We want the Holistic Orchard site at Milkwood Farm to be super productive, beautiful and also accessible – we’re establishing this orchard on a slope just below the Tiny House (and irrigating it with grey water) so we’ll be visiting it regularly. And as I’ve mentioned, well designed paths can define and enhance a forest…
DetailsAt Milkwood, we spend the majority of our time focusing on positivistic strategies for an uncertain future. This is mostly because the other way of looking at the future has a big flashing ‘here be dragons’ sign on it. Like everyone else, we know what’s happening out there in the big wide world. We know…
DetailsThe Holistic Orchard site is now officially ‘tractored’. Our family of pigs have done a sterling job of turning this site from wonky pasture into well-plowed and manured soil. Next up at the orchard site, we’re planting a green manure seedmix to fix nitrogen, generate lush biomass and generally ‘hold the space’ back from opportunistic weeds until…
DetailsAll around Milkwood are patches of dry-sclerophyll eucalypt forest. Variously called ‘goat country’ or other less attractive names, this type of forest is in a stagnant phase due to poor land use over the last 150 years. Can you rehabilitate it into useful, productive land? Sure you can! While also generating plenty of useful material for…
DetailsSo who would like a copy of this fabulous book? It’s one of the favourites of our permaculture library, and also the textbook we give out to students at our Intro to Permaculture courses. The reason for choosing this as our introductory textbook is simple: it’s a great introduction to permaculture theory and practice. It’s…
DetailsRecently Nick was lucky enough to hang out with David Holmgren for a couple of days at Melliodora, the superb small-acre permaculture site that David has established with his partner Su Dennett in Hepburn Springs, Victoria. Being in the thick of a super-productive, comfortable and energy efficient permaculture system at harvest time was inspiring, to…
DetailsI feel a little bit guilty about this. I am a committed Vacola preserver, like my mother before me, and her mother before her. We don’t can, we preserve. What is this pressure canning thing anyway? Autumn is about preserving the harvest. Autumn contains many large and bubbling vacola units, and results in beautiful preserved fruit and…
DetailsNo room to grow? Your options for vertical gardens are expanding by the day. Some are big, and some are small, some blend in, and some stand out. Like this one. Here’s a funky little home growing project by the crew behind Calanthe Artisian Loft, a homestay in Melaka, Malaysia…
DetailsThe act of mushroom foraging is a treasure hunt combined with meditation. You go tramping through the forest, focussed on the ground beneath your feet, and regularly pause to give thanks (and pick a mushroom or three). The wind is above, moving through the trees, it’s oh so quiet, and all there is in the…
DetailsNearly time for our next Intro to Permaculture course! It’s coming up fast on the 13 – 14 April in Sydney. Nick teaches this course as a two day intensive that aims to give students a solid grounding in permaculture theory as applies to the everyday. It’s all about taking the big ideas, concepts and advantages…
DetailsWhat to cook, right now! Last week we held a Masterclass down at Allsun Farm in Gundaroo, and the marvellous Olivier Sofo did the cooking. Using primarily ingredients from Allsun Farm, Liv had the class in raptures and yes, recipes were promised. In the interests of stacking functions, we thought you might like these excellent…
DetailsAshar Fox is 4 this week, which I guess means that Milkwood Permaculture is also officially 4 as well. Though we started Milkwood just over 6 years back, it was Ashar’s birth that woke me up. Something went click or snap at that point, and I switched from ‘hey, living in the country is kinda…
DetailsThe other day Tim Malfroy, our mate and esteemed Warré beekeeper, came over to talk bees and check the Milkwood hives. We had hoped to split our two Warré hives into four colonies this season, but it looks like we’re sitting on that idea now. Why? Erratic flowering patterns – the eucalypts around here are…
DetailsThe Milkwood newsletter is an occasional publication that’s a treasure trove of writings, free DIY guides, gardening tips, permaculture hacks, special newsletter-only posts and giveaways, and lots, lots more…