Thursday, September 15, 2011

PERMABLITZ comes to Hawaii on 09.17.11

Permablitz (noun)“Blitz”, from the german for lightening, means a focused application of energy. A permablitz is when that energy is focused on installing part of a permaculture system. “Perma” is short for permaculture, which is a design system for sustainable living and land use. As a comprehensive design system, permaculture includes much more than organic food gardening. Growing at least some of our food where we live, however, has always been a central emphasis within the broader picture of permaculture. 

Technically, a Permablitz is an informal gathering involving a day on which a group of people come together to achieve the following:

  • Create or add to edible gardens where someone lives.
  • Share skills related to permaculture and sustainable living.
  • Build community networks.
  • Have fun!

As an example, if you come along to someone’s house, plant a lettuce, learn about worm farming, meet some people, and have a few laughs, it may be accurate for you to say you’ve been at a permablitz. You may have already been to some in the past without knowing it!

 

The Permablitz story

Permablitzes began in 2006, when  a collaboration between Permaculture designer 'Sourdough' Dan Palmer & friends, and a South American community group in Melbourne, Australia's, became a revolution of edible garden landscapes quietly appearing in backyards all over the suburbs.  Check out Asha Bee's article and Katherine Kizilos' excellent article for The Age newspaper for the full story.

As of mid-2011, over 100 permablitzes have been held in and around Melbourne and throughout Australia, and have even spread overseas to California, Calgary, Montreal, Istanbul, Uganda, and now Hawaii.

PERMABLITZ-HI #1 is scheduled for Saturday September 17th, at Sweet Home Waimanalo (SHW) cafe. Matt will be teaching a hands-on weekend 'Introduction to Permaculture' class September 10-11, and PERMABLITZ-HI #1 will give participants a chance to utilize and share their new skills & knowledge by transforming the parking lot behind SHW into a functional, productive, and beautiful edible landscape.  Drop us a line if you'd like to participate!

Stay tuned, and subscribe to the PERMABLITZ-HI mailing list for more details.

Step 1.  Before.

Before
Photo: The back of Sweet Home Waimanalo (SHW)cafe today.  Bo-ring.

Step 2. Design. 

Base_design
Photo: Permaculture design for SHWcafe, featuring mandala kitchen gardens, functional banana circle, mini-orchard, worm farm and chicken-dome-tractors.

Step 3. Blitz! 

After
Photo: Permaculture design for SHWcafe, featuring mandala kitchen gardens, functional banana circle, mini-orchard, worm farm and chicken-dome-tractors.

Join Hawaii's Edible Garden Revolution today by clicking here, and help us restore Hawaii's food security - one backyard at a time.

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