LISTEN TO THE PODCAST: Morag Gamble on Permaculture Education: Living a full life, simply and in conjunction with nature’s principles. 

I teach practical permaculture to kids ….

…high school students…

… and adults.

At home in our garden.

I was inspired to live a simple abundant life after volunteering in Ladakh, in the Himalayas in 1992 and 1995. My experience there had a profound impact on me.

For 18 years I have lived in a permaculture ecovillage with a vibrant community and beautiful natural environment.

We designed and built our home in affordable, ‘buildable’ modules – before this, we’d built a coffee table!

Our edible landscape surrounds the house and provides an abundance of vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, medicinals, mulch and habitat for a diversity of species. It’s a super low maintenance system filled with self-seeding plants and perennials.

• Her path to get to where she is at based on strong ethics, environmental activism and natural health upbringing from her parents.
• Her early teenage year with activism and being connected to nature
• How growing up with the awareness of nuclear war potentials and oils shortages influenced her messages
• Her father’s teachings to look for positive solutions
• Being influenced by Fritjof Capra, author of TAO of Physics,
• Her adventures in England that introduced her to permaculture foundations and teachings
• Her head and heart filling up with possibilities
• How she transformed her ideas and inspiration into the reality of her life in Australia
• Her life on the amazing Crystal Waters village community (you need to hear all of this to believe it) with 83 households working together in a true permaculture community
• WWOOFers that come to the village and the WWOOFing that helps teach her kids so much about the world
• When your green you grow, when your ripe you rot
• Her son’s homeschool project of solar powered transportation for their community
• How she learned so much more about successful permaculture after she left the university
• What she feels is needed to start successful polycultural systems
• Her connected pods that create her home which expanded as her family did
• The story of how their home was built by themselves and what that means to them
• How she can forage for food just outside her door
• Why she considers her home an ecological system that looks after itself 

• Some real treats in her garden that demonstrate how many edible parts there are in any garden
• What the biggest products that come from her garden are besides food for her family
• What she does with the recycling depository in her carport
• How her children are already living and speaking permaculture
• How she is un-schooling her kids and the benefits of this method

As well as:

• How she is learning to accept that some of her ideas have not reached their time yet
• Why she thinks her project of Northey Street City Farm is her biggest success
• Why feeling the pain and injustice of the earth being destroyed and cultures being dismantled actually drives her to seek out better solutions
• Her final piece of advice is to be open and listen to learn

The post Why Do I Live A Permaculture Life… appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

After my family headed out, I quickly washed up, fed the animals then launched into it – researching, planning, mind-mapping … I was working but I wasn’t focussed or effective. To be honest it felt somewhat awkward without the usual hubbub of a household with a 3 year old and two boisterous homeschoolers (8 yo & 10 yo).  I love the homeschool/unschool dynamic of active learning, following interests, getting into projects, discussions about fascinating questions that always arise.

I have been getting a bit frustrated that my work is beginning to leak into my time with the kids, and my evenings are getting later (quite a few 4 ams last week!). After my initial attempt at frantic typing and note-taking, I slowed down and found myself reflecting on the pace and fullness of my ‘simple life’ and how too much time is spent sitting at my computer. I decided that perhaps today would be better spent rediscovering my balance and inner calm – a wellbeing day.

I headed straight out into my garden to graze on the salad greens and have a chat with the birds and wildlife.

This mummy wallaby has a gorgeous little joey who has just lunged into the pouch when I took out my camera. They live mostly around garden. I see them every day.

Around lunchtime I took another break and headed off for a mind-fog-clearing ride up the valley. I love my bike. I always find clarity out riding and feel energised for the rest of the day. I don’t go too far – perhaps 10-15 kms with a few good hills. Like always, when I go out with a specific question, I found a sense of clarity again in purpose and direction.

Later in the afternoon, I headed 2kms up the road to a fabulous local organic farm – Baranbali. We play tennis together each week, but it seems ages since we had a chance to sit down, catch up and share our ideas. I put my computer to sleep again and headed over for a cuppa.  A big cuddle with an orphaned lamb was a huge bonus!!! So cute – the kids had it on a little lead and walking it around the garden.

So today, instead of a writing blitz – I mostly wondered, wandered, gardened, cycled, visited.  In the end I only spend 3 hours at my computer but to my amazement, I managed in that time to clearly lay out the chapters of my book and outline the framework for the next two.  I have rethought my schedule for the next six months and clarified the direction for my next series of educational programs.

One of the little things I started today is a quick guide for simple living… and in an initial search for other similar guides, I uncovered this ‘Simple Living Manifesto’. I like it – the bit about ‘leaving out the unnecessary’ was a good reminder for me today. I’ll post my simple living guide soon when it’s finished.

The post Simple Living Guide appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Last week I had the pleasure of chatting with Sarah Howells on ABC Radio’s Brisbane Evenings as Permaculture and Simple Living Correspondent about this issue.

Calling in for the interview with Sarah Howells on ABC Radio from my home office at Crystal Waters.

Here is the podcast, Could You Live Plastic Free?

This is the second of our monthly chats.  The theme this month was Plastic Free July and the ways we can particularly reduce single use plastic.

This conversation went to air on Tuesday 5th July at 8:30pm on 612 ABC Brisbane Evenings. The next interview will be same time on 2 August. I hope you can tune in. If not, I will post the interview as soon it is sent to me.

Recently I wrote a  post about Plastic Free July, including why we need to change and offering some simple things to do:

• 5 Reasons You Should Try the Plastic Diet Too

• How to Make Natural Laundry Powder – save money, reduce waste and chemicals in the home.

Other things to consider:

• Use natural parchment paper to wrap foods in the freezer, or stainless steel latch containers
• Always remember to take your own shopping bags or basket. (or grab a box at the shop if you can – then use it to sheet mulch your garden)
• Get the kids to help you make bags, then also ask them to help remind you.
• Purchase as much unpackaged produce as possible.
• Choose paper packaged products over plastic ones – eg: toilet paper. (then add the paper wrapping into the compost or worm farm)
• Use beeswax clothes over leftovers, or simply a plate over a bowl.

The post Podcast #2: Could You Live Plastic Free – Morag Gamble on ABC Radio with Sarah Howells appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Each week my permaculture livelihood brings something different, interesting and challenging, and connects me with different communities and places. I always learn something new – about a plant, about a way of seeing the world, about an innovative technology… I love my work. This week I learnt from one of the mums from India that they mix Ajwain seeds with tulsi – the sacred basil I grow. Among other things, it can be used to sooth coughs and ease asthma. I am going to explore this plant more.

One of the beautiful smiling children I had the pleasure of working with this week with her mini-wicking hanging garden she made at my workshop at Brisbane Square Library this week.

I arrange seeds in their families and put pictures of the plants next to them for the pre-readers. I get many young people helping me to set up, and many of them who like to just get their hands in the seed bowls and feel them.

Rachel – historian, planner, earthship enthusiast and PhD researcher – interviewed me this week. Her work is focussed on Off-Grid living and with me she mostly explored the questions of why I live the way I do and what influences were in my life to bring me to these decisions. It was great to have the chance to think about and articulate this. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting her and hearing about her research too.

 CHILDREN’S PERMACULTURE WORKSHOPS

I have an absolute ball with the children’s programs and am always delighted at their enthusiasm and knowledge. Together this week at libraries across Brisbane, I led free gardening sessions for almost 100 children.  We made mini-wicking gardens and planted them with cuttings of permaculture plants from my garden. We made newspaper pots for perennial cuttings and egg carton seed trays for a diversity of seasonal annuals. We made origami seed envelopes too. We explored ecological systems thinking, permaculture design ideas, edible perennial propagation and seed saving, working toward a zero-waste system, simple living ideas, and ways to protect wildlife and nurture diversity.

This girl is delighted with her cuttings of garlic chives, turmeric, pelargonium and cranberry hibiscus to take home for her garden. She has made and decorated a mini-wicking pot out of a 3L milk bottle to help her get these plants started.

This little girl is taking home some Brazilian Spinach, Sacred Basil, plus the ever popular Turmeric and Garlic Chives too.

At one of the seed stations, the children are selecting a range of seasonal vegetables, flowers and herbs to propagate in their egg carton seed tray.

My little display at the workshops of upcoming workshops and articles about our garden. I am really looking forward to a Nature Kids program next week and a PDC from August 29 – September 9.

WORM TOWER WORKSHOP

During the week I also ran an workshop for adults at the Forest Heart Nursery in Maleny about worm towers.  The nursery is now the proud caretaker of a new colony of compost worms. Thanks to Hugh for breeding the worms.  My eight year old son, Hugh, is now launching into his second enterprise – worm farming (his first is Hugh’s Bike Shed) to supply locals who want to set up worm tower systems. (have a look at this previous post for more worm tower information)

Chopping a length of pipe for a low-set worm tower (I have used the full length of pipe in my garden).

It’s important to drill lots of hols for the worms and castings to move out of the tube into the garden. We used a 6mm drill bit here and spaced the holes about 5cm apart through the section that is underground. I don’t put holes above ground to prevent flies from finding the compost.

Extracting the compost worms from another worm farm to place in the worm tower. Mound it up, the worms go away from the heat and light. Scrape off some material and the worms go deeper. Keep doing this until you are left with a bundle of worms.

In goes the pipe – nice and level in all directions (I’m a surveyor’s daughter!).  The soil and mulch will be brought up around the tower and the pot will be placed on top.  Inside the pipe we made sure the base soil was loose, we placed some moist coco-peat at the bottom as a bedding We topped it all off with a handful of mulch to help keep the temperature stable and to prevent flies from landing on the food scraps.

ENTERPRISING CHILDREN

Yesterday the kids and I were busy making things for this weekend’s Crystal Waters Monthly Market. We have an abundance of lemons and limes so they decided to make marmalade. They researched and trialled a few different methods and made 24 jars of delicious preserves to sell at the market.  I have asked them to write these up – so hopefully you’ll see these recipes soon. Maia has decided to join Hugh in worm farming and they’ll have worms for sale too. It’s going to be a fun day with lots of friends and neighbours meeting at the village green.

Some of the delicious lime marmalade Hugh made.

Some of Hugh and Maia’s worms ready to be bundled up.

The post Working as a permaculture designer and teacher. appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

I recognise that I have a tendency to saying ‘yes’ to just about everything that sounds interesting, positive and worthwhile. This past month for me has been so wonderfully busy, that I think I have actually found new levels of capacity.

I love being down at the University of Sunshine Coast Community Garden. I’ll be there again in the morning.

These past few weeks I have led a workshops most days of the week – permaculture, sustainable living, community gardening…

I do need to remember to be gentle with myself and I thank my family for being onto this – they read my energy levels before I do, and the kids especially encourage me to delight in the present moment.

With a little one around, I am always reminded to slow down, get outside and play.

I am a mum with 3 children under 10, two of them homeschooled. I run an education and design business from home and a not-for-profit foundation. I love to cook things from scratch and tend our edible landscape. Our house is often open to the public so I need to keep it looking relatively neat.

In busy times, doing all this can sometimes be a stretch – we don’t have cleaners, gardeners or childcare – but somehow it all works and I love it. The kids are thriving. I feel nourished by my work. Evan and I love feeling productive and active in our communities of practice. We all spark off each other’s enthusiasm for what we do.

I value simple living. That doesn’t always equate with a ‘quiet life’, but for me it’s a ‘good life’.

This is how I stay calm, relaxed and focussed when the simple life sometimes gets a bit too busy….

Be Organised

1. I actively plan my time.
2. I have become a supreme list maker – so things to remember are not swirling around in my head.
3. I always carry a notebook and jot down ideas and new things to do – lots of mindmaps.
4. We plan our family’s week together to make sure everyone’s needs are being met and keep a shared calendar.
5. I aim to get everything ready the night before (lunches, clothes, workshop resources) so our morning can be relaxed and happy.
6. I have found my quiet niche – the time when everyone else is asleep – no TV, radio, music – just me and my myself. At this time, I can clearly and effectively think, plan, write, focus, create…
7. When things do get busy, I let go of some non-essential expectations I have of myself (e.g: writing every day).

I love riding my bike!

Stay Healthy

1. I eat well and usually take homemade food out and about.
2. I carry a glass jar of water infused with rosella, lemon myrtle, tulsi, turmeric and ginger (vitamin C, relaxing, refreshing, immune-strenghtening) and sip throughout the day.
3. I take a nap cuddling with the kids (I do this at their bedtime) – that extra hour or two makes all the difference especially to be able to do my ‘quiet-time’ shift at night.
4. When I need to ‘veg-out’ I avoid the telly or shops – instead play, talk, make, read, walk, think, write….
5. Ride my bike, or play tennis, walk and bounce on the trampoline with the kids.

Baking with the kids – we always love to experiment with healthy sugar free ideas.

Connect

1. I potter in my edible garden – planting, tending, harvesting – noticing the little things along the way.
2. I cuddle the chooks and talk to the birds.
3. I spend time outside in fresh air and amongst the wildlife (I make my office on the front verandah – birds visit, kangaroos pass by, waterbirds visit lake below and I cast my eyes regularly to the hills and national park across the valley).
4. We sit and eat meals together and check in with everyone, tell stories, joke around.
5. We play music and dance together after dinner. (We have a great big box of instruments.)
6. I lie down outside with the kids and watch the clouds or stars, chatting about their questions and big ideas.
7. I love to play with the kids – whatever story they make up. I’m often a horse for little Monty!
8. I ring my parents (interstate) and have a long chat.

Paint, create, get messy and have some fun!

Cuddling chooks always brings a smile.

A slow stroll through the garden, smelling the flowers and noticing the small things always helps me to refocus and slow down.

Stay Positive

1. I spend time in community gardens with wonderfully positive and engaged volunteers
2. I acknowledge the positive things that are happening and think about how I am contributing, and can add more value to that.
3. I regularly reflect on what is important, try to keep things in perspective, and keep the bigger picture in mind.
4. I am conscious to not complain about being busy. I make it so. There is a good level of busy-ness.
5. Smile – and the world does smile back.

Be Mindful

1. Mindfully do housework. When I wash the dishes, I am just dishwashing (or daydreaming out the window) not thinking about the next thing.
2. When I go to bed – I empty my mind, slow my breathing, relax my body before drifting off to sleep. Sometimes I set my self a challenge – to come up with new ideas in my dreams – but usually I aim to just ‘be’.
3. I remind myself to breathe – especially when there’s a need to finish some work and the kids also need my focussed attention.

 

Flowering rocket and in the background, mustard spinach – it’s great to just sit and watch what happens around these flowers – so much life!

The post How to stay calm and relaxed when even the simple life gets a bit too busy. appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Voluntary simplicity is a way to work towards debt-free living. When I first heard of this concept back in the early 90s I was impressed at how this is such a positive earth-friendly way of living and have tried to live this way ever since. I’m so glad I found this approach before I launched into a career and mortgage package. Instead we have created our own work and built our own house – simply and based on the environmental and social justice ethics I value.

Voluntary simplicity to me is about reducing consumption, streamlining possessions, increasing community self-reliance, simplifying needs, simplifying diet and finding more space to breath, being happy and connecting with my community, my environment, my family and myself.

Getting involved in a community tree planting project.

I feel a great sense of freedom and flexibility by living simply, being conscious of my consumption and avoiding debt. I also feel a richness that cannot be defined in dollar terms.

We spent ten years building and saving, building and saving – living in simple accommodation on-site while we did. This helped so much in avoiding going into debt to build our house. (Visit my post about the house: http://our-permaculture-life.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/our-affordable-mortgage-free-eco-house.html)

By simplifying my needs I have found that I can:

• reduce my ecological impact (less resources used)
• reduce my social impact (reducing pollution, factory-made stuff and supporting fair trade)
• reduce my costs (less purchases)
• reduce the time I need to work for money (I work part time, independently, based from home)
• reduce my stress
• increase the time I have to spend with my family (including time to homeschool 2 children and look after a pre-schooler)
• increase the time I have in nature and the garden
• increase the time I have to write and relax
• increase the time I have to grow, make and build
• increase the time I have to volunteer and contribute to my community

Growing hardy edible perennials like Brazilian Spinach means that, here in the subtropics, there is always food in the garden. (Read my post about growing abundance: http://our-permaculture-life.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/abundance-in-garden-simply-growing-more.html)

CHILDREN’S CLOTHES
Pass on good clothes that your children have grown out of and accept bags of from friends.  Children usually grow out of clothes before they wear them out. I love getting bags of surprises from friends. The kids like the fact that it’s come, for example, from their older friends – it gives it extra meaning. With three children, trading clothes provides a big saving. We also have found some excellent things in the local second-hand stores, and like to sew up our own things too.

There is a lovely little second hand shop in our ecovillage run by volunteers. Maia always finds lovely clothes and shoes there – she is wearing them here. The kids also find gifts there. For my birthday today, they found knitting needles and yarn, a new coffee mug…

Becoming an active member of your local libraries is a fabulous way to access great books and toys – and then pass them back when the kids have had a good look and play, and ready to move onto the next thing.

AVOID BIG SHOPPING CENTRES
Mostly I find that I can get just about everything I need in my local town. The popular thinking is that you need to go to big box stores for discount buying, but typically I find the prices are comparable. Also I save buy not buying spontaneous purchases I don’t actually need. Every now and then I do find myself in a large shopping mall (sometimes I do community seminars in libraries embedded in these places).  I watch myself as I wander around – things catch my eye and I start feeling drawn into needing this and that. Our place is already filled with enough ‘stuff’ – I really do not need any more. I think I save thousands this way.

One of my favourite shops – the organic food coop in Maleny, my nearest town.

FOOD SHOP WHEN YOU ARE FULL
Have you ever gone shopping late in the afternoon when you are really hungry and come home with a whole lot of things you wish you hadn’t bought. I try now to always shop when I am full and have a clear list of the things I need.  By avoiding plastic packaging as much as I can, I find this also limits the purchasing of unnecessary items.

GROW FOOD
Simply by having a small herb and vegetable garden you can save lots of money – even if it’s just to grow the greens. Buying fresh bunches of herbs, dark leafy greens and salad greens can add up over a year.  With a bit more space and growing perennials, a small garden can have more food than you can possibly eat.

Community gardens are great places to learn how to grow food, or to get a plot of land if you don’t have space at home.

This is my chicken house enclosed by wonderful self-seeding pumpkins – so much food. I eat the leaves, the flowers, the shoots, and the pumpkin seeds and all. Self-seeding annuals are such abundant plants that keep giving.

MAKE OR GROW GIFTS
Homemade items, hand-made cards and homegrown plants are great gift ideas that are lovely to both give and receive.

EAT SIMPLE HEALTHY FOOD
Our diet is simple, healthy and tasty – a lot of fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes, eggs and home-baked foods. We are a meat free household, except for a little from our neighbouring organic farm and I make a most things from scratch. It’s actually quite quick and easy, really yummy and much cheaper.

Foraged from my garden for lunch.

EAT IN AND SHARED MEALS
We love sharing a great meal, and we love cooking up our fresh produce at home – creating interesting meals from whatever is seasonal and looking great that day.  When friends come over with a plate to share we have a great feast. Family parties are always a simple shared meal at home or a picnic in the park too.

SIMPLIFY YOUR WARDROBE
I have worked out that the clothes I wear would fit into a smallish suitcase. Anything else in my wardrobe is superfluous and I am gradually shedding it. Having a couple of basic items and that can be dressed up or down makes life much simpler. Same with shoes – I have 2 going-out pairs, a garden pair, a pair of thongs for the beach and a pair for riding my bike. That’s all I need.

EXERCISE IN NATURE
Going for a striding walk or swift ride around my neighbourhood is part the way I try to keep fit, but so is gardening, chasing the kids… Also, seems a silly thing to say, but it is possible to walk and ride without having specialised fitness clothing for each activity. A simple but good bike, with simple clothing and a reasonable pair of shoes is really all that is necessary.

LOVE PRE-LOVED ITEMS
If we need something, we save up and buy it rather than borrowing money, using credit. Often this means we choose preloved items rather than new – which saves both resources and money. We have some lovely dining chairs that we found at the tip shop – a set of nice bent wood chairs that just needed a good clean.  Our car was 10 years old when we bought it. We picked one with low mileage, good service records, excellent safety features and great fuel economy – and saved ourselves over $30,000.

AVOID CREDIT CARDS
We purposefully have debit cards rather than credit cards. It’s an easy limit on consumption. We need to have the money in our account before we can buy things. With all the other voluntary simplicity measures and conscious consumerism, we are able to make this work.

BE OPEN TO EXCHANGES
Everything doesn’t need to be a monetary exchange – we can give and share our products, services and skills in other ways. For example, when people come to my house, they often go away with some produce or cuttings from my garden – and same happens when I visit friends. I often give talks and workshops in exchange for entry to festivals and events. In a year, this alone saves me well over $1500.

Community meet-up and produce swap at the local bakery on a Saturday morning.

HAVE A ‘DAY OUT’ IN YOUR GARDEN
Going out with the family can get so expensive, and it’s amazing how much we use and waste to do this –   take-away food packaging, fuel etc. Particularly with little ones, it can also be quite stressful and exhausting. Having a simple unplugged ‘day out’ at home is so much fun – organise a picnic in the garden, a treasure hunt, games, maybe invite some friends over, make your own music, put on a show…

An afternoon of unplugged garden play with children from the neighbourhood (grandad made the swingset, the sandpit is surrounded by logs from the local woodlot and the cubby is at least 4th hand).

SHARE AND JOIN CLUBS
We recently joined a local sailing club for a very modest fee. Rather than buying our own boat, we decided to share the club’s boats and windsurfers. Each of these little boats gets used so much – again, it saves resources and lots of money. It’s quite liberating. On a Sunday morning we just turn up and help set up  – we don’t need to take all our own gear – they even provide life jackets and a rescue service.

The post Live simply: 14 Ways to Save Money and Avoid Debt appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Click to read the article: Sunshine Coast Features | Earth mother eco teacher

Thanks Jayne Fynes-Clinton for your descriptive words and to Claire Plush for this beautifully happy family portrait outside our handmade house.

The post Earth Mother Eco Teacher – new article article about Morag Gamble appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Around Southeast Queensland I have a range of permaculture and sustainable living workshops coming up soon. I’ve just created a new page here on my blog to let you know where you can join in and come and say g’day. The program includes:

• Nature Kids Programs at Crystal Waters
• Sustainable Living programs at Northey Street City Farm and Rocks Community Farm
• Permaculture Education at Northey Street City Farm
• Live Well programs at Brisbane City Council
• Living Smart Program with the Sunshine Coast Council.

New Blog Page: Workshops with Morag

Nature Kids at Crystal Waters

Most of the introductory sessions are free and the more in-depth daylong and weekend sessions with lots of hands-on action have a small fee attached. You can be assured you’ll take lots of plants and ideas back to your home and garden from these sessions and many take-home products.

There are many more session coming. I will keep updating this page.  Coming soon – more workshops at Crystal Waters, new sessions at Yandina Community Garden, continued program of sessions at the Moving Feast Garden at University of Sunshine Coast…

Practical Permaculture sessions at the Moving Feast Community Garden at the University of Sunshine Coast

The post Practical Workshops with Morag Gamble appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

• Remembering to breathe – big long, deep breaths. Breathing together with the kids when tempers are rising is great too. My 2 year old is becoming a master at calming himself with a few breaths – I’m amazed! 

• Taking a few moments while I am harvesting in the garden to walk slowly, appreciate the beauty and observe. Sometimes I gather a little posie of flowers and herbs for the table – to bring some the garden beauty and scent inside. 

• Remembering to stretch throughout the day – and having fun doing this with the kids on the rug. 

• Stopping for a moment to just listen to the sounds of nature around me. Doing this with the kids too is fabulous. I ask them some focus questions …What can we hear? What bird or insect is that? How many different bird songs can we hear? And then see what else we hear – always asking lots of open ended questions to stimulate our imagination…What do you think that truck in the distance is doing? 

• Lying on the trampoline and watching the clouds – the kids love this too and we look for shifting shapes and faces.

Cloud watching

The post Taking time for myself – with my kids! appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.