Making the suburbs more edible, one yard at a time…
Want to learn to grow organic food and become an ecological leader in your community while learning new skills and making new friends? If so, a permablitz is just what you are looking for. So what is a permablitz? The word permablitz is the lovechild created by bumping permaculture together with backyard blitz. Permaculture is the practice of designing sustainable human habitats by following nature’s patterns to yield an abundance of food, fibre and energy. A backyard blitz is a one day transformation of a property by a group of volunteers into an edible landscape. During a Permablitz an army of friends, volunteers and neighbours descend upon an urban or rural property to transform the yard into a high yielding, soil building, abundant food growing oasis based on a permaculture design.
Permablitzes promote:
- Learning by practicing growing organic food and permaculture design
- Biodiversity, edible perennial polycultures and native species
- Food security and growing local food
- Meeting new friends and members of the community
- Food forestry, natural building, rainwater harvesting, Hugelkultur, sheet mulching, organic gardening and more!
So are you fixin’ for a blitz’n?
First, you’ll need a permaculture design for the space you’d like to blitz! You’ll find a list of local designers on the Community Connections page, or you can do a design for yourself (if you have your Permaculture Design Certificate), or you can find a volunteer designer looking for experience.
Please check out our Host Guide for all the details!
A facilitator (sometimes, but not necessarily the designer of your site) will help with the logistics and manage the day so that everyone comes away satisfied; the Facilitators’ Guide will help you (and them) to work out the best way to make that happen.
If you’ve checked out the literature and want to take the first step to permablitz paradise, please contact us! It’s a great way to get involved with an enthusiastic bunch of friends to help create positive change in Edmonton!
If you don’t have a yard to blitz, or a permaculture design (yet), you can still participate! A permablitz can’t be a success without volunteers. Please sign up for our newsletter and check the ‘Permablitz’ box to hear about opportunities to get your hands dirty and find out what Permablitz is really all about!