Carescapes: Permaculture Design for Every Body
How to design life with the spoons, time, and energy you actually have.
A Free Online Conversation & Workshop with Kirsten Bradley (Milkwood) & Anna Matilda (Everyday Permaculture) – Monday 29th Sept, 7pm AEST.
Feeling like you’re running on 20%? You’re not alone.
In news that is a surprise to no-one… our personal energy is not infinite! Especially when we’re living with disability, chronic illness, or even just the relentless pace of modern life.
In this free online workshop, we’ll explore how permaculture design principles can help us design daily life – using your actual capacity, rather than some imagined version of yourself – and design daily rhythms that are more rooted in care, ease, and resilience…
A workshop where rest is not considered radical, where small wins are celebrated as the yields they are, and where fluctuating capacity is simply part of the design brief.
We’ll explore how you can honour your actual (rather than aspirational) capacity as a design parameter… just like the realities of soil, sunlight, or rainfall in a garden… and look at how to work with what we have… to cultivate more everyday goodness.
This online workshop will be a shame-free, no-guilt space where rest is participation, cameras are optional, and lying down is welcome!
Alongside honest acknowledgement of the challenges, you’ll gain tools, practices, and micro-actions you can start using right away… to make life better for yourself, your household rhythms, and your communities of care.
We’ll discuss:
- How to notice and map your own energy rhythms.
- Simple micro-actions for saving spoons and supporting your future self.
- Ways to “catch and store energy”… from batch-cooking to naps to done-lists.
- Using permaculture zones to make daily tasks easier at home.
- How to value small wins, rest, and joy as real yields.
- Strategies for adapting gently with feedback from your body, household, and community.
You’ll Take Away:
- A fresh perspective on permaculture as a framework for daily living.
- Practical, care-centred tools for designing with your current energy.
- Permission to see rest and recovery as valid yields.
- Inspiration for building resilience not only for yourself, but also in your household and communities of care.
📅 Date + Duration: Monday 29th Sept, 7pm AEST – a 45-minute conversation + 15-minute Q&A
🎙️ Presenters: Kirsten Bradley (Milkwood) & Anna Matilda (Everyday Permaculture)
🌐 Format: Once you’re signed up, you can join from your web browser, no extra downloads needed – and we’ll email you the workshop recording, plus workshop notes afterwards.
FAQS
Q -What time and date is this workshop? The time and date should show up, in your local time-zone, on the signup page. Please sign up to join us!
Q – How long is this workshop? We’ll aim for a conversation of 45 minutes, and then move onto the live Q&A. So around an hour, all said and done.
Q – What if I can’t make it? Can I still watch somehow? Sure thing – everyone who signs up for this workshop will receive the recording and collated notes afterwards, to watch, absorb and consider in your own time.
Meet Your Workshop Humans:
Kirsten Bradley
Milkwood – milkwood.net
Kirsten is a grower, writer, mother and a fighter, gratefully living on melukerdee country. She co-founded Milkwood with Nick Ritar 18 years ago… to learn, teach and share skills for living like it matters – at a personal, household and community scale. Kirsten is the author of Milkwood (2018), a kids book called Easy Peasy (2019) and The Milkwood Permaculture Living Handbook (2023).
Anna Matilda
Nanna Anna – theurbannanna.com
Firmly steeped in permaculture ethos, Anna Matilda (The Urban Nanna) showcases and teaches traditional skills, crafts and methods of sustainable living in the framework of the modern-day, unpredictable rental market. Her first book ‘Everyday Permaculture’ is out now.
This series of live conversations is a new part of our Fair Share program – making the conversations, skills and community we all need more accessible to everyone.
Thank you to all our community (students, readers, subscribers) for your support, we couldn’t do this without you!
If you have any questions about this upcoming conversation, stick ’em in the comments below and we can help. Looking forward to seeing you in there x
Thank you.
I tend to count success based on what I am able to do — what I get done in a day. I love crossing things off my to-do list! However, I have lived with long COVID for over a year now, and often don’t have the energy or strength to do all I’d like to do. How would you recommend helping people like me change our mindset to be OK with not being able to achieve all we’d like in a day (or getting overwhelmed by all there is to do or all we’d like to do)? I’ve already figured… Read more »
It sounds like you’re doing an excellent job already 🙂 – and yep, our plan is to discuss exactly this, keeping in mind that context is everything and solutions look different for everyone 🙂 – thanks for this –
With the current world status, big companies attempting water privatisation, seed patenting, mass spraying of all sorts of toxins, as examples, are you able to suggest a basic range of staple foods for growing, preserving, and/ or drying that store well and nourish? Also foods that will store well long term that are store bought.And any other topics around future proofing. Thank you.
thanks Helen, great Q 🙂
Hi!! I’d love to hear how others design their week with children so things run smoothly- ie. we have a cleaning day on Sunday morning every week that is a non negotiable as a family, I write a meal plan on my chalk board on Fridays to shop at the market on Saturdays and know what we’re eating all week to save time and brain space.. would love to hear other’s tips and tricks on what creates ease in their week for their families ❤️
Nice one Taylah – yep let’s look at that 🙂
We learned some incredible tips from Nicola Galloway’s cookbooks and website that are helping us cope without dropping our eating standards.. check her out
thank you I will!
Hi, I’m wondering about future proofing my food forest as I get older. I can see myself wanting to do less and I’d love some tips for simplifying my garden. I know growing perennials is important and I wonder what else I can do. Thanks.
Thanks for this Vicky, a consideration for us all!
How do you get started – ie from scratch? it all seems so daunting.
Yessss – thanks Joelle, we’ll definitely talk about this –
The question/issue I’d love you to cover in the session is advice on valuing rest and recuperation more. I struggle to value this as much as priority tasks on the ‘to do’ list. So thoughts on shifting mind set to value and prioritise rest and relaxation as much as important jobs. I’m very organised and great with making lists and prioritising tasks, so very productive with my time. But how to see rest and relaxation as ‘productive’?!
Acknowledging this is an issue is of course a great start, but any advice appreciated 🙂
yessss thanks Kate – we will be covering this for sure 🙂
Kirsten – thanks so much for confirming that yes, you’ll be covering this one.
That’s the question I was hoping to ask, just phrased better. Thank you 🙂
ha. yay.
How to give any time/attention/energy to self care in the context of challenging and competing priorities: caring for family members with mental health/physical health challenges, aging family members with complex needs that will only increase with time, our own health issues etc. These are big, complex themes and making use of Carer Gateway and other services is essential, but hoping this discussion takes into account the many challenges that so many of us are juggling as we try to keep our heads above water as well as living a life that doesn’t trash the planet quite as much as the… Read more »
yes. It’s a really bit part of it, hey? Thank you Caz, we’ll definitely be discussing this.
Another topic I’d love to hear people chat about is Budgeting and spending through a permaculture lens! how to be frugal so we can work less as parents but still being able to afford good organic food and ‘the more eco friendly’ house things is a hard juggle! Is there a process of auditing what’s necessary and unnecessary that someone has done before? Is there a template or framework someone has used for budgeting? Perhaps commonly used items that are actually easy to ditch or have cheap alternatives of! A new positive lens to view finances through so it doesn’t… Read more »
I’d love to hear advice on how to learn to cope with energy diminishing through ageing please. I often start the day with ambitions that I can’t realise: it is very frustrating & disappointing to run out of oomph by the afternoon
Yes! I’ve been thinking along the same lines, Francesca. As an ‘aging’ person with a continuing passion, a decreasing supply of energy, and an increasing level of disability, I struggle to maintain the demands of the simple permaculture layout I have in place. Surely I can’t just give up.
good points Meron, thank you, yes we’ll chat about this for sure 🙂
I’m in a similar boat……I’ve been doing all the good life organic living thing since the 70’s, and now have a large veg garden, orchard, chooks, and all the bottling, drying equipment…..and it all looks like way too much work now. I want to downsize the workload, and have no idea how to prioritise and choose what’s the most important to keep doing, and also find more rest…
Thank you Chel! 🙂
hey Francesca – yes!
Hi Kristen. I’m carer of my daughter , juggling work and single person responsibilities. Love the question about managing my garden whilst getting older and finding more joy there rather than ticking off the jobs list
Heya georgina – yessss. absolutely!
Hi – I’d love to hear about how you can tap into local plants/ trees to help pollinate your own/ trees to save garden space/ resources/ maintenance, e.g. if I have one pear tree and need another to bear fruit, and the community garden 500m up the road has one, do I need the second pear tree? If not, and I don’t feel the need to have two pear trees, then I can apply that space for other garden purposes. Thanks so much for the opportunity to ask questions.
nice one Simona, thank you!
A tricky thing for me is how to prioritise when there are so many worthy things (outside of my home & family) needing support – whether it’s extended family needing help, community activities, activism – all entirely worthy and aligned with my values. When is it actually more energising to get out there and do something, vs rest? How do we figure out when to rest and when to act? How can one say no (and feel ok about it) to something that you really feel needs doing (“should” be done / is worthy of doing), but you don’t have… Read more »
yes to all of this, Kate 🙂
Here is my question: How to concentrate on what is truly essential? I am guessing that there will be a lot of people attending that, like me, are feeling like there is no way to get everything that is necessary done. Attempting to live the “simple life” requires doing more things ourselves rather than outsourcing to appliances and distant people, so the fact will not go away that doing things the way we want to will take huge amounts of time. So, I guess I am interested in how to develop an attitude/mentality that really allows me to let go… Read more »
thank you Shannon 🙂 – yes to this!
I have a large family, kids activities, part time work and my partner is a busy farmer. I am finding it challenging how to manage my day to day routines/ to do list without being completely overwhelmed.I find spending time in the garden means the house gets neglected and vice versa! Any tips appreciated!
thank you Fiona 🙂
This sounds like such a beautiful worthwhile exploration – thank you for offering it freely. My challenge as the ageing parent of a neuro-diverse young adult is around learning how to find community engagement that doesn’t come with assumptions about capacity. We’ve tried joining local permie/nature-focused group activities but they require us to be more physically able than our bodies can manage, and they don’t seem to cater to helping connect newbies/ awkward individuals. We both go home feeling less connected to community than ever.
yessss thank you for this question Lorraine 🙂
Hello! I would be interested in thoughts and discussion surrounding the role and value of social media in sustainable living, particularly in establishing and fostering meaningful connections with others. I personally do not engage with posts on socials but do tend to scroll often and find it helpful to gain inspiration for my interests. There’s a lot of ‘put the phone down and be present’ but on the flipside there are many benefits to it too and wonder if/how others manage their love-hate relationship with social media to enrich their lives. Not sure what my question is exactly but just… Read more »
thank you Sarah! 🙂
Thank you so much for making this free and accessible. Like others, for various reasons I’m time and spoons poor.
I have dreams of a garden and start projects only to fall over and the project be left! Keen for advice on garden design for easy maintenance gardens that can cope when I can’t!
Same question for other permaculture tasks-my poor sourdough starter 😱
Looking forward to this and thank you
thank you CJ 🙂
As a farmer, (regenerative farming with 800 chickens,100tukreys,15+goats,& 5 guardian dogs) in electric fences mostly…) I’m up at 6 am, out the door by 6:30, and at the farm or running errands until dark or 8pm (whichever is later), when I turn to head home. I pick up food when/ where I can and also am caring for 2 parents who now need more support than ever- one physically (becoming home bound) & one mentally ( progressing alzheimers). Good news. – they are only 10 mins from my farm… I pick up my dad each morning ( cognitive decline) and… Read more »
Thank you Alexandra! Feeling this one 🙂
Aside from working myself to the bone, something I can find challenging is caring for animals. We keep chickens, ducks, geese, two cows and two dogs on our property. I am firmly of the opinion that their welfare is more important than mine as it is my responsibility to make sure they are happy and healthy. The upside is that i have happy and healthy animals, the downside is that i probably put too much pressure on myself. I doubt there is a silver bullet here so this is probably more of a comment than a question. I put a… Read more »
Great. Thanks, Simon
Looking forward to tonight. Hoping I’m not too busy.
How do I work in change in my days and weeks? I thrive on routine but find it hard to keep. There seems to be something else that needs to be done. I leave my routine for some other work or reason and then find it difficult to return.
How to I change and remain productive ( or whatever else I would like my life to be.
great – Thank you, Paula 🙂
I don’t seem to have received a link to join the conversation this evening.
Hiya Pam – hmm. You should have received an email 1 hour before and also 15 mins before – the domain will come from demio (which is the webinar software) – plz check? And if not, plz sign up again, and I hope that works for you 🙂
Bummed I missed this. I hope you offer it again! I’ll keep an eye out. Thank you!
the recording will end up somewhere I’m sure 🙂