BREAZE are organising a biochar workshop similar to the April one.
For more information click here or email: joe@breaze.org.au or call Joe Boin on 0477 288 765.
Community Garden Working Bee – Saturday 20th September
This Saturday we will have our regular third Saturday working bee at the community garden from 2 to 4 pm.
We have 16 apple crates/bins being delivered before then and we have already cleared three of the existing garden beds. We will start to arrange the bins and perhaps clear some more of the beds. We’ll also make sure that the chook run is ready for our chooks in the new year.
I hope you can make it.
And just a note about the October working bee on Saturday 19th. There will be a school working bee in the morning, so we might have a morning session and an afternoon one – just come to the one that suits you.
Coffee Mornings
If you’re interested in our transition group, permaculture, sustainability, building community, edible gardening or just want to have a chat, join us for our coffee mornings on Fridays at 10.30 am. You’ll find us at Kaddy’s Cafe at 8 High Street, Kyneton.
Biochar workshop a great success
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The biochar workshop held in Bendigo and Elmore was enjoyed by all of our participants. Just under 50 people attended the Friday evening information session and 34 spent the whole weekend getting down and dirty with biochar.
Our presenters were world leading experts Professor Stephen Joseph (pictured above) and Dr Paul Taylor. Russell Burnett of Biochar Energy Systems hosted the workshop and also presented on his work in developing biochar burners.
Our participants came from every mainland state and were from a wide range of backgrounds. They included a great mix of farmers and gardeners. Some were new to biochar and others already knew a lot but loved the opportunity to learn about the latest research in making and using biochar.
There was lots of hands-on practice in making different biochars in different types of biochar burners. Some even made burners from recycled drums.
The participants shared plenty of good food and fun. On the Saturday evening we enjoyed a bbq and a drink (or two) while sitting around some biochar stoves – a great update on the usual campfire.
If you wish to spread the word about this workshop, please feel free to copy our poster above. Post it on websites, email it or distribute it in any other way. For an A5 version to print 2 on A4 click here.
Letter Sent to all Candidates for the Macedon Ranges Shire Council Elections (for which we had email addresses)
Hi there
I am writing to you as candidates in the upcoming Macedon Ranges Shire Council Elections and in my role as Convenor of the Kyneton Transition Hub.
As you will appreciate, the long term sustainability of our region and of the whole earth are of key concern to most of your constituents and will affect all of them.
Taking into account both peak oil and climate change, the most appropriate response is to transition to a lower energy future. This is the approach of the Transition Movement that started in the UK and has expanded worldwide. It is also the approach of many of our community groups and local businesses who are moving to a more localised future.
Even if you still wish to debate climate change and peak oil rather than accept the majority views of the scientific community, the Transition movement and similar organisations aim to build community and localise business. These directions take us toward a more sustainable future and one that enhances health and happiness for the community as a whole.
We have been disappointed in some of the current council staff who have shown little interest in peak oil and the appropriate responses to this. There was no Council representative at the Municipal Association of Victoria “Councils and Communities in Transition” Conference in November 2011. I attended this conference and was impressed by the attitudes and involvement of many other Victorian Councils. We believe that the Macedon Ranges Council have a great potential to step up and become a leader in relocalisation and transition.
As a representative of the Kyneton Transition Hub I would like to draw your attention to these issues and ask you to please address sustainability in your forthcoming campaign. We would love to have an ongoing dialogue with you to assist our mutual understanding of the environmental issues and appropriate responses by our council representatives.
There are several ways you may learn more about these issues. Firstly, you may wish to look at our website (https://kynetontransitionhub.com/) or the website for the Transition Network (http://www.transitionnetwork.org/).
I am also attaching a submission our group made regarding the Kyneton Town Plan, which covers a lot of the more general issues around Transition and how it relates to many decisions made by Councils.
We are holding Training for Transition in Kyneton on the weekend of 20 – 21 October. I know this is not ideal timing with the Council election dates, but if you are interested in our community’s future I think you will find it valuable to register and attend.
We are also at the Kyneton Farmers Market as we run the Community Swap Table, and would be happy to talk to you there.
Finally, I am happy to meet with you to discuss any of these issues.
Best wishes
Julie McLaren
Convenor
Kyneton Transition Hub
“End of Suburbia” Showing in Kyneton
“We’re literally stuck up a cul-de-sac in a cement SUV without a fill-up” – James Howard Kunstler
When: 6 pm, Sunday 23rd September
Where: Upstairs at The Albion, Mollison Street, Kyneton
Gold coin donation for the film
Come and join us for our September film showing of this thought-provoking film on peak oil and its likely impact on our future.
Wicking Bed Workshop
(Diagram from http://www.urbanfoodgarden.org)
Come to our Garden Gathering this Sunday 23rd September and learn how to make a wicking bed.
Wicking beds are a great way to build a low-maintenance garden and to reduce your water use.
A wicking bed has a reservoir of water at the bottom then a layer of pebbles or scoria, with soil on the top. Under the pebbles you place some drainage ag pipe and run it up to one corner of the bed so you can water the plants through it. This means that the water is drawn up by the plants and very little evaporates or is lost in other ways.
We will be building above ground wicking beds in large apple crates (1.2 metre square) at a residential property in Kyneton. They will be just like the ones we’ve previously helped build at the Kyneton Community Learning Centre.
2 to 4 pm – Sunday 23rd September
Venue: In Kyneton township
Contact Julie on 5422 3023 or KynetonTH@gmail.com for details.
Training for Transition – 20 – 21st October
A practical and informative workshop on the principles, steps and processes to build community resilience and localise communities from the ground up.
Full cost $100; Members $75; Concession $50
The Transition Towns movement is a worldwide movement of ordinary people finding ways of being sustainable and resilient for the health and wellbeing of our children, ourselves and our planet. It can be applied to whatever kind of community you live in: suburb, city, town, village or even an island.
This workshop is both a practical and informative introduction to the logic and framework of the Transition Towns model. This grassroots international movement builds localised and resilient communities in response to climate change and peak oil. The workshop is both informative and experiential, weaving together practice and theory, and the Transition required at both the personal and community level.
The feedback from participants overwhelmingly states that this two day interactive workshop offers key insights, understanding, and the awareness to help them in contributing to the journey toward a positive and abundant future.Our facilitator, Jacinta Walsh, is part of a select group of officially recognised Transition Town Trainers worldwide and is a co-initiator of her local Transition group, Transition Mount Alexander in Castlemaine, Central Victoria.Jacinta runs Consentric Facilitation services and has extensive background in behaviour change and community development processes. The inspirational approach of the Transition Town model combined with knowledge of adaptive governance, innovative group techniques, and skills as a facilitator and trainer, offer participants a unique and energising workshop.Limited spaces – please book early.
Find more information and registration form click here.
Community Swap Table at the Kyneton Farmers Market
Bring your home-grown produce to swap at the Kyneton Farmers Market on Saturday 8th September.
Kyneton Transition Hub 