Permaculture News, Information, Forums, Courses and Worldwide Reports

Soil Testing, Discovering Local Plants and Woodland Coppice

January 16, 2019 by Paul Alfrey & filed under Animal Forage, Bees, Biodiversity, Bird Life, Design, Education Centres, Food Forests, Food Plants - Perennial, General, Insects, Land, Medicinal Plants, Permaculture Projects, Plant Systems, Plants, Seeds, Soil, Why Permaculture?

Robinia Coppice We have a small woodland plot where we have been experimenting with coppicing. The dominant tree species in the woods are Robinia pseudoacacia – Black Locust a North American native that naturalized in the area after being introduced here many years ago. Last spring we felled some of the trees in order to start the coppice. The aim is to grow the support stakes for our market garden from the coppice. […]

Constructed Wetland

January 11, 2019 by David Spicer & filed under Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Biological Cleaning, Courses/Workshops, Dams, Design, Earth Banks, Earthworks & Earth Resources, General, How to, Land, Material, Permaculture Projects, Retrofitting, Storm Water, Surveying, Water, Water Conservation, Water Harvesting, Why Permaculture?

In May 2018 I was invited to work in Western Australia, which was quite the milestone for me, as it was the last state in Australia for me to say I’ve worked nation wide in permaculture design and installation. It was meant to be a short trip, only 5 days, to repair a leaky dam, which seemed a bit odd for me to fly from the east coast to the […]

Can you help us save the trees? EU asks citizens for ‘solutions’ to deforestation

January 9, 2019 by Charlotte Ashwanden & filed under Biodiversity, Deforestation, Desertification, General, Global Warming/Climate Change, Plants, Soil, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Trees, Why Permaculture?

As the world continues turning into a new calendar year, many people may be reflecting on what actions they can personally take for a healthier year ahead, both on a personal and an environmental level. The European Commission seems to have made ending deforestation one of their new year’s resolutions, with a newly-published report aimed at ‘stepping up EU action against deforestation and forest degradation’ (1). This can be seen […]

The Polyculture Market Garden Study – Results from Year 4 – 2018

January 7, 2019 by Paul Alfrey & filed under Animals, Bees, Bird Life, Demonstration Sites, Design, Education Centres, Food & Food Support Systems, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, General, Insects, Land, People Systems, Permaculture Projects, Plant Systems, Plants, Seeds, Soil Biology, Trees

Here are the results from the fourth year of our Market Garden Polyculture Study. This study looks at the differences between growing annual vegetables and herbs in polycultures vs growing them in traditional blocks. In this post you will find an overview of the trial garden and the polycultures we are growing, a description of what we record and the 4th year results from the trial. You can find results […]

Geoff Lawton’s New Year Message.

January 4, 2019 by pri02 & filed under Dams, Demonstration Sites, Design, Education Centres, General, Geoff Lawton, Land, Permaculture Projects, Short Films - up to 15min, Videos, Why Permaculture?

Geoff’s message is about creating wealth and abundance through ethical design while walking through his home, Zaytuna Farm, home of the Permaculture Research Institute. The next farm tour at Zaytuna Farm will be held on the 2nd of March 2019, the Autumn Tour. Click here to view all tours courses and events

Fastest Growing Trees in the Temperate Zone, Seed Harvesting and a Green Toad Gathering – The Polyculture Project

January 2, 2019 by Paul Alfrey & filed under Animal Forage, Animals, Bees, Biodiversity, Bird Life, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Design, Education, Education Centres, Food & Food Support Systems, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Fungi, General, How to, Insects, Land, Medicinal Plants, Nurseries & Propogation, Permaculture Projects, Plant Systems, Plants, Seeds, Soil, Soil Biology, Trees, Why Permaculture?

If you follow our project you will probably know that I like to name our gardens after concepts and terminology from the classical period of Ancient Greece or at least you may have noticed that the gardens have weird names . Ezekiel who joined us last week asked why the market garden did not have a such a name which prompted me to fix that, so from now on the […]

How to make your garden have less weeds?

December 29, 2018 by pri02 & filed under 15min-30min, Animal Forage, Biodiversity, Compost, Education, Films, Food & Food Support Systems, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Food Shortages, General, How to, Medicinal Plants, Plant Systems, Plants, Recipes, Soil, Videos, Why Permaculture?

In crop gardens, we sometimes get into a spatial race with weeds, and the solution is to replace the weeds with “designed weeds” to take up the space. This can be done with green manure mulches to fertilize the gardens and supply quality mulch. This is an example of how understanding the inner workings of weeds allows us to harmonize with natural systems to both repair the earth and create […]

Don’t waste your dog’s poo – compost it

December 28, 2018 by M. Leigh Ackland & filed under Animals, Compost, Fungi, General, How to, Soil, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Working Animals

Australia has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world, with 38% of Australian households owning dogs. Dogs improve the quality of our lives, and studies show that exposure to dogs can even improve our immune system. However, one medium sized dog produces about 180 kilograms of poo a year. With about 9 million dogs in Australia, it can really start to pile up. Rather than wrap […]

SAVING THE PLANET

December 26, 2018 by Rosalyn Sharpe & filed under Biodiversity, Consumerism, Deforestation, Desertification, General, Global Dimming, Why Permaculture?

I have often found myself wincing as I hear people talking about saving the planet. It’s felt wrong! I can hear the voices of condemnation screaming at me now … ‘What a horrible person you are not to agree with saving the planet.’… but let me explain. I’m the same age as Geoff Lawton! Though I think he’s doing better than me! I was brought up in the 50s/60s. I had two […]

How to make your garden drought proof, using unglazed clay pots.

December 25, 2018 by pri02 & filed under General, How to, Irrigation, Water

Too often plants are left to dry up and suffer, eventually dying. An unglazed clay pot can work as a great, simple irrigation system. It can be buried with its opening at soil level. Covered with a lid, the water will be protected from the sun, and it will slowly seep into the soil. At the same time, if the soil is already wet, osmosis back pressure will prevent it […]

How to Make a Compost Toilet with a Wheelie Bin

December 21, 2018 by pri02 & filed under Aid Projects, Demonstration Sites, General, How to, Permaculture Projects, Soil, Why Permaculture?

Compost toilets are extremely efficient and don’t use any water, unlike flush toilets which use 30,000-plus liters of water per person each year. Instead, we can turn humanure into a sustainable waste system. Compost toilets can be made with materials found just about anywhere. For a wheelie bin toilet, begin by drilling a hole at the bottom of the bin to attach a ball valve that will allow […]

THE END OF THE POLYCULTURE STUDY 2018, AQUATIC PLANT PROPAGATION AND NUT HARVEST.

December 20, 2018 by Paul Alfrey & filed under Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Food & Food Support Systems, Food Forests, Food Plants - Perennial, General, Nurseries & Propogation, Permaculture Projects, Plant Systems, Soil, Trees

The Polyculture Study 2018 has now officially come to a close for the year, and we will be publishing the annual report and results by December. Once again we have been supported by a truly amazing team of people, without whom, the study would simply not be possible. This year we have been able to work on two trials across two gardens, as well as developing a plan for a […]