The house is a passive solar design, meaning no heating/air con bills! It utilises the direction of the sun’s energy to maintain certain temperatures. The back of the house is South facing with lots of windows allowing maximum light. In the Summer, the doors, windows and blinds are closed during the day, and opened at night. This means that the house stays cool when it’s baking outside, and vice versa. The process can then be reversed during the winter. The windows allow the maximum amount of light in through. Also, the use of plants in and outside the greenhouse area can also help to adjust/maintain temperatures through growing and cutting back. The house is made from locally produced mud bricks, which are then sealed with PVA to prevent them from going dusty. The wood used ... read more

We had a great chat with David yesterday, about relationships. The conversation came about by me enquiring about the idea of applying Permaculture to relationships. I had been thinking about this idea for a while, as I was hoping to not repeat the same painful lessons learnt in my last relationship. I was speculating that by applying the ethos of Permaculture to my new relationship, I’d have a higher chance of sustaining it. But.. David disagreed (which I wasn’t expecting); maybe I hadn’t thought this through properly. From his experience, ‘alternative relationships’ (meaning a couple leading an alternative type lifestyle?) often didn’t last as long as conventional ones. There could be a number of reasons for this, but some of the ones we discussed were; the stresses and strains brought about by living with less. That ... read more

I recently discovered a great book called ‘Futures by Design, The Practice of Ecological Planning. It is a book for anyone who is interested in self-reliance, self-government, improved quality of life, and wise use of technology, social justice, and ecological health. It brings together the thoughts and experience of a remarkable group of social change activists. I found this extract particularly relevant: ‘In Ladakh I have had the privilege to experience another, saner way of life and to see my own culture from the outside. I have lived in a society based on fundamentally different principles and witnessed the impact of the modern world on that culture. When I arrived as one the first outsiders in several decades, Ladakh was still essentially unaffected by the West. But change came swiftly. The collision between the two cultures ... read more

So Dee and I said our goodbye’s to Sye, Marta, & Melbourne and made our way to Auckland. New Zealand has always interested me, especially from an environmental point of view. They appeared to be pretty good on that front, and I’d always heard that the scenery was jaw dropping. We had made the plan to hire a campervan and do a Permaculture Trail (this may not have been the most environmental choice I know, but unfortunately it was the most sensible option due to money and time constraints (that old chestnut eh? Yes yes.. I’m going to carbon hell, with the rest of yA ;c). We decided to go North first, then see how far South we could get. We headed for The Bay of Islands first (through one tree point, Paihia, KeriKeri, Cooper’s ... read more

Those familiar with Permaculture will know of a man called David Holmgren: http://www.holmgren.com.au David, along with Bill Mollison (another well known name in Permaculture circles) co-originated the concept of Permaculture back in the 70s. David and Su (his partner), and their son Oliver live and work at their beautiful homestead in Hepburn Springs near Daylesford. It’s about an hour and a half’s drive NW from Melbourne. It’s sOOoo gorgeous here. David, Su and Oliver have been extremely welcoming, and we pretty much felt like we were part of the family from day one. Their place is spectacular, as you would imagine to be. Nearly all of the food consumed here comes from the land. The fruit, veggies, nuts, meat, corn, goats cheese, honey, herbs, tea etc.. apart from they buy their wheat grain and a few ... read more