“Many hands make light work”
By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between them and they support each other.
This icon represents a group of people from a bird’s-eye view, holding hands in a circle together. The space in the centre could represent “the whole being greater than the sum of the parts”. The proverb “many hands make light work” suggests that when we work together the job becomes easier.
Eating the school gardens
Students are continuously sharing the food from their school garden which they designed and built with the school community. We have a harvest celebration, a bringing together of all classes to harvest the fresh organic produce, cook and share a meal together, a meal full of health, colour, flavour and students’ pride. Everything we do within the Edible School Gardens program is integrated – it is all in a cycle, nothing wasted, all systems supporting each other.
‘Eating the school gardens’ photo contributed by Di Harris and text by Leonie Shanahan and featured in the 2013 Permaculture Calendar.
Principle 8: Integrate rather than segregate
The chicken solution
A waste audit at Wilkins Public School measured compostable waste at 25 kg per day. The school community and TAFE Outreach responded by building a large chook run in the garden. The much loved hens now live a well fed existence, recycling garden waste and food scraps into fertilizer and eggs. Wilkins Green is for school, pre-school and TAFE use. Here Milele and Jaali embrace their role as caretakers.
Photo taken at Wilkins Green, Australia and contributed by Leonie McNamara
Making spaces into places
City planning has tended to cultivate disconnection between people, and from the natural world. City Repair reclaims urban spaces to create community-oriented places. Localisation of culture, economy, decision-making, food supply and material needs is a necessary foundation for sustainability. “We are all villagers at heart.” [Brian Friel]
Celebratory bike ride photo taken at the Village Building Convergence, Portland, Oregon and contributed by Joel Catchlove
Cook together, learn together, laugh together
The Seven Stars is a food based social enterprise at CERES in Melbourne operated by Turkish and Kurdish women. Making use of seasonal peaks in locally grown organic produce, the Seven Stars create a delicious range of products and catering that showcase the women’s food traditions. The most peaceful communities are those that embrace human diversity, and that are connected by food grown, cooked and shared with love.
Text contributed by Michele Margolis, photo by Lindi Huntsman.
