In honor of International Women’s Day 2012, we thought we’d pay tribute to just a couple of the amazing permaculture women we know. Some of them are well known, and some of them are not. But they are all fabulous, and they’re the tip of the iceberg. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to…
DetailsIt is with great excitement that Stephen recently calculated that we’ve officially grown over one tonne of nutrient dense, organic vegetables in our Market Garden! Whoohoo! Which is not bad for the first six months of our organic market garden project, with about 500 sq m under cultivation, on crappy soils in non-ideal conditions, and…
DetailsRecently Nick + I went to visit Ally and Rich (aka Happy Earth) who have created a truly amazing food forest garden in their suburban lot near Wollongong, NSW. It is a beautiful place of lushness, food, and fun. The thing I like most about Happy Earth is that Ally and Rich have transformed this…
DetailsGreywater is a resource that can be awesome if capitalized upon, especially on a farm with unpredictable rainfall. We’ve just finished a simple greywater system that we’re pretty darn happy with. Up at the woolshed we have two greywater sources: the washing machine, and the outside sink. Both these water sources provide pulses of water…
DetailsWe’re doing some serious (for us) tomato growing this year. And it’s all been going pretty well. We’ve figured out how to trellis those varieties that need it, kept the compost and biofertilizer up to them, and defended them from the dreaded 28 spot ladybeetles. So just as the romas were all ripening in quantity…
DetailsJoin us at Milkwood Farm for our annual Field Day on 1 April 2012. Come explore our fabulous small ‘beyond organic’ farm and education center, and sit down with us for a delicious lunch made with organic produce from our farm. Come learn about permaculture, growing organic food on a community scale, Warré beekeeping, natural…
DetailsDrying fruit is one of my favorite things. I love the versatility of dried apples and pears – so simple and yummy to munch on their own, yet so much fun to use in all sorts of ways in recipes year round. And this year we seem to have access to an unlimited supply of…
Details[wpvideo UFYkeID7] Warning! This post contains chook-talk. Not much of it, as I am not the resident chook fancier of Milkwood, but still a bit. In short, we have started breeding Blue Langshans, a heritage dual-purpose (ie good eggs and good eating) chickens, hopefully in quantity. Wish us luck.
DetailsI can now proudly report that the beetroot and radish kimchi has been a success. And it tastes delightful. Kimchi is normally a spicy cabbage-based Korean ferment, but Rose decided to get a little radical, and use what we had in season. Previously in Spring, Rose had tried making bok choi kimchi, which did work,…
DetailsJust a note that we’re running a part-time Permaculture Design Course in Sydney that starts on the weekend of the 17th March. It’s in a one day a week format (you chose from Saturday or Sunday class, no class on the Easter weekend), and it’s going to be great. This will be our third part-time…
DetailsHere come the potatoes! This is the first year we’ve grown them en-mass, and we are now (finally) starting to harvest. Duch creams, Ruby Lous, Nicloas…. mmm fresh organic potatoes roasted in our own olive oil and rosemary – om nom nom… This story starts with an encounter with a potato nerd (self proclaimed). His…
DetailsHere’s a great video of Craig Sponholtz explaining his guidelines for watershed restoration. As with much of permaculture design, it’s all about expanding the edges of fertility, and starting with what you have. Which, is the case of re-hydrating a landscape, is the wet spots! It’s important to have options for fixing erosion and repairing…
DetailsOk this is a downright divergent post, but what the hey – it’s Saturday. I just found a bunch of Hey Girl meme entries on the important things in life – beehives, seed catalogs and compost…
The 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…