I was at this school on the Sunshine Coast last weekend’s attending an AAEE (Australian Association of Environmental Educators) event about cultivating leadership in sustainability in adolescents.

The tour of the bins and new OSCA composting system at lunch was great. They told us that by introducing this bin system and working on changing school culture around waste, in just one term they’ve cut 30 % of the waste that it is sending to landfill. That’s significant and rapid shift. Congratulations Suncoast Christian College.

These bins are modelled on those which have been successfully in place at the Sunshine Coast University for years.

The newly installed OSCA system to process all the school’s biodegradable waste.

Inside the OSCA – plastic contamination is still an issue, but easy to pick out at the end.

The war on food waste in schools is just beginning. Infrastructure like this supports the educational and cultural change efforts and helps to sustain the initiative. The added bonus is the significant amounts of compost that can be created and used in growing fresh healthy food that can go home with the kids, used in their cooking classes.

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Costa, Maia and I catch up at the Urban Agriculture Forum in Melbourne on Feb 24, 2018.

David and I about to speak at the panel Designing Communities for Resilience and Liveability at the Urban Agriculture Forum in Melbourne Feb 25 2018.

I was so happy to meet Professor Lenore Newman from Canada and catch up with neighbour, Frances Michaels (my permaculture teacher) of Green Harvest at the UAF2018 luncheon today.

Lovely to catch up with some of fellow PIP contributors, Sam Allemann & Kat Lavers (The Plummery) contribute in different way to PIP: The Australian Permaculture Magazine. I write the Round the World section, The subtropical planting guide, a plant profile and also part of the PIP Brains trust too.

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Permaculture thinking, systems thinking, is the basis for our homeschooled children’s education, too.

I have noticed how deeply young children grasp the bigger picture concepts, and it is such a joy to see how it is their ‘normal’.

The types of skills students cultivate by participating in these programs are those they will need to be adaptable and resilient adults, able to contribute to a positive future. 

 

There is so much about living well that can be learnt in a garden, in nature.

Last week we welcomed 100 grade 6 students into our garden exploring permaculture design thinking, permaculture lifestyle strategies and practical skills for resilience.

It was a head, heart and hands day – lots of ideas, hands on and deep questioning.

The feedback from the students, the teachers, the parents was wonderful. I love working in this way.

 

Last week Year 6 class spent a day with us learning about permaculture as a connecting theme for exploring design, technology and science.  Walking between my garden and the village gives us a chance to be in nature, to breathe fresh air, explore ecovillage design ideas, land regeneration concepts, wildlife habitat restoration, to reflect on what they have seen and casually chat, to stop and observe birds, kangaroos and wallabies.

Today a group 50 students arrive, this time for 3 days – a year 11 geography camp. Again, it is an integrated program delving into practical, personal and community approaches to sustainable living, locally and globally, with connecting thinking at its core.

We’ve been leading camps for year 11 and 12 geography classes in our garden and village for 20 years.

 

 

Lunch at the village green under the shade of the leguminous trees.

Ready and waiting for the next group to get hands on….

Morag’s workshops coming soon

  

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• Banana
• Lemongrass
• Lomandra/ matrush
• Bulrush/juncus
• Acacia bark
• Hibiscus bark
• Agave
• Yucca
• Flax
• Nettle
• Straw
• In cooler climates than here, also plants such asWillow and Maple

Homemade ropes may not always be as strong, but they do have so many uses:

• for biodegradable plant ties
• for constructing bamboo trellises
• for preparing some basket making fibres
• to create materials for weaving seats (one of the most comfortable chairs I’ve sat on was a woven banana fibre seat top)
• for a washing line
• for making cubbies
• for a skipping rope
• for lots of children’s games and activities
• craft
• gift ties
•  …

While I was teaching permaculture at a community garden last weekend, my family was off exploring nearby Hervey Bay by bicycle.  A definite highlight for them was the Hervey Bay Historical Village and Museum where they learnt how to make the sisal rope from Agave sisalana fibres (above) and hear how rope fibres were extracted from various plants. The kids also tried their hand at de-kerneling a corn cob and watched a treadle-powered wood lathe, and a blacksmith at work.  They were fascinated.

I’d missed seeing this, so back at home the children keenly taught me how to make the rope, demonstrating the method with a piece of used paper – a good way to get used to the technique. It worked really well and made a lovely soft twine (see picture above).  I can imagine this would be great for craft work. 

We’re keen to have a go using plants from our garden. I think we’ll begin with banana and hibiscus. The bananas need thinning and when the rosellas have finished flowering I will have lots of stems available. 

Banana fibre (Image: ecouterre)

It would be great to have something like the 1911 rope-making machine, but we can manage without it. To make the paper rope, we tightly and evenly twisted 3 lengths of fibre. We then twisted the three lengths together – twisting in opposite direction. That’s it – if twisted together consistently, the rope will stay together. Just whip (lash with thread) the ends and voilà!

The key thing to explore now is how to best extract the fibres from the garden plants. A local Aboriginal woman showed us how to simply roll the plant fibres of lomandra to make rope, and the historical centre showed wire brushes that helped to process things like banana.

For more details on rope making, I recommend googling homemade rope and natural cordage. There appears to be lots of information about there. Like everything, you just need to know to ask the right questions! Having said that, I’d love it if you someone could personally recommend some great instructions for the whole process – from harvesting and processing the fibre.

This activity reminded me about the Transition Town Movement which also encourages people to reclaim and remember traditional skills. Founder, Rob Hopkins, called for a Great Reskilling Movement. A great way to get together in the local community to keep useful skills alive and being passed on. Worth checking out, and perhaps finding ways to seek out and share your knowledge locally.

Maia was asked to be the assistant during the demonstration at the historical centre. What a useful machine – 100 years old.

Maia’s rope.

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The crocodile and the fairy pools in the Fairy Cave in Buchan, Victoria.

The keen earth scientists down the cave.

Mum and Dad came caving too.

Seams of shells in the cave passageways.

‘Drinking straws’  – the beginnings of stalactites.

Sparkling flows of ‘fairy dust’ adorn the walls in many places – this is why this is called the Fairy Cave.

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