In this article I’m going to share with you my killer recipe for a final plaster that I have used and evolved over the last eight years. The final layer is what you will see day to day, so it’s worth making it nice. If you’re interested in a recipe that is non-toxic, made from easy to find natural materials and has a beautiful finish then read on. I first […]
DISCLAIMER: These are my thoughts and experiences on what can be a deeply cultural, charged and personal topic: diet. There is a lot we don’t know, especially when it comes to what a sustainable diet is. For one, most studies have been centred in high-income Western countries (Jones et al., 2016); it’s also still largely unclear exactly what a “healthy diet” should consist of, nevertheless what a truly sustainable society […]
Five years ago we moved to our current property in North Texas. While the general area is not particularly challenging, the property itself was. The three acre property has anywhere from 11 inches (28cm) to as little as 3 inches (7.6cm) of soil, sitting atop a limestone slab. Note: not rocks but solid slab. An insane place to build a permaculture property but we set to making it happen. In our […]
There are so many battery technologies out in the marketplace, and it is highly likely between me writing this and you reading it there will be another new fandangled world’s best battery that has hit the market. What Elon Musk has done with Tesla is to create a market awareness of wanting to install home battery storage and reduce our impact on the environment from burning fossil fuels. This has […]
Slip straw is an easy and energy efficient way to build lightweight homes or walls. It uses materials that are almost always locally available and also offers quality insulative properties. To build with slip straw you will need an abundant supply of straw, clay and some sort of wood to make forms. The straw you use should be from some sort of grain such as rice, wheat, barley, etc. Hay, […]
To close off a second day of CelebrATE at PRI Sunshine Coast, we strapped on belts to become human marimbas, a musical instrument similar to a xylophone. This was the second musical workshop of this permaculture celebration, a jam session with all of the participants. We had to lean back to stretch out the keys between two people, each playing half the instrument and coordinating to connect the high and […]
Permaculture design can be about much more than deciding where to put plants and landscaping particular sites. Indeed, many people who practice permaculture do not have a piece of land in which they can create a design. We can utilise permaculture to help with design of our finances, time management, social structures, or a myraid other applications (see for example 1, 2); and indeed as I have said in previous […]
If you’ve kept chickens for any length of time I’m sure you’ll be familiar with chicken tractors; also known as chicken arcs. If you aren’t familiar with them, they are portable chicken coops/runs that are typically built on wheels. Building your own can be an affordable and safe way for your chickens to free-range safely. In this article we will cover 5 of the most important stages during the design […]
In ideal soil ecosystems, we would have dramatically different soil and certainly a dramatically different level of ‘made made’ toxins. In an ideal soil environment, we would expect our topsoil to contain 10% organic matter, and would also expect to have literally thousands of species of bacteria and hundreds of species of fungi. In most soils today, we often have a humus content of less than 1% with just a […]
Permaculture magazine is launching the Permaculture Magazine Prize 2018 with a fund of £20,000. The Prize will consist of one main award of £10,000 and four runners up of £2,500 and is open to any permaculture project in the world. The Prize is to celebrate and award permaculture projects that reach ordinary people and demonstrate best practice permaculture both in terms of ecological and socially / culturally innovative design. This […]
“We acknowledge and pay respects to the Dhurga people of the Yuin Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country where we live.” When we moved to our bush property two years ago self-sufficiency was high on the agenda. We wanted to produce our own electricity, collect rainwater and we certainly wanted to grow some or if possible most of our own food. This included an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables […]
Aquaponics has become a quick celebrity in sustainable food production, and many beginners are interested in creating these systems. In terms of permaculture design, there is some potential in using them, but equally so, it’s important not to lose sight of matching the design to the landscape and resources available. In other words, there are occasions when aquaponics is a sensible option, but not every occasion. The Basic Premise […]
