We just got our copy of the 2013 Permaculture Calendar, which is, once again, 12 months of beautiful pictures of permaculture in practice from around the world, on recycled paper stock with a great textural feel. It will be a pleasure to have in the woolshed, and in the tinyhouse too.
Any calendar that gives you great shots of free-range pigs snuffling, school garden bounty and a humanure hacienda in monthly succession gets my vote!
The ‘Gundaroo Tiller’ is an Australian adaptation the traditional European broadfork, and an essential tool for our small market garden. It may look like just a big clunky fork-thing, but it is actually a finely tuned instrument of permaculture soil conditioning goodness. Truly.
Famously, when Allan Yeomans‘ saw his first Gundaroo Tiller, he called it ‘A Keyline plow for gardeners’. For us, it’s an essential part of creating aerated soil structure on compacted pasture without inverting the soil…
Recently Harris (who heads the Forest Garden projects at Milkwood), has been in Chile teaching, designing and implementing forest garden systems. We thought you’d like to take a peek at some Chilean permaculture action?
Given our Gondwana connection, there are many correlations between Chile and Australia in terms of plant species (similar nitrogen fixers, for a start) so Harris has been gleaning all sorts of amazing indigenous, on-the-ground knowledge that will translate to Australian shores in terms of forest garden polycultures and creating abundance in poor soils… 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
So who’s coming to the Mudgee Small Farm Field Days this Friday + Saturday? This year we’re presenting a series of free + informative talks in the cosy strawbale classroom, alongside Watershed Landcare.
It’s going to be great and we hope you can come! See program below. Read More
Following on from a whole street of verge gardens is another verge garden in Sydney that is using verge plantings as a great way of cultivating community.
Costa and his verge needs little introduction, since his garden gets featured weekly on national television as part of Gardening Australia. What I like best about this verge garden is how it is truly helping to create community in a rather underutilized street of spacious verges. Read More
July is bare-rooted apple tree ordering time! It’s been a long wait, but we now feel confident that we have the water infrastructure, system establishment and knowledge in place to be able to grow apples (without killing them) at Milkwood Farm. Oh happy day.
As our forest garden slowly creeps across the hillside, greener and more dense with every season, I’m beginning to believe that our rocky ridge could truly one day be an edible forest garden and holistic orchard. And so it is time to chose the first batch of apple trees to plant. But which to chose? Read More
Wilga Avenue in Sydney has moved their community out of their backyards and into their front yards. Squished between a busy road and a train line, it wouldn’t look very illustrious on a map, but once I got there I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face… a whole street of edible verge gardens! Yay!
And even better, it was a lived-in space. Outside one home, in the middle of a verdant verge garden, was a small wooden picnic table where a bunch of kids were busy having morning tea. Across the road, two guys were shoveling mulch from the back of a ute. This is city living done right… Read More
The latest batch of Milkwood permaculture design students are currently hard at it in Sydney, taking their Permaculture Design Certificate part-time with the fabulous Alexia Martinez. I thought I’d share some of their latest permaculture designs…
These designs are all the student’s first full permaculture design, undertaken using a place they know well as the site. This design exercise is all about working with what you’ve got, both good and bad. Bring on the shady patios, the hot brick walkways, and the unused verges. It’s all potential for abundance, with the help of good planning and design… Read More
Nick was asked by International Permaculture Day 2012 to video his take on permaculture, so here it is. Recorded stealthily during naptime, to avoid the otherwise ever-present soundtrack of a joyful 3 year old.
This International Permaculture Day we’re heading to the city to run an Earthbag bench workshop, but there’s a lot of other things to see and do this weekend, in over 17 countries! Check it all out at International Permaculture Day 2012…
