Just reporting back from the awesomeness that was SEED CIRCUS in Redfern yesterday… my goodness. Thank you to the 300+ folks who came from all over to learn and to swap and chat and help us eat through our glut of apples. Crikey there were a lot of you!
I think my favorite part of the day (ok equal favourite with the workshops) was the incredible diversity of the swapmeet. There were boxes of braided garlic, antique scarf collections, nepalese bell pepper seeds, cupcakes, books (from self sufficiency manuals to vampire bodice rippers), and just about everything else…
So the workshops were all most excellent and we had this lovely loose crew of folk who stayed for the whole day. I was hoping this space would become a ‘hangout’ of sorts for the day and it really did – lots of people just mooching, going to get lunch, coming back for another chat, another workshop and more swappery…
The swap meet went so well it surprised us all, I think. So very many people brought wonderful small and large contributions, and everyone left with something useful and/or tasty.
We also allowed for ‘pay it forward’ swapping. In this format you basically invite people to just show up and take something home if there was something that they needed, on the proviso that they give something to someone, sometime later…
While this one was a bit of a loose concept, it was based on the sort of behaviours that we’d like to see more of in our community, and also something that is at the heart of permaculture ethics – fair share.
A big fat thank you to everyone who came along – it was great to see so many Milkwood alumni faces as well as Redfern locals and everyone else besides. Such beautiful swapping!
A special thanks to Michael, Floyd and Gigi for being such Milkwood legends from dawn till dusk, and also to Helena and Diego for their workshops. AND to Stephen and Jess for all their help. And to International Permaculture Day. And to Chris. And 107 Projects. And to Sydney for being the special mix of humanity that it is.
Also yay to Andrew Plotsky who did the poster for us, and is wonderful.
We’ll see you all next time, beautiful Sydney folks! It takes a lot of energy and time to organise these fair-share events, and we really do thank everyone for coming along to celebrate what community can be. So happy planting all, and may all your broadbeans grow high and plump…
