They say that one of the many blessings of country life is that you appreciate the little things. Like clean air, water and food. And I do. I also VERY much appreciate our internet connection, now that we’ve finally got it (kind of) sorted. Our hidden valley is questionably blessed with being devoid of mobile…
DetailsWithin our gravity chicken run, we needed a way to feed the chickens up off the ground. Mainly so nothing would impede the gradual down-hill slump of mulch we’re hoping this overall design will provide. The answer? Recycled palettes and assorted fabulous junk.
Martin Crawford’s forest garden in Devon might not be in a biosphere anything like the climate at Milkwood Farm, but it’s a project that’s been an inspiration to me for a while, nonetheless. Martin’s forest garden is a poem of time and space and the seasons – or a big jumbly mess of green stuff,…
DetailsA quick plug for a lecture series called Talking Regenerative Agriculture that we’re running on 15-16 July at the Mudgee Small Farm Field Days. Two days of talks by farmers and folks doing amazing stuff in the realms of permaculture and regenerative agriculture! We’ve somehow convinced a very impressive lineup of doers and thinkers to…
DetailsI am pleased to say that our emergency measure of combining two Warré beehive colonies at Milkwood Farm seems to have worked. The two colonies have made friends, combined, and are now operating as one big family (or super organism, to be technical). Time to bed the new uber-colony down for winter, following one last…
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Where should I buy land? Where’s a good area? What should I be looking for in a landscape? This question is something that Nick gets asked a lot when he’s teaching and consulting, so we thought we’d ask Joel Salatin’s opinion while he was at our farm last Summer. Apparently we’re all in agreement with…
DetailsLast weekend we ran an Aquaponics workshop in the middle of a landfill site. But a landfill site with a difference. Kimbriki is a strange little valley on the north shore of Sydney that is at once apocalyptic and regenerative. It’s a landfill site, it’s a massive composting operation, and it’s a recycling center. With…
DetailsThe second week of our Winter 2011 Permaculture Design Certificate, we were lucky enough to have David Holmgren, co-originator of Permaculture, presenting for the whole day. I don’t think anyone will forget this day in a hurry. Apart from walking us through his 12 principles with elegance, enthusiasm and what is clearly an extremely deep…
DetailsLast Monday we arrived at a soggy sports field early in the morning. We had a trailer-load of lucerne hay, 6 fejoa trees, masses of herbs and cuttings and one thing on our minds. Permablitz. Would anyone else show up on such an unfriendly, rainy public holiday in winter? Unlikely. But in our heart of…
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Last summer, when Joel Salatin was at our farm, we asked him a question or two. The first one was: what’s your advice for young-uns who want to farm but don’t want to get into debt? You see, at Milkwood Farm we’re very committed to positive balances. Positive natural balances, and positive (if only slightly)…
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At Milkwood Farm we love both our rocket stove water heater and our mini rocket stove, but with winter taking hold I’m dreaming of new ideas, so I thought I’d review what else is out there. DIY rocket stove technology is exploding world-wide at the moment – here’s a couple of the treasures I’ve come…
DetailsWant to come and get your hands dirty while skilling-up for a future in permaculture and regenerative agriculture? Our Spring internships might be just the ticket! >> Spring internships: 12 Sept – 6 Dec at Milkwood Farm Big fat plug? Yes. But applications close on July 6th! And we think these internships are a downright…
DetailsWithin the Gravity Chicken Run, we needed a place for our chickens that was warm in winter and cool in summer. We also wanted it to be super easy to clean, cheap to build, and easy to keep our chickens healthy long term. So we came up with a design called the RawBale Chicken House.…
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