Monday 27 March 2017

A Peek Into Permaculture: A City Farm

Over the weekend, I spent my days immersed in an introductory Permaculture course within the surrounds of an inspiring and abundant city farm


A city farm statue 
(with wicking bed, chicken house, fruiting tree in the background)

Permaculture's emphasis on Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share resonates profoundly with me so learning more is something that I have been looking forward to for a long time. I have been reading books, articles and blogs, viewing online videos and talking with staff at the city farm nursery whenever I visit to buy garden supplies, seeds or seedlings. For me though, reading and talking can't take the place of practical, hands-on experience and, while I'll write more about what I learned from the introductory course later in the week, I thought first that I would show you why I found the city farm the perfect place to learn:


An abundance of food growing in a raised bed.

 Passionfruit growing up a trellis on the side of a building provides food and shade.

 Fiery orange marigolds deter pests with their distinctive scent.

 Pigeon pea is one of the many important & useful perrenial species.

The blossoms of the Carambola tree offer up the promise of Star Fruit.

One of the much-valued city farm residents.

 A chicken house for the city farm's chooks.

 A "motel" too for the solitary bees.

 Recycling waste to return goodness to the soil.

 A heavily laden lime tree.

 One of many juicy, fragrant limes.

 One of several different types of spinach varieties called Ceylon Spinach.

 The tall, mulit-purpose & spectacular Canna Lily.

One of the No-Dig Garden beds that we helped to build and plant out.

The city farm, with its people, plants, animals, Sunday market, little nursery and community atmosphere, allows one to see a practical application of permaculture. While there learning, I could see, touch, smell, taste, reach and experience real examples of what I was learning about. I left with an enriched understanding, a desire to learn even more, ideas and more ideas and an impatient "itch" to apply what I learned.

Happy Monday to you. I hope your weekend was as inspiring as mine.

Meg















12 comments:

  1. What a lovely place to visit and learn from. I love discovering those little gems, and exploring what's inside too. I use Canna lillies here too. They make a great mulching material (like arrowroot) because they regrow so quickly, once you cut them back.

    It looks like they have the lovely red variety. I have the standard orange. One day I will add to my collection. :)

    Thanks for sharing your little adventure. I look forward to seeing how your garden develops.

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    1. There was edible Canna Lily too, Chris! You can eat the tuber of Canna Edulis (Queensland Arrowroot) as a substitute for potato. Who knew! Meg:)

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  2. Everything looks so lovely and healthy. I'd love to get some raised beds one day.

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    1. There was so much food growing in the city farm, so abundant!
      I have one raised bed out in my garden and up until now it's been problematic. During the course, we planted up a couple of raised corrugated iron beds, just like mine, and so I'm hopeful I can make it into a more productive little garden bed now.

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  3. How wonderful. I can't wait to read about all that you did and learned!

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    1. It was wonderful, Cheryl. I loved every minute of it and learnt so much. I'm going to have to hold myself back so I don't rush headlong in to doing everything all at once! Meg;)

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  4. Meg that must have been so informative. I am lookinhpg forward to our permaculture workshop in a couple of months.

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    1. I'm sure you'll get so much out of your workshop, Chel. My mind is overflowing with so many ideas! Meg:)

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  5. I love doing courses...you always come away inspired and lovely meeting people wanting to learn the same things. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane

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    1. I love it when courses are inspiring and when they are hands-on and practical. This Introduction to Permaculture course was exactly that! Meg:)

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  6. Not a spot of mud in sight Meg! Looks like you had a lovely day.

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    1. No mud, Lucy. But we did get a bit grubby though "working" with the soil. My kind of wonderful! Meg:)

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