Geoff and Nadia demonstrating a miniature dam, swale
and overflow system at Quail Springs
When we were at Quail Springs recently, Sustainable World Radio came up to see us and to talk to Geoff and Nadia about their Permaculture work. You can listen to the clip in its entirety here. Geoff and Nadia talk about how and why they first got interested in Permaculture, and share inspiring thoughts on why we should “step over the line” from our never-complete, disatisfied lives, where we want to live a better, more fulfilling life, but we keep stepping back to the uncomfortable ‘comfort zone’ we know. As Geoff says, this psychological conflict has us “dying every day”, as we keep living lives we don’t want to live – too scared to cross over and embark on what would actually turn out to be a very enjoyable path to personal fulfillment.
Thanks to Geoff, Nadia and Sustainable World Radio for a very inspiring talk!
What a wonderful couple! I can only dream of what my young life would have been like if I had a friend like Geoff in the 1970’s. And having someone like Nadia as a little sister, wow!
I am starting to internalize the metaphor of the “tool box”. Permaculture is the tool box that helps to arrange the tools. Simply put, its finding the best and most appropriate tool for solving a problem and creating abundance. If you are a homemaker then maybe it’s not the kitchen but the way everything in the kitchen is arranged. To maximum effectiency and create an enjoyable experience for the human that is part of the “system”.
I am very new to permaculture. Sometimes I feel some guilt that I didn’t get involved in permaculture years ago. I don’t know exactly why, but I never even seem to know of its existence. I vaguely remember something about permaculture at a WTO meeting in Seattle and I mentally labeled it in terms of radical left wing demonstrations. I missed voting in 2000 and voted for George Bush in 2004. I held onto the beliefs and promises of capitalism most of my life. “The pursuit of happiness” for me meant the pursuit of property.
I don’t think I consciously changed my beliefs on capitalism. I think my body just wore itself out and my mind and soul had to come up with a better solution that wouldn’t kill me in the process.
I cannot get the audio on this for some reason. Am I the only one having this difficulty?
I would love to hear the interview!
Thanks,
Becky
Hi Becky – Sorry to hear of your trouble. The audio file is just an mp3. If you can play mp3’s you should be able to play this file. In case your browser doesn’t have MP3 support, and an offline program on your computer does, you could try RIGHT-clicking on the link and then (in Internet Explorer) choosing ‘Save Target As’ or (in Firefox) ‘Save Link As’ and then save it to your desktop. Once downloaded, try to run from there.
This was so great. I’d like to use some of geoff’s quotes from this interview in a song. Especially those near the end! We can do this!!
btw – I am from USA, but seems like more comments are on the .org.au site.. can you guys design it so the comments are seen from both pages? They appear to be separate now.
Also you should link the forums on the USA site. If you want seperate USA discussion you could just have a different section on the forums.
Otherwise why have a seperate usa site? seems confusing.
Plus, for comments on these articles, it is not automatically setup for me (or others) to receive email updates on responses. Geoff responded to my question on removing grass with chicken tractors and I did not know until my friend told me she saw a response to my question… I now see the option below but many people probably overlook it. I’ve noticed in the past that forums and sites are more active if this option is checked first and people have the option to un-check.
I was really happy to discover this interview. Geoff and Nadia do fascinating stuff, and it’s really motivating to hear him talk about it. It’s great for those of us who aren’t living near any permaculture organisations and don’t have access to events, speakers, conferences, etc.