Hout Bay Green Faire

What a beautiful day! The Hout Bay Community Centre was filled with an incredible array of technologies, groups, and food vendors committed to moving towards a sustainable world.



After the fair some of us made a quick stop at one of Kirsten's food gardens...

Day 10: Planting up the swale and tree pan guilds...

Five guilds going in! Three wild olives (Olea africana) and two figs each in tree pans with comfrey, wild garlic and yarrow.

Day 9: Swale and tree pan implementation..

Bood and Lynn presented their review of water.



In the afternoon we discussed wind break species and began digging our first swales...

Day 8: Holistic resource management and practicals...

Today we received inspiration in the form of a poem from Khaya. Gabriel and Faith delivered their presentation.



We followed up the presentations with a discussion of the foundation blocks of ecosystems...the gospel according to Alan Savory, author of Holistic Resource Management.



In the afternoon we headed outside to learn about using a-frames and water levels to mark contour lines on slopes. We'll use these contour lines later this week to dig swales.

Day 7: Sectors and elements...

Today we spent the morning researching and preparing in pairs for presentations that will run daily for the rest of the course. Our inspiration came from Nici Richter, a story she wrote herself, inspired by Sun Tzu.

Before lunch we covered the concept of sector analysis followed up by observations of sector considerations at the Rockland site. Over lunch we watched, "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil" to much fanfare.

In the afternoon we looked at element selection in our permaculture systems. We used the bee as an example, what are it's inputs or needs and what are its outputs. By understanding that element's interactions it helps us understand where to place the element in the system for greatest efficiency and effectiveness.

Day 6: Facilitation continued...

The second and final day of facilitation training began with, "What are the characteristics of a good facilitator?" Participants came up with one minute presentations on any topic with a focus on body language, voice, interaction, etc. We continued into discussions about the brain, the different learning modes, and cultural sensitivity. I think we were all thoroughly inspired and have seen improvements in our confidence and skills.

Day 5: Facilitation with Grant Swanby...

This was the first day of two in facilitation training with Grant. He kickstarted us with his contagious enthusiasm as well as plenty of games and tools.