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 …
One of the things that really strikes me in European cities is the number of bicycles and just how bike-friendly they are. People ride everywhere, there’s sensible bike lanes, not only on roads but through parks, and bikes can travel both directions in one-way streets. The green shady bike park below is one of several …
Landed in Frankfurt early this morning after a long grueling flight half way round the planet. All my bamboo* carbon credits for flying this year are consumed by this journey, but as with nearly all of my travels over the past 3 decades, this journey has a purpose and will hopefully sequester many times the …
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 …
Robyn Francis reports from teaching a PDC in Shenzhen, China, October 2014 It’s a concrete jungle here in Shenzhen, development on steroids, endless high rise towers at all stages of construction and occupation. Freeways, the persistent hum and honking of traffic and a haze that shrinks the horizon to a few blocks are all pervading. …
In April, 2014, PCA and Djanbung Gardens in cooperation with Earth Passengers of Taipei, hosted a group of twenty two Taiwanese for a ten day program visiting permaculture, sustainable and community projects in Nimbin and the Northern Rivers bioregion.
Margrit Kennedy passed away on Dec 29, 2013. She was one of the first generation of permaculture pioneers, and an important mentor and role model for me as a young permaculture teacher and designer in the 1980s. I write this in honour of her work and considerable influence in the formative years of the permaculture …
Robyn Francis and Melian Fertl, representing PCA and Djanbung Gardens, joined over 420 delegates from 47 countries converging in Cuba for the 11th International Permaculture Convention, November-December 2013. Robyn reports on the experience.
Janelle has returned from a trip through NSW where she had the opportunity to attend an evening presentation -at the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence (Eora Centre) at George St Redfern- by Dave Jacke , US Permaculture Teacher Designer and developer of an in depth Design system around Edible Forest Gardens. Milkwood Permaculture and Nick …
Wildlife is welcome here but not cats or dogs…. It was twenty years ago that I made the momentous decision to take on a 5 acre degraded cow pasture and restore it to biodiversity and abundance as a permaculture education centre and wildlife sanctuary. I remember sitting in the middle of that barren landscape in …