A weed may be defined as ‘a plant out of place’. And one persons’ unwanted plant may be another’s medicine, food, soil builder or erosion controller.
Recently Sydney artist Diego Bonetto has been working on wild weed paper: hand-made paper embedded with hand-harvested weed seeds of many and varied species found in the Sydney basin… Read More
This is such a beautiful book – perfect for those dreaming of farming (on whatever scale). While it’s been written for adults, I’ve discovered it’s also a great book for small fry – full of fun, accurate illustrations about interesting stuff like different cloud formations and roosters both.
Being questionably blessed with a 3 year old who already corrects me on my naming of tractor parts, this book is being well received at our farm, with its entries on ham curing, chicken comb styles, the history of the tractor and the innards of the artichoke… Read More
Recently I had the good fortune to meet up with Jasmine Whyte and Sangye Christianson, who together are the permaculture tour-de-force {communicatecreative}.
Together they create visual and video resources relating to valuable knowledge, like soil makeup. And companion planting. And green smoothies. Read More
Ok perhaps I’m having a rabidly bright-green moment, but i rekon this artwork is pretty cool. An in-kitchen wormfarm, with built in chopping board! Nutrient cycling beneath the bench… Read More
"Apples emit a lot of ethylene gas. It has the effect of speeding up the ripening process of fruits and vegetables kept together with apples. When combined with potatoes, apples prevent them from sprouting."
Well, we all know food preservation IS an art, but this is a slightly different type – Korean artist Jihyun Ryou has done a beautiful project translating traditional food preservation knowledge into quirky design… Read More
Image © The Pothole Gardener
What is it about Guerrilla Gardening? No matter how many times you see it happen, or hear about a new verge planting, it’s always exciting. Is it the fact that growing tomatoes is actually that invigorating?
Or is it that people’s small acts of community are that much needed? Either way, here’s a few things I’ve come across this week. First up, vigilante gardening in Brooklyn NYC. Small scale, but full of implications. Read More
Portland Composting System © Cloacina
As Nick found out when researching for his TEDx Canberra talk on how to save the world with humanure, it’s hard to find good pictures of poo. You may not believe it, but not many folks draw poo very well. Nor the nutrient cycles they interface with. Enter arts collective Cloacina!
Am I the only one who gets excited about beautiful posters of composting toilet systems? Surely not. But then, I get excited about any regenerative system that’s described really well in an evocative way. Particularly in a visual way. With watercolours.
Does your loved one really need another gadget? Probably not. Do they need to learn how to propagate mushrooms, become a natural beekeeper or design their own permaculture system? Heck yes!
And so we come to the season of gifting. I am all about gifting. Especially if it’s gifts of useful things made with love or, even better, the gift of skills! Which brings me to our beautiful new gift certificates, by emerging artist (and former Milkwood intern) Belinda Joy Sheekey… Read More
If you want you breath taken away by wild nature, incidentally filmed on an all-girl canoeing adventure, here you are: a spectacular starling swarm. Simply beautiful.
Part of a Permaculture Design Certificate is dedicated to patterns in nature and how we can use them in design. This pattern recognition flows through all things. But sometimes it just stops you in your tracks, like in the video above…
More murmurations… Read More
The Australian City Farms and Community Gardens network has just released a new poster for free download. And it is a beautiful thing.
Chooks, roots, fruit, earthworms and of course community, all flourishing together. Read More
