Working bees

Wether starting your own backyard garden or community projects, there are lots of good reasons to hold a working bee to get things done quickly. With many hands, you can do things that aren't possible alone, such as clear large areas of grass and weeds all at once without having to continually fight them back, or bring in good quantities of compost and mulch in one go. The group dynamic means more skills and ideas to solve problems too, and its a good excuse for a party...


Projects could include :

-Ssheet mulching for no-dig garden beds

-Building a chicken house
-Planting street fruit trees

-Building a community compost
heap

-Installing water tanks and greywater systems

-Doing anything  practical that's too hard to do on your own!

Organising a Bee
It's important that the work is simple enough for anyone to do, but also fun and stimulating. Don't make the mistake of doing the heaviest work yourself beforehand, surprisingly, it's something people like to do together! On the other hand, complex or technical tasks are difficult to do collectively and it's good if they are worked out in advance, or can happen while people have something else to do.
Once you have a rough plan for the day, let your neighbors know its coming up and post the event to your hood.

On the day
You'll need a well thought out seqeunce of activities for the day, with clear tasks and steps to completion. It's a shame to have willing workers around and nothing for them to do! Also work out exactly what tools and materials will be needed so that everything can go smoothly, and check with neighbors to see what they can bring themselves. Be sure to provide some tasty food and drinks, and music can be good too...

Permablitz is a movement built around quick, blitz style food-garden makeovers, where many people come to help, learn about gardening and make friends. Their site is inspiring and has great information on how you can organise your own garden blitzes.