The gang from the recent Jones Street Permablitz in Highgate Hill (17/07/2010) were recently featured in an article in the Courier Mail. The day was a fantastic success with a great turn out and a real transformation achieved. As you can see from the photo the yard is already serving up a delicious bounty of tasty greens. Be sure to check out the gallery and video for more fantastic pics.

Steph Zannakis and Claire Forbes turned their West End garden boundary into a productive growing area with the help of the group. "The house has been a rental for about 10 years and the garden hasn't really been tended. We had a number of garden beds that also needed a facelift.'' says Steph.

The duo got a permaculture design plan drawn up and they bought some plants and then asked the group if they could organise a blitz.

"We already had compost because we'd been making it for some time; but we needed to organise mulch
and think about materials, plants and putting on food for people,'' Steph says. "There's a document on the website that gives you guidelines.''

Claire, Steph and housemate Luke Reade planted several different fruit trees, including some citrus, plus exotics like a yellow sapote (also known as canistel or egg-fruit), a wampee tree (which bears clusters of tangy, grape-like fruit) and a peanut tree (see breakout).

They wanted to share some of the bounty with the neighbours. "The strategy was to put a few on the street boundary, because legally anything that hangs over a boundary you're allowed to pick it's a shame more edible trees aren't used in the landscaping of the city.''

The article was written by Fiona Donnelly, to read more visit the courier-mail website:

http://www.couriermail.com.au/lifestyle/food-wine/grassroots-group-urges-backyard-growing-of-edible-produce/story-e6frer56-1225915532905

Special thanks also to Ellen Brogan for compiling the video and Luke Reade and Randall for contributing their photos, and all those who contributed to making the day a great success.