Hedvig’s permaculture diploma

The last few months have been filled with lots of doing, and just not much writing.  My garden project is developing so quickly, which is super exciting and the last few weeks have been spent going round different DIY shops to sources a few things, and just getting on with painting the trellis, the shelving unit, transplanting the bolting mizuna, rocket, chard in the tree pit.  We have also got a new flat mate in, which is great.  She is much more into growing and lots of other good things.  We ordered a dumpy bag of compost, and have been happily distributing in the garden, the neighbours garden, the tree pit, mulching the pots, her allotment.  The potatoes are bursting out of their raised beds, we’ve been harvesting lots and lots of salad leaves, the broad beans and looking pretty fine, the calendula is flowering and doing its companion thing attracting lots of beneficial insects.  I have been harvesting chamomile and elderflower and drying that for teas. I’ve been busy in the kitchen as well with my local food project: I made elderflower cordial, been sowing more seeds to replace the stuff that is bolting.  Started getting a veg box from Ashurst (as I’m not working there as often), getting ready to do an infinity order.  The infinity order also involves setting up a food co-op, of sorts, and encouraging the neighbours to get involved. I have also been cracking on with my tools project.  I have made two bags so far, and loving figuring out how to use my machine.  It just feels so positive to be able to use it, and so much quicker.  I have been looking at my pile of ‘to mend/alter’ with greater conviction.   Next project is to make a purse, which involves sewing in a zip and making darts, so that will get new skills and tricks in the bag. The teaching project continues.  I co-taught the Intro to Permaculture for Transition Town Brixton, and I have been running a series of workshops in Regent’s Park for Capital Growth alongside my weekly growing club at Somerford Grove.  There have been other workshops as well, but less permaculture heavy.  Feels like I’m building up my own sets of resources, which is great, and the lesson plans are getting amended all the time.  Like it. I am in the process of creating a new website that will pull together my diploma and present it in a more project-oriented way.  Doing all that stuff has taken away a bit of time, and to be honest, inclination for writing up.  It has been great to get on with projects.  It feels like a summer/winter thing… in the winter is a good time to be writing up and reflecting, and at this time of year I want to be making the most of the longer days and warmer temperatures. But I recognise this means less writing up.  Not a good thing. The herbal project still continues with new version of my deodorant all the time, and I tried the chamomile dye again.  I still use the facial oil every day, and my lip balm.   My flat mate manages an essential oil company so scheming about working together on a little project…. more of that later…May/June has been a frustrating one for ALGs.  After the long dearth of ALGs and then forming two and being part of another, this month was the month when none of the meetings happened.  So it goes.   But one thing for sure, it is going.  Lots going on, and lots more going to be happening.  Good stuff, me thinks.

As an addition to my tools project, I wanted to help set up/get involved in a clothes swop/auction here in Brighton.  The link may seem a bit tenuous but I wanted to be able to re-skill myself so that I could mend my own clothes and alter clothes found in charity shops and such things.  So a month or so ago I emailed around to some friends to see if there were any takers, and last night was the swop.  I had a really good clear out of my wardrobe and re-cycled a lot of clothes I had picked up along my travels, with many handmedowns and auction finds.  I have enjoyed them but knew it was time to let go of them.  It felt so good to look at a clearer wardrobe, and to know that I really wanted the wear the stuff that was there.I headed off to Elin’s house last night with a very full rucksack and another bag.  And came back with a few pieces, but ones that I liked.  I loved seeing lots of people I had never met before trying on my stuff and some loving them and taking them away.  It felt like a great example of fair shares.  In Hackney we used to run an auction with the money going to charity, and the surplus clothes going to a charity shop.  So doing a non-monetary thing was so of different but also cool.   Plus it was a fun way to meet new people, and we all brought some food or drink, and it was a lovely sociable evening.

Oh yes, it has been a while, but rest assured that a lot has been happening.  In particular new projects, and following up on old ones.  Bref, good stuff.  The newest and very exciting it to apply permaculture to a new tool… sounds random, so no surprise there then.  I have decided that I am going to learn how to use a sewing machine.  In terms of becoming for sustainable this has got to be a good’un.After a very hectic May, I decided I needed some self care.  It turned out to be a ram-packed week, but with good (mostly unrelated to work) things.  My parents came down and dropped off a sewing machine my great aunt gave me many years ago and only now has it made it into my home (the joys of nomadism and sewing machines haven’t really gone together).   That very evening I had myself booked for a sewing lesson with the wonderful Jac.   It was great to sit round with a little group as we all tried to get our heads and hands around the machine.  We learnt some pretty useful stuff: forward stitch, reverse stitch, how to thread a bobbin.  And we started on making a shopping bag, which felt pretty momentous.  It was lovely to be part of a little group.  The lovely Jody was there and we chatted about travels and sewing.  I picked up some hilarious material for my shopping bag- a print of Obama and Hilary Clinton.  I managed to cut out the pattern for the bag and the two handles.  So good progress for one evening.I am delighted to have it as part of the family, and it sits at the dinner table with us.  I sat down to it on Sunday to check out my machine, and trying to get my head around a new machine.  Quite a challenge apparently.  I figured how to get the bobbin out, and to unwind the thread on the bobbins (another thing I learnt from Jac was to have the same thread on both bobbins).  Slow and small solutions.  Maybe tonight is the night for lighting the fire and settling down to the machine again.  :)

So from our three lemons I made this cake.  A simple sponge cake with lemon juice and rind in the cake.  The tree is doing really well and never seen it with more flowers.  The smell is delicate but as distinctive as those of Sicily and Eritrea.

 empty water bottles.  You thought I was going to say Coca-Cola.  Well, I didn’t.  I know that Coke can be used to clean engines.  That could be quite useful, if you had a car.  I don’t.  But I’m making a garden.  And this is pretty useful to water my seedlings.  And great to spraying water into people’s mouths, ears and kitchens.  Yes, today was a rather serious day full of meetings.

Since last summer I have been supporting ‘Introduction to permaculture’ courses that are run by Brighton Permaculture Trust.  Pippa leads the course, with various co-teachers and support staff.  The first day is often up at the Earthship in Stanmer Park, and the next day in a different location.  I have found it so beneficial to be involved in the courses.  It means that I regularly get back into taking permaculture back to its basics and telling more people about it.  It is such a great opportunity to meet a whole new bunch of people that are interested in the concepts, and to see the number of them that walk away really inspired by the solutions-oriented approach.

Yesterday, a little collection of us made our walk through the dark village of Southease and into Pippa’s wonderful home.  She was seated with two kids snuggled by her, and we began our review with the tale of ‘Pancakes for Findus’ and ‘the Hungry Hen‘.   Once the kids had been tucked in bed, the tea and chocolate cake came out.

Then the review began, looking at the feedback from past courses and then going through the timetable.  It was a great process: balancing the ‘likes’ and ‘do differently’ comments with our own ideas, and desire to try out a few new things.  I really feel like we left a little more inspired, not just because the drizzle had cleared, but we a sense that we were involved in a process to make the course feel even more relevant for people.  Love it.

My local community association sent round its latest newsletter with an little article right at the end about wanting to get some herbs growing in the planters that are scattered about the area.  So I contacted Marek, the chair of the association, and had a good chat about what was already going on around me: the guerrilla gardening, the tre-foil guild and the resident badger.  Great to find out more, and combined with my new found campaign (Pimp your pavement), and think fun and mischief will ensue.

It is that time of year again, the food-themed Green Sundays at the Arcola.  Sara and I went along last year.  It was there first Green Sunday, and I had met Jessie at a talk with Vandana Shiva.  We did a session getting people to grow heritage beans and talking a bit about Ready, Steady, Grow.  It was just in the two week period of the launch, so great timing for us.

This year I am working on it with Alex and Helen, and we had a meeting yesterday to discuss it and it was so inspiring and exciting.  It was just a cider-infused brainstorm about re-imagining the city with a lot more food all over it.  11th April, put it in the diaries.

Oh yes, I went along to the Sustainability Centre, bundled into Jan’s car and chatted along the way about credit, like real credit geeks.  We were there for three days and had long, intensely-packed days discussing all manner of things connected to permaculture and teaching.  I really liked the set up where it was very much up to us to decide the topics depending on what we were really passionate about, and to see the diversity of issues.

My thing was about designing a permaculture teacher, and I found the session really helpful.  We discussed the different design and models people used to get into teaching.  So interesting.  One of the really clear message that came across to me was that we are a network and there was a real desire for us to act more like one: to share more knowledge and resources. I hope that doesn’t mean I’ll have to start singing or chanting.