Thoughts on organizing a permablitz

My housemates and I spent all last weekend buying materials and sorting out the plan for the permablitz next week. Organizing can be hard work, especially with many different tasks! But at last, the mushroom compost and mulch is ordered, the wood sourced, the tools accounted for, seeds and seedlings bought, the call for volunteers made. We'll be expecting around 20-25 people on Saturday to come help us finish up the chicken coop and the run, dig the pond, build the composting toilet, and put in the vegetable patch.

The process of organizing such an event is in itself a really good learning experience. Here are some thoughts on how to avoid great frustration and stress:

1. It can be difficult working on your own for this, so it's important to have good team work and to make sure that everyone is on the same page.
   
2. Everyone working with you should be familiar with the permaculture design principles as well as the ethos of a permablitz (creating edible ecosystem gardens, building community networks, skill sharing). It's not just about getting the garden the way you want it, it's also about teaching other people how they can do something similar in their neighborhood and creating a knowledge network.
   
3. Task delegation is very important!
   
4. Good communication between hosts, facilitators, and designers is key so no one is left out of the loop.
   
5. Don't try to bite off more than you can chew. As tempting as it can be to put in every single great idea (fruit trees, climbing pumpkins, oh my!), you have to be realistic about your budget and your time. Are you really going to spend 30+min in the garden every day to tend to everything you put in? If not, then you might want to scale back.
   
6. For plants that take a long time to bear fruit (ie trees), you can put them into portable pots for greater mobility and flexibility.
   
7. There is free material everywhere if you're willing to spend time looking for it. We got a good amount of free wood from Gumtree (Australian's version of Craig's List) and free cardboard from off the street.
   
8. Do your research! Whether it's buying materials, looking at companion planting, or designing the garden, going in with some prior knowledge will be essential.
   
9. Empowering people by letting them have ownership of the project is very important.

Some great resources for hosts, facilitators, and designers are available here on the Melbourne Permablitz website for those looking to organize a permablitz of their own. Definitely read through them!

So what's our garden going to look like anyway?

Backyard design plan
We'll have the center vegetable patch (bike wheel style) where we'll rotate different veggies in depending on the season. It's in what's known as the zone 1 area, really close to the house and easily accessible.

To the left of the patch is our chicken run, where Henrietta Lacks and sister chicken will live. Some chicken-friendly plants, like fat hen, dock, comfrey, wormwood, and dandelion will be planted along the fence for the chickens to eat. The idea of having the chicken run next to the veggie patch is so that we can do our rounds in the veggie patch and swing by the chicken coop to check for eggs every day. Easy!

Above the vegetable patch is the herbs area, for herbs like basil and rosemary. We'll have some beneficial insect plants as well, basically anything that will attract pollinators or shelter predators of pests. These include cosmos, queen anne's lace, borage, and chamomile.

Up by the bike shed, there's some frames. Later in the year, we'll try growing vertically up them with pumpkins or peas or zucchini. If the area is warm enough, we might try for passionfruit as well!

Behind the shed is an evergreen area. We'll plant some evergreen natives, bamboo, and maybe some honeysuckle to attract birds and increase the biodiversity of the garden. It'll make a good reflecting spot if we have a nice little path leading to the back.

Across from there is the wet area where the pond is going. If we're really ambitious, we may add in a bench and turn it into a really nice area for relaxing and reflecting. Mint, peppermint, raspberries, coriander, and later lemongrass and ginger will be grown there.

Next to that area is the composting toilet shed. Yes, you read that right, the composting toilet. More details on how that's gonna turn out later! Hopefully we'll angle the venting pipe so that it doesn't go straight into the faces of people in the entertainment area.

Next to the house will be our propagation area. It'll be a really simple "table" made of wood or slabs on top of our rainwater tanks. We can check on it every day when heading out and make sure it's covered via a shade cloth. By putting it next to the house, the seedlings can be protected undercover.

So that's the plan! We'll see how it turns out.