Permaculture in Shenzhen, China

In early October I made my third journey to the Chinese city of Shenzhen to teach a PDC with my wonderful Taiwanese colleague, Hui-i Chiang. This was the second full design course hosted by Taihua company at Wutong Island, which they intend to make an annual event. It was great to see how the site …

Wild Foraging in Iceland

wild harvest in Iceland - Robyn Francis

I’ve just been on a wild forage walk harvesting a salad for dinner tonight. This has become a daily joy since I arrived here in Iceland three days ago. On the bus journey from the airport into Reykjavik I noticed a lot of familiar plants growing on the roadside including Coltsfoot, Meadowsweet and Dandelions and …

Permaculture Student creates garden for Nimbin’s aged

Garden for the aged opening at Nimbin Community Centre

At Djanbung Gardens we actively look for opportunities for our students to gain real-life experience supporting community projects in Nimbin. Last year we heard through the village grapevine that the Nimbin Aged Care and Respite Service (NACRS) were needing help to make a garden for the aged. We got in touch and the project was …

Slow Food Movement: A Permacultural Digest

Slow Food Movement monitoring news: A digest of recent articles and publications on the Movement and how they relate to Permaculture compiled by Jorja Callow 07/ November 2014 What Slow Food can teach Clean Energy by Sonja van Renssen From Renssen’s time in Turin at the biennial Slow Food fair, she has made the conclusion …

WuTong Island, bringing nature back to the city

In one of China’s big industrial cities there’s an office block growing organic vegies for lunch on the rooftop. WuTong Island is an innovative commercial development in the city of Shenzhen, southern China, right next to Hong Kong. The WuTong Island project consists of 24 office blocks surrounding an artificial lake to collect the storm …

Water-saving Wicking Bed

wicking bed completed and planted

Wicking beds are raised garden beds with a water reservoir at the base made from pond liner filled with rocks and gravel. Moisture wicks up through the soil to feed the plant roots, thus little is lost to evaporation and plants are encouraged to send their roots down deep to tap into the water supply. …

Store your garlic for next year’s crop

Here are the basics for having a supply of garlic for vegetative propagation. The details I will be discussing is harvesting, processing/curing and storage. Get it right, and your home grown garlic will store for eight months or more. Please note: this information is based on the study of Elephant/Russian Garlic. Information may vary with different varieties. …

Australian Ethical – best international equities fund

Did you know that permaculture pioneered the ethical investments movement in Australia? Also permaculture inspired and supported the early formation of Australian Ethical, which recently (October 2014) was named the Best International Equities fund by the Australian Fund Manager Foundation. Australian Ethical beat finalists Perennial and Platinum, becoming the first ethical investment specialist to win …