Visionary Visitors

Sandor Katz

Hi folks, we are very excited here at the HRN HQ. We have some talented people coming to visit us over the next few months. Here's a sneak peek:

Sandor Katz, the fermentation guru, is coming to Hepburn at the end of February.
 
Kevin Tolhurst, Senior Lecturer in Fire Ecology and Management at the Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science, University of Melbourne, and member of the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre will visit September 8th.

Charlie MGee

Charlie MGee, aka Permaculture Ukulele is coming October 29th. With special guests.

Bill Gammage, the Australian academic historian, and author of The Biggest Estate on Earth (2012 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award winner) is coming on November 29th.

We will have more details soon, but for now please save these dates in your diaries.

Stay tuned for more info.

Degrowth & Dirt

Research & Degrowth, (R&D) is an international association dedicated to research, training, awareness raising and event organisation around degrowth. The members of R&D are not only dedicated to the study of degrowth but also see themselves as actors in a process they define as a voluntarily chosen path to reduce production and consumption in order to achieve environmental sustainability, quality of life, freedom and social justice.

With its work, R&D intends to encourage researchers, practitioners, activists and representatives of civil society to jointly develop proposals for a sustainable reduction of growth. In the video below, Federico Demaria and Filka Sekulova of R&D speak about the need for declining growth and about the difference between degrowth and a recession. They also explain how the crisis could be an opportunity to rethink our concept of wealth and to build a society in which we consume less and share more. 

(If you are reading this as an email, you will have to click through to watch the film on the website.)

You can read more here.

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Don't forget our 50th HRN film night is this Thursday: Dirt! The movie with heart and soil. Hope to see you at the Savoia at 7.30pm.

Courses For Courses

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Learn to Prune Fruit Trees

Olives, berries & vines, theory, demonstration & practical experience.
Wear sturdy shoes and all weather gear.
Bring secateurs and lunch.

Saturday 15th June 10am - 3pm $20
Tutor: Gael Shannon
Contact the Daylesford Neighbourhood Centre for bookings on 5348 3569

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Food, Glorious Food

With the coming winter months, wholesome warm foods are usually on the menu. If you are cooking on gas or electricity, try soaking your legumes or whole grains overnight in abundant water and bring to the boil the next morning.

Once boiled, wrap the pot in a blanket then place in a polystyrene box (not nice but in existence so good to re-use) or an Esky and leave to slow cook until lunchtime when you may want to finish cooking for that meal or leave until the evening meal when it may be perfectly cooked. You will cut your energy use in the process.

Slow cooking makes for a beautiful taste, lovely texture and more vibrant food. Broken grains especially, oxidise over time and hence food value degrades. Make your fermented foods (kimchee, sauerkraut etc) now to serve with these hot pots during the colder months. Delish!

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The miso making workshop has been postponed for one week until Saturday May 18th. There are still a couple of places available. Please email us to book your spot.

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APPLES!

Kate and Bren at Daylesford Organics are selling boxes of mixed variety cooking/juicing apples.

$20 per 12kg box

19 Foxs Lane Muskvale Mon-Fri 10am - 4pm.

Ph: 0411 040 412 for more info.

Earth Render Workshop

Join local builder James Henderson, an authority on earth renders and earth buildings, for a workshop at the Rocklyn ashram (393 Dean Barkstead Rd, Rocklyn).

Learn how to do a clay/sand render with a little chopped straw; the most basic and the most popular of the earth renders.

Join James as he demonstrates wet and dry processing, tests the clay for use in render, prepares the walls and details, mixes the render and shows a variety of application and finishing methods including lime and clay casien paints.

3 - 5 May 2013

Option 1: $250
Friday after 2pm until Sunday 
Includes: Shared accommodation, all food, yoga sessions and workshop

Option 2: $220
Saturday 8.30am until Sunday
Includes: Shared accommodation, all food, yoga sessions and workshop

Day Options: $100 per day
Saturday 8.30am - 5.00pm
Sunday 8.30am - 5.00pm 
Includes: All food, yoga sessions and workshop

Yoga sessions:
6 - 7 am yoga posture class & meditation
Daily Yoga Nidra - deep relaxation
Evening program chanting

Bookings essential.

Ph: 5345 7434 or yogarock@satyananda.net

Find it, fix it

One of our community gardeners has spent the last several weeks mapping all the free public food in our local commons.

Please feel free to download this gorgeous map and circulate it. And if on your wanderings you come across some plants that are not listed on the map, email your update here for the next version.

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Got a pair of jeans that have worn out in the knees? Does your favourite dress need the hem taken up?

Mark at Threadneedle Craft (next to Liquorland next to Coles) does an excellent job of repairing clothes. They are open 7 days from 10am - 5pm.

And just in case you have forgotten why:

Gorgeously Goat

All Things Goat Festival
Sunday 4th November, 10am-3pm
Bullarto Primary School

Come and experience:

• a variety of goat breeds on display- Meat, milk and fibre
• milking and goat husbandry demonstrations
• a goat sausage sizzle
• stalls featuring local produce
• a great opportunity to find out more about goats and what makes goats so great for self-sufficiency

This event is being run by the Central Highlands Goat Club who promote 'Supermarket in a Goat': Milk Bank, Backyard Baskets, a Trading Table and Makers' Market.

Supermarket in a goat is about how goats are an important part of self-sufficiency.  Meat, milk, manure, and bleat!

• They have fresh or frozen raw goat's milk available at their Milk Bank.
• Backyard baskets are chemical, spray free, locally grown boxes of mixed fresh produce.
• The Trading Table allows members to sell different things such as fresh fruit, veg, herb, flowers, frozen berries, preserves, jams, lemon butter, cordials, soaps, eggs, honey, etc at their meetings. (10% of sales go back to the club for insurance and to fund future club events.)
• The Makers' Market are an active group with a number of different stall holders at Glenlyon and Kyneton Markets. 

 
The Central Highlands Goat Club meets on the 1st Sunday of the Month at Bullarto Primary School.  They bring a plate and have a lunch at 12.30 followed by a discussion at 1pm. They do farm tours and workshops at different properties. Their meetings cover a wide range of subjects and give people a chance to learn about goats prior to getting them, assistance in locating suitable goats when set-up and ready, access to discount animal health products and feed, on-going advice and assistance.

Membership is $20 year.

Email centralhighlandsgoatclub@gmail.com for more information and to join their email list to be informed of club events.

Reminder & Retrofitting

Hi all, this is a reminder that if you're interested in doing the beer-making workshop this weekend, please let us know ASAP as we don't yet have the numbers.

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There was a great article in The Age a few days ago about retrofitting the suburbs that focused on David Holmgren's vision for what the 'burbs can one day be again:

"...places where people can grow more of their own food, work at home and meet their needs while consuming far fewer resources...You can minimise your costs by slowing down, going fewer places and being more productive with the underutilised fixed assets you've already got."

For further reading, the journo, Michael Green has some other interesting articles on his website.

If you're interested in reading David's full report, Retrofitting the suburbs for the energy descent future, you can download it from the Simplicity Institute website.

You can also watch a fantastic talk that David gave on the same subject at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne: 

Film night # 41 and Words in Winter book launch

Words in Winter is a celebration of some of our local wordsmiths with a few imports to round things off. From Clunes to Trentham, there is something local for everyone so hop on your bike and pedal along to your nearest gig.

In Daylesford, August 12th at 7pm, Melliodora Publishing will launch Permaculture Pioneers, Stories from the New Frontier at the Neighbourhood Centre new classroom. Talk to the editors, some of the authors and the publishers. Get an insight into the people and the process.

And while you are there, watch Anima Mundi, a new film by Warburton filmaker Peter Charles Downey. Discuss the film with Peter, Adam Grubb from Permablitz and our own David Holmgren. Film starts at 8.15pm.