Permablitz in Bellingen, Australia
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Land, Networking Sites, Social Gatherings, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Atalanta Lloyd-Haynes April 16, 2010
Heard of Backyard Blitz? Well, welcome to the socially responsible and environmentally friendly ‘permablitz‘! This is a film by the Bellingen Permablitz Group. We are everywhere…. come play with us….
Permablitz is for you if:
Comments (8)Life at Zaytuna – Swales in Landscape
Conservation, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Land, Rehabilitation, Swales, Water Harvesting — by Rob Avis
Rob Avis, of Canada-based Verge Permaculture, explains how swales at the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia work to re-hydrate the landscape and re-charge aquifers.
Mullumbimby Community Gardens Moves Ahead Apace
Community Projects, Consumerism, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Eco-Villages, Economics, Education Centres, Food Shortages, Land, Networking Sites, People Systems, Social Gatherings, Society, Surveying, Swales, Urban Projects, Village Development, peak oil — by Jeannette Martin April 12, 2010
Editor’s Note: For background on the excellent work going on at the Mullumbimby Community Gardens, an update for which is found below, see here, here and here.
Mullumbimby’s community garden is blossoming into a hive of activity with people from all walks of life building, creating and gardening together. Our communal gardens and new allotments are now brimming with organic fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers while 18 "Pods" (special interest groups) develop programs and projects that are launching MCG into a sustainable living education centre.
Comments (2)Life at Zaytuna – Aquaculture Development on New Dam
Aquaculture, Biological Cleaning, Dams, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Fish, Food Plants - Perennial, Land, Natural Swimming, Plant Systems — by Patrick Blampied March 30, 2010
Geoff Lawton Talks to ABC Radio About Dryland Salinity
Land, News, Regional Water Cycle, Rehabilitation, Salination, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Structure, Water Harvesting — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor March 29, 2010
A couple of weeks ago ABC Rural’s ‘Bush Telegraph’ radio show featured an interview with Dr. Christine Jones about how to deal with the major problem of dryland salinity. Her ‘radical’ thoughts on it prompted a heated response from Mick Fleming, a former principal research scientist with CSIRO Land and Water, who was ‘gobsmacked’ with her ideas, and countered with his own.
Geoff found the discussion of great interest, and ended up being interviewed by Michael Mackenzie of ABC radio on the issue – it makes for a very interesting listen.
Click play below to hear the talk:
ABC Talks to Geoff Lawton on Dryland Salinity Comments (7)Green Burials
Community Projects, Compost, Consumerism, Land, People Systems, Rehabilitation, Society, Soil Conservation, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Brad Lancaster March 24, 2010
by Brad Lancaster, who is, incidentally, co-teaching the upcoming PDC in Palestine – a course many may wish to attend so as to support this valuable regenerative work!
A conventional cemetery
When I was little I was terrified of death. I often cried myself to sleep as I thought of the end of life. It seemed so bleak, pointless, and severe.
Mom tried to comfort me with the concept of going to heaven. This did not reassure me at all. “How do you know there is a heaven?” I’d ask. “Have you been there?”
Comments (7)Jawaseri School Garden Project, Jordan
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Conservation, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Food Shortages, Irrigation, Land, Nurseries & Propogation, People Systems, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Trees, Urban Projects, Village Development, Water Harvesting — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor February 6, 2010
Just as I was leaving Jordan, after making the Greening the Desert II update video, another little project was just getting underway – the Jawaseri School Garden project. A few people have emailed pictures of progress over the last few months and I’ve combined these with Geoff’s narration from the PRI home base in Australia, to give you all a bit of an idea what’s happening there. May it inspire you to do similar where you are!
Permaculture education should be in every school, everywhere. If it was, I believe most of the world’s problems could be solved within a decade.
Comments (6)Practicing Permanent Agriculture on Moloka’i
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Land, Swales — by Jill Ross January 14, 2010
A follow-up to PRI’s Planning & Implementing a Permaculture Project course
Before…
On November 15th, a group of relative strangers gathered on the dry, red dirt of Moloka’i with the same question firing in their minds. How will we create permanent agriculture on this parched, eroded acre of red dust?
Comments (2)Rosella Waters Earthworks, Phase I, Part B
Aquaculture, Biological Cleaning, Conservation, Dams, Demonstration Sites, Earth Banks, Education Centres, Food Forests, Gabions, Irrigation, Land, Material, Natural Swimming, Rehabilitation, Roads, Soil Conservation, Swales, Water Harvesting — by Kym Kruse January 9, 2010
 The Mushroom Dam overlooking the beach area |
It’s taken a while to find the time to sit down and report on Part B of our earthworks here at Rosella Waters, near Cairns in far North Queensland. Phase I Part A was documented whilst the process was taking place. This latest update however will rely on memory and hurried notes made during the process, together with numerous photos. Large excavations such as the two large dams we constructed in part A are considerably easier to direct and far less time consuming than the finer detail work using smaller machinery as we experienced in putting in Part B.
Comments (6)Use of Small Swales – a Case Study
Land, Swales — by Tim Auld January 7, 2010
You might have seen Geoff Lawton’s wonderful ‘Greening the Desert’, and his ‘Establishing a Food Forest’ DVD where he wades through a swale metres wide. It’s not commonly discussed, but swales can be quite small too. It depends on the space you have available, the magnitude and intermittency of the rain events, how fast it will soak in and the capacity of your soil to hold it. As always, observing and interacting will yield good results, and you’ll learn as you make mistakes.
The partially completed swale is about to be extended.
The drain is near my right foot.
Yeomans’ Pioneer Demonstration Site to Be Turned into Housing Estate
Conservation, Demonstration Sites, Irrigation, Land, News, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Conservation, Structure, Water Harvesting — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor December 19, 2009
One of the most influential people in sustainable agricultural systems development is the late P.A. Yeomans. Yeomans went against the contemporary fertility-in-a-bottle school of thought to develop ‘keyline’ concepts of land management that work in harmony with natural land features (working with contours), to maximise water harvesting in the landscape, minimise soil erosion and build lasting soil fertility. His observations and practice led him to design and develop the keyline plow, a deep chisel plow that maximises water infiltration and soil aeration – setting up conditions that soil macro and microorganisms can flourish in – but that doesn’t overturn the soil, with its associated destruction of soil structure and life, as other plows do.
The ABC just ran an interesting spotlight (video – or transcript here if you prefer) where we learn that one of Yeomans’ properties, ‘Yobarnie’, in Richmond, north of Sydney, is facing ‘development’ that would turn this important historical demonstration site into a housing estate. In the 1950s and ’60s the site attracted busloads of people on weekend tours where observers could see the transformation his methods effected and learn about their implementation.
Comments (3)How to Repair the World
Aid Projects, Deforestation, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, Food Forests, Food Plants - Perennial, Food Shortages, Land, News, Plant Systems, Project Positions, Rehabilitation, Trees, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor December 9, 2009
The video embedded in this page spotlights the excellent work of Willie Smits I profiled a little while ago, where rainforest restoration in Borneo not only restored biodiversity and gave increased livelihood opportunities to local people, but it also increased cloud cover and rainfall as well. It’s well worth a watch:
We’re pleased to announce that we’re partnering with the makers of the video above, WeForest, to help establish self-replicating permaculture reforestation demonstration sites in accordance with our Permaculture Master Plan, in several worldwide locations – starting in Zambia in the first instance. Our Geoff Lawton has just agreed to be on their advisory board, and we’ll be working to supply guidance, knowhow and staff to pioneer these projects.
This is just one example of the many encouraging collaborative results we get as people boil current events down to their only logical conclusion – discovering we need to quit battling nature and get busy harnessing biological synergies to repair the earth and rebuild sustainable community interactions.
Comments (4)Keyline Swales – a Geoff Lawton/Darren Doherty Hybrid
Biological Cleaning, Conservation, Earth Banks, Land, Soil Conservation, Swales, Water Harvesting — by Campbell Wilson November 30, 2009
A swale on Zaytuna Farm – © Craig Mackintosh
(Remaining images below © Cam Wilson.)
Geoff Lawton and Darren Doherty are the two highest profile people in Australian Permaculture when it comes to broadacre water harvesting earthworks. They’ve both had success in some very tough environments, and yet it’s interesting that their styles are quite different, particularly when it comes to infiltration strategies.
This article is a short comparison of their approaches, along with an idea I had recently for amalgamating the benefits of each.
Comments (19)Dalpura Farm – Experiments in Permaculture Forestry
Conservation, Deforestation, Demonstration Sites, Land, Nurseries & Propogation, Plant Systems, Regional Water Cycle, Rehabilitation, Trees, Water Harvesting — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor November 9, 2009
Photographs © Craig Mackintosh
 Inter-row Eucalyptus saligna (Sydney blue gum) & Casuarina cunninghamiana (river she oak) planted in 2000 |
I recently had opportunity to visit a Permaculture site called ‘Dalpura Farm’, near Geelong, outside of Melbourne. Although (or perhaps, because) designed by Darren Doherty, the very well known Permaculture designer and teacher, it was dramatically different than your average Permaculture site. Rather than an urban edible garden, or a fruit-/veg-/livestock-oriented rural block, this 140-acre property was all about trees.
It’s an experimental agro-forestry project, aimed at finding the best way to produce a range of commercial products and ecological benefits from trees, with timber production being the primary focus.
I contacted Darren, the designer, and George Howson, the owner of the property, to see what it was all about.
Comments (3)Build it Up – Permaculture Mound
Land, Urban Projects — by Sarina Kilham October 4, 2009
Editor’s note: This story comes to us from the black sandy soils of NSW’s mid-north coast, about 10km outside Forster.
For several years, I looked at the scrubby bit of grass on our sloping black sand back yard and imagined the amazing garden that could be – if only we had a bit more cash to buy the sleepers for raised garden beds, if only I could build a nice flat terrace, if only I was a big strong capable builder, instead of a student who has trouble hammering a nail in straight.
So the garden stayed in my imagination until last year when our permaculture guru friend Tiny came to stay.
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