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There was an unusual shaped tent in the park recently.

A 5m English Yurt was setup in Edinburgh Gardens for the final session day for the School for Social Entrepreneurs. The group bring together people who are working on projects for social benefit.

It housed presentations and various activities by 20 participants .

The Yurt is originally from 13th Century Mongolia and was used as temporary accommodation and was popular for it’s ease of transportation and the warmth that the design provided. The wooden frame and external felt like covering can be dismantled and folded up and transported around by camels or yaks

The company behind hiring this yurt It comes in a variety of different sizes for a range of purposes, exhibitions, market stalls. Eco-accommodation and more.

While the City of Yarra’s wetland project is suffering from a lack of significant rains, at least one dog is enjoying the cooling effects of the water channel that feeds the wetlands.

The wetlands project was completed this year after 12 months of construction to harvest storm water that flowed under Edinburgh Gardens.

The main aim is to provide 50% of the parks watering requirements.

Written by Andrew Talati

A mystery public vegetable garden has just appeared in our local park, Edinburgh Gardens.

The timber planter boxes seem to be made from recycled pallets. What a great idea!

Inside the veggie box are a mixture of tomatoes, spinach, beetroot, corn, lettuce and even strawberries. They’re all looking mighty healthy. It’s a great example of how a vegetable patch can still flourish in an asphalt and dirt environment.

Sadly, it’s only a matter of time before the City of Yarra removes the guerilla planter boxes. The council requires that such projects go through the usual administrative channels to determine a suitable location in the public space.

Well, as a City of Yarra ratepayer, I’m more than happy to have this left for the community to enjoy.   North Fitzroy is littered with Victorian worker’s cottages, and most have very limited space to create a working veggie garden.

Perhaps this might inspire council to create a community space for projects just like these – and then they could be enjoyed by all the local residents.

Such public gardens have already been successful at CERES environmental park and  the Collingwood Children’s farm – but we could always do with more.

And, by the way, if you’re looking to create your own veggie garden at home, Sustainable Gardening Australia have a great handbook.

Written by Andrew Talati

It’s rare to see an orchestra playing in the park, but we did and it was great!

Recently, while conducting a regular boot camp, in Edinburgh Gardens in the distance we heard what sounded like an orchestra. While all sorts of musicians and artists play in the park, from bands to DJs, I have never seen an actual orchestra. The music sounded very similar to a band called Beirut from their “The Flying Club Cup” album.

It’s great to see our beautiful parks attract a multitude of different activities, while some people may simply go for a casual walk or to exercise the dog, some people take a more creative approach.

And it was awesome to see people letting their hair down and enjoying the groove of the music without being concerned about those around them.

Even more awesome with seeing people letting their hair down and enjoying the groove of the music without being concerned about those around them.

It’s also interesting to note how good playing music is for you. There have been many studies showing that playing a musical instrument improves your mood and mental health.

In this busy world it’s easy to become distracted, letting our minds wander so we are oblivious to everything else around us. But playing a musical instrument can be very meditative by focusing the mind on producing beautiful harmonies. Due to the complexity of playing music it makes it extremely difficult to become distracted by other fractured thoughts that might be swirling around in your mind. As with yoga and other forms of meditation, playing music clears your mind and controls your breathing while you focus on a single thought.

Our daily lives are a lot more complicated and stressful than they were 50 years ago, we give ourselves very little time for the appreciation and enjoyment of those around us or participating in activities that are for ourselves.

How often do you walk down the street and find yourself in deep thought, thinking about work or something else that is causing you concern or stress? Maybe it’s time to explore playing a musical instrument, even though it may appear to be extremely complex and challenging it is well worth the rewards.

Last night there was a dog’s Christmas party at Edinburgh Gardens in Melbourne.

Unfortunately while I was running Boot Camp, I didn’t have my camera with me to take the photo of 200+ people out enjoying a lovely BBQ with their dogs.

Being in the inner-city, you wouldn’t expect to find so many dog owners given that we have smaller backyards and in many cases no backyard at all however people are using their local parks as an extension of their own backyard.

We are very fortunate in North Fitzroy to have this absolutely magnificent Victorian Park. With our very abundant rainfall over spring and now into summer, the trees of full of new foliage and the grass is growing at such an accelerated rate that the Council workers are almost back on a weekly basis to mow the lawn.

So if you own a dog and live North of Melbourne, check out Edinburgh Gardens and meet other dog owners.

If you’re looking to do some exercise yourself with your dog, we have put together some fun exercises with your dog to get you started.

At fitstyler we also encourage people to bring their dogs along to boot camp provided that they are well-behaved and don’t present a risk to other Fitmates.