Imagine visiting your local park and being able to look forward to the fun of picking your own picnic once you get there. Juicy mandarins, sweet custard-like white sapotes and tangy native tamarinds are all growing at your local park and free for the taking! Think of how local ‘food care’ groups could plant and look after edible street and park trees, just like bush regeneration groups do now, and celebrate the harvests with fabulous ‘street food’ community festivals. Well with increasing awareness of the environmental, social and economic importance of local, sustainably produced organic food you can be sure this all won’t be too far away!

Of course any trees planted need to be suited to the local climate, easy to establish, low maintenance and high yielding, produce high quality, tasty, nutritious fruit and have low potential to become problem weed species. Trees need to fit the local environment and community. With the help of some local botanical experts, and our obsessive knowledge of fruit trees, we’ve created a draft top 20 list of street and park trees specifically for the Illawarra. We’d be keen for any feedback on the species we’ve recommended, or ideas on we can spread the food growing phenomenon...

There are amazing opportunities to create healthier, better connected, more vibrant communities in the face of peak oil and climate change. ‘Transition Towns’ are paving the way by creating ‘Energy Descent Action Plans’ that provide a framework for our community to come together on these pressing issues. The transition model is based on the assumptions that:

1. Life with dramatically lower energy consumption is inevitable, and that it's better to plan for it than to be taken by surprise.

2. Our settlements and communities presently lack the resilience to enable them to weather the severe energy shocks that will accompany peak oil and climate change.

3. We have to act collectively, and we have to act now.

4. By unleashing the collective genius of those around us to creatively and proactively design our own energy descent, we can build ways of living that are more connected, more enriching and that recognise the biological limits of our planet.

Many cities and towns have embraced the opportunity to become ‘transition towns’ – see http://www.seac.net.au and http://www.transitiontowns.org.  Wollongong is set to join them, with Keely Boom putting out word of an initial meeting in August, to discuss how to get things moving and the formation of a steering committee. For more information, contact Keely on keelyboom@gmail.com.

It was at our local community garden at the North Wollongong PCYC, where we first started to learn about sustainable organic gardening. It’s where we first experienced how powerful food gardens are for healing and empowering people, building community, and bring life back to the land. It’s also a place where we have met wonderful people and made fantastic friends. We even met each other under the mulberry tree!

From bare grass and asphalt in 1999, ‘The Garden’ at the North Wollongong PCYC has flourished into a spectacular permaculture food forest. Packed into about 1,000 square metres is an abundance of fruit trees, veggie beds, ponds, arts, mosaics, and a funky chicken house. There’s even an outdoor kitchen with a wood fired pizza oven on the way!

An enthusiastic group looks after and creates this amazing place. Interested people are always welcome to get involved and come along to a working bee. Working bees are usually on the first Sunday of each month, but this can change from time to time. For more info see http://nswcommunities.org.au/thegarden.html or contact Aaron Sorenson on 0424 241 881. Amazing transformations are also happening at Port Kembla, with a group bringing a laneway to life with permaculture gardens.

Sustainable living is as much about growing community as it is growing food. The last Sunday in March each year is neighbour day, which encourages us to say g’day and keep in touch with our neighbours. There’s no buying badges or trinkets that just end up in the bin, and no donations to make.

We find growing food is such a valuable way to build community relations. There’s always produce and flowers to share over the fence, as well as stories about what’s growing and what wildlife has come in to visit. And we’re sure our crazy garden gets people far and wide talking! So say g’day and plant a fruit tree this Sunday – even better plant it with your neighbours! See http://www.neighbourday.org for more info.

When it’s time to recharge the gardening batteries, Ben Ricketts Environmental Preserve is the perfect local eco friendly place to enjoy some time away, in simple, fully equipped holiday cabins nestled in the Jamberoo rainforest. It’s only 40 minutes from Wollongong, and is owned by people who are dedicated to conserving local biodiversity. They’ve put a Voluntary Conservation Agreement on this special place, and organise regular bush regeneration days. And they have resident chickens, a veggie patch, a contented cow for company, and two curious goats who happily recycle your food scraps – banana peels are their favourite! For more info, see www.benricketts.org.au