My First WWOOF – Farming in Central America
General — by Serena Aurora May 18, 2013
In Belize I took part in my first WWOOFing experience at Spanish Creek Farm. This film explains what WWOOFing is and how to take part in it. It also shows what work and activities took place at the farm. This includes; nursing a lamb, horse riding, looking after chickens, bamboo trimming, mulching, upkeep of plants and gardens, harvesting, cooking, furniture building and tool maintenance plus much more.
This film is created to promote the concept of WWOOFing and to open people’s eyes to the type of work that takes place on a farm.
I worked on the farm for two weeks. At the end of my stay I really appreciated the work that goes into running a farm. I really enjoyed working with the animals, it felt great to be in touch with nature and to know more about where my food comes from. Spanish creek farm is very well organised by the manager, Brooks. She is a fountain of knowledge and I learnt so much from her.
Comments OffInterview with Owen Hablutzel, PRI, by Willi Paul
General — by Owen Hablutzel May 15, 2013
Photo © Craig Mackintosh
Is there a global permaculture revolution rising now?
The short answer is: Absolutely!
The wide variety of serious and increasingly complex issues confronting people and ecosystems worldwide are leading folks to seek solutions they can apply right now. Today. An increasing number of the public are recognizing the urgency of addressing these issues. At the same time the systemic inadequacy of present governance institutions to shift the current situation towards a sustainable trajectory becomes more and more obvious. People are simply past waiting for their ‘rulers’ to get their acts together. They want to be involved in meaningful and responsible actions which they can perform themselves, and in their communities, immediately. More and more folks, every day, in every culture on the planet, are pro-actively using their birthright of human agency, moving beyond merely ‘hoping’ that things work out, and passionately engaging… doing the actual necessary work to help create positive outcomes in their communities and world.
Comments OffGrassroots Permaculture: Implementation on a Budget
General — by Alana Bliss
Have you studied permaculture, are feeling inspired, and ready to begin implementing, but have a limited budget? How can you have the greatest effect, while making your money stretch?
After all that you’ve learned you’re likely filled with ideas, but if you aren’t careful, you could very well end up spending all your money and be left with several unfinished projects.
Whether at the beginning of a project, or partway through, budget can be a limiting factor or a nourishing one. How you plan your systems can either make or break the bank. Yet it is too often overlooked.
Here we will explore a step by step approach on where to focus your energy first, and how to budget for systems implementation. You don’t have to learn it the hard way!
Comments (5)Free Permaculture Videos: “5 Acre Abundance on a Budget” is LIVE!
General, Land — by Geoff Lawton April 21, 2013
Geoff here again.
When the USA Army Core of Engineers wanted to re-design the 15,000 acre Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant into an eco-industrial park, they asked me to help.
When AECOM, a fortune 500 Civil Engineering company that turns over 8 Billion a year, wanted to do a sustainable design for the 18 Billion Dollar Masdar City in Dubai, they again called on me to consult for them.
Permaculture design principles work on large scale projects, large rural farms, small rural acreage, urban areas and even city balconies.
Many of you have been asking us to show you what you can do on a smaller rural property. So we’ve held off launching the next video on urban permaculture until next week and have put together a special new video on what can be done in a smaller rural property.
Comments (2)Thanks For Your Patience
General — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor April 6, 2013
A little (no more than 2cms long!) tree frog adds to the diversity of Zaytuna Farm
Photos © Craig Mackintosh
It’s been a rewarding time here at Zaytuna Farm. I’ve been busy taking footage, and a few photos too (like our little friend above — and thanks to eagle-eyed Geoff for spotting him). Thanks for your patience over the last few weeks, while postings have been a little more intermittant than usual. (And I know some can get a little grumpy if they don’t get their regular dose of permaculturenews fare!) Hopefully you’ll find it all worth it, after I’ve had a chance to put some articles together and edit the video for you all.
Tomorrow I make my way back home, so you’ll need to give me a few more days yet before this blog’s life returns to normal.
A Small Acreage Permaculture Makeover (NSW, Australia)
Commercial Farm Projects, General, Land — by Paul Taylor April 3, 2013
The original look of the property immediately around the house
The intention with this property in Alstonville, NSW, Australia, is to reduce lawn and landscaping management by using the space and effort to produce organic food for the owner’s consumption as well as to produce an excess for the local Farmers’ Market.
The system will be developed using specific opportunities for appropriate design to develop select areas over about 5 acres of a 40-acre property. Much of the property on the outer zones is forest, environmental management and grazing.
The first part of the project is to turn lawn and landscape areas immediately around the house into long term productive systems. This will include raised bed areas for vegetables and annual production and multiple mini food forest areas that will include fruit trees, ground covers, in-ground crops, shrubs and support species.
Comments (7)‘The Biggest Estate on Earth’
General, Plant Systems — by Byron Joel
I remember when I first read Jacke & Toensmeier’s ‘Edible Forest Gardens‘. Above and beyond the immediate excitement I felt at getting involved in such projects myself was the vision proposed in the section ‘Gardening The Forest’, where the authors suggested that when European colonialisation occured the inhabitants of North America (in this case those inhabiting the broadleaf temperate forests of the East coast) were in fact cultivating the land in a multi-generational, hyper-broad scale — um… ‘agriculture’ — and were not the ‘hapless, noble savage at odds against a brutal wilderness’ that the social darwinist within us would like to think, or has assumed, for ages now….
It seems so obvious looking at it. Of course they’d have an encyclopedic knowledge of and intimacy with their environment. Of course they would cultivate the land… Of course!
Comments (5)Free Geoff Lawton Permaculture Videos
Education, General — by Ecofilms March 20, 2013
We’re rolling out a series of free videos from Geoff Lawton. The first video is about how Geoff Lawton got started in Permaculture and how he used it to transform his burnt out farm to abundance and what a little permaculture knowledge can do for you. This first video has been a terrific hit and has had thousands of views and over 1,800 comments.
The response has been truly phenomenal. See what you’ve been missing.
Comments (18)Working With What You’ve Got: How Losing My Vision Gave Me Perspective
General, Health & Disease, Urban Projects — by Jennifer Wadsworth
House front — before
House front — after
We all encounter rough spots in our lives. Fortunately, we get to choose how we handle them. For me, permaculture provided the perfect lens for placing hard times into a healing, long term context.
So often today, we are taught to think of things in the short term: a week, a month, a season. Within this timeframe, rough spots can seem monumental and occur as a total breakdown in our way of life. However, by slipping on a permaculture telephoto lens, we can begin to see the solution in the problem.
In 2005, life dealt me a rough spot of a magnitude I had never encountered. After months of odd symptoms, I was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease, Wegener’s Granulomatosis. While Wegener’s can attack any bodily system, it affected my vision most severely, to the point where I could no longer perform my IT job. Now I live my life seeing the world around me as if it was an impressionist painting – a very blurry impressionist painting.
Comments (13)A Journey of Transition: Becoming a Professional Permaculture Designer – Part 3
General — by Dan French March 12, 2013
by Dan French
Photo © Craig Mackintosh
This time, in Part 3 of this series discussing my journey towards becoming a professional permaculture designer, I will be talking about marketing, knock-backs and my progress since the last article. Part 2 of this series focused on two large issues facing many of us trying to build our own business, commitment and confidence. Reflecting on these points, the pressure of these emotions is ongoing. I’m glad to report however, the series of strategies I outlined in Part 2 are helping me in both of these areas. Despite this, I am still finding that my momentum seems to ebb and flow. I found that Christmas in particular, the time most people bar all thoughts of work and concentrate of having some time off, had a significant impact. I gave myself a leave pass to freshen up, which was both good and bad. Good because I spent some quality time with my family — time we all enjoyed as they didn’t have to listen to my constant strategizing and questioning of where I’m headed — and because I didn’t feel the need to unload on them. Bad because the momentum I had gained leading up to Christmas was sadly lost, much like my hopes for a particular present I had long been asking for. All I received was several pairs of very nice socks….
Comments (11)Redesigning Civilization – with Permaculture
General, Presentations/Demonstrations — by Toby Hemenway March 8, 2013
Modern agriculture, industry and finance all extract more than they give back, and the Earth is starting to show the strain. How did we get in this mess and what can we do to help our culture get back on track? The ecological design approach known as permaculture offers powerful tools for the design of regenerative, fair ways to provide food, energy, livelihood, and other needs while letting humans share the planet with the rest of nature. This presentation will give you insight into why our culture has become fundamentally unsustainable, and offers ecologically based solutions that can help create a just and sustainable society. This is the sequel to Toby’s popular talk, "How Permaculture Can Save Humanity and The Planet, but not Civilization."
Comments (5)Put Your Questions to the Experts, Round 4b: Geoff Lawton
General, Podcasts — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor February 15, 2013
Geoff Lawton at the Zaytuna Farm entrance
Photo © Craig Mackintosh
This is Part B of the fourth installment in our popular Q&A series. In case you didn’t catch it on previous occasions, we added a new sub-forum titled ‘Put Your Questions to the Experts!‘, where our forum members put their questions to experienced permaculturists we’ll approach over the weeks and months ahead. First up to be the target of our combined curiosities and the salve of our perplexities, is the PRI’s own Geoff Lawton. Geoff, currently teaching at Zaytuna Farm in NSW, Australia, spends 80 minutes with us, sharing from his wealth of experience in permaculture teaching and consulting in dozens of countries worldwide.
Click play below to hear the podcast!
Comments (2)Put Your Questions to the Experts, Round 4a: Geoff Lawton
General, Podcasts — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor February 1, 2013
This is the fourth installment in our popular Q&A series. In case you didn’t catch it on previous occasions, we added a new sub-forum titled ‘Put Your Questions to the Experts!‘, where our forum members put their questions to experienced permaculturists we’ll approach over the weeks and months ahead. First up to be the target of our combined curiosities and the salve of our perplexities, is the PRI’s own Geoff Lawton. Geoff, currently teaching at Zaytuna Farm in NSW, Australia, spends 60 minutes with us, sharing from his wealth of experience in permaculture teaching and consulting in dozens of countries worldwide.
Note: In this episode you’ll find the answers to only the first five questions in Round 4. Geoff was called away in the middle, so we’ll attend to the rest of the questions in a subsequent video.
Comments (5)Put Your Questions to the Experts, Round 3: Geoff Lawton
General — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor January 11, 2013
This is the third installment in our popular Q&A series. In case you didn’t catch it on previous occasions, we added a new sub-forum titled ‘Put Your Questions to the Experts!‘, where our forum members put their questions to experienced permaculturists we’ll approach over the weeks and months ahead. First up to be the target of our combined curiosities and the salve of our perplexities, is the PRI’s own Geoff Lawton. Geoff, currently teaching at Zaytuna Farm in NSW, Australia, spends 80 minutes with us, sharing from his wealth of experience in permaculture teaching and consulting in dozens of countries worldwide.
In this episode you’ll find two videos. The first video contains answers to the last three questions of Round 2 (Round 2 was cut short due to a power outage where Geoff was on location), and the second video answers all the questions from Round 3.
Last three questions of Round 2
Verge’s Grad Interview Series: Trailer
General — by Rob Avis December 14, 2012
by Rob Avis
The Grad Video series tells the stories of 10 graduates from our Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) courses, documenting what they’ve done with the knowledge, skills and inspiration they acquired from the course. Two film makers set out to find these graduates and catch them in action, capturing their successes, struggles, and transformations as they embark on new endeavours — starting gardens, homesteads, community projects, businesses, building sustainable homes and structures, hosting conferences and much more.
Above is the trailer for the ten-part series to follow.
Comments (3)
