Reciprocating roof roundhouses are pretty darn cool. They look gorgeous and they are a very good way to quickly make a strong structure with simple, available materials, the right knowledge and a bunch of willing hands. We’ve been researching reciprocating roof structures, but hadn’t as yet had a chance to build one. Luckily Harris has…
DetailsWe’ve just finished up our Spring Permaculture Design Certificate here at Milkwood Farm, and I thought I’d share some of the (yet again) truly impressive design work that came out of it. Some great permaculture designs for both urban and rural systems. One of the Spring PDC students described their new understanding of permaculture as:…
DetailsSo we’re into year 2 of community-scale tomato production. Last year the tomato yield was respectable, hailstorms and fruit fly notwithstanding. This year, we’re trying to hone our technique a little in terms of infrastructure, as well as planning to preserve the harvest while preserving our sanity.
DetailsYes, I do realise that is a big call, because potato salads can get pretty good. Whether it was the combo of 100% home-grown veggies or the home-made ricotta on top, i don’t care. This is the most rocking potato salad I’ve tasted. And created by Rose Newberry, who we’re lucky enough to have at…
DetailsFollowing on from designing a microforest garden recently, it was time to realise the design! Harris led the charge, helped by forest garden interns Minoru and Kelly, as well as all the students of the forest garden design course. This micro forest garden was to be established on a very compacted piece of ground that…
DetailsIn the spirit of using small and slow solutions (with large effects on gross colony happiness), Tim Malfroy has recently modified his design for quilt boxes on his Warré hives, and I’m liking his latest update. The quilt box on a Warré hive is a simple aspect that makes a big difference to the hive’s…
DetailsThis week has been all about vegetables, forest garden establishment and permaculture design. And ferment, as always. In between I snuck in a trip to Allsun Farm and discovered the delights of Old Mill Road Farm at Moruya…
Here’s another of Floyd’s aquaponics systems that have been designed to merge economy with beauty and food production, using mostly recycled materials. This system was made for a Darwin Cafe, to help create a customer-friendly courtyard that was serviceable yet green with the trickling sound of water, all the while producing fresh herbs for the…
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Figuring out the puzzle of successful pastured pigs has been interesting, but luckily we’ve got excellent mentors like Joel Salatin to help us along the way. One technique Joel explained to us during his visit last year is how he trains his piglets to ‘respect the fence’ at an early age so you’re not chasing…
DetailsRose has moved into the Earthbag Dome at Milkwood Farm and we can now report that it works. There’s the woodstove to stoke up on cold nights, and the rest of the time it’s a very quiet, very temperature-stable bedroom, with only slight hobbit connotations. One of the things about this earthdome is that it’s…
DetailsThis week at Milkwood Farm we’re in full swing with our spring Permaculture Design Certificate, but of course there’s plenty else going on. Our season’s worth of tomatoes are all in the ground, the lower dam wall is being prepped for pumpkin growing (with sheep) and there’s biochar on the boil…
I just wanted to flag something at this point in Milkwood Farm’s development, regarding food. You know, those beautiful shots we share of honeycomb on sourdough scones, home-cured bacon and fresh rainbow radishes. They look nice, don’t they? and they are. They really are. Feeding crew and students amazing food, grown and cooked with love,…
DetailsUrban forest gardens and food forests are definitely a part of our future cities – they have to be. We think every backyard should have a patch dedicated to perennial crops which interrelate as a stable and resilient system, while providing food, fruit and herbs for the household, hence our upcoming Urban Forest Garden workshop:…
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