By Callum Ludwig
The fifth edition of Permaculture Week in the Yarra Valley is coming up next month.
The event hosts different events and opportunities throughout the region to help introduce locals to the practice of permaculture, a land management practice inspired by creating natural ecosystems.
President of Permaculture Yarra Valley (PYV) Peter Veeken said the event will kick off with Yarra Valley ECOSS’ Ecotopia Festival on Friday 15 March.
“We look at permaculture as a way of life and a way we look at the world, we try to reduce waste or produce no waste, which is one of our principles,” he said.
“We fair share and people care, which is being involved with your neighbours, being inclusive, encouraging and working together because we can’t do it on our own, we have to work as a community.”
Following Ecotopia, the event list at the time of writing (subject to change) consists of:
A Bushcraft and Earth Connection Workshop in Healesville at 9am on Saturday 16 March
Edible Forest Tour in Dixons Creek at 11am Saturday 16 March and located at Yarra Valley Estate, 2164 Melba Highway
Small Suburban Property Tour in Millgrove from 10.30am till 12pm on Sunday 17 March
Large Rural Property Tour at ‘’Tenderbreak’ in Dixons Creek from 2pm to 4.30pm on Sunday 17 March
Yarra Valley ECOSS tour at 711 Old Warburton Road, Wesburn from 11am to 1.30pm on Tuesday 19 March
Biochar Facility Tour at the Lysterfield Waste Transfer Station on Wednesday 20 March at 2pm Large Suburban Property Tour in Lilydale at 5.30pm on Wednesday 20 March
‘Ecosophia’ Film Screening at the Arts Centre in Warburton on Wednesday 20 March at 8pm
Edible Warburton Garden Tour from 10am to 11pm on Thursday 21 March
‘Gardens for Harvest’ Permaculture Talk at the Lilydale Library onThursday 21 March at 2pm
Permaculture Seminar ‘Growing our community – one backyard at a time’ at The Memo in Healesville Thursday 21 March from 7pm to 9pm
Suburban Property Tour in Healesville at 5.30pm on Friday 22 March
PEACE Farm Tour at 3pm on Saturday 23 March at the Yarra Junction
Harvest Festival/Soul Dance with the Permaculture week finale at 4pm at PEACE Farm
Suburban Property Tour in Kilsyth at 10.30am on Sunday 24 March
Wild Ridge Farm Property Tour in Healesville on Sunday 24 March from 1pm to 5pm.
Mr Veeken said the Yarra Ranges is a great place to practice permaculture because we have so much agricultural land we can harness.
“We’re well placed and we have the resources, we just need to let people know, the major objective of Permaculture Week in the Yarra Valley is to promote permaculture as a viable option for the future,” he said.
“I saw a quote a little while ago, and it was ‘We don’t want 100 or 1000 people doing permaculture perfectly, we want 100,000 doing it imperfectly’ so you know even if it’s just doing a bit of it, it’s good for the environment and our health.”
Mr Veeken said this year, they’ve had interest shown in the event from other local council like Latrobe Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Cardinia and it looks set to go beyond the Yarra Valley in the future.
A map of permaculture events in Australia can be found at permacultureday.org/, including the raft of events set for Permaculture Week in the Yarra Valley.
