TRANSITION SHERBROOKE - Public Presentation

Wednesday 8^th September 7pm

Selby Community House

Transition Sherbrooke is a network of community groups and individuals interested in making our local community more sustainable and resilient, in order to mitigate and respond to the depletion of oil resources

and the effects of climate change.

Our presentation will introduce you to Transition Sherbrooke so you can find out how we are collectively planning for a low carbon economy and how you can become involved in the local community transition.

We can still avoid the worst effects of climate change if we are prepared to engage as a community with the difficulties we need to overcome by acting locally while thinking globally.

Transition Sherbrooke is part of a worldwide movement addressing climate change and peak oil.

Our goal is to create an ecologically sustainable and resilient community in the

Dandenong Ranges in preparation for a low carbon future.

For more information please contact us at transitionsherbrooke@gmail.com

Kristy Henderson: 0421 323 839

Christina Reeves: 8741 1477

Mud Brick Palace Back To Basics - Week 37, Year 2

Sowing seed or Planting -
Planting

• 12 Green Oakleaf lettuce (Donated by Jan)
• Lots of curly leaf parsley (Donated by Jan)
  

Observing

• the Cockatoos are still pruning but no where near as destructively as in past weeks
  
• it's 11C in the house and 16C in the hothouse
  
• A put a sleeper to the side of the chicken house door to even out a rather dangerous slope.
• One of the Lavender Aracana's has come on the Lay (yay blue/green eggs)
  

Planning for The Future -

• Weekly work plan
• Menu Plan

Working for the Future -

• started testing the web ordering system using the current orders
• updated my pot order to ensure that I can cover all the orders for this season

Building Community -

• Food Swapped parsley seedlings, donated by Jan, and coriander seedlings at the monthy Upwey Food Swap
  

Learn a new Skill -

• how to configure the current temperature gadget to add another sensor, when we buy one, so we can monitor inside, outside and hot house.
  

Participant Posts
Linda at Remote Treechanger - Saturday August 29th
Linda had a trip down to Melbourne this last week and did what any one from a regional area does in the city, catch up with family and friends along with a good dose of economical shopping.

Caitlyn Nicholas - Saturday August 28th
Cait spent a lot of the last week as sick as a dog but she still got out in the garden to take pictures to make me jealous, of course it's all about me. Zucchini.. to go in the garden... in September! Ahh well.

Mud Brick Palace Back To Basics - Week 36, Year 2

Sowing seed or Planting -
Planting

• 3 Virolay English Spinach

Observing

• A did a fantastic job of terracing one of the slopes
• He also set up the new bucket potato towers
  
• The tree Dad removed from the garden bed will make a real difference to summer growing
• only one of the snow peas came up, will have to plant out some more
  

Planning for The Future -

• Weekly work plan
• Menu Plan

Working for the Future -

• Work on the site is continuing, A has got everything up and running and it should only take me until Monday to get all the products in now that I have a reasonably clear run at it. Orders have been done manually this time round but having this infrustructure in place will make my life so much easier for Autumn ordering.
  
• Put up my wondrous hot house ready for planting starting in the next few days.
• Removed 2 trees to give the hot house better sun access and remove obstacles from a working garden bed

Building Community -

• Catching up for chat and cake with some of the last PDC class run by the teacher I worked with last year
  
• Donated Bread to the Sherbrooke Transition Towns Soup Social

Learn a new Skill -

• learning all about private power poles and defect notices.. I need good energy to ensure the answer I get back this afternoon isn't going to cost the earth
  

Participant Posts
Linda at Remote Treechanger - Saturday August 21st
Linda's family have had quite a run of luck at the tip recently. Between trampolines and skirting board, children are being exercised and problems being solved the tip is showing it's worth in many ways.

Caitlyn Nicholas - Saturday August 21st
Cait's spend a lot of time in the last fortnight cultivating community. Both online and in real life she has been meeting, talking and making connections.

It's Up.. and It's Gorgeous

It was 5 solid days worth of work (yeah right ... 300 minutes you say) but it was worth every screaming nerve ending, the blood blisters, the rebuilding the back wall 3 times before we realised that we were not going to be able to follow the instructions in the current amount of wind and all the other mountains we needed to work out way to climb.

I got to spend 7 days with one of the people I love most in the world.. My Dad. He brought half his tool shed down from their home in Narooma NSW. Well not quite, just the 6 cargo boxes he thought he might need in the back of his 60's Series Toyota and patiently worked through 6 days of FREEZING.

This wouldn't be quite so exceptional except Narooma is a coastal town where 15C is considered unusual and cold. For the entirety of his trip we on the hill didn't max anything over 13C and averaged a whole lot closer to 10C. Even for this mountain girl the last place you would have chosen to be for the last week is, outside. At least when we got the majority of the structure up, Day 4, windchill came out of the equation a bit more as you could hide under cover when the bite got too much. Even so handling the metal was an exercise in patience as you quickly lost all feeling and dropped any fine motor skills you thought you had.

Let's just say it was a bonding experience, we both earned the pride we now have that we got it up and now I get to work in it and remember just how much love and support I have received.

**P.S. just to remind Nevyn she isn't the only one that walks around with her brain turned off at times... We put this gorgeous structure up and then realised we needed to remove a tree. Yep a tree that if it fell the wrong way was going to leave me with a mangled mess.. DOH

Arrhhh... I can't feel my fingers

Right now I am up to my elbows in 1/4, 1/2, not really sure built hothouse. Thankfully I have help, without them I might have despaired today.

Once complete it will be a place of wonder and productivity.

Right now I am hoping with my best juju that the wind that is forecast doesn't eventuate. I was warned that until the last bracing is in place this type of structure is impossible to work with in anything more than a breath of wind.. we proved that undeniably true.

Did I mention I live on the north side of a very large hill.. Oh, and mid August to the end of September is "Wind Season"...

Use the Food- Sourdough Spelt Baguette

Personally I think I am going to be working on this dough in the future. As a straight sourdough adaption from Spelt Healthy left this dough a bit soft and unable to keep form the way I would expect a baguette to. The taste is great, and the texture was lovely just not what I expect baguette to be.

Ingredients
325g active 100% hydration starter
399g water
141g Wholegrain Spelt Flour
438g White Spelt Flour
2 tsp salt

Directions
Mix starter, flours and water until you have a ragged dough only partially incorporated dough. At this point to bakers experienced with conventional wheat doughs it will seem way too dry. Try your Hardest to cope with every baking instinct you own saying "this is gunna be a brick" and DON'T extra add water. Let sit for 45min to allow rest.

Once the dough has rested add your salt. Mix on a slow speed for around 2 min, around 10-15 if you are hand kneeding. Move to a large container and set in the fridge overnight, 4-16 hrs.

Next day remove from the fridge. Hand kneed approx 10-20 seconds, then return to the bowl. Every 2 hours or so give a short 20 sec hand kneed culminating at when the dough is ready for shaping, about 5 hours (shorter if it is a hot day, i.e. you know your heat and you know your starter this is your standard bulk fermentation).

Shape & proof in a warm draft free area for around 2-2.5 hrs preheat the oven so that at the end of the proofing time it will be sitting at 250C.

Turn out onto baking paddle, slash into preferred pattern mist well with spray bottle, put bread in oven. Continue to intermittently mist your loaf as evenly as possible for the first 10 min. Turn the heat gauge on the oven to 170C and cook for a further 12 minutes.

(Again, if you have more success getting oven lift with a differing technique when cooking loafs go for it and simply make sure you test that your loaf is cooked through)

Mud Brick Palace Back To Basics - Week 35, Year 2

Sowing seed or Planting -
Maintenance

• Weeded through the onions. It really is amazing just how a little weed competition stunts them
• Turned over the side bed
• picked up a set of food grade buckets from a friend to make potato towers
  

Observing

• Most of the baby Capsicum are through, only the Manzano Chilli to go
• The broad cast seed has started to sprout

Planning for The Future -

• Weekly work plan
• Menu Plan

Working for the Future -

• Still working on the site
• Sent out order reminders for the people who have requested the C.S.A. catalogue at the deadline is coming up
• Rattled cages at the transport company for my glasshouse as they have had it 10 days
  

Building Community -

• Speaking tonight at herb society on "Designing a Herb garden"
  
• Welcomed a lady I did my PDC with into our street.
  
• Writing for Mt Districts Permaculture Newsletter
• Writing for Yarra Valley Permaculture Newsletter
• Submitting Mt Districts article to Permaculture Melbourne's newsletter (PIE)
  

Learn a new Skill -

• sausage making, we now have about 3 kg of various flavoured sausage in the freezer.
  

Participant Posts
Linda @ Remote TreeChanger - Monday August 9th
Has been preparing a house for sale and is starting to see progress even if the finer details haven't quite been polished. On the community front she is finding facebook a wonderful tool to catch up with relationships lost.

Crone @ Crone At Wits End - Monday August 16th
has been moving forward as a temporary single parent with sick chirpees abounding. That said she has done a whole lot of stuff including cordial making and lots of planting/sowing. As well as organising a new side gate and dreaming new veggie beds into her place.

It's a Year of People and Relationships

I saw recently on one of the US blogs that I read someone say "it's the year of people and relationships" and personally I have to agree. It may be that I have been working at this stuff for the last 2 years or it may just be the theme of the year but overall people seem willing to put themselves out just a bit more than normal to make things work.

The first 3 months of the newly minted local food swap had wonderful attendances. Between all our networks we averaged about 15 swappers and at least 10-12 buyers. Now while I admit this isn't huge, it's a response. More importantly it's a response at a time of year when people really don't have that much in the garden. If they are anything like me they aren't there to get rid of excess, cause really few of us actually have excess at this time of year, they are there because they want to support the people who are trying to get this idea off the ground. They are there because they think access to resilient community relationships and local food is important there at 9am.

It's not that one idea either. The Seedling C.S.A. has been met with huge amounts of positive energy and support. It hasn't translated into orders at this point but just the open willingness to pass information along and connect with places I don't have access has been amazing. There is wonderful power in having others out there willing to speak on your behalf. Who stand beside you and get excited about what you are trying to achieve. Who vocally appreciate the effort you are putting into doing something right, rather than cheap. It's this support that keeps you going when everything just looks that bit grim.

People really seem to be starting to crave relationships with their retailers. They want to feel they know who they are and what makes them tick. They want to be more than a number at the end of a docket. Their support is heartfelt and personal and they are willing to go that one step extra to work with a retailer that feels the same way.

It's a Year of People and Relationships, around here at least.

Awake! Awake, Your Winter Slumber

In the last couple of weeks the energy of the garden has changed. It's quickening and the plants are growing in a way they haven't done for months.

In just the last few days the Broad Beans started to flower. We are a long way from beans because it's still way too cold for bees but at this time of year as an eastern gardener you hang your hopes on anything that suggests that life is coming back. It's the pace of the changes in the garden that keep me anew.

I can pick Silver beet and not need to wait 4 weeks before I can pick it again. A week and this little darling will have recovered it's losses.

The lemon we unceremoniously dug up and moved over 12 months ago is making back gains. These fruit are the first crop we have seen and although it's small every single fruit is precious to us.

The Greens be they lettuce, leaf mustard or English spinach are all looking shiny, happy and full of life. It seems the soil temperature is calling them to life. Whether they were planted seedlings or rough seed they just call to your harvesting hand saying "just a few more weeks".

They should pair nicely with these teeny, tiny, enie weeny radish sprouts. There is nothing quite like wondering through the garden on a cold winters day dreaming of meals to come.

The experimental onion crop is going well. The Belvedere are doing better than the Cremegold. The Belvedere get a bit more western sun and I have done a much better job of keeping the weeds clear in their section. Considering the time of year and their general intolerance of competition this in itself could be enough to make up the difference.

I have re weeded both of the beds recently so we will see if that is enough to convince the Cremegold to move along.

On the side of reality I am seeing a little bit of animal damage. Based on the fact that the onions have being snipped off at the bottom and not eaten I am currently assuming it's the White Cockatoo's. I have seen them do this in the past with garlic but I guess I have never had onion tops this big before. I am not sure if it's the shape or their sulphurous taste but the Cockatoo's do seem to love pruning the onion and garlic family at certain times of year. If their damage tally stays low I will keep the onions uncovered because we are having a lot of grey, overcast days even when it doesn't rain, thus I don't want to cut down the available light by covering them.

Mud Brick Palace Back to Basics - Week 34, Yr 2

Sowing seed or Planting -

Sowing

• Broadcast a mix of Leek, Leaf Mustard and Red top turnip seed into a newly turned bed
  

Maintenance

• Weeded through the onions. It really is amazing just how a little weed competition stunts them
• Turned over the side bed
• picked up a set of food grade buckets from a friend to make potato towers
  

Observing

• the baby capsicum in the hot bed are starting to sprout through
• the very first flowers are starting to become evident on the Broad Beans
  

Planning for The Future -

• Weekly work plan
• Menu Plan

Working for the Future -

• Working, with much help from A, on the Cultivating Abundance Website
• Registered Cultivating Abundance as my Business Name
  

Building Community -

• Attended the 2010 Presentations for the PDC I completed last year.
• Moved buckets from Michelle's place to my place
• Ordered an olive barrel to be the water catchment for the new hot house

Learn a new Skill -

• mopping - when I hurt my back we started having someone come in to mop and clean the bathrooms.. things are changing so I am reteaching myself how to mop in a good ergonomic using core strength type fashion.
  

Participant Posts

Cait @ Caitlyn Nicholas -Sunday August 8th
Along with lots of personal discipline Cait broke out this week and just had some fun too. With any luck the possumless roof will increase everyone's happiness and help sleep reign through the night.

Preparing for an Uncertain Future

I find it really interesting the way things flow. At this time last year there was a confidence of invulnerability in the Australian psyche that just simply isn't the case now. I am not sure what the tipping point was but something, I suspect a lot of things, have triggered thinking people to acknowledge that it is possible that the future may be vastly different to the past two generations. I am seeing a true acknowledgement that the level of material wealth a middle class Australian enjoys really could be a fleeting thing and I am seeing people look seriously at ways to cushion that slide backward for them and theirs.

The problem is that no one truly knows what we are preparing for. Are we talking about complete and utter social upheaval which will disrupt our access to everything from electricity to education and health care? Or alternately are we just talking about being slightly less affluent and struggling a bit harder to pay our bills. The reality is that nobody knows. At least in part it's that uncertainty that paralyses many that would choose to act if they could only work out how.

Thankfully there is a bright side to this. If we focus on the things we have control over rather those that we don't in some ways it doesn't matter which end of that scale we find ourselves on. When we look at what we want, for ourselves and our kids, if we focus on skills rather than material goals we can stride confidently into the future knowing we can provide them with a firm foundation to live from. Is that going to be enough if the world turns into Mad Max, well of course not but at that point you can only fractionally increase your odds of success as there are too many variables at play. When you are dealing with a lower level of upheaval an economic depression can take away their college fund but it can't take away the knowledge, skills and confidence in their abilities that they hold within themselves.

Anything that we do materially to prepare for the future is only ever going to be at best a medium term measure. Items break, need maintenance and repair and if you or someone you personally know can't fix it in many cases it simply won't be fixed. Money can become devalued in a blink of an eye. Although totally contrary to everything many of us have been taught security doesn't come from material wealth.

True security, the type that can't be taken away, comes from inside. It's a willingness to throw your hand to anything around whist making the best of it, an ability to make connections with others, a willingness along with the ability to help people and ask for help when it's required. It's a firm belief in your own usefulness and abilities and the skill of tackling problems as challenges rather than bone grinding miseries. It's about having your self respect based on traits firmly inside your sphere of influence, such as personal integrity, rather those outside like owning a house, having secure employment or a certain level of material wealth.

We need to be focusing on building ourselves and our children into happy resilient people who can do best with whatever life throws at them. Nurturing and supporting each other as a community ensures that if the skills needed are not within your direct family group that you still have access to the product needed or a way to learn them. Preparing for an uncertain future is about accepting the uncertainty and making the best decisions that you can.

Walk Against Warming - Latrobe Federal Electorate

This year's Walk Against Warming Rally as it is being held in BELGRAVE on

Sunday August 15th 12.30pm
at the Belgrave Train Station

80,000 voters and counting! Help us bring our safe climate massage to 300,000 voters

The Walk Against Warming is Australia’s biggest community day of action on climate change. Since 2005, we’ve mobilised nearly 140,000 Victorians to step out and demand real action on climate change. Nationally, some 250,000 people have joined the call for action.

This year’s Walk Against Warming is not a rally. We are aiming to walk through key electoral suburbs letterboxing – it is ‘The Great Suburban Walk’. You must register for this year’s Walk Against Warming so we can organise the logistics. Register now.

So far we have enough people committed to The Great Suburban Walk to reach 80,000 voters with our Safe Climate Message. That's a lot of people who will stop, think and hopefully take action. But there is a long way to go before we reach our goal of 300,000 voters.

The Great Suburban Walk

With the federal election on its way, it’s crucial we show our political leaders that there is still strong support climate action.

At the 2010 Walk Against Warming we’ll send the message to our political leaders that to secure our vote they must ‘Walk with the People, Not the Big Polluters’.

This year’s Walk.

12.30pm Sunday 15 August

The Great Suburban Walk will take place in three key electorates – Melbourne (inner city), Latrobe (Dandenong Ranges) and Deakin (eastern suburbs). In each of these areas we’ll coordinate hundreds of Victorians to come together for a quick mini-rally calling for climate action. Following this, with your help we plan to letterbox the entire area with our key climate asks to make sure that voters in those areas know what actions our leaders must take on climate change. We’ll also work with regional climate action groups who want to take the Great Suburban Walk to their home towns and are keen to letterbox their local areas.

This means that less than one week before the federal election, up to 300,000 of the most influential voters in Victoria will receive our safe climate message.

Can you help us reach 300,000 voters with our safe climate message?

Find out what we’re asking the politicians to commit to on climate change.

We need your help - Register Now.

Please register for The Great Suburban Walk at www.walkagainstwarming.org.au.

If you have a bit of extra time on your hands we’d love you to help us make the walk happen. To find out about volunteering opportunities and how else you can get active on climate change this election click here.

Please forward this email to your contacts, friends and family. With your help, we can reach hundreds of thousands of people with a safe climate message during this federal election campaign. Register now.

For more information go to http://www.walkagainstwarming.org.au/ or contact Josie Lee on 9341 8118 or josie.lee@environmentvictoria.org.au

Victoria McKenzie-McHarg
Safe Climate and Sustainable Transport Campaigner
Environment Victoria

I believe that by working together we can achieve a safe climate future. Are you in?

Ph: 03 9341 8112 Mobile: 0428 480 409

WholeWheat Chocolate Bits Biscuits

Yep, its really got lumps of chocolate in it

1 1/2 C Wholewheat Flour

1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 C Raw Sugar
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
50g Dark Chocolate(smashed with the handle edge of a rolling pin)
1/2 C Chopped Nuts (I prefer almonds or pecans)
1/2 C Unsweetened Dried Cranberry
1 C Rolled Oats
1/2 C Coconut oil or Butter, melted
1 tsp Vanilla
2 lg Eggs

Preheat oven to 180C

Put all dry ingredients in a bowl, mix well.

Whisk all wet ingredients together in another bowl to combine

Add wet to dry and fold through ensuring all the dry ingredients are wet, if you need a bit more moisture add a tbsp of water

Scoop out the mix a table spoon at a time. Squish into a lump and put the dough onto your baking tray, greased or covered with baking paper.

Bake at 180C for 7-10 min

Mud Brick Palace Back to Basics - Week 33, Yr 2

Sowing seed or Planting -

Planting out

• 5 Crowns Purple Asparagus
  
• 5 Perennial Leek
  

Maintenance

• small amounts of spot weeding, lots more to go
• A removed the top sleeper from the garden beds to try and stop the vertical posts pushing out further
  

Planning for The Future -

• Weekly work plan
• Menu Plan
• Getting email out to all the groups I can think of that might be interested in my seedlings... not getting a land slide response at this point but the steady trickle is encouraging

Working for the Future -

• Sent out another round of email to potentially interested groups
• Fielded email requests for the catalogue in a timely manner
• Freaking out about being invited to talk about the business on local radio
• Writing an article about expanding the C.S.A. model for Mt Districts Newsletter
• Filed all the seeds so they are easily accessible and findable.

Building Community -

• Attended Mt Districts Committee Meeting
• Gave over the Seedling C.S.A. idea to a lady I did my P.D.C. with last year who lives out of district for her to set up a similar scheme out her way

Learn a new Skill -

• Well, I created a catalogue and have never done that before.
  

Participant Posts

Cait @ Caitlyn Nicholas - Saturday 31st July
Cait is doing a great job getting herself organised. The first round of summer veggie seed has gone into pots and bed preparation has started for those plantings. A deep look at the budget and how that lines up with the reality has occurred highlighting the areas where improvement is needed to allow them to get ahead with their debts.

Lela @ It's All Good - Monday 26th July
Lela has worked extremely hard this update to get her spring/summer bed preparation ready for the upcoming season. With her nemesis being Couch and Buffalo she has weeded then sifted the dirt to try and remove any runners that may have been lurking. With her husband not being paid for the last 4 weeks food planning is focused around pantry staples but that to buy list is getting pretty long at this point. Good Luck, I hope he got paid since you wrote this.