TT October ENews

The Journey

In order to map out a way to bring my bubbling ideas around community projects, I enrolled in the City of Melbourne supported ‘Local Food Launchpad’ http://doingsomethinggood.com.au/local-food-launchpad-2016/ project with Doing Something Good.  While in August, I had all these ideas around gardening projects to empower people, I really needed to look into how to frame the ideas.  I had all these questions about whether my ideas were feasible – and huge questions about how a financial model in the NFP space works.  So I enrolled in this program to get some support. 

A feasibility study and ideas incubator was supported through the LFP.  With the  help of the team, I was able to frame the Vision, Mission and Aims of TT (published in the right hand side column)  – along with finding the research to justify the need for these community programs.

The team at Doing Something Good, supported each participant with a web page outlining the story.  You can find mine here: http://doingsomethinggood.com.au/projects/tiny-trowel-crowd-harvest/.

We all participated in a PITCH NIGHT! How scary!!!

Doing Something Good supported all the preparations, along with the CoM and we all presented a two-minute pitch to a room full of people at ARTPLAY.  You can view the footage here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxwrAAwr70-JbTRGYkRxMkNNMWc/view

Crowd Harvest - Southbank

Greg Mason, and Jill Post from City of Melbourne are supporting a Summer Crowd Harvest in Southbank.  I am in negotiations with their people, and hope to announce a date over the coming weeks.

I still have questions, and hope to find a mentor who will guide me through the NFP space, and navigate through sponsorship and grants processes.  Until then, the planned events and discussions are a giving of my charitable time.  Please get in touch if you have experience in these areas J.

EVENTS

Crowd Share – Cup Day

Cup Day - Tuesday Nov 1st. 
https://foodforestashy.wordpress.com/

A few sole parents will be gathering for a picnic on Cup Day at the Winton Rd Food Forest. If you would like to share some of your excess harvest to give them a hand, please pop past and leave on the picnic table for distribution.
I will bring a few herbs, fruit and seedlings to share :-)
Information about food swaps in Melbourne will be available to everyone who attends the picnic.

ASHBURTON - 1.00 pm
Winton Road Food Forest
38 Winton Rd, (opposite Pitt Street, and near the pedestrian crossing on Winton Rd) - BEST TO PARK IN PITT STREET!
Ashburton
facebook.com/foodforestashburtongroup
Map: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.8732274,145.070383,16zThere is a train line nearby, as well as the M1.
There is a picnic table, shelter and a small playground.
As the name describes, locals have planted trees, herbs and shrubs that are edible :-)
#CrowdShare
"Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share"
http://permacultureprinciples.com/ethics/
Opa!

Crowd Harvest - Epping

Sunday November 27^th, 10 am – 2 pm.

Liberty Church; 25 Miller Street, Epping.

Individual excess = Community abundance
Anyone growing food in their own backyard inevitably produces excess - more than one family can consume. Whether you just grow herbs, apply permaculture principles to urban farming or have an abundant Mediterranean food garden - there is always excess!

Melbourne food relief providers are currently met with higher demand for emergency assistance than they can cope with. People are presenting for food relief at higher rates than in the past due to financial stress, homelessness or domestic violence. Some families that present are living in their cars because they have nowhere else to go.
Perhaps if every individual contributes a little of their excess, food relief providers will have enough for everyone facing a crisis....???...

FareShare provide 5,000 meals a day to people seeking assistance, yet they need to produce more. Liberty Church also provides a food relief service to Epping. With everyone contributing a little, the whole community will have abundance :-)
If you would like to help, please bring any contribution to the FareShare refrigerated van to Liberty Church, 25 Miller St, Epping on Sunday November 27th between 10 am and 2pm.
http://liberty.org.au/contact/
http://www.fareshare.net.au/
Opa!

Twitter: @Tiny_Trowel

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tinytrowel/

Blog: http://mylittletrowel.blogspot.com.au/

Home STREAT Home - 'Crowd Farming' Day

What a great day!  Our first gig, was a hit!
The 'Crowd Farming' event at STREAT - 66 Cromwell Street, Collingwood was fantastic!

We concentrated our efforts on creating a herb garden so that the Chefs can have ready access.
We had a tour of the facility, which now includes a bakery and a coffee roastery.  The spent coffee will eventually be used to grow oyster mushrooms on a commercial scale.  
There is a row of bay trees along the fence, and a beautiful olive near the water tank.

Thanks for Sebastian from Diggers Gardens who came with 3 Pear trees, Jerusalem Artichokes, Pineapple Lily, Lemon time and chard. 

 Thanks to Liz who turned up at exactly the right time with compost.

We potted up all the donated herbs from, Zofia, Marylin, Lyndle, Burwood Food Swappers and a lot from Ashwood Food Swappers. The herbs are all in, and the chefs are thrilled as they will go straight into the menu. 

Big shout out to Bec the CEO of STREAT for her generosity in sharing her vision, the chefs and teams who made us all feel welcome, and the delicious lunch supplied! 

 Bec coined the phrase 'Tiny Trowel'  - I like it!!

We all look forward to your Grand opening today-  Saturday September 17th. STREAT, a social enterprise empowering and educating Melbourne's young homeless. 

The place is now open so head down there an order off the menu!  #HomeSTREAThome#socialenterprise #66CromwellStreet

STREAT Working Bee to Build a Food Garden for Melbourne's Homeless Youth

So having learnt to build food gardens, and mixing with the wider community to do the same, I have invited others to join me help STREAT at a working bee this SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 11th.
Start time: 10.00 am
Lunch provided for those who RSVP.
End time - between 3 and 4 pm.
RSVP to mylittletrowel@gmail.com

STREAT has a vision to build a flourishing food garden at their Cromwell site: https://www.streat.com.au/about/cromwell-site Home STREAT Home, 66 Cromwell St, Collingwood VIC 3066.
The folks at STREAT care for homeless youth. At Home STREAT Home, the folks want to build a food garden on site, to then cook up on site, and then provide food to the homeless youth.
An open door to gardeners is coming! If you would like to donate some time, or herbs, veggies or even a dwarf fruit tree - please come along - Sunday September 11th, 2016.
Time to plant a food garden for the young homeless folks of Melbourne :-)
Details: 
Morning. Nominate 1, 2 or 3 hours.
First up - soil and diggers. We need to prepare ground soil, and potted soil for the plants. STREAT may also need help with planning what to put where according to the sun etc.
Lunch will be prepared for us - so please RSVP with your times.
Afternoon. Nominate 1, 2 or 3 hours.
Second up - planters and potters. Fruit trees, shrubs, and veggies have all been donated to STREAT and some folks through our networks have donated - so they need to go into the food garden.
If you are not available to volunteer time for the day, and would like to donate - herbs are needed. Any food plant would gratefully be accepted for this wonderful project.
Please let us know what your plans are, and enjoy the day!
Thanks good people! - There really are some good people out there trying to make a real difference - let's give them a hand :-)

Community Gardens

Without land, growing your own food becomes just a slightly impossible.... so Google... Google.. ah... community gardens :-)

Permaculture gardens are dotted around Melbourne.  A local high school gave over an acre of land to local permaculture peeps who open the place to the public twice a week.
Attending morning sessions of the permie garden became my social life, as my teenage son became old enough to have a job and entered the hospitably industry - without a car!
How did that happen?  Well you see, he had taken a loan to purchase a car, was enticed by the roar of it's V8 engine, and bought the blinking thing without conferring with me!  Australian law precludes 18 year olds from driving a V8, yet the unscrupulous seller went ahead without an explanation to the young man.
Really, there is dirt at the bottom of the barrel.

So, loaning my car to my son every Thurs to Sun night removed my evening social life completely.
Morning activities ???? - Google.. ah community gardens.

Working the community garden meant that I learnt about soil, worm farming, chickens and seedlings. Wonderfully, I made some friends.  Both Mary and Martha worked the garden - if you know what I mean ;-)

After working in the garden, on occasion, volunteers were able to take home some of the harvest.  A great way to fill the young man's belly :-)
Naturally, after learning to propagate pomegranates, I donated a seedling to the garden as a thank you.  Through food swaps, a gentleman was passing out a banana tree, so I volunteered to take it to the community garden.  The place has around 40 fruit trees, 12 vegetable beds, vast berry shrubs and many wicking beds.  Quite an abundance.

Although my son is now an independent young man, I still feed him!
Often :-)  Now, however, I feed him (and his friends) from my home potted garden and raised bed.