Yandina Community Gardens

41 Farrell street, Yandina

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Commencing Wednesday 7th October 2020, 3:30pm to 5pm, Eight Week Kids’ After-School Program A mini Permaculture Design Course for budding Garden Architects

07/09/2020 By

This 8-week, after school program, covers the ethics, principles and practices of permaculture for the junior garden architect. It teaches students new ideas, ways of thinking and a change in how we feel about growing food, and teaches the next generation of kids about Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share to usher in a greener and brighter future!

Commencing Wednesday 7 October and continuing every Wednesday up to and including Wednesday 25 November.

The Program

  1. Ethics, Principles and Compost Building

Building a Permaculture garden isn’t just about digging vegetable beds, it is a blank canvas for new ideas, ways of thinking and a change in how we feel about growing food! In this session we will learn how our thoughts, feelings and actions dramatically effect the environment around us and how we can collaborate as team to listen to nature, our hearts and each other to build a brighter, greener future.

  1. Sun and Wind

Learn how to read the sun’s solar pathways and the movements of the prevailing winds so you can know exactly where to place your vegetable garden

  1. Earth and Water

Understand how to Read the Landscape using homemade measuring tools so you can design your garden to capture an abundance of Mother nature’s energy

  1. Design and Zones

Map out your energy-efficient Permaculture garden and connect all of the working parts together so your design can last the test of time!

  1. Vegetable beds and soil health

Turn your beautiful permaculture design into a reality by measuring up and digging your first vegetable bed. Learn how to make energy efficient, weed blocking and self-feeding “Worm Lasagnes”

  1. Composting and Planting

Learn how to ‘companion plant’ in your garden so every vegetable bed is full of happy little plants!

  1. Bug Squad

Pest or Pollinator? Learn how to identify the critters in our garden and what role they play in the grand scheme of life! Are they helping or hindering our efforts?

  1. Food Forestry

How do we regenerate our landscape AND feed the soil food web, people and animals? By designing and building a food forest. Learn how to fix bare soils with the succession planting of fruit trees.

 

As you can see, this program is designed for the student who is interested in observing, thinking, researching, planning and designing.

 

All sessions are hands-on, with lots of measuring, drawing, and creating; and if you are unsure if this more serious program would suit your child, please contact Aaron Mears on aaron.m@lvingclassroom.com.au.

 

PLEASE NOTE:

As a hands-on activity, and for maximum learning ability, numbers are capped for this session so BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL. Please BOOK HERE for all EIGHT Sessions

 Presenters Name:            Living Classroom – Aaron, Veronica or Dan 

Presenter’s Biography:

 The Living Classroom Project is an outdoor learning program that has been functioning for over 17 years in schools across NSW and Queensland. They have turned pavement plots, toxic playgrounds and barren patches of lawn into fun, dynamic and nutritious outdoor learning environments that students thrive in.

Using experiential, hands-on learning, the programs are tailored to primary and secondary school students, introducing them to the principles and practices of permaculture design, to build and plant organic vegetable gardens, at both home and school.

Living Classroom is different from other gardening progams in that we create seating circles, bed designs, 4 seasons vegetable gardens tied in with water harvesting via swales, food forestry to improve micro-climate of playgrounds, and cafeteria composting – lunch to soil.

All teachers have degrees in Education, the Principal is a qualified landscape architect, and 2 of the educators are PDC qualified.

The principles demonstrated in all Living Classroom programs support disaster prevention and crisis management.

Filed Under: Recent Events Tagged With: Kids program, living classroom, PDC, Permaculture education

Community Gardens are vital centres for Positive Change – Morag Gamble

20/12/2019 By

Community Gardens are vital centres for positive change – Morag Gamble

Yandina Community Gardens Ambassador

Permaculture Education Institute (https://permacultureeducationinstitute.org)

I love community gardens and the Yandina Community Gardens community is a particular a gem. Thanks so much to everyone who’s been part of creating, gardening, teaching, supporting in this incredible community hub in all different ways over the years.

Community gardens are such important places of learning, connecting and sharing a way of life that is what the world needs right now.

The impact may not always be easily seen, but the ripples of positive change from community-led projects like Yandina Community Gardens are part of the wave of change around the world. The gardens, the habitat, the programs, the classes, the events, the sharing of ideas and friendships touch people deeply, and change lives, and are a place for urban wildlife. I congratulate all the volunteers and supporters for the positive contribution you are making in the world.

It is so very important because we are in the midst of an ecological and climate emergency and a new way of living and working needs to be made visible. Western society lives way beyond its means – we are experiencing a consumption crisis. If everyone, for example, lived like the typical Australian, we would need 4 earths to meet our ‘needs’ and absorb our wastes – called our ‘ecological footprint’. In fact, everything we’ve been doing from April onwards has been eating into earth’s capacity to regenerate, and taking from nature and future generations. Australia’s overshoot day – when we exceeded our ecological budget – was at the end of March! Global consumption patterns are eroding earth’s capacity to support human activity and life itself.

Regenerative culture and regenerative agriculture is the way forward. We need to live and work quite differently – the way Yandina Community Gardens demonstrates, the way permaculture teaches. Keep learning. Keep sharing your positive message. And keep speaking up for earth care, people care and fair share in whatever way you can – for common-sense and positive, practical and effective change.

Filed Under: Recent Events, Sustainable Living Tagged With: Climate emergency, community gardens, members event, Morag Gamble, Permaculture Education Institute, Permaculture Principles, Yandina community Gardens

Saturday, 26 October 2019, 10-12 noon, Members event, Open Garden of Morag Gamble at Crystal Waters

17/10/2019 By

Yandina Community Gardens Members have been invited by Permaculture Noosa to join this us for an informative tour through Morag Gamble and Evan Raymond’s permaculture garden.

Morag is an international ambassador for Permaculture and teaches permaculture on a range of levels, making a difference across our planet.

Come and spend some time learning about the Crystal Waters Community, followed by a knowledge sharing Garden Tour with Morag.

*When: Saturday 26th October
*Where: 50 Crystal Waters, Conondale (Crystal Waters Permaculture Village)
*Where to meet: Park and meet at the Crystal Waters Village Green at 9:45am
*Cost: $2 for Permaculture Noosa, $5 YCG Members and $5 Gympie Permaculture Members.
*Time: Please arrive at 9:45 to sign in/register with Dee. If you bring a shared plate, hand it to Dee at registration, and be ready for a 10am tour start.

At 10am Morag will walk you from the Crystal Waters Village Green, giving an introduction to Crystal Waters Permaculture Village along the way, and finally ending up, up the hill in her permaculture garden.

PLEASE NOTE: There will be some walking involved so please bring your own water bottle, hat and walking shoes (sneakers). This tour is not wheelchair friendly.

If you choose to arrive early, the Crystal Waters bakery and Cafe is open from 8am. Delicious organic sourdough bread and treats, plus great coffee is available.

*Bring: We would love you to bring a plate to share for a great social sharing after the tour, or just come and join us. Tea, coffee and watermelon will be supplied. (As mentioned above, you will be walking from the Village Green to Morag’s garden, so Dee will take your ‘shared plate’ contributions at the Village Green at 9:45am Sign in/Registration and will drive them all up to the house once the tour is underway.)

Note: You MUST be a member of Permaculture Noosa, Yandina Community Gardens or Gympie Permaculture to attend. (This event is NOT open to the general public.)

To become a member of Noosa Permaculture, follow the link on our Permaculture Noosa website.

Background Information:

Morag is a permaculture educator who has taught around the world for 25 years. She is a global permaculture ambassador and global ecovillage network ambassador. This is her home & garden she shares with her husband and three kids.

Even though her family has been away for over 6 months this year including volunteering in Uganda and Kenya and teaching in the UK, their garden is still abundant and resilient (although not in its most beautiful state). Morag will share her simple approach to low-maintenance and drought hardy gardening – a garden that supports her busy life of running the Permaculture Education Institute

(https://permacultureeducationinstitute.org), creating free permaculture information through the Our Permaculture Life blog https://ourpermaculturelife.com and Youtube: https:youtube.com/c/moraggambleourpermaculturelife (both with over 2 million views each), and leading a permaculture charity, the Ethos Foundation (https://ethosfoundation.org.au).

Morag has often held permaculture workshops and school camps in her garden and activities for young people too. She also homeschools one of her children – her two eldest completed their PDC in East Africa on a course she was mentoring.

What you will see and learn about:

Permaculture applied at a village scale design
Social Permaculture/invisible structures
Permaculture Home and Garden
Drought-hardy, low-maintenance garden
Robust perennials
Terracing
Keyhole water harvesting pathways
No-dig gardening
Worm towers
Owner-built home
Reedbed grey water system

Crystal Waters (https://crystalwaters.org.au) is a United Nations World Habitat Award winning ecovillage and Morag’s Garden was awarded a Glossies Edible Landscape Award.
You can see more about Morag’s garden and approach in her blog and youtube channel, and learn more about her online permaculture education programs here:
Permaculture Education Institute – Permaculture Educators’ Program: https://permacultureeducationinstitute.org
The Incredible Edible Garden (permaculture gardening course)

The Incredible Edible Garden

If you require further information – Contact Permaculture Noosa Open Garden Coordinator, Dee Humphreys on 0497754486 or deeianh@gmail.com

BE SURE TO JOIN US FOR THIS OPEN GARDEN OPPORTUNITY AT CRYSTAL WATERS!!!!

 

 

Filed Under: Garden Tours, Recent Events Tagged With: crystal waters, members event, Morag Gamble, Open garden, Open garden visit, Permaculture

Do you want to understand more about Cover Crops? Dave Clark explains how it works

17/10/2019 By

We are very fortunate to have Dave’s expertise in hosting many of the workshops at YCG and also volunteering his time in the Gardens, if you visit the Blue House you’ll be able to see some of Dave’s cover crop work in action. For the science behind this please read Dave’s article that follows:

We recently watched a presentation by Dr Christine Jones called Quorum Sensing in the Soil Microbiome, and strongly recommend it, however, in short:

The “Ah-ha” for us was photos of an agricultural experimental area where a paddock had been sown to crop in bare ground; no mulch, no cover crop. The area was currently in drought, and it looked very poorly. Adjacent was a paddock with the same crop and a 6-species cover crop looking somewhat better, but definitely stressed. In a corner of that field was a small area, about 100square m, where the cover crop mix had been expanded to 27 with the addition of a bunch of leftover seeds. This area was vibrant with crop and cover crop species growing vigorously and showing no stress whatever.

 

Back to the beginning: On this planet there are 550 Gigatonnes of carbon life forms (a GT is a billion tons) of which 450 GT is plants, 93 GT microbes various, and 7 GT of lifeforms we can see; insects, fish, birds, moluscs, animals and us. Of the total biomass of life on Earth humans total .01% by weight!

(Remember there are more microbes in a teaspoon of real soil than there are people on the Planet) We are embedded in a microbial world and they are embedded within us … there is no such thing as an independent life form.

 

It has been shown that animals which graze in a pasture rich in secondary plant compounds; tree leaves, forbs, weeds etc; have increased microbial diversity in the gut, increased ability to digest a wide variety of feeds, improved feed conversion efficiency and improved immune function. Likewise with us, people who consume 30 or more different plant foods per week* have healthier gut microbiomes and fewer health issues. The standard American Diet (& SAD is a very appropriate acronym) has been simplified to 5 basic foods and ours isn’t much better in some quarters. In the soil, plant pests and disease, low nutrient density and poor plant productivity are linked to to a low diversity in the soil microbiome.

 

This totally validates Permaculture’s long-held conviction that diversity in all things is of paramount importance!

 

A diversity of plants gives a diversity of root system profiles which give diversity in the soil microbiome. Thus it is for cover crops; diversity is paramount.

 

The Jena Biodiversity Experiment (Germany 2008) showed that diversified crops/covers support each other in times of stress (ie drought). More is better and there is NO competition. A diversity of cover crop plants can replace fertilizer with greater productivity. Soil carbon also increased with species richness and more plant species = more soil Carbon. In monocultures it declined over time. As well as more carbon and more nutrient availability in the soil, cover crop diversity created deeper soil. There is an 8 minute video on the Jena Biodiversity Experiment on YouTube.

 

A more local example recently was the Smith’s Wilith Farm in Atiamuri, NZ. They had ash soil with high sulpur content and extremely low fertility. Every known nutrient was required and they spent a fortune on chemicals to support their dairy. Three years ago after a workshop they changed their approch adding biostimulants then plant diversity and have created 6inches of soil since. Outcomes included CEC increased 50%; all nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorous increased although none were added; Total Organic Carbon level in the top 8” trippled; milk production increased by 300liters; cow fertility increased by 80% and somatic cell count (which relates to mastitis and the price, if anything, that the milk company pays you) halved.

 

Plant diversity improves animal nutrition, growth rates, milk production & conception rates while reducing dependence on vets and building soil.

 

All the above is due to Quorum Sensing! In the microbial world QS refers to density dependent coordinated behaviour that regulates gene expression in the microbe population and/or the host plant or animal. It depends on the numbers and diversity of the microbe population and it occurs in bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses. If we carefully exhume a plant from healthy soil and it has a mass of soil and glomalin (the rhizosheath, which forms around the rhizosphere or root zone) attached, this is QS in action.

 

Similarly microbiota in our gut can switch our genes on or off and many of the autoimmune diseases we (now) have are due to the genes we need for immunity having been switched off due to our oversimplified diet. Without diversity in our gut biome these genes cannot be activated.

 

Dr Christine Jones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8_i1EzR5U8

Jena Biodiversity Experiment, Germany

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3SvG2nBCTM

 

30+ plant based foods each week example:

 

Lemon/limes

Tumeric & Black Pepper

Ginger

Banana

Pawpaw

Passionfruit/Carambolas/Strawberries

LEAVES (young) of Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, Dandelion, Moringa, Chicory, Broadleaf Plantain, Amaranth, Cranberry hibiscus, Farmers’ Friends (Cobblers’ pegs), Brahmi, Gota Kola

Spinach leaves – Sambung, Brazil, Lagos, Surinam, Okinawa, Tahitian

Herbs – try them all

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Onions

Eggplants

Capsicum

Chilli

Choko

Sweet potatoes

Pumpkin

Carrots

Celery

Avocado

Mushroom

Coco yam

Cassava and Taro root

Garlic

Olives, olive oil

Rice

Coconut oil

Chia seeds

Hemp hulls

Fenugreek seeds

Linseed/Flaxseed

Sunflower seeds

 

Filed Under: Fact Sheet, Permaculture Method, Recent Events Tagged With: biodiversity, Cover crops, Dave Clark, microbiome, nutrition, Permaculture in action

This Sunday 6 October, YCG Members are invited to an Open Garden tour hosted by Permaculture Noosa

16/09/2019 By

Yandina Community Garden Members are invited by Permaculture Noosa to attend an Open Garden at the Chatsworth property of Serge and Maria Leroyer.

Be sure to join us for an informative tour through Serge and Maria’s 13 year old Permaculture Garden.
Serge calls it a ‘work in progress’, but that’s Serge being modest, because Serge is an experienced and well respected Permaculturalist who actually ‘walks the talk’ of Permaculture concepts.

*Bring: We would love you to bring a plate to share for a great social sharing after the tour, or just come and join us. Tea, coffee and watermelon will be supplied
*Parking: Please park outside the gate, then it’s just a short walk along the driveway.

Note: You MUST be a member of Permaculture Noosa, Yandina Community Gardens or Gympie Permaculture to attend. (This event is NOT open to the general public.)

To become a member of Yandina Community Gardens click here

*Where: 238 Allen Road, Chatsworth (near Gympie)

*When: Sunday 6th October

*Time: 2-4pm (Please arrive at 1:50 to sign in and be ready for a 2pm start of tour)

*Cost: $2 for Permaculture Noosa and Gympie Permaculture Members, $5 YCG Members.

Filed Under: Recent Events Tagged With: Garden Tour, Permaculture gardens, Permaculture Noosa

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Yandina Community Gardens acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Owners of the land, the Gubbi Gubbi (Kabi Kabi) people, past and present and emerging. We recognise and wish to learn from their spiritual and cultural connection to the land.

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