Was the name of the final permaculture workshop we had yesterday.
I am exhausted and my brain is about to explode. I have all these ideas for my patch. I am reading about Transition Towns and eco-sourcing and permaculture design books and garden style books and wondering just what will happen when we run out of oil. Perhaps we will have electric cars powered by water and Auckland will still be a rat race with millions of rats running round it trying to find their cheese twisties up 20 storey skyscrapers.
My small and slow solution might be if you going to build these really tall buildings at least grow some vines over them. Mulenbeckia likes a blank wall of concrete.
So my vision for the future is this..
We will have bicycles and electric bikes as well as pedal cars just like the Flintstones did. The speed limit will be lowered to 30kph if you want to go any faster you need to take the train or move to Hamilton. Imports, of both people and stuff will be banned for a year. We need to see if we can be self sufficient for a year or so, I'm sure Auckland can survive without any more new second hand Japanese cars or gourmet cat food from Australia.
In that year everyone will start their own backyard, front yard or side yard balcony garden. Every household will have two raised beds planters, a compost heap, a lemon tree and worms. Every household will also be given a chicken and a lamb, to graze their patch, because lawnmowers will be banned (it will be really hard to get petrol).
Our parks will become owned by the people that live within walking distance so every neighbour will have the opportunity to become stewards of their park and can make it their own garden. Instead of traffic lights we will install garden roundabouts with flowers.
Our Auckland sewerage system, now that its discovered that the overflow from rain water pushes sewage directly into our harbour causing our beaches to become polluted and the fish to die, will be fixed so that, rainwater from roof run off goes into the garden not the wastewater. So everyone will need to install diverter taps from their roof to a tank or watering can, or create a pond where they can stock with fish which will feed their hydroponic lettuce growing system.
All restaurants in the Auckland area will have designated kitchen gardens and suppliers will need to be local. Supplies of grain will not be a problem as we will convert all the disused muddy rugby fields to growing rice and wheat if they don't like to live on potatoes. (I don't mind..I would eat potatoes everyday if I could). Unfortunately that means some people will have to give up playing rugby but surely thats a small sacrifice, rugby players will need to start training for 'Round the Spaghetti Junction' bicycle race instead.
Since berms are not going to be mown we can now make these into flower gardens to bring beneficial insects, bees and other pollinators into our neighbourhoods and to pollinate our fruit trees. Each neighbourhood will have a special harvesting road side stall with an honesty box so on the way home from work or school everyone can have a snack or food for dinner.
The Warehouse, Mitre 10, Bunnings, Countdown and all retailing shopping malls, since there will no longer be imports for a year will be empty and people that couldn't afford a house in Auckland can live in them, they can become refugee camps for the homeless until the other towns in NZ decide they would like some JAFAs after all and invite them to set up in their town.
Every church will have its own garden with flowers too so that I don't need to go to the Warehouse and buy flowers. Actually I won't need money at all because rates will not be charged for a whole year. With food I grow in the garden and a roof over my head I and everyone in Auckland will be content, and on weekends we can all go fishing and catch fish and dig for pippis and cockles in our unpolluted harbour.
How this all will come about I don't know but anything is possible!
