Read issue 6 as a flipbook

What can we do to help our teens become the sustainable innovators and guides that the planet needs? More so than ever before, young people need positive opportunities to escape and explore, to move from talking and watching to doing.

Eight years ago we bought a dilapidated 1940s Californian bungalow in Melbourne’s inner northern suburbs. It was in a semi-derelict state, had a heritage overlay and flood level restrictions, and was on a long, narrow block. However, the site was extremely special, and backed onto…

Having chickens in your vegie garden can be a disaster. Most chicken owners would have experienced the heartbreaking disappointment of chickens getting into freshly planted garden beds, full of next season’s seedlings, and destroying the lot in a matter of hours.

We were inspired to build a tiny house out of necessity, to have our own space. We’d left the city in search of a more sustainable lifestyle, and for about a year we lived between a tent, the back of our car and in a…

The perfect scrub for gardeners, crafters and anyone whose hands get rough treatment and need a good scrubbing.

Five modern-day hunter-gatherers share their passion for eating from the wild

aterials. Making Boomerang Bags with your community is a great way to participate in a national initiative on a local level.

If you’ve studied, read or participated in any permaculture- related activities in Australia (or far beyond), then you’ll be aware of Melliodora, the outstanding domestic-scale permaculture demonstration site situated in the village of Hepburn, Victoria.

Whether you’re thinking of becoming an owner-builder or retrofitting your home, you might be wondering which building materials will ensure an effective, beautiful and natural home. Some important factors to consider are: which resources are available to you locally (both on your property and in…

Western societies have been enthralled by technology since the beginning of the industrial revolution. From mechanised looms to 3D printers, technology has lifted people out of poverty, increased life expectancy, freed us from menial work, reduced pain and suffering, and helped us to see the…

If you want very hardy, impressive chickens for your system or backyard, then the Australian Game or Australian Pit Game breeds are definitely worth considering.

There comes a moment in every season when you realise you just can’t eat any more radishes … or cucumbers … or pumpkins … When your friends just won’t accept any more boxes of zucchinis, silently left on their doorstep. We’ve all been there –…

Anyone interested in edible gardening tends to grow vegetables, but have you ever considered growing edible flowers?

In 1988 Bill Mollison stood on top of a swale at Crystal Waters Eco Village and declared: ‘Permaculturists want to be property developers’. While the job description for a property developer might conjure up images of housing market bubbles, and terribly-designed boxes squeezed onto ever-diminishing…

Several years ago I coined the term ‘frugal hedonism’, partly railing against the assumption – of more mainstream friends – that a life of gleaning, gardening, hitchhiking and op shopping was part of a grey and dismal martyrdom endured for the planet’s sake. But I…

On 25 April 2015 a massive earthquake struck Nepal, affecting the country and its people deeply. There was a series of earthquakes over several days, with the most devastating one reaching 7.8 on the Richter scale. As well as numerous small tremors, a further large…

Most of our household energy requirements come in the form of space heating, water heating or cooking, with these making up a large percentage of our monthly bill. Rocket stoves are an example of appropriate technology which can cover all of those needs, cost you…

The vast majority of gardening books, and nurseries, will tell you to buy grafted fruit and nut trees. Although grafted trees play an important role in permaculture systems, in many cases seedling trees may be a better option. Fruit and nut trees grown from seed…

Julie Firth has created a permaculture oasis near Geraldton, Western Australia. Although not a true desert, the area clearly has a dryland climate, with annual rainfall as low as 200 mm during drought years, summer temperatures reaching well over 40 °C and relentless wind gusts…

This is a pretty easy project that would suit a beginner, though it will be easier if you already have some sewing experience.

Mustard greens Brassica juncea are a little-known leafy vegetable, typically grown over winter as they are quite frost-tolerant. They tolerate a wide range of growing conditions, and are easy to grow. Both leaves and flowers may be used raw in salads or cooked like spinach…

Never Ending Food is a permaculture demonstration and education organisation working to help address malnutrition holistically, improve children’s access to healthy food and promote food sovereignty. It’s led by Stacia Nordin (a dietician) and Kristof Nordin (a social worker) who have been in Malawi since…

Photo by Patrick Jones Wild radish Raphanus raphanistrum is a valuable winter and spring vegetable, in the brassica family. Whether the plant is native to the Mediterranean area or Asia is disputed, but it is now a globalised wild food that is loved by foragers…

Thank you to all the parents that sent in photos of their kids in the garden and with home grown produce. Each month we publish the best photo in our enewsletter and we choose the best to appear here and win a prize.

It was a younger Phil Gall, writing for Source in 1971, who set out into Victoria’s East Gippsland to report on a monumental natural farming conference. He came back with a prophetic glimpse into holistic agriculture that informs his design work today.

Unlike western gardening tools, the Aussie Ho Mi is an ergonomic hand-held hoe which uses a more comfortable and natural action and is based on a traditional Korean design.

Pumpkins need plenty of water and have a high nutrient requirement. Otherwise they are very low maintenance and easy to grow. They can be planted into a pocket of compost, or mulched heavily. Watering is best done direct to the soil as wet leaves can…

Australia’s Graduate Certificate in Permaculture Design at CQUniversity provides practical responses to the growing global need to adapt sustainably to social and environmental changes.

The slow movements’ gradual transformation of every facet of our lives has (unhurriedly) extended itself to the rabid international fast-fashion industry. While the idea of ‘fashion’ might seem frivolous to those of us who walk the path of permaculture, the way we clad ourselves can…