Transition Derby

I was sceptical about the idea of a permaculture blitz. It sounded like a contradiction in terms because one of the principles in permaculture is to use small and slow solutions. In fact the  action day achieved many things that demonstrated beautifully what the transition movement and permaculture are all about.

The first point is that it demonstrated "community". (What a great bring and share lunch by the way). By pulling together and each giving what we could to help, we all, I think, enjoyed ourselves (notwithstanding the sore muscles  next day !)

Secondly we moved one family  (two adults, two small children) forward in their transition journey. We helped position them to reduce their carbon footprint further, eat more healthily, become more sustainable, reduce their dependence on huge, vulnerable supply chains for their food and  increase their resilience to economic shocks.

Thirdly, we all had the opportunity to learn through practical experience - from each other and particularly from our mentors, Clare and Nicola from Nottingham Transition (thank you ladies !). Theory is fine, but there is something very different about laying our the positions of real raised beds or cutting difficult angles in scaffold boards that really helps one's understanding of concepts like "edge" and "using rsourcees most productively".

We also showed how a suburban garden can be thought of as a productive space. We began to create a space that is much more in keeping with this family's needs and will, in time, yield more in terms of lifestyle as well as usable produce than it ever has before.  Thus, there was an element of inspiration there as well, for all of us.

Now, how do we get every other garden in Derby similarly replanned ?

To see images click Album