their own food, regular street movies, community gardening days and fun social events ensuring people in the street are well connected and in a perfect situation to host the Fiesta. This report outlines some of the major initiatives undertaken in 2009, describes some of the Fiesta highlights, provides a financial report and outlines some recommendations for the Fiesta next year. Funding the Fiesta – Sponsorship Applications to the City of Fremantle. Applications were made to the City of Fremantle for three different aspects of the Fiesta. (Please contact Shani Graham if you would like to see copies of these applications.) A Community Grant application was made for the pre Fiesta activities, including the street planting day, children’s scarecrow making workshop and Youth Tree Training Day. Although the Fiesta was successful in gaining funds from this source in 2008 for the Fiesta itself, the City has a policy of not funding the same event twice. While the application made was clearly for activities leading up to the Fiesta and not for the Fiesta itself, this application was not successful. The reason given was that the activity had been funded previously. Freo First Funding was sought to pay for the coordination of the stalls over the weekend, part of the advertising costs and a marquee and seating over the weekend. An application was also made to Alex Hyndman, the City’s Sustainability Officer to pay for the Speakers Marquee and advertising for the Fiesta. Alex liased with officers from Freo First and a total of $4,400 (including GST) was granted for the Fiesta from the Sustainability Initiatives Budget. Other funding sources included stall holder fees, donations from a Melville Living Smart Group and local members of parliament, a percentage of door takings from the Australian Open Garden at The Painted Fish and donations received from people visiting Tim and Shani’s home at #21. The budget report contains a full breakdown of income and expenditure, including an estimated value of the in kind support donated by residents to run the Fiesta. Advertising the Fiesta This year’s Fiesta poster featured a painting by local artist Tim Darby, entitled “Growing Community”. His whimsical water colour caricatures are popular with adults and children. Tim donated the use of this image to the Fiesta. Kate Lindsay, a local graphic designer from Coagency and Hulbert Street resident, designed postcards and a poster advertising the Fiesta, and coordinated the printing of the this advertising material. All graphic design work was kindly donated by Kate. Postcards were distributed early in August to interested stall holders and others. Posters were displayed in prominent businesses and public spaces around Fremantle and the greater Perth metropolitan region. An article in the Herald newspaper about a month before the Fiesta featured information about some of the pre Fiesta activities and called for stall holders and buskers to participate. The Feista poster image was also used as the basis for a special “wrap around” the Fremantle Herald newspaper, which was distributed to all households in the Fremantle area the weekend before the Fiesta. This wrap had information about the Fiesta and articles featuring different aspects of the weekend including features about Sandra Black, a resident ceramic artist, Fiona Dunham and her efforts in recycling, Nadia and Kylie’s plans for the scarecrow making workshops, and interviews with Chris Ferriera from Great Gardens, emphasising the speakers at the Living Smart Speakers Tent. Full page ads were also purchased for other versions of the Herald newspaper in Cockburn and Melville, and a final full page ad on the weekend of the Fiesta. The Herald newspaper was very supportive of the event and provided organisers with discounted advertising opportunities. Local letter drops made sure all residents in the area around Hulbert Street were aware of the weekend, and informed of the expected increase in traffic etc over the weekend. Many local residents assisted before and over the weekend. All local schools advertised the Fiesta in their school newsletters. ABC 720 local radio was contacted about the event, and due consideration was given to broadcasting from the street on the Saturday morning of the Fiesta. While this did not eventuate, Shani was interviewed on the morning of the event and listeners were encouraged to attend during the popular “Roots and Shoots” program broadcast from 9- 10am on the Saturday of the Fiesta. The Fiesta was listed as a special event as part of the Australian Open Garden Scheme, and this meant it was not possible to make direct contact with other media. City of Fremantle media staff met with Shani and Tim and prepared a press release for the City’s website, but this was not taken
Chicken Soup – and no shops!
We live in a fairly high density street in South Freo WA. For the last two mornings we have been hearing a rooster at dawn. We lay in bed talking about how nice it was, hoped no one complained to the council (we all have chooks!), wondered where it was, if we could borrow it for breeding etc etc. The second morning I commented it sounded like it was still learning how to crow. Tim suddenly said “what if it’s ours?” Friends had given us three baby bantams two weeks ago and sure enough – “Cauliflower” was crowing! So I called my 65 year old mum (I grew up on an “urban farm” in Canada killing chickens and rabbits but I was only a child and so was not 100% sure I could remember what to do . . . .) Mum told us the first thing to do was relax the rooster by a process of hypnosis. Apparently chickens are not over endowed with intellect and so are excellent candidates for hypnosis. After about half an hour of my mum gently swinging a giant love heart bling in front of the chook, it was no more relaxed but Tim was starting to look decidedly glassy eyed. She and Tim had a lovely time “quieting” the rooster, plucking, gutting etc and today we had the most amazing chicken soup for lunch – all with veges from our suburban garden – potatoes, broccoli, spinach, carrots, corn (dried from last summer). What a feast (and not a shop in sight!!) We invited a kid from down the road who was home sick – he commented that it felt a bit weird at first but he decided if you couldn’t kill your food you shouldn’t eat it! But my favourite bit? – seeing my mum and partner sitting side by side while they plucked the rooster, talking about growing food in your own backyard.
Busy Bee makes for a hive of activity
(written by Tim Darby) When you were a kid did your dad ever take you to a busy bee? I love ‘em. When confronted with an insurmountable task, someone puts out the word, a whole bunch of people arrive and start running around (seemingly at random) and then, by beer o’clock, the wall has been built, the mountain of mulch has been moved or the playground has been installed. Everyone goes home tired but happy, wondering at the power of collaborative labour and puzzled as to why it doesn’t happen more often. I guess that’s why we call it a busy bee – man following nature – a whole bunch of little critters buzzing about, working together. So what could be a more appropriate for a busy bee activity than actually making a bee hive? You’ve probably seen on TV how things works in a beehive – one of the bees with more information than the others will do a bit of a dance, shaking her tail around, telling everyone where to go. In our case the guy shaking his tail was Peter. Pete’s a lovely bloke who luckily for us has a passion for relocalised food production (he only sells his honey within 65 kms of its production) and helping people to reconnect to where their food actually comes from. We have been eating his honey for a while and he had been coming along to our community events for a while, when one day over a cup of tea (sweetened with his honey of course!) he offered to help me make my own bee hive. I invited one of the neighbourhood kids (who loves all things that creep and crawl), he invited some of his mates, and before long Shani sent out a street note and we invited everyone. On the allotted day by the time Pete and his bee mates Ilka and Sangi arrived we had about 30 men, women and children buzzing about waving their borrowed battery drills like a dozen Dirty Harrys trying to make your day. Amongst this noise and chaos, Pete’s beekeeper’s serenity calmed everyone down while he chatted about the pleasures and benefits of keeping bees. Did you know for instance that an average field bee works itself to death in just six weeks (it’s a bit like having a mortage) or that a well run hive can contribute up to 200 kilos of honey a year (enough for our whole street to share)? Then Pete waggled his tail, and once again we flew into a frenzy of drilling screwing, hammering, threading stainless wire and working the wax into the frames. . . . . One of the best things about the day was the age ranges of the people working together. Although our invitation called for kids with an adult to supervise them, Chloe (aged 20) brought her 47 year old mother because she was really interested in bees and Caroline (who is 84) came by herself because all her kids were busy. Being a bit of a DIY guy, I also found it really exciting to see people of both genders and all ages getting hands on with the tools. Nobody lost any fingers and by the end of the day we were the proud producers of a solid and reasonably square bee hive. Ah- the power of collaboration. But the story does not end there. Since the bee hive busy bee we have gone with Peter a few times to visit the hive, the first time to introduce a new queen. Apparently the queen provides the genetic material for the whole hive and a well bred queen can keep the hive quite passive and easy to work with. The queen is introduced encased in candy so that the bees in the hive have to eat their way in to her. By the time they get to her they have become used to the smell and so they accept her (I wonder if I could get Shani to accept my smelly riding shorts if I coated them in candy?) When we visit the hive Pete always brings a full size bee suit for himself and a little one so one of the kids in the street can get right amongst the action. Each time we visit I find I am fascinated by some new bee fact. The last time we opened the hive Pete took out some propolis (a waxy pinkish bee building material) which has a natural antiseptic. It cured a mouth ulcer I had in a day. Having access to a hive has made us much more aware of bees in our own gardens and what blossoms attract them. Last time we went to see the bees some of the kids took flowers they had picked from their own gardens so the bees wouldn’t have to fly so far! And now a final thought on working cooperatively and bees. Apparently when a new non aggressive queen is introduced to an aggressive hive the bee colony will become less warlike immediately, even before the queen gets a chance to breed her genes into the hive. It’s a phenomenon known as morphic resonance, sort of like social homeopathy. And really – if it can work for a beehive, why not in human communities? Bring on world peace!
Guerilla Gardening – Beg For Forgiveness
Once upon a time I used to be a school principal. I first became a principal in an era of devolved responsibility to schools, and my favourite boss used to constantly say “You know what needs to be done – just do it. Beg me for forgiveness later, don’t waste your time with permission now”. Later I worked in our local education district office, as a manager of operations. I often would find myself saying “are you officially asking me permission to do that?, hoping people would get the message that while we couldn’t officially say yes it sounded like a great idea! It was a salient lesson in working with bureaucracy, who often want to say yes but just can’t. Once you get into growing food in your backyard, most people run out of space quite quickly, and you find yourself eyeing off neighbours’ yards, verges and nearby parks. A morning walk leads to new thoughts of “gee that gets good northern light – wonder how I could get water to it?”. It only takes a movie like “The Power of Community” about the Cuban peoples’ response to their own oil crisis in the form of urban agriculture; soon you find yourself googling “guerrilla gardening” and . . . . Our first attempt at guerrilla gardening found us using a space between our property and the walkway down to the beach. It was well screened with native scrub so we thought no one would notice. We used this area to plant fruit trees, a few vege beds and hide our five bay composting system. A fellow gardener (who actually knows what she is doing!) used to walk past with her dog every day – “looks a bit shady there, it will be interesting to see how you go”. Two years later she very generously is not saying “I told you so” as we replant the fruit trees onto a sunny verge and replace them with shade loving coastal indigenous plants for greater biodiversity and establish a street bee hive behind the coastal tea trees. Our second attempt was really an experiment to win an argument. With a spare section of water tank Shani planted up some winter veges on a very exposed part of the walkway and bucketed water to them on the odd day they needed it over winter. “You can’t plant there – people will steal the tank and take the veges” said Tim. Funnily enough nobody did, and in fact months later we discovered one lady stopped every day for a bit of weeding and to pick off the caterpillars! The highlight of our Street Fiesta in 2008 was harvesting that small garden and distributing the bounty. So this year work on our Hulbert Street Living Smarties Garden began in earnest. In autumn people attending a Living Smarties course we were running provided the people power and motivation and we created four beds made from old tin – creating two as no dig beds and bought organic vege mix from the great Green Life Soil Company for the other two. Two round beds for potatoes were added a while later and each time we run a Living Smart course we expand the number of beds. Now we have a total of 10 garden beds or about 25 square metres of garden . But what about water? – Anna’s place is the closest house to the garden. Anna is now 84 and while her husband was a keen gardener his death 16 years ago has meant there is not much action in her backyard recently. She has generously allowed us to hook up a watering system to her outside tap so that no more bucketing is needed, and we are looking forward to watering her husband’s grapevines this summer (yup they are still surviving after 16 years with no water!) Six months on we have just harvested the potatoes, and eat daily from the garden – peas, carrots, beetroot, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, spring onion, leeks . . . all the usual winter garden fare. More than a hundred people walk past the garden with their dogs, bikes or kids on the way to the beach every day. If we are working there they always stop and say hello. Generally the response goes like this – “Wow this is fantastic, so inspirational, good on you for doing this, I love checking this garden out every day . . . . ” Last week a lady told me about the garden she had established at home inspired by our efforts – it made my day. In fact when I am feeling a bit down I often head up to the garden for a potter and chat with whoever is going past. Sometimes people ask “is it your garden?” “Well sort of” I usually reply, “ but Jet and Banjo helped me plant those carrots, Ronan has been helping with the potato harvest, Jenny helps weed when she can, and Karin is keen to start her own bed up here soon . . . you can join in if you like. I usually try and find some local kids to help out when I’m planting or doing fun stuff” People usually follow quickly with the same question Tim worried about – “but won’t people steal it?” “Well it hasn’t happened yet” I reply, “unless you count Ellie and Zoe whose mum lets them have a snow pea or two every day in exchange for finding snails, or my mum Joy who gets all her greens from here in exchange for worm wee, or the horse who ate half a cabbage before its rider could stop it . . . .. But see those herb beds – there is marjoram, oregano, thyme, basil and coriander – help yourself! Rebecca comes up from Hickory Street every day but she tells me they need to be picked more often” As they wander off some people pause before asking a final question
Youth Tree Day at the Painted Fish – August 22nd
Hey Chidlers You’re invited to a rather awesome hands-on sustainability experience put together by sustainability-gurus-but-not-hippies Tim Darby and Shani Graham of The Painted Fish Eco B&B in South Fremantle. It’s the perfect learning experience for anyone interested in starting a veggie garden, living more sustainably and meeting like minded people. Check out the program below and register ASAP if you’re interested because there are limited spots. WHEN: Saturday, August 22nd WHERE: 21 Hulbert Street, South Fremantle CLICK THIS LINK TO REGISTER ONLINE PROGRAM 10am – 12pm: Sustainable House Tour of The Painted Fish and Number 21 Hulbert Street Learn about passive solar design, water harvesting, and making your own power. Lots of ideas for your own place. 12pm – 1pm: Shared Lunch: Bring something to share and your own crockery. Hot water and home made lemon cordial supplied 1pm – 3pm: Gardening Workshop and Hands-on Session Join us to help expand the Hulbert Street Guerilla Garden Learn how to : – make a raised bed from old bits of tin – create a no dig garden – make great compost 3pm – 5pm: Cuppas, drinks, chat and fun with the residents of Hulbert Street. And help us prepare for the 2009 Hulbert Street Sustainability Fiesta – Growing Community CLICK THIS LINK TO REGISTER ONLINE PLEASE BRING: Clothes suitable for getting “filthed-up”. Food to share for lunch and your own crockery. Problems or questions you’ve got from your own gardening and sustainability initiatives. CLICK THIS LINK TO REGISTER ONLINE Better get in before the tigers do, Tim Kenworthy Youth Tree Network
Growing Community – Hulbert Street Gets Ready For the Fiesta September 19 and 20th
Last weekend saw neighbour helping neighbour as residents of Hulbert Street spent the morning readying their verges for the annual Hulbert Street Sustainability Fiesta, before a shared lunch right out of the street Living Smart garden! This year the Fiesta theme is “Growing Community” and there is a great deal of evidence of growing and community in the little culdesac street in South Fremantle. Recently dubbed “Fremantle’s Sustainability Street” by councillor Les Lauder, the street boasts productive vege gardens on the verge or front yard of over 50% of the homes in the street, and their own community allotment garden around the corner. Last Sunday two more households prepared vege gardens, while other residents weeded and shared the big street mulch pile! “The Fiesta will be a ripper this year,” said co-coordinator Tim Darby. “There will be 2 open houses, seven open gardens and five open artist studios. Our street also boasts 20% of houses with photovoltaics, a growing number of rain water tanks and the majority of homes are growing some of their own food” “With a Living Smart speaker’s tent, buskers corner, cafe, family activities, and street stalls for community groups, local artists and businesses selling sustainable products, you should be able to spend the whole weekend here, and learn heaps about making your life more sustainable.” “And the whole thing is carbon neutral” added fellow coordinator Shani Graham, “thanks to great support from the City of Fremantle.” This is one of three preparation days planned before the big event on September 19th and 20th 2009. “On August 22nd we will be joining with the Youth Tree network for an extended tour of two houses in our street – The Painted Fish and our home at #21, before a gardening day where four more raised beds will be made.” Participants will then be encouraged to join in over the weekend sharing what they have learnt with others! (you don’t have to be youth to come along!!) “And on Sunday September 13th we are hoping local families will join with us and community artist Nadia Rasheed in making two big street scarecrows for the Fiesta Scarecrow competition.” If you are interested in a having a stall at the Fiesta, want to busk or participate in any of the pre Fiesta events, or came last year and are willing to help out over the weekend contact Shani on stay@thepaintedfish.com.au And put the date in your diary. With an estimated 2,000 people visiting, last year’s event was described as “more Freo than Freo” and this year is set to be even bigger and better!
Hulbert Street Verge Planting Day
Hulbert Street Verge Planting Day And shared lunch afterwards! Sunday August 2nd 2009 In the morning we will dig and weed and plant and mulch and . . . . . then enjoy lunch together! Ken and Kate will be making some raised beds. Let Tim know if you want to join in (we have some spare tin!) A street soil and compost order will be made – see Shani if you want to order soil. There is still mulch at the end of the street. Please supply your own seedlings or plants. SUSTAINABILITY FIESTA NEWS Don’t forget the weekend of the year – September 19th and 20th If you want to get involved (stall? open garden or house? Volunteer?) please see Shani ASAP Youth Tree Training Day – Free tour of the Painted Fish and gardening workshop. See Shani if you want to join in with the Youth Tree Crew. Saturday August 22nd Scarecrow Making Afternoon – Sunday September 13th 1-4pm We will be making two big street scarecrows with a community artist and/ bring stuff to make your own scarecrow! AND IN OTHER NEWS! The bees are in position with a queen to keep them happy and are ready to start doing their thing – check out Eli and Asher! Sophie, Nic, Tully, Ellie and Zoe from # 20 have gone back to Walpole and Kio is back – Welcome home! See Shani if you have not filled in a street contact sheet!