1. Feed soil life.
2. Protect soil life and structure.

As you know healthy soil = healthy plants = nourishing food = good health.  Plants in sterile soil perform poorly. Unhealthy plants are more prone to pest and disease problems, just as unhealthy food leaves us more prone to disease and malnourishment.

So what are superb soils? They feel crumbly and moist. They smell earthy. Their structure is open allowing movement of air, water and nutrients to plant roots. They are full of diverse and abundant life.

You may have read the previous soil post about soils in June: 5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Soil and Grow Better Food http://our-permaculture-life.blogspot.com.au/2016/06/5-simple-ways-to-improve-your-soil-and.html. In that post I recommended to:

1. Open the Soil
2. Feed the Soil
3. Add Organic Matter to the Soil
4. Mulch the Soil
5. Water Deeply

This is exactly what we need to be doing. I wanted to add some extra information here about why.

Did you know most plants have root extenders …..?!

Plants in real soil – superb alive soils – are supported by the web of life in the soil, in particular, fungus. Did you know that 90% of plants rely on fungus to access most of the nutrients and moisture they need – the fungal filaments are like root extensions. They go finer, further and deeper than roots could ever go.  So plants and fungus live in symbiosis – a mutually supportive relationship – and plants in this relationship are stronger and more resilient.

Why gardening in the ground is so important…

This plant-fungus relationship is why I recommend, wherever possible, to grow food in the ground and work to improve the aliveness of soils. (Understandably this not as easily achieved in balcony gardens and areas of soil contamination). The importance of connecting with soil life also explains why raised garden beds that are disconnected from actual soil can limit the vitality of your garden soils and plants.

How to create soil aliveness?

The base of the soil food web is organic matter.  More organic matter = more soil life. The two main things that support beneficial bacterial and fungal growth in the soil are: organic matter and protection from the elements, this also supports the flourishing of the entire soil food web.

What damages good soil?

• tillage damages the fungi – it severs the fungal threads
• fungicides and pesticides kill the good fungus, bacterias and bugs
• lack of organic matter – no food for soil life
• no soil protection – over-exposure to sun, rain and wind kills soil life

5 Simple Strategies to Feed and Protect Soils

Here are some natural and simple ways to feed soil life, protect soil structure and tend the soil:

1. Activate your soil with compost. 
I have a range of compost systems on the go, but I really love the simplicity and portability of the movable compost bins. I take them to an area that need a real boost, compost there for a while, attracting a zone of soil aliveness, then moving the bin on to another spot, but leaving the compost there to spread out, mulch over and make a new garden. There are also a number of herbs you can add into a compost to activate it. Read about these here: http://our-permaculture-life.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/improve-your-soil-with-herbs.html

Movable compost bin and worm tower – creating soil life hot spots.

2. Add compost worms to your garden ecosystem.
One way to do this is by installing simple worm towers throughout your garden, taking the benefits of worms and worm castings directly into your garden soil. It creates nutrient rich zones, and zones of soil aliveness. Visit my previous post about worm towers:
http://our-permaculture-life.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/a-quick-and-super-easy-way-to-turn-food.html and another which links to  the 7 minute film showing you how to do it.
http://our-permaculture-life.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/film-5-how-to-make-worm-tower.html

3. Add organic matter, compost and leafy greens to garden beds – in a no-till way.
Making no-dig gardens feeds and protects soils and creates a great environment for your soil life to thrive. This helps so much to support a thriving vegetable garden. By using the no-dig garden method rather than digging it into the soil protects the soil structure. Visit my previous post to see how to make a no-dig garden:
http://our-permaculture-life.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/morags-simple-successful-no-dig-garden.html

4. Plant deep rooted plants
I plant comfrey around the edge of the garden and beside the compost. The thick penetrating roots accumulate nutrients from deep in the soil and bring them to the surface. You can then use comfrey leaves as an excellent compost activator, to make a potent homemade comfrey fertiliser (http://our-permaculture-life.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/film-3-how-to-make-comfrey-tea-with.html), to add organic matter and nutrients into the soil layer while making a no-dig garden, or just to chop and drop. Also fruit trees with comfrey nearby seem to do better.

Comfrey

5. Regularly chop and drop organic matter.
I am often wandering around the garden, chopping back surplus growth and tossing it around trees and garden beds to feed and protect soil life. It’s amazing how quickly it breaks down and gets taken into the soil. Because having enough organic matter is so vital, I actually grow plants especially for this purpose such as the comfrey, Queensland arrowroot, lemongrass and pigeon pea – but many other plants can be used too, such as the abundant mulberry or pumpkin leaves.

Old pumpkin vines as chop and drop mulch.

In and around the veggie garden I mostly use mulch – a seedfree grass hay that is easy to work with around the little plants.

Thick layers of mulch get drawn rapidly into our soils.

I also recommend using cover crops (living mulch) to cover bare soils, open soils, add organic matter and renew areas.

DEFINITIONS: 

Bacteria – single celled organisms that are the most abundant microbes in the soil. 

Fungal filaments – the fine white threads called mycelium you can see in healthy soil. We need this mycorrhizal fungi (symbiotic relationship between the plant and fungus) – 90% of plants rely on it. It increases plant strength, increases water uptake, absorbs minerals & nutrients and in addition stores 1/3 of soil carbon.

(Interestingly, mycorrhizal fungi does not form relationships with the Cruciferae family (eg mustard, broccoli), Chenopodiaceae (eg spinach, beets) and Proteaceae (banksia, macadamia). Fungal numbers drop in the soil with these plants, same as when the soil is left bare and exposed.)

Protozoa – single cell organisms that eat bacterias and release nitrogen to plants. 

Nematodes – microscopic wormlike creatures, that are the most numerous multi-celled things on Earth and an essential part of healthy soil ecosystems. They are found in every conceivable habitat from the deepest ocean to the highest mountain. They feed on bacteria, fungi, algae, small invertebrates and other nematodes. Gardeners immediately think of root knot nematodes, and cringe in fear when they hear their name mentioned. Having root knot nematodes are an indicator that your soil ecology is out of balance – adding more organic matter, compost and moisture can usually help regain the balance, as well as planting a crop of brassicas that are more resistant to the root knot nematodes – particularly the mustard varieties.

The post The 2 Best Things You Can Do To Simply Create Superb Soils for Superbly Healthy Food appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

image source: www.onegreenplanet.org

• Synthetic fibres shed and accumulate as toxicity in nature. 
• Natural fibres biodegrade and are recycled by nature. (Most of my old clothes end up as mulch, worm food and compost)

Those of you who have read my blog posts before know I focus on food and growing, but today I am moved to write from a different angle. Thanks to the many recent conversations I’ve had with people on this disastrous link between fast fashion, ecological systems disruption and toxicity in our food.

Please join me in thinking about this big issue and next time you are heading out to make a textile purchase. And please me spread the word by sharing this post with your friends and networks.

Think, buy, use, renew and make natural!

Might be time to get those alpacas …. image source: www.goodonyou.org.au

The post Did you know our clothes are poisoning us? More Reasons to Choose Simple Natural Fashion for Earth Care and People Care appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

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.

Today, Earth Overshoot Day 2016 has come 5 days earlier than last year. According to the Global Footprint Network that means that if every person in the world lived like an Australian, there would need to be more than 5 Earths – but we only have one!

To get more details and find out about more countries get the full report at www.overshootday.org

The first Earth Overshoot Day was December 19, 1987. Now it has come back into August and heading toward July!

2014 – August 19

The post We Only Have One Earth – A Call For Voluntary Simplicity appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

One of the most transformative experiences for me was spending about a year at Schumacher College in England, as a student in 1992 and as a guest scholar on a course called Design for Life in 2003 with Janine Benyus (biomimicry). The course I ran was also a Permaculture Design Course. Schumacher College is essentially a green university – I love it!

Back in 1992, I so was incredibly inspired by learning at Schumacher College with people such as Fritjof Capra, Vandana Shiva, Helena Norberg-Hodge and Satish Kumar.  Immediately after taking courses at the college I made a pilgrimage around the UK to places such as Findhorn, Scotland and the Centre for Alternative Technology, Wales.

I had also arranged with Helena to volunteer in Ladakh with her at the Ladakh Project (Local Futures). While in India, I also visited Vandana’s Navdanya Project (since evolved into Bija Vidyapeeth or Earth University). My mind was exploded and my heart sang with possibilities.

A few years later, I visited Fritjof Capra a few times in Berkeley California. He introduced me to the Center for Ecoliteracy which he founded and the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center  – places rethinking education and supporting teachers to change. Creating opportunities for children to experience connection with nature and to be exposed to ecological systems thinking has been at the forefront of my work since. (Fritjof had also been a regular teacher at the Esalen Institute.)

ETHOS FOUNDATION 

Back at home, I have been persistently passionate about creating similar opportunities here in Australia for locals and for people around the world who would love to come together to:

• connect with nature, community and self
• deepen our understanding of the ecological paradigm
• explore thinking and ideas that will help guide us towards a sustainable future
• experience a different, more connected way of living and thinking
• learn very practical skills for living simply and sustainably
• nurture young leaders in sustainability
• offer nature connected education for children

After many years – helping to start Northey Street City Farm, the Australian City Farms and Community Gardens Network, school garden projects,  Local Futures study circles, offering permaculture education in 20 countries, I am now focussing all my efforts on creating a space for head, heart and hands learning, predominantly based here at the ecovillage.

This is what my organisation the Ethos Foundation, a not-for-profit charity, is all about. I have created programs such as Nature Kids, Young Ethos Scholars, and Permaculture Life and will be offering a few Permaculture Design Courses (PDC) each year. I see the PDC is an amazing door to a more sustainable way of life.

Ethos Foundation Permaculture Design Course – August 29 – Sept 9

I hope you can join me from August 29 – Sept 9 for an excitingly practical, intellectually stimulating and incredibly relaxing time here at Crystal Waters, where I have been living for the past 18 years. This course integrates my learnings from Ladakh, Schumacher, and all the other centres. I will be joined by indigenous leader Wiruungga, the amazing Robina McCurdy from New Zealand’s Tui Community. We’ll visit Maleny’s amazing coops including: Maple Street Organic Food Cooperative and the Maleny Credit Union. We’ll explore the ecovillage at Crystal Waters, the wonderful neighbouring Baranbali Farm, and visit school and community gardens in the region.

More information about the course will be uploaded to this website very soon. Please contact me for more information.

Films about amazing centres for learning:

Here are a few of the places which significantly influenced my thinking over the decades:

Schumacher College England

(with Vandana Shiva and Satish Kumar, Polly Higgins, Stephan Harding, Terry Irwin)

Earth University, India

Centre for Alternative Technology, Wales

Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, California

Local Futures (A short version of their recent film, The Economics of Happiness)

Esalen Institute, USA

The post Education as if the earth mattered: Green Universities, Permaculture and Centres for Positive Change 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.

Red ash, or soap tree, is used in fishing, as soap, to treat conjunctivitis, sties and mouth ulcers, and to make a ligament

Becoming familiar with these plants has been an integral part of my re-wilding journey. Rewilding, is a growing movement about reconnecting with nature – returning to a more natural state of being in the world. It is as much about rewilding our selves as it is rewilding the landscapes we have altered.

Since I moved to this part of Australia in 1993 from Victoria, I have been trying to learn as much as I can about the native plants of this region. I have realised that by getting to know these plants, their stories too, it has helped me to feel at home here – to find a sense of belonging. Wherever we are, getting to know the local plants and animals is a way of connecting to place and culture, and understanding the web of life.

I believe if we begin to understand how things work in nature (ecoliteracy), we will be far more able to work with nature and live in a way that nourishes the interconnected web of life.

My knowledge of local plants was deepened today as I walked through the Maroochy Botanic Gardens with Aunty Bev Hand, a well known Gubbi Gubbi woman who lives locally. She was sharing stories about indigenous plants with participants of the Australian Association of Environmental Educators expo.

As we walked and talked she pointed out so many of the common plants around the region and told us about how they were used, how their names have become place names – Mudjimbah (place of midyims), and how they were important in traditional culture.   She also told us how each indigenous Australian is connected to a plant or an animal as custodians of that species. The symbolism in traditional culture meant that people were always connected to flora and fauna – they could not exist apart from it.

Midyim – a great little plant that has delicious berries around December.

What is written below is a little snapshot of the wisdom she shared today. I have tried my best to share on what she said correctly….

COMPANION PLANTS
We stopped first at a Bracken Fern along the side of the path which she said indicated ants – they like being around this plant – biting ants. She usually stayed away from this plant, but told us that in case someone did get bitten it’s good to know that the bracken is the remedy. Break off a stem and use some of the sap from the base to rub into the bite.

Squeezing out the juice from the base of the bracken – used to treat ant bites.

This type of ‘companion planting’ often is found in nature – where remedies are close. I remember learning long ago that if you get scratched by a Bunya pine while you are harvesting one of the enormous cones for a feast, grab a leaf of the bleeding heart tree which usually grows nearby, and rub that into the scratches to ease the discomfort.

ROPE MAKING PLANTS
The name Aunty Bev calls the local native grass, Lomandra, is dilly. I had always heard of dilly bags for carrying things – now it makes sense! Lomandra was often used for weaving and making rope. As we walked, Bev tried to teach a few of us how to make lomandra rope. She made it look easy, but my fingers just felt clumsy. Even more so when she told us that 5 year old children were expected to know how to do this.  I have lots of Lomandra at home, I will practice and practice!

Aunty Bev Hand splitting stems of Lomandra to make rope.

Apparently, all Hibiscus plants are good for rope making too. I recently learnt that even the little rosella plant in my veggie garden is a great plant for rope making. Aunty Bev stopped at a native hibiscus plant and told us that it’s good for more than rope making. You can use it to sooth stomach upsets too – eat the young leaf and fresh new flowering buds.

MOSQUITO REPELLING PLANT
I was so glad she told us about the mosquito dance where men slap tea tree branches (Leptospermum petersonii) on their back to release the scent. It was late afternoon and the mozzies were starting to come out. I grabbed a handful and rubbed it into my legs – a fabulous repellent.

Tea tree leaves have a strong citronella scent.

SPEAR MAKING
If you’re looking to catch some fish, knowing about the Macaranga (Macaranga tanarius) is useful. Macaranga is a pioneer species that grows quickly and provides shade and protection for other slower species. It’s branches are light, straight and flexible.  The Macaranga leaves are used for wrapping fish, and the long branches are used to make straight and lightweight spears that are good for fishing. The wood is so light that it floats together with your catch. The Macaranga is also commonly used as the bottom piece of wood in firelighting.

Large leafed Macaranga has many uses and is a great pioneer in regenerating landscapes.

SOAP MAKING
Aunty Bev grabbed a handful of soap tree (Aphitonia excelsa) leaves and mixed it with a little water to bring up a good lather.  We used to do this a Northey Street City Farm before we had taps and sinks fitted – really effective.  I knew about it’s use in fishing too, but I was fascinated to learn that it is used to treat mouth ulcers as a gargle and a leaf heated on a hot rock was used to treat conjunctivitis and sties. The liquid extracted from the bark is great for making ligaments for aching muscles and sore joints – especially if blended with emu oil.

The back of the leaf is distinctly silvery and soft while the front is shiny green. Easy to pick in the bush.

EMERGENCY WATER
Cissus vines are water holders. If a stream has run dry,  cut the cissus vine and hold a cup under it. Water drains from the vine – a very useful piece of information to know.  There are grape looking fruits on the vine, but they are very bitter.

The water vine.

INDICATOR PLANTS
By getting to know plants you start to understand more about everything else around you – the soil, the microclimate, the seasons, the wildlife. Bev showed us a native ginger plant that had little chomp-like indentations out of the side of one of the leaves. This she said was an indicator that a type of solitary native bee lives within 500 metres – the bees come and collect the plant materials for their floors and doors.

The notches on this native ginger were made by bees to make their doors and floors. A good sign that local bees are closeby.

All plants and animals are part of the web of life, and are in a constant interplay with the earth. Although sometimes we forget, we are also inextricably linked. Getting to know our plants helps us to know our place and our selves – to connect or reconnect.

My deep gratitude to you for sharing Aunty Bev. I learnt so much today.

The post Re-wilding: deepening our connection with self, place and indigenous culture through local plants appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Evan and I most recently met with Vandana Shiva in Indonesia.

Vandana is one of the world’s most prominent environmental advocates. She is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, anti-globalisation author and tireless campaigner for seed freedom – a clear and loud voice for Earth Democracy – calling for seed sovereignty, water sovereignty, food sovereignty and land sovereignty. 

To provide a place where people can come to immerse themselves deeply to learn about these ways of seeing the world, the paradigm shift needed and to gain practical skills, she has created the Earth University in India, connected to Schumacher College. She encourages us all to become activists for Earth Democracy…

“Become the seeds of change in any place in the food web which is so rich and complex – become a seedsaver, an organic farmer, an activist, a chef, a nutritionist …”

Back in 1992, I was volunteering in the Himalayas at the Ladakh Project with Helena Norbert-Hodge of ISEC and Vandana came up to Ladakh for a week to help establish a community seed-saving project. I watched as the mothers and grandmothers of the community were so empowered by her – they mobilised their community networks and created the seed exchange network within just a few months.

Since then I have crossed paths with Vandana on many occasions – at Schumacher College in England, and more recently at the launch of Slow Food Bali’s community seed saving project.

I look forward to spending the evening with Vandana surrounded by my dear earth activist friends.  Who knows what will emerge from a gathering like this.

Maia and Hugh also attended Vanadana’s talk at Slow Food Bali’s seed project launch.

• The Vandana Shiva Reader (2014)
• Making Peace with the Earth (2012)
• Soil not Oil (2007)
• Earth Democracy (2005)
• Stolen Harvest (2000)
• Monoculture of the Mind (1993)

The post Making Peace with the Earth and Becoming Seeds of Change appeared first on Our Permaculture Life.

Drying the first batch of seedballs today for the inaugural seedball slingshot games.

My boys, in particular, love getting muddy too – any day they get the chance to smear themselves all over with mud is a happy day.

Always looking for the next muddy puddle. A muddy day is a happy day!

I have to admit, my gardening hands and nails are always needing a good scrub. My clothes are typically dark ‘serviceable’ colours (thanks Mum for that word!) or vibrant patterns – that way no-one can tell if I may have smeared a muddy hand. I’ve tried, but I can never wear pale colours – it just doesn’t work, especially with a 2 year old who loves cuddling with muddy hands.

Anyway today I had another muddy adventure….

Seedballs

You won’t believe how much fun I had making seedballs and experimenting with slingshot designs using bamboo and cuttings of weed trees. We’re getting ready to make a whole lot more with kids on Monday for our ‘Inaugural Seedball Slingshot Games’ – a holiday activity of the Nature Kids program I run. I made about 100 little sample ones today that dried quickly on the verandah rail.

These little seedballs are filled with seeds of flowers, legumes, beneficial insect attractors, and organic matter building plants.

Already half of them are down our block already. Hugh was super keen to help test and refine my slingshot designs. Even his trumpet teacher gave us some excellent ideas, as well as our WWOOFer, a visitor, Evan…. I am beginning to wonder if the adults are going to be just a little too helpful on Monday. Perhaps I should create a special grown-ups ‘sling-off’ to satisfy the childhood reminiscing of slingshot fun (safely of course, always directed away from others!)

We will be making hundreds of seedballs to send out into the Ethos Farm area to help improve the soil and add diversity. We are adding seeds for this season which help to add nitrogen, build organic matter, open up the soil, and attract bees and other beneficial insects.  Because they are being spread immediately and not into an arid area, they don’t need to be dried. We just need to make the consistency strong enough to withstand being thrown out. There will be some rains very soon to water them in.

Where did seedballing come from?

Seedballing is an ancient technique from Egypt, China and the Romans and renewed in the 1940’s by the late, Masanobu Fukuoka, who is considered the founder of Natural Farming, and an inspiration for permaculture, used seedballs extensively to rehabilitate damaged lands and practice no-till farming. 

Seedballing – working with nature

I like the gentle philosophy behind seedballs – following the lead from how seeding works in nature. Seeds fall to rest on the ground and germinate when the conditions are right. Plants don’t dig their seeds in. 

Digging, according to Fukuoka, disturbs the soil ecosystem (adds oxygen, tears apart mycelia mats, stimulates weeds, etc).  So he designed a method that would both protect the seeds and protect the soil. The seeds are already planted in the ball (protected from predators) and they stay there dormant until the conditions are right. Typically, the plants that survive the first year are the right plants for that place and time.

I have spent much time observing the plants in my garden – identifying what grows well without much help from me, what things come back year after year, what things flourish with primarily being watered by the rain. These are the plants which form the core structure of my edible landscape.

Seedballs are a mix of clay, compost and seeds. Roll them into little balls, dry them, then distribute them in the landscape to wait for water to come and release their potential.

Seedballs: how to make them (a brief intro)

There are many ways to make seedballs. Those for use in harsh environments need to be far more robustly made. Usually they are dried for 24-28 hours before use.

My simple mix was:

• 5 parts clay
• 1 part compost
• 1 part seeds
• and a little water to make the right consistency

I found some good reddish clay in the cut out the back of our house. The compost heap is always ready with some of the good stuff, and my place is bursting with seeds of all kinds.

I found some great clay just out my back door.  The cut behind the house needs to be retained and planted up – but I’m so glad we hadn’t done that job yet

Some recipes suggest more compost, but my clay had a fair bit of organic matter mixed with it already, and together this created a really stable ball consistency that held together even when catapulted.

Word of caution: It is important only to use appropriate seeds in seedballs and not spread invasive weeds, or disrupt native habitats with non-native species. Please roll the seeds into these balls with care, and with clear consciousness of where they are going to be distributed.

Seedballs are sometimes called seed bombs, but the non-violent person in me can’t call them that. They are not destructive bombs, but little balls of potential abundance awaiting activation, to help regenerate the soil.

Answer: Dr Seuss rhyme from One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

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I share the stories I read with Evan, discuss the ideas with the children, and pass around the magazines to friends, family and our WWOOFers.

I have tried online versions, but there’s just something about the print version that is so appealing – particularly a really well-designed magazine with excellent photography and inspiring and challenging writing.  It’s often the unexpected articles, the ones I might not click on in the online version, that surprise and intrigue me.

It’s a simple joy, but I love the anticipation of receiving my magazines by mail and sitting down with a cuppa to do the initial scan, working out what I am going to read first and then making the magazine last as long as I can.

One of my all-time favourites is Resurgence Magazine which has recently merged with another of my favourites, The Ecologist.  I have been subscribing continuously since 1992. This magazine is filled with articles about ecological thinking, peaceful and sustainable living, and positive activism.

After writing about plastic waste and the impact of microbeads the other day, I was delighted to read an article about California banning plastic microbeads in the new issue of Resurgence. Vandana Shiva, one of the environmental activists I most admire, writes too about a Manifesto for Sustainability

Another magazine I stumbled across more recently is Dumbo Feather. I love delving into the long, deep conversations they have with extraordinary people who are doing very amazing things with their lives, following their passions – being 100 percenters as they call it. They wrote  an article about three steps to becoming a 100 percenter – asking ‘What is you were able to align your values with how you live? “Pass it on” is printed on their cover page – I always do.

And finally, I have to say PIP Magazine: Australian Permaculture is another favourite too – full of absolutely practical information about ways to live a simple and sustainable life, I’ve been writing for this magazine since issue 2 – contributing articles, an overview of permaculture projects around the world, and now also contributions to the kids page.  In the latest issue includes an article I wrote about Nature Kids and the importance of connecting children with nature.

There are of course so many other magazines I enjoy reading. I find them in the newsagent or library and occasionally buy, but these three I think represent my favourites.

Have you got any amazing favourites? I’d love to learn about other wonderful reads.

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