How to diagnose what nutrient deficiency your lemon tree has

My daughter's lemon tree had an obvious problem of nutrient deficiency. But what nutrient was it deficient in? The new Google image search (or look here for a video) is a quick method of diagnosis. Upload the image of your tree. The images it found were not clear immediately so the search facility asks for a hint in words. I added "nutrient deficiency lemon" and got an image from this site which told me the lemon tree was suffering from a deficiency of magnesium.

On another website I also found: "When a magnesium deficiency is present, the young citrus leaves appear green and normal, but older leaves turn yellow and often have an inverted ‘V’ of green at the leaf base. In advanced cases, leaves fall prematurely and cropping declines." This described the leaves on my daughter's lemon tree exactly.

And then of course Peter Cundall came up trumps with a solution. A foliar feed with a solution of Epsom Salts and now I am waiting to see if the tree will look healthier. 

Community Market on Saturday

It is resuming again after the two month winter hiatus: the Endeavour Hills Community Market. We, the Greater South eastern Permaculture Group, have a stall there once a month to let people know about Permaculture and what it can do for them, as well as a fun session of chatting, meeting people, exchanging tips and ideas and learning stuff. It looks like it will be a lovely day.

The market is at 2 - 8 Gleneagles Drive, Endeavour Hills
We would love your help to staff the stall. It is a lot of fun and doesn't need to take up much of your Saturday

The market is on from 9 am to 1.30 pm if you would just like to pop in and say hello.

This was a rainy day but we still had lots of fun. This Saturday will be a lovely day!

The stall is also a way of swapping produce that you have too much of in your garden. Nobody goes home empty handed.

Narre Warren North Community Garden Progress Report

We are doing a permaculture design of the garden, changing the orientation of the beds so that they lie along the contour rather than down the hill. We are doing this so that water and nutrients are not encouraged to flow down the hill during heavy rain but rather are slowed down so that they can stay in the garden to do their work.This will be a slow process as we do not want to dismantle the garden and lose any of what is currently growing. We will need to move some of the perennials to allow for paths and have already started this process.

The current beds are too wide to be able to work on them without standing on the soil so the new beds will be 1.2 m wide so that they can be worked on from either side without standing on the beds.

We are looking for supplies of hay/straw and manure for the compost and sawdust for the paths so if you know of any free supplies please leave a comment.

We had a lovely time on Saturday with about half of our morning in the garden doing the work that needed to be done and half inside planning for the future and chatting over a cuppa. The harvest swap was very successful with most people feeling that they left with more than they came with. We are looking forward to our next session on August 25 from 10 am to 12 noon when we will be having a compost making workshop. It looks as though the Community Garden will be getting its own website and facebook page so stay tuned for more news.

Current orientation of garden beds

New orientation

Some dates of interest

Some dates you might liker to put in your diaries:

Saturday August 4
Narre Warren North Community Garden
Spring Planning Day
Narre Warren North Uniting Church,
corner Tom Jones Court and Main Street, Narre Warren North
for more information ring Jo on 0402 087 017

Sunday August 5
Beginners Guide to Chickens
Facilitated by VEG's Kim Glasgow
More information: see upcoming events on the Permablitz website

Sunday August 6
Awaken the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium
11 am to 5 pm
Balnarring Community Hall
Frankston Flinders Rd
Balnarring

Wednesday August 8
Film night and discussion (monthly meeting of the Greater South Eastern Permaculture Group)
Time: 7.30 pm
Film: The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
Venue: Narre Warren South
For more information: ring Jo on 0402 087 017

Wednesday August 8
South Melbourne Commons, 217 Montague St (corner Bank St)
Time: 7 pm
An inspiring documentary of how the Fukuoka approach to farming has been taking root in India and supporting the local farmers.
For more information: South Melbourne Film Fundraiser

Saturday August 11
10 am to 4 pm
Permablitz in Preston including workshops on the wicking bed, the hugelkulture bed and the rainwater system
For more information see upcoming events on the Permablitz website (Permablitz 128)

Saturday August 11
3.00 pm to 6.00 pm
EmPOWering drinks with Permaculture Out West
2 Devonshire Rd,
Sunshine

Thursday August 16
Mountain District Permaculture Group Meeting
Wedy Bell will present aspects of her recent trip to Findhorn in Scotland and the "Damanur Temples of Humankind" in Italy.
For more information contact Silvia Allen on 0407 775 883.

Friday August 17 (also 18 and 19 August and 24, 25 and 26 August)
Permaculture Teacher Training Workshop swith Rosemary Morrow.
For more information:  contact Very Edible Gardens

Saturday August 18
Endeavour Hills Community Market
9.00 am to 1.30 pm
8 Gleneagles Drive, Endeavour Hills
Join us at our Permaculture information stall, harvest swap and seedling giveaway
for more information ring Jo on 0402 087 017

Tuesday August 21
6.30 to 9.00 pm
Van Raay Centre, Ceres
An evening with Rosemary Morrow
More information: contact Very Edible Gardens

Saturday August 25
Narre Warren North Community Garden
Compost making workshop
10 am to 12 noon
corner of Tom Jones Court and Main Street, Narre Warren North
for more information: contact Jo on 0402 087 017

Saturday September 8
10 am to 12 noon
Beginners Guide to Chickens
Heathmont
for more information: see upcoming events on the Permablitz site

Saturday September 8
Narre Warren North Community Garden
Vegie planting and harvesting
10 am to 12 noon
corner of Tom Jones Court and Main Street, Narre Warren North
for more information: contact Jo on 0402 087 017

Saturday September 15
Endeavour Hills Community Market
9.00 am to 1.30 pm
8 Gleneagles Drive, Endeavour Hills
Join us at our Permaculture information stall, harvest swap and seedling giveaway
for more information ring Jo on 0402 087 017

Saturday September 22
10 am to 4 pm
Introduction to Organic Vegie Growing
For more information: see upcoming events on the Permablitz site

Saturday September 22
Narre Warren North Community Garden
Harvest swap and gardening event
10 am to 12 noon
corner of Tom Jones Court and Main Street, Narre Warren North
for more information: contact Jo on 0402 087 017

Thursday October 11
10 am to 12 noon
Endevour Hills Neighbourhood House
Permaculture: working with nature, learning from nature
for more information: contact Jo on 0402 087 017

Saturday October 13
Narre Warren North Community Garden
Harvest swap and gardening event
10 am to 12 noon
corner of Tom Jones Court and Main Street, Narre Warren North
for more information: contact Jo on 0402 087 017

Saturday October 20
Endeavour Hills Community Market
9.00 am to 1.30 pm
8 Gleneagles Drive, Endeavour Hills
Join us at our Permaculture information stall, harvest swap and seedling giveaway
for more information ring Jo on 0402 087 017

Saturday/Sunday October 27/28
Morning or afternoon sessions available on either of these days
See Joel Salatin at Taranaki Farm
Bookings essential
For more information: Taranaki Farm

National Food Plan Consultation

YesterdayI went to to the first National food plan consultation in Berwick. As the website states: "The aim of the national food plan is to foster a sustainable, globally competitive, resilient food supply that supports access to nutritious and affordable food." It was an interesting experience. People from local councils, local primary producers, representatives from the DPI and from a local permaculture group (us) and members of the Frankston Food Access Network as well as regular citizens concerned about the issue spoke up. It was a very interesting and there was predictably a variety of viewpoints expressed. These were expressed in a respectful manner and I learnt a lot from listening to these.  (Things to follow up on: AgChatOz and Food Security group on Yahoo). I did get a chance to speak up, but if I had had 18 minutes to speak I might have expressed a few of these thoughts as well (Roger Doiron is founding director of Kitchen Gardeners International, a network of people taking a hands-on approach to re-localising the global food supply.)  His video "A Subversive Plot: How to Grow a Revolution in Your Own Backyard" (below) is so inspiring.
Try and get to a meeting if you can, or submit a written submission by September 30, 2012. Follow the progress of the Food plan development on the blog or through twitter.

Vandana Shiva talk

Just recently a group of us from Greater South Eastern Permaculture went to Montsalvat to hear Vandana Shiva speak. This talk is now on YouTube.

Dr Vandana Shiva, founder of Navdanya International, radical scientist, ecofeminist, author and environmental leader, was in conversation with Dr Susan Hawthorne of Spinifex Press for this special event at Montsalvat. Dr Shiva has been an active campaigner against the corporate-led globalisation of food production and genetic engineering, and a passionate advocate for organic farming and community-led social movements.
This event was an opportunity to hear one of the world’s major environmental advocates discuss the wars waged against the planet, wars about land, water, climate, forest and biodiversity. Importantly, she helped us envision a future in which human rights and the earth’s rights are aligned.
What did I learn? In answer to a question about the 8 millennium development goals – she stated that all of them can be achieved with becoming food self reliant.

She spoke about a common plant growing wild that her mother used to feed her family with. It was rich in Vitamin A and iron. It is now sprayed with herbicides as a weed. What a waste. After the talk I went straight to my library catalogue and looked up her book Soil not Oil: Environmental Justice in an age of climate crisis and I am looking forward to reading it.

What I wanted to say

International Permaculture Day celebration at Myuna Farm

On Sunday May 6 permaculture people all over Australia, and indeed internationally, celebrated Permaculture Day. Our small group celebrated at Myuna Farm, a working farm and education centre in Doveton. It is the site of a great range of community garden allotments as well. e had a stall and a seedling give away to inspire people. We had a great location for our stall and the opportunity to meet many families with young children as many children celebrate their birthdays there. We had some great visitors as well: Georges (PDC 2010) and John (PDC 1992). It was a cold day but the warmth came from people to talk to and to work with. Thanks to all from GSEPG who helped out on the day and who donated plants and seedlings for the display and to give away.

Plants to grow in shady gardens workshop

On Saturday we had our "Plants to grow in shady gardens" workshop and garden tour with Amy. Very useful, educational and enjoyable. Amy's blog has a list of plants suitable for a shady garden. Amy's garden is amazing with many unusual food plants. We also had a wonderful afternoon tea with muffins, rhubarb jam and clotted cream and Cele's delicious sausage rolls.

How Do I Invite You to Grow Food?

Just watching this video from Peak Moment TV called 'How do I invite you to grow food?' It's a few years old now but still very relevant. The interview features Janaia Donaldson speaking with Jenny Pell, Permaculture Designer in Seattle as well as founder and president of Permaculture Now!

"I want to live in a community that has a midwife and a cheese maker, and a shoemaker and a bee keeper. I want that intergenerational skill sharing to become common." 

I so agree!
Have a look and let us know what you think in the comments.

Information display and seedling give away at the Endeavour Hills Community Market

On Saturday we took to the streets, aiming to bring the permaculture message to the people who were attending the Endeavour Hills Community Market. It was an early start, setting up the stall but there was so much good will and collaboration that it all went great. The market organisers are giving us the site for free. Thanks to Meg, Ali, Cele, Bob and Carmel the stall looked wonderful and gained a lot of interest. We gave away a seedling to everyone we spoke to and added 12 new people to our email group.  Cele’s display looked great – we had to stop people wanting to buy everything then and there. Meg’s enlarged photos were a big hit with the passers-by as they were very colourful and really showed what we were on about. Really love Meg’s bookmarks as well, and Ali's herbs and eggs. I think the best part about it was we were having fun and it showed. There were some stopping by who expressed gratitude that a group like this exists - I must say I feel the same.


Meg getting everything ready...


Cele organising her display.


The finished display.


The seedlings we gave away.
The next market will be on the 3rd Saturday of May and we will be there.

International Permaculture Day

International Permaculture Day is coming up on Sunday May 6 with celebrations all over Australia. As the website says:

Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable human environments. It is about designing households and communities that are productive, sustaining and largely self reliant and have minimal impact on the environment.
International Permaculture Day – is a day where a range of Permaculture events occur across Australia and around the globe

Greater South Eastern Permaculture will be celebrating the day at Myuna Farm. Have a look at what we are doing here.

This is the official video from last year's event:

Retrofitting the Suburbs

On Thursday last week I had the pleasure of hearing David Holmgren speak at the Wheeler Centre on Retrofitting the suburbs for sustainability. It was an event that definitely made the participants think about what we could do.


Here is the video of the talk, only 20 minutes but packed with thought provoking insights.


A longer version (10 parts) of the talk is on YouTube, but this is some years old now. The video above is the updated version for the Wheeler Centre event: Part 1 http://youtu.be/2cjhQWdbqE4

An interesting book (just out, February 2012) on the topic is Making your home sustainable A Guide to Retrofitting by Derek Wrigley

Casey Council wants your feedback

Casey Council is seeking feedback from residents on a draft Food Security Policy.

The policy notes that:

"A large number of Casey residents are currently at risk of food insecurity. It is expected that in the future the community will be further impacted by food price rises and shortages due to adverse environmental conditions, water shortages, loss of agricultural land, peak oil, and cost of essential services."

The food security policy is intended to:

address five key areas in order to improve community food access; recognising that planning and acting now can have a positive impact for Casey in the future.

Makes sense to me. Please have a look at it and comment if you wish. We will be discussing this at the next meeting on March 7. We would love to hear your thoughts and possibly put in a group response, if this is thought appropriate. The consultation closes on March 9.

Permaculture and the Community

Today we met some of the community in Berwick Springs. The photo below shows Abbie at our stall before all the people got there.

The image below shows Bob and Alison explaining about natural beekeeping to some of the interested locals. In the background we see lemons from Marg, herbs from Megan and an olive tree in a pot brought by Alison. The bike is there to remind us of non petrol transport and the recycled toilet paper is there to remind us about the water, trees and greenhouse gases that are at stake when we don't use recycled paper.

Our group's first event

Our Permaculture group had its first meeting on Wednesday 8th February and one of our first decisions was to create a banner and a flyer to let other people know about the group. Our flyer states:

"We meet to share our interest in learning more about edible gardening, raise awareness of permaculture, share resources, swap excess vegies, make jam, preserve food and connect with & support, like minded people in the pursuit of these interests. Part of Permaculture Melbourne we are working to promote the sustainable development of greater south eastern suburbs of Melbourne."

Our group is called Greater South Eastern Permaculture because of our local focus in the area we live in. Tomorrow we are having a stall, organised by Abbie, at an event called People in Place, a free community event for residents of Berwick Springs and Narre Warren South. The purpose is to welcome new and established residents to Casey. I am so looking forward to the event. In preparing for the event we really had to think about what Permaculture was all about and recognise that it is more than just organic gardening. Permaculture is about design, relationships and energy flows. As the Permaculture research institute says, Permaculture is:

the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people — providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way.

Look out for photos of the event tomorrow.

Greater South Eastern Permies is here

This group is where people from the greater south eastern suburbs of Melbourne (Cranbourne, Berwick, Dandenong, Narre Warren and surrounds, Endeavour Hills etc) can meet online to share their permaculture related questions, thoughts, tips, articles, photos and more.

It is also where people can organise to share resources, swap excess vegies, meet up to make jam or preserve food and generally connect with like minded people.