Enokitake are a delicious wild mushroom that’s a great addition to any food growing system, so we were excited to find them growing unannounced in the black currant patch at Melliodora. Time to encourage and cultivate! Talk about stacking functions. … Continued
When street trees are also highly delicious. Bring on the lilli pilly everything. Where we live on the south coast of NSW, lilli pilli’s are just about everywhere – they’re up in the rainforest (where they’ve always been – they’re … Continued
This place, Melliodora. A world renowned permaculture homestead, full of nut, fruit and forage trees, geese, goats, berries, vegetables, mudbrick homes and lives worth living. If you have studied, read or participated in any Permaculture-type doings and learnings in Australia, … Continued
The act of gleaning – taking the leftovers of a crop from the field, once the harvesters had been through – is an age old tradition. In times gone by in some agricultural societies, it has been an enshrined right – that after … Continued
Next to my primary school, down by the railway track, there is a mulberry tree. It’s been there since before I started kindergarten. I think it was self-seeded, but it’s difficult to say – the street verge just there has since … Continued
Cascara is a drink made from the outer berry of a coffee bean – a byproduct of the coffee harvest, and a tasty drink unto itself, as we’ve recently learned. Coffee trees are an unlikely but awesome backyard plant that can be … Continued
Here’s how we built a bunch of mobile micro forest gardens for the 107 Rooftop Garden – complete with wicking beds. Our challenge with this design was to build tree planters that could move around to make space when needed, while providing … Continued
It’s the kind of thing you might dream as a kid to find in a back lane – a tree loaded with bean-like pods full of sweet, fluffy ice-cream-ish tasting fruit. And guess what? They exist! Behold the awesomeness of the … Continued
Inspiration takes many forms, but a thriving backyard ecosystem like Happy Earth has got to be pretty high up on our list. Ali + Rich have created this edible suburban oasis over the last 8 years, on a sloping block in … Continued
Those of you who have been around these parts for a while might remember a review we did a few years back of one of permaculture’s essential reads, Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture by J. Russell Smith. Some say it … Continued
Choosing the right plant for the right spot, working with its behaviours and getting it to cooperate with others can be a little difficult at times. Before you go getting yourself a little too lost in the world of plants … Continued
Growing shiitakes on logs is a great idea for any backyard or small farm food system. Partly because after the burst of work needed at the start, you don’t need to think about them for a fair while, until they’re … Continued
Last Autumn we hosted a Forest Garden Design Intensive with Dave Jacke at Milkwood Farm. It was a truly awesome experience, and it changed the way many of us at Milkwood (and beyond) approach permaculture design education, and permaculture design process. … Continued
