"Come and help me (Mardi) turn my boring backyard from DRAB (boo!) to FAB (yay…!) – a task which would be impossible for me to tackle on my own without the fabulous Permablitz network and YOU!! Said drab backyard is a suburban house block in Brighton 4017 (Sandgate), with a few tricky surprises like a slab of bitumen 6 inches under the lawn.

The masterful Tim Auld from All You Can Eat Gardens has come up with a cracker of a plan which includes a food forest, chooks, raised veggie beds, herb & salad garden, espaliered fruit trees, native bees, mushroom farm, grape arbor, swales and bogs, and an additional rainwater tank to harvest water from my next door neighbour’s garage – sneaky huh? (Kindly neighbour has given full permission in return for cleaning out her gutter – which I have done!)

In return for your sweaty labour I offer you GREAT food, GREAT chai, GREAT community – friends old and new – PLUS open access to the swimming pool before, during, and after the work is done. We’ve programmed this Blitz for a Saturday so that folks can hang around afterwards for a swim and hang-out if they wish. Any muso’s are welcome to bring instruments. There will be a couple of school-age kids running around so you are welcome to bring yours but please supervise your own children in the swimming pool – don’t assume that someone else is watching them!

The end result will be a self-sustaining organic food bowl which will reduce my family’s weekly food budget and carbon/water footprint, as well as create an inviting and pleasurable living space.”

Places are limited, please RSVP to book your place:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it