City Farm Perth- "heaven on earth"
It's about time I do a bio on this lovely, fantastic, world-saving place that I spend so much of my time since living in Perth, Western Australia at.
Located at a former scrap metal yard and battery recycling plant, City Farm is living proof that chemically-infused lands can be transformed into living wonders of sustainability.
City Farm is a live-demonstration of Permaculture principles and sustainability practices meeting an urban-city environment. We find that being environmentally conscious and responsible DOES and can work in all regions, despite obstacles put forth before us.
City Farm promotes environmental awareness and responsible practices. They serve as a community resource and education center. Amongst the list of things that City Farm does for the community: workshop center, permaculture garden, grey water recycling program, worm farms, composting, creation of habitiat for native flora and fauna, artisan markets and organic growers markets- they also work with local schools that have incorporated the Department of Environmental Conservations "wastewise program" into their curriculum. The WasteWise program is an innovative program that encourages schools to grow their own lunch gardens, minimize waste and excess garbage by recycling, using reusable resources, and encouraging students AND their parents to be conscious of the environment. The programs have been incredibly successful and many schools have banned the use of plastic wrapping (for lunches), decreased their waste substantially, and now grow their own fresh organic veggies to serve at lunch! This also provides a great educational tool for parents as their children come home with new ideas and an enivornmentally responsible conscience.
That's my basic schpiel on what City Farm does. Now a little more... The place is run by 2 incredibly dedicated people- Rosanne and Thom Scott. These two put their blood and sweat into the place, working unimaginable hours to keep the place running. Without them, City Farm wouldn't be what it is today. They also have a group of incredibly dedicated volunteers who manage the day-to-day activities and happenings; the horticulturist Andrew who maintains the nursery which contains plants, seedlings and small fruit bushes for sale; the daily feeding of the rabbits, guinea pigs, pheasants, and chooks (mama chook just had some babies chicks and at any given minute you will see them wandering around the site at their own free-will); our handyman Prof who does everything from welding and building, to changing light bulbs; Helen our experienced Coffee girl who serves coffee at events and the Organic Growers Market, and the list goes on.
Since my arrival in Perth at the beginning of April, I immediately became involved in the day-to-day happenings at City Farm. My most recent and current project is to take on the role as "coordinator of the Artisans Market". In my 3 months in Perth, I have developed a monthly artisans market where we feature all local vendors and their handmade crafts. Our last market had about 20 vendors, live music and entertainment, kids activities, and yummy biodynamic sausage and tofu sizzles.
Our next market takes place this saturday and we can only hope for no rain. I also work at our weekly organic growers market on Saturday mornings.
As a volunteer-run, not-for-profit organization, City Farm lacks the necessary funding to complete all the desired projects. As my work at City Farm is 90% volunteer, ideally, I would love to have the opportunity to work as a fulltime employee and really focus on more specific projects. Hopefully in the near future this can happen.
Check out the webpage at http://www.cityfarmperth.org.au/ and look for yourself how City Farm is a working example how to minimize our impact on earth!
