Djanbung Gardens Permaculture Open Day, Saturday June 11, 2016, 10am-4pm A fun filled day of food, tours, presentations and workshops and the opportunity to explore the gardens of the world-class Permaculture centre, Djanbung Gardens, will be held Saturday June 11, 10am-4pm. This year’s theme ‘Growing Our Future’ is focused on sharing practical skills and solutions …
13
Mar
Mar
Cassava flour is easy to make with basic kitchen equipment. It’s gluten free for those with celiac problems. I use it for making pancakes, slices and cookies, and mix it (half/half) with other flours for making breads or pizza dough. Cassava, also known as Tapioca or Manioc, is an important staple crop for many populations …
30
Jan
Jan
Robyn Francis will be teaching a PDC, Permaculture Aid course and Urban Permaculture seminar in Hong Kong, March-April 2016. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn with one of permaculture’s leading practitioners and trainers. The training series is being organised by Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, Sustainable Living and Agriculture Department. The PDC and Permaculture …
28
Dec
Dec
Sunshine Ecovillage in Anji, Huzhou, inland from Shanghai, hosted China’s first major ecovillage conference in October, 2015. I was invited to be a keynote speaker by one of the organising team, Jiang, who participated in the Shenzhen PDC in 2014 and joined us for the final days of the 2015 PDC. He insisted that I …
28
Dec
Dec
Meadows – a treasure trove of biodiversity The herb meadows were once an essential component of traditional farming systems in Bavaria and other parts of Europe. I lived in rural Bavaria (Southern Germany) for three years in the mid 1970s, and was fascinated by the sheer biodiversity of herbs, grasses, insects and fungi of the …
12
Nov
Nov
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 …
24
Aug
Aug
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 …
20
Aug
Aug
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 …
19
Aug
Aug
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 …
16
May
May
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 …