Mid summer is a relative term. Where we are, high in the hills, Spring comes late according the calendar, but at just the right time according to our land. And right now, it’s mid summer. In the Milkwood market garden and all around us. The tomatoes are everywhere, the cucumbers are going nuts, the beans…
Justine and her family live in inner-suburban Sydney. They have a small yard. And her garden grows fun, food and fish… right next to the cubby house. In the midst of Justine’s kids play area is a robust, family friendly, downright gorgeous aquaponics system, which cycles water through a fish pond and a vegetable bed…
Sadly a ‘pig tractor’ as we know it is not a pig in a jaunty hat driving a little red tractor. But the reality is even better. It’s an excellent low-energy, high return way of preparing ground for a new garden or an orchard: removing all grass, roots and weeds with the aid of a…
Milkwood are proud to announce Dave Jacke is coming to Australia in March to share his extensive knowledge in designing both urban and rural regenerative food, fiber and community systems, using forest ecologies as a model. This is a special chance to learn from a world leading permaculturalist and forest ecology designer, thinker and teacher.…
Bit of a golden opportunity, this. Boxgum Grazing is looking for a paid farm hand near Young in NSW. And Boxgum Grazing happens to be a darn fine family-run, holistically managed, pastured beef and pork operation, who want to pass their knowledge on as part of it all. Excited yet? The story goes that when…
It was bound to happen. The beautiful insanity that is tomato season on a small farm. Big ones, little ones, fat ones, skinny ones. We’re eating them with breakfast and we’re eating them with dinner. Plenty of preserving happening, too. This year, it’s passata, diced tomatoes and roast tomatoes in the vacola preserving jars. Experiments…
“Afristar Foundation utilises Permaculture design systems as the primary methodology of our community development strategy. Permaculture is an optimistic, action-oriented approach to the environmental, energy, food, water and climate crisis the world is currently facing. Its adaptibility and emphasis on meeting human needs means that it can be utilised in every climatic and cultural zone.…
Hey everyone, just a quick note that Milkwood is now on Instagram, and we’re snappin’ away. There’s a lot that goes on at Milkwood these days and often moments that I don’t have the time to squeeze into a blog get captured in a single picture only. We’re at instagram.com/milkwood_permaculture. Join us for daily thrills,…
The delights of the country show are many. For me, though, it’s all about the vegetables. Specifically the vegetables dressed as animals, or people. All the rest of pales in comparison. Last week I was lucky enough to catch the Kiama show, south of Sydney. Kiama is where we’ll be hosting Joel Salatin’s upcoming Masterclasses,…
Bees deserve more study than they get, seems to me. No matter if you’re a budding beekeeper or just a responsible citizen, these ladies and their ongoing work are responsible for one in every three bites of food we eat. They deserve both our joyful respect and a deeper understanding. The two books above are…
When we moved in to the tiny house last August, our design plans for our edible courtyard were vast, and immediate. It would be a riot of color and flavor in no time – citrus trees ripening in the microclimate of the east-facing gabion wall, feasts of greens, herbs everywhere, scenting the air as pollinators…
Wow what a January. Thank you to all the amazing Permaculture Design Course students that joined us at Milkwood Farm for two weeks of Permaculture design training, and the hottest January in Australia on record. It was all happening at Milkwood Farm! Yes the heat was intense. But because of our elevation, we never saw…
The Urban Farming Guidebook is a free pdf resource for helping local governments to plan the growing of food in their cities. Given that we’re all about bottom-up action, we feel that it’s best placed in the hands of potential growers, so they can get on with creating local food systems! And that means you.…
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