FRESH – World’s Wildest Supermarket
Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Fungi, Markets & Outlets, Medicinal Plants, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Structure, Trees, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Kenneth Gronbjerg November 17, 2011
A holistic and most outrageous concept being turned into reality in Denmark.
From: Sepp Holzer’s Permakultur, Leopold Stocker Verlag, 2008
Fresh is the concept for an organic, living supermarket in cities and villages, where instead of taking the items off the shelf, the customer harvests the produce directly from raised beds!
It is a system that works with nature rather than against it.
By harvesting, the customer contributes to the work of producing to such a large extent that the produce can be offered at a never before seen quality and price. It’s almost for free. This is what you may call a win win win situation!
Comments (7)Sustainable Portable Sawmilling
Commercial Farm Projects, Trees — by Deborah Willis October 26, 2011
Editor’s Note: There are still some places available on David Spicer’s 1-day Introduction to Portable Sawmilling course, to be held on November 27, 2011 at Edenfarms Permaculture. Click here to find out more and book.
In 2008 I purchased a Lucas 10” 30hp portable sawmill. I was following advice given to me by a well known timber worker in the forest industry.
I wanted to earn a living from my property, while at the same time enhance my forest asset. I obtained a Private Native Forestry Vegetation Plan which enabled me to operate a commercial timber enterprise, over and above normal farming practice’s routine agricultural management.
Comments (4)Maarten Stapper: “Biological Agriculture – a Third Way?” (IPC10 Presentation – Video)
Animal Forage, Biodiversity, Commercial Farm Projects, Compost, Conferences, Courses/Workshops, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Fungi, GMOs, Health & Disease, Plant Systems, Presentations/Demonstrations, Rehabilitation, Seeds, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Structure, Trees, Water Contaminaton & Loss — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor October 25, 2011
If you didn’t catch it already, be sure to check out the previous post with Dr. Maarten Stapper’s first IPC10 convergence presentation. And, after several attempts, I finally managed to get his second presentation uploaded — you can click play above to watch this as well. With decades of experience in the farming industry, Dr. Stapper has a great deal to share, and a lot of insight to go with it.
Comments (1)Maarten Stapper: “Agricultural Science and Technology is Stuck in a Rut” (IPC10 Presentation Video)
Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Compost, Conferences, Courses/Workshops, Economics, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Society, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Structure, Trees, Water Contaminaton & Loss — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor October 20, 2011
I’ve been a fan of Maarten Stapper’s work for a while now. In fact, further below you’ll find an article I wrote, way back in 2007, about his experiences at the hands of his former employer — Australia’s publicly funded CSIRO agricultural research body. I’d recommend you read the article before watching Maarten’s IPC10 Convergence presentation, as it’ll give you a good backgrounder on his valuable work and his commendable ethics. I say ethics because instead of compromising his principles so as to retain favour with those putting bread on his table, he stood his ground… and got sacked instead.
Comments (0)Geoff Lawton: The Importance of Establishing Self-Replicating Dryland Permaculture Demonstration Sites (IPC10 Presentation – Video)
Aid Projects, Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Conferences, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Networking Sites, People Systems, Urban Projects — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor October 4, 2011
Geoff Lawton speaking at the Tenth International Permaculture Conference
(IPC10), Amman, Jordan, September 2011
Photograph © Craig Mackintosh
After an unintentionally extended lunch break during the IPC10 conference day (dragging 130 hungry people away from their stimulating lunchtime conversations is not an easy task!), Geoff kindly cut his post-lunch talk short so as to put subsequent speakers back on schedule. In the short time left for him, Geoff talked about the great need for training an army of permaculture warriors who can help set up self-replicating permaculture demonstration and education sites worldwide, and shared some of our efforts to help facilitate this. Included in the talk was mention of www.permacultureglobal.com (the Worldwide Permaculture Network), which enables permaculturists to literally put themselves on the map, and network and support each other in many ways — including attracting students and consultancies, donations (for aid projects) and which facilitates and encourages knowledge (and even seed!) transfers between people and sites worldwide. It’s a system that effectively levels the playing field, empowering a new generation of permaculture teachers and consultants to come up through the older growth, break through the canopy, and help us drive permaculture concepts deep into the minds of mainstream citizenry.
Click play below to see Geoff’s talk:
Comments (2)Permaculture Site Assessment Practicum – Nick Huggins
Commercial Farm Projects, Courses/Workshops, Land — by Nick Huggins
Wanted – 2 persons (only) with PDC that are keen to learn and assist on a 15 acre farm that is undergoing re-design in Northern NSW, Australia.
Comments (5)Looking at the Urban Permaculture Landscape Design Course at Zaytuna Farm
Aid Projects, Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Project Positions, Urban Projects — by Nick Huggins September 6, 2011
In June, students underwent the PRI’s first Urban Landscape Design Course which aimed at formulating the skills required to successfully transfer the theoretical knowledge of Permaculture into a professional, efficient and effective small business operation. The course was an intensive 5-day, 12hr per day immersion into the world of professional consultancy and project management. The course offered students hands-on experience with a design project, building skills that can be translated into other areas such as aid work or paid work in either urban or rural environments, or even taking away the practical experience to better develop your own place.
Comments (30)Summer Permaculture Tips and Tricks
Commercial Farm Projects, Compost, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Fencing, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Irrigation, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Seeds, Trees — by Chuck Burr August 19, 2011
by Chuck Burr, Southern Oregon Permaculture Institute (SOPI)
Here are the Summer permaculture tips and tricks from the Southern Oregon Permaculture Institute — enjoy and pass them on.
1. Permaculture blueberries. After two years of hand-weeding our two acres of blueberries we have let them go wild. The plants are five years old now and can compete with the former hay field grasses with the help of us discharging the mowing trimmings back into the blueberry rows as mulch. The tall grass deters birds from eating berries. Last year we lost our first harvest to birds before we got a Bird Gard Pro and reflective tape from Oregon Vineyard Supply. The blueberries started in fully tilled rows with 3” of fresh sawdust. Wood chips will also do. We also added initially enough soil sulfur to bring the pH down from about 6.2 to 5.2. Prune in the winter to encourage new growth, remove disease and wandering branches. We salted the field with pecan trees. Blueberries are a medium term 15–20 year crop and will be pushed out when the pecans are in full swing, so we have already designed in the succession. Several rows are also capped with Honeycrisp apples.
Sandot Sukkaew’s Tacomepai Farm (Thailand): A 20-Year-Old Permaculture Project
Building, Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Dams, Demonstration Sites, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Irrigation, Land, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Swales, Terraces, Village Development, Water Harvesting — by Andrew Perlot August 11, 2011
Sandot Sukkaew explains the difference between his own organic rice paddies
and the chemically-treated ones in the background.
As the forests were felled, the life-giving water disappeared – Thai farmer Sandot Sukkaew made that critical connection decades ago while laboring in the mud of his father’s rice paddies, and he’s spent the past 20 years trying to remedy the situation.
Comments (4)Shifting to Community-Scale Food Thinking
Commercial Farm Projects, Courses/Workshops, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Land, Markets & Outlets, Plant Systems, Seeds, Village Development — by Milkwood Permaculture July 27, 2011
This week I received all our yearly seed catalogs, and, as usual, started planning feverishly. How many is too many weird and wonderful heirloom watermelon varieties? And then I paused. Wait a minute, we’re aiming for community scale in our vegetable production this year. This shifts the goalposts entirely.
I’m now realizing that, for our organic market garden adventure, we will no longer be focusing on the craziest colored tomatoes. At least for this first year, while we learn the ropes, we will be going for yield and nutritional density as top priority. Pragmatic organic, here we come.
Comments (2)The Business of Consultation – David Spicer & Nick Huggins Out on the Job
Commercial Farm Projects, Courses/Workshops, Energy Systems, Land, Project Positions, Retrofitting, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Nick Huggins July 22, 2011
by Nick Huggins
I just purchased a farm in the New South Wales Southern Tablelands, 30min south of Goulburn and 50min east of Canberra, the Australian Capital, and a good friend of mine and of permaculture, David Spicer, has set his sights on the development of his consultancy business in the town of Tumut at the base of the Snowy Mountains, NSW. In moving to a new bio-region there is also an element of adjustment and making yourself known to the good people within it. As such, David and I have set ourselves individual goals that overlap so that we can both compliment each other’s skill sets to take permaculture to our wider communities.
Comments (7)Mulloon Creek Internship Program
Commercial Farm Projects, Courses/Workshops — by Campbell Wilson June 22, 2011
Here at Mulloon Creek, our intern program is centred around learning by doing. We have a lot of development happening over the coming years within our ecological agricultural practices and, as we see it, an essential part of that work is the rehydration of the landscape and the planting of various productive agro-forestry systems to complement the farming practices. If you’re interested in the large-scale design and implementation side of landscape health within a productive farm environment, be sure to visit our website to find out more.
Comments (4)LivingInPeace Project, Karamea, New Zealand
Commercial Farm Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres — by Craig Gallagher May 20, 2011
I recently travelled back home to NZ and visited The LivinginPeace project in Karamea which is situated at the northern end of the West Coast Road of the South Island. The LivinginPeace Project began in 2004 and aims to incorporate the elements of travel, art, education and permaculture into a sustainable business.
Comments (11)Annemarie and Graham Brookman’s Food Forest
Commercial Farm Projects, Demonstration Sites, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Land, Plant Systems — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor April 28, 2011
Near the end of this great and inspiring little video the reporter confessed that permaculture is having a hard time establishing itself in the minds of mainstream farmers. Whilst it may have been true when the video was originally produced, this situation seems to be changing rapidly. Farmers can either watch their lands continue to deteriorate, and throw increasing amounts of money at symptoms of underlying problems, or they can begin to see the bigger picture and the sense/cents in developing permaculture systems where inputs are gradually reduced even as soil fertility increases. As far as agriculture is concerned, there really isn’t another game worth playing. The word is getting out, and we all must play a part in helping accomplish this. Our own food security is on the line here.
For those who want a little more background on this property, check this one out also:
Comments (5)Farm Time with Elisabeth Fekonia
Commercial Farm Projects — by Carly Gillham March 23, 2011
Experiencing Elisabeth Fekonia’s Permaculture Farm
A few weeks ago, my partner I were invited by Elisabeth Fekonia to spend few days at her permaculture farm, in order to give her a hand with the garden and the animals. We accepted gladly as we knew that in addition to being helpful, we’d also learn a lot.
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