Permaculture Design Certificate 2013 Update and Pics

Congratulations to all the new graduates from the 2013 Permaculture Design Certificate course. It was a huge 2 weeks full of knowledge and inspiration from our outstanding collection of South West teachers.

Here is one of the beautiful testimonials from a student and a collection of pics taken over the PDC

“Before doing this course I thought my life was already on a great path but after completing the PDC its even better! For me it has filled all the empty spaces and connected all the separate parts to form a way of life that is even more whole. Permaculture is beyond gardening,

I would recommend this course to anyone with even an inking of interest. You will find something that resonates with you, if not everything! The content of this course is invaluable. Thank you Fair Harvest for providing the opportunity.”

Large Scale grey water management with PB Foreman

In the garden with certified organic grower Bee Winfield from Merri Bee organics

Compost making at Burnside Organic Farm

Learning from the author of the well known “Permaculture Plants” book Jeff Nugent in a shady grove at his property

Making Native Microbe Seed with Harry Wykman

One of the many inspired, hands on sessions given by Jamie McCall from Burnside Organic Farm

Collecting Honey at Fair Harvest

Spinning freshly collected honey at Fair Harvest

Final designs

We will be setting the date for the 2014 PDC soon so stay tuned .To see more details our teachers and the general format of this course click here

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• I've bought some acid potting mix and 
• I will only water it with rain water and
•  it will be living in a wicking tub BUT 
• now I've found out I'll need to get another one for better pollination!

Introducing two great new teachers to our team.

Harry Wykman

Harry Wykman

Harry is passionate about moving into a life within ecological limits
— a low-energy life that is characterised by satisfying work and
harmonious, diverse communities of mutual assistance. This passion has
developed from an interest in permaculture. This interest began when
Harry read permaculture one and two at 18 years old.  Since then he
has been trying to become a gardener, designer and educator.  Harry
now has more than 10 years of gardening experience and lived in an
intentional community for 8 years. He has practiced permaculture
design thinking in community gardens, in Timor Leste, farming in the
UK and as the principle worker of a Perth-based edible landscaping
enterprise.  Harry now works for Perth City Farm where he is
responsible for intensive urban agriculture projects.

               and

Lucinda Giblett

Lucinda Giblett

A descendant of two pioneering farming families, Lucinda Giblett is a passionate steward of the land, speaker, writer and community volunteer

After university studies in communications, Lucinda travelled for several years before returning home to Manjimup. Her farther Harvey was embracing organic apple farming and this drew forth Lucinda’s desire to farm and her commitment to land stewardship.

As an answer to the question “how can we tuly live well?” Lucinda founded the charity “Stella Violets”. Named for her grandmothers, Stella Violets seeks to enrich local life, land and tradition.

Projects include converting a farm ute to fully electric power, making compost and biochar, nutrient cycling, preserving the harvest, recording local life stories, sharing wisdom ad growing beauty – both in our gardens and our lives.

Like to know more about Stellar, Violets Life Library, Living Museum and Gallery?  stellarviolets.org/connect

Lucinda and Harry will both be teaching on our 2013 PDC

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Fair Harvest PDC Interviews and Video

For a quick look at the farm and a chat with some teachers and students click play….

To find out more about our PDC, our teachers and how to sign up click here

Thanks again Blair for your hard work and wishing you all the best in making videos for healthy, sustainable, earth loving projects.

The post Fair Harvest PDC Interviews and Video appeared first on Fair Harvest.

Fantastic night guys! Fabulous food, great people, local produce …….and of course an awesome setting.

Congrats to the Fervor Team for putting on an amazing show and thanks to Blair for being there with his video equipment to catch it all on camera

The post Pop Up Restaurant in the Fair Harvest Barn with Fervor Food appeared first on Fair Harvest.

Such a great article written about us by Fran from the Uki Garden Club that we had to share……

A definite highlight of our visit to the Margaret River was a stop in at Fair Harvest. Fair Harvest is a permaculture farm located within Margaret River as mentioned in my Plot piece. Jodie and Do are passionate food growers who aim to inspire and enable people to grow their own produce. They host monthly swap meetings for locals and have recently renovated their old farm shed to provide an ideal venue for workshops and local events. On our arrival Jodie gave us a laminated card to read as we self-toured the farm. We started at the aquaponics bed and marvelled at the lush veges growing in it, and then moved onto the vege patch. Given that WA gets its rain in winter, the top 4 beds of the vege garden are irrigated in the summer while the rest of the garden is used for hardy perennials or winter annuals. The bathtubs dotted around the garden are home to hundreds of worms who work hard to convert the kitchen scraps into worm wee for fertilising the gardens. The citrus orchard is irrigated by the compost shower and is also home to the ducks, geese and chickens that do their bit by fertilising as they control the pests and mow the grass!

They also have a deciduous orchard with almonds, nectarines, apples, pears and other fruits which is netted to protect the fruit from the hungry parrots. I have never seen such healthy looking and laden apple and pear trees anywhere as I saw here.

Fair Harvest also offer B&B – with a difference – you get to stay in a wonderfully decked out tee pee set in amongst the gardens – complete with its own compost toilet and rainwater shower!

As we wandered back to the main area we passed the straw bale seating recently created during a workshop. Back inside we were lucky to enjoy freshly baked muffins with our coffee and have a yarn with Jodie and her family who had come for a visit to celebrate Jodie’s niece’s 3rd birthday. We left Fair Harvest inspired and reinvigorated, and thoroughly recommend a visit to anyone who is in the region. Find out more about Fair Harvest by visiting their website fairharvest.com.au.

Thanks Fran!

The post Fabulous Feedback!……..Uki Garden Club appeared first on Fair Harvest.

Mums and Kids learn about worm farming with Do

Cape to Cape Homeschooling Group Visits the Farm

kids writing labels for their seeds

Wow! It was so good having this enthusiastic, friendly attentive group visit us at the farm. The children ranged from toddlers to teenagers and were just a great group to test our kid skills on. After a solid hour of exploring the gardens, orchards and animals they were super ready to do something and we had  a propagation exercise ready.

The older kids learned about the role legumes play in the garden and the multiple ways they can be used before planting their seeds, while the younger ones stuck to the simple but satisfying activity of selecting, planting, labelling and watering in seeds.

To finish of a great morning everyone picnicked, played and drank cappuccinos before taking their little pots home to grow.

The post Cape to Cape Homeschooling Group Visits the Farm appeared first on Fair Harvest.

We’re all looking forward to a fantastic celebration of permaculture on International Permaculture Day, Sunday May 5th.  We’ll be having stalls and activities showcasing the best of local permie efforts. Talk with experts, be astounded by demos, buy some organic plants and after lunch enjoy a series of garden tours right nearby.

Join us from 9am at South Fremantle High school, Lefroy Rd, Beaconsfield. (That’s right! Same time and place as the regular markets).

http://www.permacultureday.org/event/permaculture-field-day-and-urban-permaculture-tour/

Compacting the compost (see the last system in the foreground)

Creating a Compost Shower

Over the last year we have been developing our Compost shower system. Based on the Jean Pain composting system it is simply uses  the heat energy created from decomposing organic material to create hot water for our outdoor shower.

coiling the polly pipe inside the compost

To create the ideal hot water compost we use %100 wood chips and ensure they are very well watered and compacted, we are aiming to create an anaerobic situation, the bacteria that thrive in this situation create heat as they busily metabolise and reproduce. Remember that the primary aim is to have a consistent temperature over a long period of time, not a quick compost for the garden. The ideal temperature for the shower is between 38 and 42 degrees, our last compost shower hot water system gave us 5 months of hot water!

   Other bonuses include………………………

Beautiful compost for the garden at the end

A great little outdoor shower

Water run off directly onto our citrus orchard

and at the end …compost!

Our latest compost shower is getting ready for our Permaculture Design Certificate coming up in just a couple of weeks.

The post Getting ready for the PDC!……..Hot Water from the Compost appeared first on Fair Harvest.

Subtitles:

• Making Biochar using dry mulch
• Mulch is loaded into an old beer keg
• This material will pyrolyse and become biochar
• This keg can hold 50Litres
• 50L mulch yields ~30L biochar
• This lid is from another keg, but you can improvise
• Sorting out the ash from the previous burn
• Some bricks to support the keg
• These kegs are farkin’ heavy!
• The keg goes in upside down, so gases come out the bottom (into the fire)
• More mulch is used as a fuel stock for burning
• This mulch will burn from the top, down around the outside of the keg, cooking the mulch inside
• A bracing made from strap steel, to hold the lid in place. It also allows some air in.
• Cardboard is an excellent starter fuel, but the ash can block airflow, so don’t use too much.
• The chimney stack creates draw, sucking air up through the holes at the bottom of the barrel
• It took me 15mins to set up this burn.
• Start the burn!
• It has been my goal to minimise smoke during burns. Unfortunately, much smoke has been created in this pursuit.
• The two most important factors (of many), are
• 1: Adequate air intake
• 2: DRY feed stock and fuel stock
• A slow start and a long stack also helps
• No smoke!
• The fire makes it’s way slowly around the top
• It is drawing air through the mulch below it
• The heat begins to cook the mulch just below…
• …and the fire is able to burn downward
• Still no smoke!
• Notice the darkening of the barrel as it heats
• ~25mins into the burn
• ~35mins
• ~45mins 
• Still no smoke!
• This is a burn at night
• While it looks awesome, it’s not burning clean
• There is more fire inside than the barrel can ‘process’, and so smoke is pushed out the top
• …still, it looks awesome
• After the burn (a few hours later)
• There appears to be less material but it has shrunk
• If the biochar is too hot, it can start a fire, so be ready to hose it down thoroughly
• Biochar, when added to soil, holds water, nutrients and provides homes for bacteria and fungi
• It continues to support soil fertility for 1000′s of years!
• To me, that makes it well worth the effort
• …plus I have an excuse to play with fire!
• Ready for another round
• Thank you for watching

Read the full article here…

“Biochar can be made cleanly and effectively on a home-scale, using a biochar retort.”

Biochar is a desirable material for anyone looking to improve their soil. Buried, it acts as a water retainer, nutrient trapper, and home for beneficial bacteria and plant roots, and it continues to support life and fertility for thousands of years! On a home-scale, biochar can be made from waste wood or mulch, using a biochar retort.

Benefits:

• Produces biochar – a permanent soil amendment
• Burns clean and hot
• Can be used for heating or cooking
• Can be fuelled with waste materials

Materials:

• 44 gallon steel drum (empty)
• 50 litre steel beer keg (empty)
• 800x110mm corrugated steel sheet
• 3 meters metal bracing

Materials needed for a burn:

• 50 litres dry mulch (this will become biochar)
• ~75 litres dry mulch (this will be burnt cleanly and become ash)
• Some cardboard or newspaper for ignition

Jump to:

What is biochar?
What is a biochar retort?
Design
Construction
Testing
Applications
Other Uses
FAQ
Why does 50L of feed stock only yield 30L of biochar?
What else can I use to make a biochar retort?
What materials can I pyrolyse to make biochar?
My biochar retort produces a lot of smoke. What can I do?
Related Articles
Making Biochar using Mulch (video)
Mulching
How to Compost

What is biochar?

Biochar, made from dry mulch

Biochar is a term given to wood that has been through a process of pyrolysis. It is charcoal without the soot, ash, and volatile organic compounds – it’s pretty much just carbon. It looks and feels like charcoal, but if you crush biochar in your hands, you shouldn’t have any oily stains on your hands – just black dust. ‘Pyrolysis’ might sound technical, but it just means the wood is cooked without oxygen. As it is cooked, wood gives off its substances as gases, and what remains is just ‘a wisp of the wood’ – biochar! The gas, known as syngas, is flammable, and most biochar stoves and retorts make use of this gas to perpetuate the pyrolysis. Also, the off gases can be trapped and stored, or redirected elsewhere for heating or cooking.

What is a biochar retort?

Home-scale double-barrel top-lit-up-draft biochar retort stove!

A biochar retort is a stove dedicated to the pyrolysis of wood and other materials to make biochar. While this is its prime function, a biochar retort can be modified or augmented to serve other functions such as heating or cooking. Retort designs vary greatly, from home-scale to commercial, with different methods for achieving pyrolysis.

Design

Biochar Retort Design

My biochar retort is a home-scale double-barrel top-lit up-draft rocket-stove retort (gasp!). Basically it is a large rocket stove with a beer keg inside it. It is capable of producing about 30 litres of biochar per burn, using only dry mulch – a common waste material.

Construction

My 44-gallon (200Litre) steel drum had a few litres of oil left in it, which I drained into a bucket and kept. The drum had a sealed lid, so I cut the top off it using an angle-grinder. This top became the lid, and I prepared a bracing using metal strapping to support the lid back on the barrel. I also prepared the lid to fit a chimney pipe, which was made from a scrap piece of corrugated sheet metal. Any kind of metal piping will do.

I vented and removed the valve from the beer keg, and cut a large opening in the top. A friend passed me the top of a keg he had cut open, which meant I had a nice lid to fit over my keg, but you can use any metal covering to prevent material falling out of the keg during a burn.

Testing

A simple method is to keep a fire going around the keg.

My first test was unforgettable. It was a windy day, when all the neighbours’ clothes were hung out to dry. I had no idea how much smoke would ensue. The burn took a long time to get properly underway, and all the while the paint on the outside of the barrel was boiling and burning, giving off a few credits worth of carbon pollution! I gritted my teeth and watched on. Eventually the rocket effect began, and the unit became too hot to stand within a metre of. The fire cleaned itself up, and no smoke could be seen for the rest of the burn. The sound was a phenomenal roar! Unfortunately there’s no decent way to remove paint and other polluting residues from a barrel. It’s best to roll the barrel through a very hot fire to combust as much residue as possible, and then to put the barrel to good use (make as much biochar as you can) to justify this initial environmental cost.

This is the hottest phase of a burn – when the fuel stock is fully combusting, and the gasses from inside the keg (the feed stock) are bellowing out the bottom, further fuelling the fire. Notice there is no smoke.

The first burn managed to turn most of the feedstock in the keg to biochar, but wasn’t hot enough to penetrate to the centre of the keg. It took me a number of tests to find the best way to achieve complete pyrolysis, whilst maintaining a clean burn of the fuel stock. My best results were achieved by using dry mulch as the feed stock and as the fuel stock. I started a fire atop the fuel stock, which then burnt down around the outside of the keg. I also had success using dismembered pallets (single-use pine) as fuel stock, though these required energy to chop up.

Applications

A wheelbarrow-load of biochar, spread over and mixed with mulch. The mulch will eventually break down, but the biochar will stay in the soil for thousands of years!

In an agricultural setting, biochar can be tilled into the soil with machinery, but on a home-scale, it’s not so easy. Manually digging trenches, and involving biochar into your soil profile is a lot of work, and may not seem worthwhile to a short-term enthusiast (though in the big picture, the efforts will yield returns for 1000s of years to come!). A simple strategy is to mix biochar into your compost, so that it is inoculated with beneficial microbes, nutrients and water, then mix your compost into the top few inches of your soil. If you’re mulching and encouraging earthworms in your soil, the worms will take the finer particles of biochar and distribute them throughout your soil. The larger particles will be left closer to the surface, where they can hold onto moisture and nutrients and support shallow rooted plants. This strategy takes time, but the least amount of effort. Also, if you’re planting a tree, you can spend a bit of extra time mixing biochar into the soil below where the tree roots will grow.

Agricultural scientists have established that soil productivity will be improved with applications of biochar up to approximately 8% by volume, with some success reported at 13%. On a home-scale, it might be easiest to elect a portion of land to be the fore-runner in biochar application, with other plots trailing behind. Once productivity deteriorates in the lead plot, you might consider the others to be at an optimal saturation. If you want to achieve 8% biochar in the top 30cm of your soil, you will need a layer of biochar 2.5cm thick (which should then be mixed in).

Other Uses

Fuel

Biochar burns hot and clean, much the same as charcoal. This might be handy for those who are trying to achieve extremely high temperatures (i.e. for glass blowing or melting/shaping metal), or as a combustion fuel for a steam engine.

Water Filtration

Common water filters use a form of carbon similar to biochar, called ‘activated carbon’, which is clean and extremely porous. Biochar can be just as clean and just as porous, and so it can mechanically filter water. Spent biochar can then be added to compost.

Hydroponics

Biochar can be used as a grow-medium for hydroponic systems. It’s porosity resembles perlite, a common grow-medium. Perlite is a non-renewable resource (it is mined), whereas biochar can be made.

Insulation

Due to it’s porosity, biochar acts as a good insulator. It conducts heat poorly, won’t melt, and so long as it is not exposed to oxygen, it won’t burn. I’ve used it as a lightweight insulation inside a tin-can cooking stove.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does 50L of feed stock only yield 30L of biochar?

There is some shrinkage involved in pyrolysis, as almost all the substances of the feedstock are gassed off. It doesn’t mean that any feed stock has disappeared nor burnt. However, if your inner barrel/keg allows a flow of oxygen into it, some of  your feed stock will combust and turn to ash.

Wood and other feed stocks shrink during pyrolysis, leaving around 60% of the original volume as biochar

What else can I use to make a biochar retort?

Retorts have been made using all kinds of materials – everything from concrete to clay, oil barrels to large industrial pyrolysis ovens. Having an understanding of the processes involved in the use of any retort, will help you see the differences between designs. Some are more efficient but less portable, others are effective but have a short lifespan (a follow-up use for your retort should be part of your plan). Just remember, temperatures inside a retort could exceed 700 degrees!

 What materials can I pyrolyse to make biochar?

 Any kind of biomass can be pyrolysed to make biochar; wood, leaves, straw, sawdust, corn husks, rice hulls and coffee grinds are all examples. Different materials yield biochar with different qualities, which can be important for large-scale agriculture. Mulch is a great choice because it is made up of different sized particles, leaves, twigs and wood chips, which will yield a varied biochar. Mulch is also a common waste product and can usually be got by the truck load for free! The most important factor is how dry the material is (the drier the better!), as water interferes with fire, and can cause smoke and incomplete pyrolysis.

My biochar retort produces a lot of smoke. What can I do?

It has been my goal over the course of this project to eliminate smoke altogether from a burn. I have achieved this only a handful of times, and cringed every other time as I watched smoke rocketing out the top of the chimney. The dynamics of fire is a fascinating subject, and is complicated when it is contained inside a rocket stove or biochar retort. I have made many small adjustments to my unit – more air-intake holes at the bottom, sides and at the base of the chimney. I have discovered that more air isn’t always better, but is better than too little, and what would be best is to have all of these openings adjustable during a burn. The most important factor seems to be the dryness of the stock used – it should be as dry as possible!

Related Articles

Making Biochar using Mulch (video)

See how I’ve made enough biochar for the whole backyard!

Mulching

“Make your soil as healthy as a forest floor, by mulching!”

How to Compost

“Turn waste into fertiliser and save the planet, by composting!”

We've added a new set of workshops focusing on re-skilling under the banner of Studio ReCraft. Please take a look in the education calendar as we add more workshops and for bookings.

Right now we have the following planned:

Leather Jewellery Cuff

Design & make your own leather cuff; learn how to cut, emboss, stamp, braid & finish a custom made unisex wrist cuff. Materials supplied & full instruction on the day.

Saturday March 30th 11am-1pm or Saturday April 20th 11am-1pm. $70

Braided Tool Handles

Learn the ancient skill of rope & knot tying in this practical workshop where you bring along your garden or workshop tools to customize the handles.

Saturday March 30th 2-3pm or Saturday April 20th 2-3pm. $45

Crocheted ReCycled Vase

Learn how to turn a old glass jar into a decorated vase with a custom fitted crocheted holder.

Wednesday April 10th 6-7:30pm, Sunday April 14th 10:30-12. $45

Crocheted Floor Rug

Make a funky floor rug with crocheting in this 2 hour workshop. One of the hottest trends in now and so easy to do. Learn how to recycle old fabric into usable yarn. Materials supplied.

Thursday April 11th 6-8pm, or Sunday April 14th 1:30-3:30pm. $95

  Charlie’s songs about the principles of permaculture say it all with meaning and with fun Click the button and enjoy!

End of Oil

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Apologies for the confusion, we will be running just the one day of workshops on Sunday only and combine both the Soil Yourself and Edible Landscapes content, customised to the requests and needs of the attendees, you lucky people!

We have the numbers to run the workshop so it's on if you want to make any last minute bookings.

A few people have asked what we will cover, sorry to not have provided enough information. As always you will be drowning in information and a detailed booklet. Workshop will include:

• Soil Food Web - Soil is a living system, what that means.
• Soil - Basics, structure, what is made of, types.
• Soil -How clay, organic matter, air and water help.
• Activities - Build a clay lined HugelKultur wicking bed.
• Activities - Build a PolyBox wicking bed and Olive barrel pots.
• Activity - Garden Tour Charles Place
• Soil Building Techniques, Lasgana, Wicking, Hugel, Green Manure, Chop and Drop mulching, mulching, composting.
• Nutrient Cycling Techniques and Animal systems
• Remineralisation and Trace Elements management
• Purchased Amendments - what to use and not bother with.
• Basic Cheap Soil Tests - Demo, and notes
• Soil Indicator weeds and Dynamic accumulator plants.
• Plant deficiency identification and summary tables.

THEN - Somehow I will fit in Edible Landscapes including:

• Thinking of your garden as a food forest and multilayered, complex specifically chosen range of food plants.
• What edible plants there are available - Non mainstream focus.
• Edible Greens - Easy grow and nutrient dense focus.
• Cooked Greens
• Vegetable Seeds, Legumes and Fruits
• Berries and Vines
• Super foods and medicinally beneficial Easy to Grow options.
• Aquatic food Plants as a pond
• Perennial Self Seeding Polycultures :)
• Growing From Seed and Seed Saving.
• What to Grow When Discussion
• Fruit Tree Growing Basics
• If requested vegetative plant propagation.

Sorry its a long post, but its a info packed workshop, we wouldn't want it to be anything else.

Cheers,
Charles

South West Permaculture Design Certificate at Fair Harvest

Fair Harvest Margaret River April 21st – May 5th 2013

This is a unique opportunity to gain your Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) while studying under some of the South West’s most renowned teachers and growers. If you have bought or are thinking about buying land in the South West, think about spending 2 weeks learning about others successes and failures and what their research and experience has taught them. This is a group of teachers that care deeply about the earth and want to do the right thing by the land while growing food for their families and communities.

Students will be based at Fair Harvest Permaculture and have the use of all the facilities we have developed here  over the years. Camping on site is highly recommended , but for those of you that really don’t like camping there is a great selection of accommodation in a 5km radius of our farm.

Teaching will take place on site at different farms and properties so that living, permaculture in action will be the classroom.

Students will receive a recognised certificate after completing a full deign process on a given project and will leave with a richer understanding of their environment and it’s potential.

Teachers include Jamie McCall from Burnside Organic Farm Bee Winfield from Merrie Bee Organics, Claire Coleman from Living Waters, Jeff Nugent who wrote “Permaculture Plants” and more

To see more about our teachers, course details and online sign up  click here

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How to make Tofu, Tempeh and Seitan

Our Wonderful Raw Food/vegan Chef Sach has now offered to run this fantastic workshop on how to make your own Tofu, Tempeh and Seitan….he will also pass on some of his great recipes on how to enjoy these products. Everyone will then be welcome to sit down to a long table dinner to enjoy a meal together.

Thursday March 21st  6PM – 8PM

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Charlie Mgee and the Formidable Vegetable Sound System Album Launch

“Permaculture a Rhymer’s Manual”

Wow! I can’t believe how lucky we are to have Charlie Mgee launch his “Permaculture a Rhymer’s Manual” right here in our very own Old Barn.”

Have you seen Charlie play? Check out his website http://permaculturesongs.com he’s AWSOME.

Also playing on the night is Dave Mann, Bec Schofield and Harry Jakamarra

Join us for a Saturday Sundowner 6PM……recommended donation $15 BYO drinks and snacks

““Permaculture – a Rhymer’s Manual uses the power of music, rhyme and humour to convey the permaculture principles in fresh ways to new audiences. Charlie Mgee is clearly a talented composer and performer but his lyrics are also true to the complex systems thinking that is permaculture. Highly recommended as an educational resource useful in both introducing principles for the first time or consolidating understanding by permies from 8 to 80. To have the author of this framework of principles singing along rather than cringing at pop simplification is a rare achievement. Go Charlie!” 
David Holmgren – Co-originator of the Permaculture concept.

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March 8th International Women’s Day Women’s Clothes Swap Party

Come and join us for a fun night of clothes swapping…..bring along 6 of those lovely items of clothing that you just don’t seem to wear any more and go home with 6 items that you never would have expected 

also bring a plate to share and a drink of your choice……….

 5.30 PM in the Old Barn at Fair Harvest

weaving circle……….we are sorry to say that due to the passing of a significant Wardandi Elder we have canceled the weaving circle so as to attend the funeral

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Natural Nutrition, Raw Food,Vegan cooking and Yoga with Sach and Eva

Sacha and Eva have recently arrived in Margaret River and have immediately become involved in our local community by volunteering at the local organic garden and soup kitchen. They are a dynamic couple and are now offering a selection of workshops at Fair Harvest. Here is a quick introduction to Sach and Eva ……

The post Natural Nutrition, Raw Food,Vegan cooking and Yoga with Sach and Eva appeared first on Fair Harvest.

Weaning the calves

Once our area was promoted as prime dairy country and while the soils were still fertile from recently cut down forests this was possibly the case. Producing milk on marginal land takes a huge amount of feed, fertilisers and water and many of the dairies are giving way to beef farming and vineyards. I am not a dairy farmer but I do love my small herd of Jersey cows and I’m slowly learning how to have a dairy system that works with the seasons and with the rest of the permaculture system.

The first thing to remember is the many uses of the humble cow, yes we love the milk products but what comes out the other end is just as valuable. The main products we get from our cows are milk, manure and meat (if you have dairy cows you have calves and at least  50% will be boys so be realistic milk and meat go hand in hand). We can also get horns, hides and bones (all useful in the system).

Our season of abundant grass is in spring and early summer, so we aim to have our calves in late winter, this way we can get the most of the natural abundance “make hay while the sun shines” or “make milk while the grass grows”.  We share our milk with the calves, if we are milking in the morning we separate the calves the night before, taking the first milk in the morning, after milking we put them together again. Now we are into late summer and the girls are all pregnant again ( see my blog on our bull story ) so I’m weaning the calves off their mums. The calves are living in the yard getting friendly and eating lots of hay, bana grass and comfrey and providing us with loads of poo for our worm farms.

We wont get milk again till next spring and this is not the path to commercial milk production, but it is it is the way we incorporate dairy into our system, working with the cycle of seasons and the animals.

The post Seasonal Dairy System appeared first on Fair Harvest.

Bread Making March 22nd 10 am till midday

I’ve been having such a great time making bread for everyone lately that I thought it was time to share a few techniques. Yeast, sour dough, wheat, rye, salt, oil, seeds, nuts………..what they all do in a bread mix, how they change the dough and why.

How to kneed, how to make fun shapes, how to make a pizza dough….we’ll do it all then sit down and feast.

places limited to 12 people

Bring along something to put on your bread at the end (or something to drink with it!)

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We have been so lucky to have had a passionate beekeeper staying with us for the past year, Tom brought with him loads of knowledge and an absolute love of bees. I love it when the focus of the beekeeping is not about the end product but about the health and happiness of the hives, spending time with Tom and the bees was a lesson in love and gentleness……

Having said all that honey harvest is so exciting! There is nothing quite like being in the kitchen surrounded by the thick smell of honey, everywhere you look is golden comb oozing with rich  liquid , buckets slowly filling, children sticking their fingers under drizzling honey, sticky buckets, the whizzing of the separator  and the complexity of textures and patterns made by the bees.

The honey is now waiting in buckets for the rest of the wax to separate before we jar in up and put in on the shelf. Meanwhile Do has started to make up amazing ointments using beeswax and olive oil and the bees have nice clean boxes to start filling again….this time we have filled one hive with traditional frames (with wires and wax) while the other we have left for the bees to create their own warre style hive…….something I’m excited to learn more about.

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As the typical suburban block gets smaller and smaller and the homes that we require are getting bigger and bigger the argument that I hear more often than not is that there is no room left for growing food, composting and storage.

Well I tend to take that particular comment as a challenge these days and often will quite happily use large amounts of oxygen (as it is still free) to argue my point that this is not so.

Using clever design strategies everybody can easily grow their own food (grow your groceries gardening) even if the only space you have is an apartment balcony.

The hang over from the 1/4 acre blocks of the 60′s and 70′s with what seemed an endless back yard with several sectioned off areas and a couple of sheds, a huge Hills Hoist and a near full-sized cricket pitch in lush green lawn has burned an image of big is best when the growing of food is required.

I admit, even nowadays I often take an odd peep over a fence or two when I am working onsite in the older suburbs of the Perth metropolitan area.  I am getting quite good at spotting the odd Italian or Greek family home with its give-away prickly pear cactus usually growing on the boundary fence and a forest of timber garden stakes supporting an abundance of tomato and egg plants.  It is when I am peering over the fence when I usually contemplate just how long it will be before the owner’s children will sub-divide their parent’s block into a multi-unit development of sorts.

Although the majority of these huge blocks are all but gone, you can still achieve a return on these smaller properties by looking at the actual space that is available and designing a food garden to suit.

Growing Your Own Food in a limited space – An example of how it can be done!

I have recently been involved in assisting a semi-retired couple who have down sized to one such sub-divided block.

They have the house in the front and well lets say that there is of course no backyard available to grow a garden in.  This then leaves only the front yard which after you add an undercover carport plus a second car parking bay and the battle-axe driveway to the rear dwelling, what you are left with is a couple of skinny strips of not much at all.

Being in the flat land suburbs here in Perth, the soil at this site is of course the worst in the world to work with as the soil consists of ancient sand dunes that are devoid of any organic matter and life.

The clients also had problems bending down to tend to the garden areas and with these two issues to address it was decided that raised garden beds at waist height were required.  This also meant that the soil would need be introduced to the beds and that the need for constant soil building would not be required.

So stage one begins with the introduction of four slim-line raised veggie tanks in a matching colour that followed the existing narrow ‘L’ shaped garden beds.

These raised veggie tanks were partially dug into the existing soil height and positioned so as access was easy and the car bay could still allow car doors to open.

A mixture of seasonal herbs and vegetables as well as an array of companion plants soon added colour, shape and character to these beds and positive comments and amazement followed as neighbours walked past.

The garden beds are connected to the mains water via a timer and solenoid.  The water is dispersed through drip-line irrigation that emits 8 litres of water per hour from each drip hole directly at the root zone.

The first half of these beds is back-filled with soil from the site as well a cheap tree prunings that have been mulched up as this still allows adequate drainage but also supports the quality vegetable soil mix that is then placed in the top half of the raised veggie tank. Some minor settlement will occur over time but a little soil top up is all that is required and is a relative easy maintenance job that will need to be done from time to time with these raised veggie tanks.

Now just growing some food is not the only achievement that this yard could offer and so a second stage was added that addressed composting and waste management as well as a preparation and storage area.

The area between the house and the carport received no rain and little direct sunlight thus being a bone of contention for the owner to deal with.  I suggested that instead of attempting to grow a garden in this strip that they should consider using it as a storage area instead?

They have four ‘wheelie’ bins that take up valuable room in the back area and so I designed four custom bays that house the bins concealed behind neat recycled jarrah doors.  Two of the bins store spare mulch and soil for the garden and so bringing them to the front permanently made sense to me!

Equally the amount of paper waste that we make daily and the need for constant nutrients to be added into our garden beds suggested to me that a composting worm farm would be beneficial to the couple thus reducing the landfill issues that we have and in doing so return the waste material back into our food.

The word ‘guild‘ in Permaculture relates to the assembly of plants and organisms together offering harmony and benefit for common outcomes.

I have taken the guild concept and dropped it into a structural form creating areas that link together.  They are unique individually but all harmonise in a common outcome … a ‘Production Guild‘  is an outcome of the production of either or all things such as compost, wash bays, preparation benches, worm farms and storage etc  and so a production guild was also built into the last remaining space on the site.

The total space used for the food, bin-bays and production guild amounts to less than 18 m2 and yet the clients have given food away because of sheer abundance.

The timber used in the project is mostly recycled jarrah and repainted salvaged corrugated tin and the wash trough and worm trough are also salvaged. The timber is oiled with a linseed based oil and the in ground timber is protected by a certified organic timber preservative.

I have included photographs of this particular job with this blog post (and have more on my website)  to help you to better understand how I was able to convert a un-used front yard into a vibrant food growing productive zone which has brought renewed energy and vitality not only into this property but also into the local community.

Bernie Elsner

Sustainable Alternatives

www.sustainablealternatives.com.au

Hi Folks,

We have all had a long and rewarding break and are refreshed and ready for the 2013 training calendar. In a big change from last year we are moving to weekend based 6 hour workshops. There are 12 PDC Workshops on offer that can be attended separately or combined will allow a student to attain a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC). We are also offering some additional specialist workshops based on backyard food production and garden-to-plate skills.

One of the issues for us last year was the peak hour travel during the PDC's, this did not suit us or the attendees so moving to weekends and a modular basis gives more accessibility, even to those not planning on a full PDC.

View our calendar online, or click to view/download the PDF brochure below:

Hi all!  Hope your gardens have survived the hot summer weather….

We are looking to host the first permies meeting of 2013 at Clancys pub Freo on 29th January at 6.30pm.

This is primarily a social get-together to discuss where we want to go in 2013.

Permaculture Blogs 2013:
Sapphire McFish
Homemade Salt Toothpaste – Jan 2013

I saw a small half a cuttlefish at the beach today. I picked it up and finally made my own salt toothpaste …. now I have one more thing that won’t have single use packaging.

How did I get here? I was away earlier in the year and forgot toothpaste so popped into a health food store and saw expensive salt toothpaste. I looked at the other “health” toothpastes and some still contained things like palm oil, mineral oil, Triclosan, glycerol, sorbitol, xylitol, and other ingredients I try to avoid. Reading the salt toothpaste label it was all stuff that I was okay with bi-carbonate, salt, calcium carbonate, grapefruit seed extract, peppermint oil, myrrh and some ingredients that I was less familiar with: Glycerin, Silica, Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn) Fruit Juice, Krameria triandra (Ratanhia) Root Extract, Aesculus hippocastanum (Horse Chestnut) Bark Extract, Arum maculatum Root Extract, Sodium Chloride (Salt), Cyanopsis tetragonoloba (Guar) Gum, Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Alcohol, Esculin, Limonene, Linalool.

Seemed worth trying so I used it for about 4 months. At the end of this time I liked the salt toothpaste but it still came in single use packaging and was expensive and hard to find. I was going to give up but a visit to the dentist for the first time in 18 months for a check up and clean – had the dentist saying my teeth were good and with no calcium/tartar build up he wouldn’t have to do a de-scaling just a quick clean and polish. This was the first time ever I had escaped the de-scaler! I also paid less for the visit.

Really the only thing different I have been doing is using the salt toothpaste.

I read up on the subject and found the key ingredients in most recipes are: bicarbonate, peroxide, salt, alcohol, calcium carbonate and various herbal oils and tinctures for taste and gum heath properties.

There are two main functions the abrasives like the salt, silica and calcium carbonate. Then there are the anti-bacterials and anti-fungals like the bicarbonate, grapefruit seed extract, alcohols, peroxide and some herbal extracts. The rest of the ingredients are for taste.

Now I am not wild about the use of peroxide and would rather enjoy my alcohol in other ways. So this is the recipe I put together:

Pound in dry mortar and pestle until a fine powder:
2 tablespoons on bicarbonate
2 tablespoons of rock salt
~ 1tablespoon of tidied up cuttlefish (took off the outer coating) this is the calcium carbonate and isn’t necessary but I like it.

I put the powder into a small container and went to the bathroom cupboard and added:
~ 1 ml (~20 drops or 1/5 teaspoon) Tincture of Myrrh (this contains alcohol)
1 drop Teatree oil
5 drops Rosemary oil
5 drops of Lavender oil

I mixed these in very well with a teaspoon. Test brush found tastes fine and my teeth and gums feel good. Simply dampen toothbrush and touch bristles to the powder to get ~ 1 mm coating.

I am going to buy some grapefruit seed extract (for antibacterial properties) and peppermint oil (for taste) to add too. I guess next time I go to the dentist will be the real proof but for now I am happy.

Remember to clean your brush well or it can get clogged up a bit.

92 year old Cecil Noaks and his amazing rope making machine ….what a champion!

 Festival of Forgotten skills 2013

What a special day…….thanks you so much to everyone involved. It’s days like these that make everything we are doing feel worth it. There was an immense generosity of spirit and a true sense of community as families wandered from one demonstration to another and became involved in activities.

We loved every minute of it and look forward to more so please let us know if you would like to be involved next time.   Here’s a few pics of the day……….

Rebecca Gorta demonstrating crochet with plan

Peter Coppin demonstrating grafting techniques

Jam making with Britta Sorenson

Cheese making with Ros Garstone

Ukeleles made by Phil Anderson

Candle making with Leanne sutton

Bee Keeping with Tom Gieux

Spinning with Robyn Mils

Caro Exner-Seegar demonstrating natural hoof trimming

Debbie Chambers making old fashioned CWA ginger beer

The post Festival of forgotten skills appeared first on Fair Harvest.

Cheese Making with Ros Garstone

Ros Garstone is a mother, dairy farmer, teacher and Home Economist, and has a passion for making cheese!  She regularly makes cheese at home and has completed several home and commercial cheesemaking courses in WA, Victoria and South Australia.    It was her desire to promote the dairy industry and to learn more about the art of cheesemaking that prompted her to start facilitating workshops, in cooperation with Cheeselinks, in Margaret River in 2006.

 Ros is was a recipient of the 2008 Dairy Australia Cheesemaker Scholarship which enabled her to learn from master cheesemakers across Australia as well as further her learning at the commercial cheesemaking level.

 With the assistance of Cheeselinks, Ros looks forward to demystifying the cheesemaking process for participants, and sharing the joy of making cheese in a truly hands on experience!

NEXT HALLOUMI MAKING WORKSHOP – Saturday 6th April 

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Upcycling workshops (including basic sewing and mending) with Sari Ellen Bennet

February 22nd (9.30 – 1.30)

During this half day workshop in the colourful and quirky art of up cycling you will learn simple transferrable sewing skills, discover your own unique creative flair, inject new life into your old clothing and walk away with at least one funked up and fully recycled garment. No prior sewing experience required!

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Tomato Sauce and Chutney Making with Britta Sorenson 19th Feb 9.30 – 2.30 or 17th March 9.30 -2.30

‘Tomato Sauce and Chutney’ is a 5 hour course in which we will try to combat the annual tomato glut and turn it into multi purpose preserves that can be used all year round – as dips, with cheese, as pasta sauce, as a soup base, for stews… It is hands on (max 12 people) and you will take home 2-3 jars of delicious preserves plus notes, recipes and printed hand-outs so you can repeat the experience and start experimenting.

Please bring a clean apron and 3 tea towels, note pad and pen, 3 washed recycled jars 200-300ml with metal twist off lids (if you don’t have access to any, just let me know), a sharp knife to cut fruit with, hair ties or head scarf if you have long hair, clean old clothes with sleeves that don’t dip into pots, enclosed shoes. 1-2 kg of spray- and chemical-free tomatoes and some crackers/bread/cheese that we can share during our break and to try our tomato chutney with.
Additional cost for ingredients per person: $8.-

About Britta Sorensen:
I have lived, gardened and preserved fruit and veg in Margaret River for nearly 20 years. Some of you may have met me at the local farmers markets  in town where until recently I shared a stall with my ‘olive-friend’ Traudel. Originally I am from the border of Northern Germany and Denmark – a place with cold, long winters where people used to rely on preserved food for their survival, for medicine and for lifting the winter spirits. I so clearly remember my grandma’s blissful summer-in-jar apricot jam, salted gherkins against hang-over, elderberry soup when kids came down with a cold and sheer joy caramelized cherries for Christmas, not to mention the plums in rum and sooo much more. I have been jam making, pickling, preserving, drying and baking all my life and I truly believe that food made these old-fashioned ways from good organic produce is healthy, wholesome and nourishes the body and the soul. It is slow-food in its essence. Even making it is good for you – it is fun, it de-stresses because you cannot hurry things, it is exercise, it brings people together, the house smells divine and you get such a sense of satisfaction when looking at your production at the end of the day. Preserving at the time of plenty makes good economic and environmental sense and home-made goodies just are the most appreciated presents. And you know the best thing? It is easy! Come along, learn a few basics, get creative and the garden is your limit!
No harsh chemicals are used during the courses, we clean and sterilize by natural methods. We use organic light brown sugar only and in much smaller amounts than are found in commercial jams, preserves, cakes etc. All other ingredients that may be used are natural and preferably organic.

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Jam Making with seasonal fruit

with Britta Sorenson

 Tuesday March 5th 9.30 – 1.30

‘Jam making of seasonal fruit’ is a 4 hour course that teaches you the basics of jam making. It is hands on (max 12 people) and you will take home 2-3 jars of delicious jam and some notes, recipes and printed hand-outs so you can repeat the experience and start experimenting.

Please bring a clean apron and 3 tea towels, note pad and pen, 3 washed recycled jars (200-300ml) with metal twist off lids (if you don’t have access to any, just let me know), a sharp knife to cut fruit with, hair ties or head scarf if you have long hair, clean old clothes with sleeves that don’t dip into pots, enclosed shoes. If you have any glut of spray- and chemical-free fruit that you would like to bring, this would be much appreciated, but please contact me beforehand so we don’t double up.
Additional cost for ingredients per person: $9.- (may get reduced if we get fruit donations)

Apologies to anyone wishing to enrol in the Feb Jam making workshop we decided to roll the two together.

 Also with Britta – Tomato Sauce and Chutney  click here for details

About Britta Sorensen:
I have lived, gardened and preserved fruit and veg in Margaret River for nearly 20 years. Some of you may have met me at the local farmers markets  in town where until recently I shared a stall with my ‘olive-friend’ Traudel. Originally I am from the border of Northern Germany and Denmark – a place with cold, long winters where people used to rely on preserved food for their survival, for medicine and for lifting the winter spirits. I so clearly remember my grandma’s blissful summer-in-jar apricot jam, salted gherkins against hang-over, elderberry soup when kids came down with a cold and sheer joy caramelized cherries for Christmas, not to mention the plums in rum and sooo much more. I have been jam making, pickling, preserving, drying and baking all my life and I truly believe that food made these old-fashioned ways from good organic produce is healthy, wholesome and nourishes the body and the soul. It is slow-food in its essence. Even making it is good for you – it is fun, it de-stresses because you cannot hurry things, it is exercise, it brings people together, the house smells divine and you get such a sense of satisfaction when looking at your production at the end of the day. Preserving at the time of plenty makes good economic and environmental sense and home-made goodies just are the most appreciated presents. And you know the best thing? It is easy! Come along, learn a few basics, get creative and the garden is your limit!
No harsh chemicals are used during the courses, we clean and sterilize by natural methods. We use organic light brown sugar only and in much smaller amounts than are found in commercial jams, preserves, cakes etc. All other ingredients that may be used are natural and preferably organic.

Jam Making with Britta Sorenson Tuesday March 5th 9.30 – 1.30 cost $50 (plus ingredients) tea and coffee provided, maximum of 8 people needed to run this course.

The post Jam Making with Seasonal Fruit appeared first on Fair Harvest.

Subtitles:

• Close the gas-out valve on the digester
• Open the gas-out valve on the collector
• The weights apply just enough pressure
• The flame is almost invisible, very clean and hot
• Biogas burns hotter and cleaner when mixed with air
• More weights can be added for more pressure
• 13mm polytube and standard irrigation valves are cheap, and gas-tight enough for this kind of pressure
• …an old garden hose will also work just fine
• Usually I add more rinse-water to the digester while I wait for the coffee
• At night you would see a soft blue flame
• It’s best to design your system to be as variable as possible
• Close the gas-out from the collector
• Remove pressure…
• …and open the gas-out on the digester
• This coffee took 6mins biogas
• The coffee grinds from this coffee will end up in the digester tomorrow
• The following day there will be ~15mins biogas in the collector
• …enough to make two coffees
• Biogas is an ideal fuel for clean indoor cooking;
• the digester and collector can be outside,
• the gas pipes can go underground,
• even the valves and pressure system can be relocated inside the house.

>>  What is a biogas digester?

>>  Feeding a biogas digester (video)

Subtitles:

• Turn off the gas-out valve
• Fit the effluent bucket securely
• Remove lids from the input and output pipes
• Rinse-water, including coffee grinds and expired milk
• This bucket is too full!
• There’s enough here to produce about 15mins cooking gas
• …enough to boil 1Litre of water, or make a coffee
• An equal amount of effluent is displaced
• Turn the gas-out valve back on
• The biogas from this feedstock will be ready in 24 hours
• Effluent is an excellent liquid fertiliser
• …it’s ph neutral, and safe to use on seedlings
• …it smells like fresh cow manure
• I pour it in different places each day
• It’s best to rinse everything so there’s no smells
• This digester is capable of producing over 1 hour’s worth of biogas for cooking each day, if all kitchen scraps are ground into a slurry.
• The collector for this system is only hobby-size; capable of storing 20mins worth of biogas. A larger collector, or more collectors could be added to this system.

What is a biogas digester?

Making a Coffee with Biogas (video)