FRESH Movie Screening: Sydney May 28th
Community Projects, Consumerism, DVDs/Books, News, Social Gatherings, Society, Village Development — by Milkwood Permaculture May 13, 2010
Milkwood is hosting a screening of new documentary FRESH at 7pm on Friday, May 28th, at Alexandria Park Community Center in Sydney. The screening is free and everyone’s welcome. Directions to the venue are here.
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Holistic Management: Herbivores, Hats, and Hope
Commercial Farm Projects, Livestock, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Soil Conservation — by Milkwood Permaculture May 7, 2010
Image by Granny Buttons
Grazing animals bad, undisturbed grass good. That’s how we personally thought regeneration worked, five years ago. And we were not alone. You could be forgiven for thinking that any and all grazing animals (particularly of the introduced kind) have no role whatsoever to play in regenerating pastures, soils and land, simply because we know how much damage badly-managed grazing and animal management can do. And we as a society do love a good bit of polarity, especially when it comes to nature. Perhaps it’s our quest for simplicity. At the same time, we inherently know that an ecosystem cannot be simplified down to a set of polar opposites.
Comments (7)2010 Regenerative Agriculture Workshop Series
Courses/Workshops — by Milkwood Permaculture
Join Kirk Gadzia as he tours Australia & New Zealand exclusively with the 2010 Regenerative Agriculture Workshop Series presenting a far-reaching series of Holistic Management workshops.
This workshop focuses on improving soil health and the biodiversity of rangelands and pastures, increasing grazing and wildlife capacity, increasing annual profits and enhancing livelihoods. Optimal rainfall usage, methods of reversing desertification, increasing food and water security and enhancing family relationships.
Comments (0)The Edible Urban
Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Consumerism, Economics, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development, peak oil — by Milkwood Permaculture April 1, 2010
When I lived in the city, I always loved the idea of a microfarm. In my head, a microfarm was a plot of land with a footprint the size of a city terrace which was simultaneously blooming with flowers and vegetables, honking with geese, clucking with chickens and covered in trailing greenery and mulch, with someone driving a wheelbarrow through the plot, delivering hay to some minature cows while a small but sturdy windmill creaks overhead.
Comments (2)Milkwood Runs Urban Permaculture Design Course
Courses/Workshops, Urban Projects — by Milkwood Permaculture
Nick Ritar teaching an Urban Permaculture course in Sydney last summer
Designing Permaculture into inner-city environments is, in some ways, taking things to the heart of the matter. Our cities are so often synonymous with waste; wasted water, wasted food, wasted energy. But it doesn’t have to be this way – abundance and productivity is entirely possible within city environments – as always, it comes back to good design, and the energy to see things through.
So this Winter we’ll be running an Urban Permaculture Design Course which will be quite a treat: a part-time Urban PDC with a 12-day, one day per week format, in the centre of Sydney starting May 29th 2010.
Comments (1)The Rocket Powered Shower
Building, Conservation, Energy Systems, Waste Systems & Recycling, Waste Water — by Milkwood Permaculture September 1, 2009
Plan for our Rocket-Powered hot water system for the Basecamp shower + bath block
Spending all your day gathering sticks for a hot shower is just no fun. No fun at all. Mind you, anything that results in a hot shower (or even better, a hot bath) has to be considered a priority at Milkwood. So when Nick finished converting the old ‘Sunbeam Sheep Shower’ structure (basically a new-fangled sheepdip) to a shower block with a little wood-fired, home-made firebox thingamy to heat the water for the shower and the bath, that’s what we did. Lots of stick-gathering.
The romance of wood-fired hot water quickly wears thin, however, if your water-heating system is not terribly efficient. Because this means the system requires a fair deal of wood to heat the water, which therefore releases a corresponding amount of CO2. And also results in lots of stick gathering. So Nick went searching for the most super-efficient, super-simple and super-funky heating system idea he could find, which could then be converted to a water heating system. And thus we discovered the glory that is the Rocket Mass Heater.
Comments (9)Milkwood Permaculture – PDC (FarmReady Approved), October 4 – 17, 2009
Courses/Workshops — by Milkwood Permaculture
Who: Taught by Nick Ritar of Milkwood Permaculture
When: October 4-17, 2009
Where: Mudgee, central western NSW, Australia
Come along and do your PDC at Milkwood Farm, a Permaculture Demonstration Site in the making in the rugged hills of outback NSW. This course is hosted by Milkwood’s Nick Ritar and Kirsten Bradley, two young Permaculturalists busy making a difference in Australia’s rural landscape.
A full course re-imbursement is available for Australian farmers, land managers and their families through the FarmReady subsidy scheme.
Nick Ritar has previously taught Permaculture courses with Geoff Lawton and Darren Doherty, and now brings a fresh and passionate perspective to Milkwood Permaculture’s on-farm courses.
The Permaculture Design Certificate is considered by many to be the strongest foundation course available to begin ’skilling up’ for a world in flux. An intensive, on-farm course – theory and practical experience as a comprehensive introduction to Permaculture Design.
Click here for full details, and to book.
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