The inspiration…

My son, Hugh, was inspired to find a simpler and better way to extract worms from a worm farm. He was selling worm tower kits at the local market and was getting tired of the long process of separating the worms from the castings. He knew there had to be a better way …

Hugh’s method of collecting worms had us harvesting an abundance of worms so rapidly.

The typical method – too slow for Hugh

We had taught Hugh the typical method of separating worms, but he found it was fiddly and took too long. The standard method is up-ending a worm farm on a table or other smooth surface and mounding it up like a volcano. The worms move away from the heat and light towards the centre. Bit by bit you gently scrape away the castings, wait, scrape some more etc… and you are eventually left with a bundle of worms in the middle.

The typical method of separating castings from worms. Mound it up, scrape it off …. repeat a few times…

This method is still good for collecting the castings for your garden since you are rescuing most of the worms to put back into the farm. If however you are particularly wanting to extract bundles of worms for whatever reason – to feed to chickens, for fishing bait, for a micro-enterprise as Hugh was doing – I’ve not come across a simpler way.

Hugh’s ingenious idea…

You’re not going to believe how remarkably simple this method is, and just how effective it is. I love that Hugh brought his creative thinking to a challenge he was facing and found a solution. This method he has developed is a standout – it revolutionises the process, making it so easy and convenient. Essentially, he decided it would be much easier to entice the worms to come to him. Check it out how he does this in our short 3 minute youtube clip (link above).

Please share….

Please share our little video and spread Hugh’s positive idea. Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/moraggambleourpermaculturelife to get notice of each new movie I make. You can also subscribe to this blog so you get notice of each article and film.

The post Ingeniously Simple Idea to Harvest Compost Worms By 8 Year Old Boy: Film #14 with Morag Gamble appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

You can make them as simple or in-depth as you like. Of course, these activities are not just for the holidays – we love to do these things every week. In fact, they form the basis of many of our home education ‘lessons’.

Rock hopping at the upper Mary River.

You don’t need to know anything about the plants, animals, lizards, insects or weather to step outside and begin exploring. Nature is out your doorstep – all you need is to be open to wandering and wondering.

Silent Spring author, Rachel Carson, wrote another inspirational book, The Sense of Wonder.  In this book, written over three decades ago, she shares an her philosophy about the importance of sharing the wonder of nature with children. She says “wonder …leads to curiosity … leads to information …leads to responsibility … leads to action”.  This simple power of discovery and connection is such an antidote to indifference.   

You don’t even need to know what you are looking for, just some curiosity, patience to sit and watch what is going on around you, and an ability to notice things. Draw and jot down your discoveries. Share your findings with each other, and through apps like Bowerbird (Check out other citizen science sites in my previous post: http://our-permaculture-life.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/raising-earthcarers-1.html).

Bring your questions back inside and do some research – in books, on the internet, or find people who can help can.  People who are passionate about their topic are so keen to share it, particularly with young enthusiasts.

There are great lists out there for nature play activities, for example.

Nature Play: Fun Outdoor Activities for Kids 

Nature Play Passport Missions 

We’re going to have a go at these fun, open-ended activities over the next few weeks…

Become a Naturalist (a person loves to study nature) 

Head out on a field expedition or nature quest at different times of the day, to different places with your family and friends. Be a nature detective – step outside, what do you see, what do you hear, what can you feel, what do your wonder…?  

Make a nature adventure backpack – binoculars, magnifying glass, small field guides, pen knife or scissors (for taking a sample from a plant), notebook, pencil case (pencil, eraser, ballpoint, felt-tipped pen, colour pencils), clips (for holding pages), hat, sunscreen, water. 

Draw what you see – a leaf, a seed, a weed, a flower, a tree, a bird or group of birds, an insect, tracks, scats (animal poo), clouds … Make a note of what insect calls, bird calls, other animal sounds you can hear. 

You could go into your backyard, down the street, to your local park, to a local forest, beach or countryside… For a quick expedition perhaps just take a notebook and a pencil.  Make a point of always recording your notes and drawings

(Kids – always make sure someone knows where you are heading).

Bees in the kitchen garden

Become an Astronomer (a person loves to study the stars)

Go outside at night and for some wonderful star gazing. Can you see the milky way? What constellations can you see? Do you know which ones are planets? Can you see a shooting star – why does it do that? How many satellites have you spotted? Do you know how to tell the direction from the stars? Take a picture of the night sky and leave the shutter open for 30 minutes or more (you’ll need a tripod). Learn more about the stars and constellations (get a free app eg: SkyView) 

Night sky at our place by Columbian WWOOFer Alejandro Cappa.

Become a Meteorologist (a person loves to study the sky/weather)

Go cloud watching and look for weather clues.  Learn to read the clouds. What can you tell about the weather by the types of clouds – is wind, rain or a storm coming. Draw the clouds. Research about what the different types are called and what they mean. Get a field guide about weather and clouds – such as Cloudspotter. Use your imagination too – write a cloud poem, tell a story about the pictures you see, can you see an animal, a face…? 

Become a Geologist (a person loves to study rocks)

What kinds of rocks are there in your area? Make a rock collection. Sort them. Find out what they are made of (look in your rock books or online to help with rock ID). What does that tell you about the deep history of your place? Can you find fossils? Can you draw with your rocks? What games can you make up a game with your rock and pebble collection.

The post Natural Activities for School Holidays appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Grab a cuppa and take a listen. Please leave comments on the Up For a Chat site (and also here on my blog) about the sorts of things you’d like me to speak about when I return to the Wellness Couch for a follow-up conversation about how to get your own simple garden set up.

UC196: Permaculture with Morag Gamble (73:03 mins)
http://thewellnesscouch.com/uc/uc-196-permaculture-with-morag-gamble

Some of the points of conversation include:

• How I came to live a permaculture life
• How to live a simpler, less stressful life and step away from the over-consumerism.
• How the healthier the earth is the healthier we all become
• How living in nature is like a natural meditation.
• How superfoods come from supersoils – the importance of keeping your soils healthy
• How everything has a context for learning – my approach to homeschooling.
• How seeing the world through children’s kids eyes opens up the world tenfold.
• How to reduce waste in our home – food waste and single-use plastics
• The value of growing as much as we can at home & how there’s is more food in most edible gardens than we typically imagine.
• How to think of your garden as one big ecosystem
• How we all have a voice – we can all be part of the change.

The post Permaculture & Healthy Living: Morag Gamble Speaks with Cyndi O’Meara & Friends on the Wellness Couch Podcast appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Take a look at these pictures drawn recently by my little boy who turned three in April. He only recently started taking an interest in drawing and now he loves it –  I mean page after page after page.

This series of drawings was done in one sitting. Each picture has an amazingly in-depth story. I understand what they all mean because I sat with him and listened to his active commentary while he was drawing, or sometimes I asked him extra questions when he’d finished. I was astounded at the depth of detail he was describing, and the absolute focus he had on places in nature and the wildlife that surrounds him (real and imaginary!).

Birds feature a lot – here Mr Bossy Boots the seagull (who Monty met on a beach outing) and a bush turkey from our garden. There are over 160 species of birds at Crystal Waters.

Monty loves playing in mud and watching other animals play in the lake below our house. The sticks and mudzone are an obvious feature for him.

He has grown up in an ecovillage spending a lot of time outdoors, in natural spaces, down at the river, around lakes, in the permaculture garden, at community gardens, playing in muddy puddles, watching wildlife  – that is his daily reality. These pictures represent some of what he thinks about.

Rocks for rock hopping in the little river near our place.     One of the sections of river I think he had in mind…

This drawing Monty did as he told the story of a large creature called Jaca who met a little beetle and a snake (his story).

A Sea Urchin. Monty loves going to the beach to fossick in rock pools. (He also loves David Attenborough shows and the Octonauts).

The baby sea urchin looking for it’s mummy.

An underwater creature – perhaps in the lake below our house.

Monty is super excited about Grandad’s boat – a wooden trailer sailer he is restoring. We hope to go sailing in it later this year in the Gippsland Lakes.

 

The night sky out here is INCREDIBLE. Monty loves going out to see what we can see, and to say ‘Hello Moon’. He sings to it.

My little nature boy (it’s actually hard to find a picture with his clothes on that I can share here!) – the river is his favourite place.

He loves the beach and ocean too.

The post An Insight Into the Mind of a 3yo Nature Kid Through Art appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Happy face…

 

“Waiting for fluffy’ face…

 

‘Who me?’ face….

Grrr, scary face ….

 

Surprised face….

 

Dinosaur face ….

Tickled face …

 

Sweet boy face ….

 

‘I enjoyed that!’ face…..

 

The post How to Entertain a 3yo While Waiting in a Cafe…. appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

I’ve been exploring a range of different recipes again lately since it was recommended that my daughter avoid wheat, eggs, corn and dairy. These are perfect.

Home made falafel with garden greens – so yummy with home made hummus or a herby tomato dipping sauce.

These are rapidly becoming a lunchbox favourite (for all the kids) with some organic brown rice and a homemade tomato sauce. I can pack all sorts of garden greens and herbs inside. So fresh, healthy and super yummy.

Great handfuls of diverse fresh greens get chopped into the mix.

There are a lot of different ways to make them and I have been having fun experimenting – with fresh chick peas, with chick pea flour, with tahini and without, with various greens, herbs and spices.

I love this recipe when I look in the pantry and the supplies are low. If there are some chick peas, some greens and a fresh lemon in the garden and a few herbs and spices, it’ll come together nicely.

This particular recipe is the super simple quick method using besan flour and has been the given thumbs up by all the kids.

QUICK AND EASY HOME MADE FALAFEL RECIPE

Preparation: 5 minutes  (+10mins sitting)
Cooking: 10 minutes
Easy
Makes about 20 small falafel balls

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups chick pea flour
• handful of fresh greens  (I use a mix of whatever is looking lovely in the garden that day – parsley, rocket, coriander, kale, mustard spinach, hibiscus spinach, sorrell….)
• 1/2 tsp bicarb/baking soda
• 1/2 tsp good salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 large garlic clove
• Juice of 1 lemon (we have also used lime)
• 2/3 cup warm/hot water

Fresh herbs and lemon from the garden add such great flavour, and of course nutritional value to the falafel.

METHOD

• you could try them baked (220 C for 15 mins or until golden brown)
• they are yummy fried in a small amount of olive oil (this is one of the only things I do fry)
• or simple too is cooking them on a sandwich press with or without the olive oil

The mix is firm – good for rolling the balls without sticking too much to your hands.

The post 15 Minute Falafel with Garden Greens: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

My daughter, my eldest, just turned 10 and she asked for a sleepover with a small group of friends. She wanted to rock-hop at the river, make crafts, play in the garden and take a walk around the ecovillage. It was so much fun, and so relaxing as a parent to help her organise this. We all had a great time – sharing with her friends the sorts of things she often does on her weekends.

Maia’s 10th birthday party included a walk around the ecovillage, rock-hopping, a sleepover, and a great menu she planned and prepared.

Maia planned her own party menu. I helped her prepare the food, but she actually did most of it herself. 

Maia’s sleepover menu ideas.

After a bit of refining, here’s what we ended up creating:

 

AFTERNOON TEA

We swapped the fruit on Maia’s list for mandarins and bananas because we have so many of them coming ripe in our garden right now.

Monty is super happy with this bounty.

DINNER

Dinner soup was made from a pumpkin harvested 5 minutes before cooking it with a load of fresh herbs and greens. The organic sourdough wood-fired pumpkin bread was cooked that morning in the village. Delicious. It all disappeared completely!

The pumpkin bread was definitely the favourite at the party – warmed a little on the hotplate.

Maia wanted her ‘cake’ to be a raw vegan cheesecake made from cashews, honey, cinnamon, vanilla, coconut milk, with a date and almond base. She made it in mini-cupcake versions and popped them in the freezer (they couldn’t wait for me to prise them all out, so they were served straight from the muffin tray!)  I love how adventurous she is in her tastes and cooking. A few of the girls thought this one was a bit odd – perhaps a bit too rich maybe.

Maia’s raw vegan mini-cheescake creations.

BREAKFAST

The pancakes were made from wholegrain organic spelt flour, our eggs and local raw milk from the share herd we are part of. We decided not to have soy ice-cream after reading the ingredients. Instead, local cream with maple syrup and our bananas was so yummy.

MORNING TEA

A stack of mandarins, homemade spelt seedy crackers and hummus dip, raw bliss balls, spelt shortbreads, nuts.

There were no left-overs (except for more mandarins and bananas) for our next group of visitors (an hour later) who’d just arrived from Singapore. They’d come to talk with us to explore ideas for developing ecovillages in China…but that’s another story.

 

The post Nature Kids 10th Birthday Party: She Planned and Catered Herself 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.

I love this photo of my family taken by the photographer for SALT Magazine last year. I only have a few of us all together – I must make an effort to take more family group shots throughout the year. They are so nice to look back on as the kids grow.

Thanks also to SALT Magazine for this lovely photo of our kids in our garden last winter – I know it’s early winter because I can see the turmeric in the background just turning. It’s almost turmeric harvest time again.

• being woken up with handmade cards and a lovely little bouquet of flowers from our garden.
• being served a delicious fruit salad for breakfast made by my daughter.
• having a morning tea picnic play at the river with cheese and biscuits.
• taking the time for an afternoon siesta with our little one.
• whittling wood with Hugh.
• playing chess with Maia.
• making up games with cardboard boxes with the boys.
• taking a walk with the family down to another part of the river and planning a river campout.
• sharing dinner made by my 8 yo son – homegrown eggplant and couscous moussaka (with a little help from Evan).
• lots of after-dinner family group hugs initiated by our 3yo.
• And to finish it all off, after the kids went to bed, Evan drew me a hot epsom salts bath – lovely! (I was a little silly yesterday – I tried to demonstrate how to do a flip on the monkey bars and ended up putting my neck out. A 47, I need to warm up to things like that!?!)

Today I think Maia let me win – to be nice!

… and an extra special Happy Mother’s Day to my own Mum. Thank you for everything Mum, and for an amazing childhood on boats, on bikes, in nature, playing music, and living a simple healthy life.

The post Being a Mum is What I Love the Most. appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

If you relate to more than half of the above, you possibly could have already been labelled a ‘hippie’.  I reckon though, the real hippie days are long gone.

It could be said that a lot of the actions and values I’ve described above have been influenced by the radical hippie movement of the 60s and 70s – living and working for social change, peace, freedom and the environment –  but there have also been many other philosophies, discoveries and ideas that have contributed to this way of thinking and living over the past 40 years too.

Am I a hippie?

I relate to all of the above points, but I don’t identify as a hippie (I’m too young). I particularly try to avoid the hippie tag because of the negative connotations that typically come with it – I don’t smoke or drink or have never been into drugs.  I try to avoid other tags too – it becomes to easy to be parcelled up and dismissed. Tags and labels seem to close people’s minds to new possibilities and interesting ideas that are worth exploring.

I know I hold a bit of fear of being labelled a hippie. Considering where I live and what I do, I am an easy target. A recent article about my way of life had the title “Earth Mother, Eco-teacher“. I admit I shuddered when I first read the words ‘Earth Mother’ describing me. It felt like a hippie label, but when I read the article, I realised the title had been given with much respect not condescension.  I think in that moment, I let go of some of my fear and I felt encouraged that this way of life is seen as a positive aspiration.

I love my work, particularly the Nature Kids and permaculture programs I run for kids and the community.

I am not trying to drop out of society. I have my whole life been dropping into living a positive, healthy, community-connected, earth-connected way of life. This feels purposeful to me and brings me a deep sense of joy and meaning. I live in an ecovillage, grow food, teach permaculture, live simply, dress simply, homeschool my kids… Does that make me a hippie? No.  I perhaps embrace a number of hippie culture qualities – love, peace, care for the earth, care for people, living simply and ethically – but I’m just me – me in relation to my community and environment.

Relaxed and happy – barefoot in the garden spreading compost, mulching and planting.

Labels are a great way to be boxed, dismissed and/or marketed to – best if possible to be avoided! Be free, be open, live well, love life, connect and make a positive contribution.

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