Feb 8 2015
Today
was the first time
that our newly formed group went to a community who wanted to start a kitchen
garden. This community, Surrender, has some amazing gardens, but one of the
youngest buildings had yet to start one. Following the steps of other people
before us, like Krishna and the Localicious team and incredible edible, we dug
a trench around a rectangle in the garden, which we turned into a kitchen
garden.
We
filled the trench with organic matter, starting with the thickest logs at the
bottom to attract the worms in the area. Then we filled those spaces between
the logs with green manure, full of nitrogens and other nutrients, and finally
added palm leaves and other dry leaves, making sure that some space was left
throughout to allow oxygen to play its part in the biodegrading process.
The
island surrounded by the trench was the intended space for the allotment so,
after aerating the soil [without tilling or revolting], we covered it with soil
mixed with compost, dry mulch and charcoal. Finally a big layer of mulch was added
on top, in order to allow the Surrender people to start their own small nursery
and plant the seedlings that they will prepare, after we show them this new
method of preparing the nursery that we learned from our dearest consultant
Mimmo.
It
was very interesting to work following Mimmo’s instructions, as for us he’s a
walking encyclopaedia and he loves to share his knowledge with us. We are
growing and improving everyday just by listening to him and observing his
approach to nature.
Practically
speaking, today we were a team of eight, comprised of Robi, Ricky, Mimmo, our friend Piero
and four members of Surrender. It was great to see them fully engaged and
participating in the process while having loads of fun together.
It is really not Permaculture without having fun!
Wednesday
we will go back there to bring them some seeds, such as chilly, lettuce, beans,
spinach tomato etc.. and show them Mimmo’s easy technique to start a
small-scale nursery, along ways to dry and save their own production of seeds
for the future.
It
was a great day today, our hands are falling apart but the sensation of working
together, doing something useful and fun on this Sunday morning is a great
motivator for us to continue.
Community building can
really happen around self-production and local food, but we see everyday that
the loving, relationship-building element gains the outmost importance, if we
desire people to choose this lifestyle.
