This blitz turned out to be one of the loveliest days that I've ever been a part of - thanks in no small part to the group of over 25 volunteers who shared their time and their story as we learned together and transformed Stuart's backyard.  It was great that the many first time gardeners were keen to ask questions and learn by having a go - congratulations to all.  So what did we do?

We began the day with a tour of the yard to look at the way that factors like the sun, wind, slope, nearby plants and Stuart's family's needs influenced the best place to put the fruit and veges.  Acknowledging this, we got to work clearing the couch and kikuyu from the future vege patch and friut tree area.  Within no time it was ready for us to add edging made from recycled bricks and timber, organic compost and blood & bone which was watered in before we added mulch - woodchips for the fruit tree area and pea straw for the veges.

 Lunch time! Sincere thanks to our hosts for the lovely soup, salad rolls, cakes and cuppas.  Before getting back to work we were lucky enough to have Dan from www.aussieslivingsimply.com.au present a workshop on making your own laundry liquid - 9 litres for $2.50!  I've since tried this and it's great!  For the recipe, please check out the "Aussies Living Simply" website.

 The next workshops looked at how to plant fruit trees and how to plant out a vege patch.  After a few instructions it was great to see the volunteers leading the way.  We added companion ground covers and flowers around the friut trees and daisies and alyssums near the veges.

Kim then presented a great workshop about building and keeping a worm farm - with the finished product donated to the host family.  Meanwhile, Stuart, Dan and co. built a trellis for the thornless blackberry that they then planted out.

It was a great site at the end of the day and we'd all learnt a great deal along the way.  Great work!