Clik here to view.
Imported Weeds and Invasive Exotic Plant Species
The use of “weedy” species, together with the use of non-local species of unknown weediness, incites very heated debate in permaculture circles, inspiring a lot of name-calling and pseduo-science. My...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is it possible to grow vegetables using no-till farming?
At various workshops and meetings I’ve often heard statements along the lines of “no-till approaches are all very well for broadacre cropping (e.g. grain crops), but no one uses them for vegetables” –...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Madeira Vine – a permaculture food plant, or a rampant and destructive invasive?
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you will know that I’m very concerned about the encouragement of the use of invasive or potentially invasive species in permaculture (you can see where I’ve...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lee Reich: unusual fruits, soil organisms, compost tea, moon planting and a...
Just a quick one to alert you to a very interesting new podcast on the Northwest Edible Life blog featuring an interview with Lee Reich. Lee Reich: soil scientist, horticultural scientist, author [link...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A refreshingly different approach to food forests
I’ve just been reading a post by Tom at Sustainable Veg with the intriguing title: A Forest Garden Without the Forest. It first caught my eye because of my scepticism about permaculture “food forests”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A tour of the vege garden
In this post I’m going to give you an overview of the food garden areas, with a few “before & after” progress shots – starting with this shot of our first garden (it’s roughly where the porch is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Starting a batch of 18-day (more or less) compost
I just spent a morning putting together a batch of compost. Four hours of solid work, from getting the green waste that is the basis if this batch to capping it off with a fluffy cap of straw. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Courses at Northey Street City Farm
I’ve just received the list of courses at Northey Street City Farm in Brisbane for the rest of the year. Two bits of good news: First, they are offering some of their Permaculture Design Course...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Turning the compost heap for the first time
Back in late August I described the process of putting together an 18-day compost heap. That heap was made on August 26. When I measured the temperature on August 30 it was just over 50 degC. I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Growing Dragon Fruit from cuttings and looking after your growing plant
This post is a work-in-progress compilation of material on growing this delicious and low maintenance fruit. I will edit it from time to time as I come across more/better material. [Sunday night Oct...
View ArticleClik here to view.
City farms and small producers at threat from trade agreements
Last night I was reading something about the Australian Government’s new trade agreement with China and thinking about the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement that the Abbott government has been...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dragon Fruit flowering
One morning last week I went out into the garden early to see how the Dragon Fruit buds were going. The day before I’d had to go to Brisbane for the whole day and didn’t get into the garden at all....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pruning Dragon Fruit
I have to admit that I have not found good information anywhere on how to prune Dragon Fruit. What I am going to tell you here is a result of my own “trial and error” approach over several years. It...
View Article
