Full Cycle Permaculture | Landscape designer

Full Cycle Permaculture

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19.01.2022 There is no better way to spend a weekend than doing a weed foraging workshop with the "Weed whisperer" himself - Diego Bonetto. Just a few generations ago everyone understood the benefits of weeds and used them for their medicinal qualities and to supplement their evening meal. It wasn't too long ago that we didn't have the luxury to be able to drive to the supermarket when we were out of lettuce, or slip down to the chemist when we were sick. What we now call "weeds" used t...o simply be an addition to our salad - one that took no effort on our part, free food that all we needed to do was harvest it. The knowledge of what we can use our weeds for is sadly being forgotten. It has only taken a few generations to turn the mindset of gardeners from seeing these little backyard friends as being little backyard pests. I can assure you that most of the weeds in your garden have some use so don't let this valuable knowledge slip away. Start to learn what the weeds are in your local area and then take yourself on a journey of discovery to learn what uses they all have. I guarantee you will be surprised. For those in the Sydney area here is a good place to start: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/7406004 Now run outside and create your oasis! Jo

17.01.2022 WORM TOWER PROJECT We have all been there stack after stack of plastic pots left over from all the plants you have bought over the years. I am sure they breed in the dead of night. So, on a quest to utilize some of the pots, today I decided to use one to make a worm tower. Usually my kitchen scraps go to the chickens and ducks but I really wanted a system that is right on my doorstep and also improves the soil in the garden bed where I like to grow herbs. So a worm tower w...Continue reading

16.01.2022 I've always felt that edible plants should be planted more frequently in public places. Councils and home owners alike should line our streets and fill our parks with fruit trees, hardy herbs and productive shrubs. Food can be free if you know where to look and a good starting point is http://fallingfruit.org. Anyone can add the locations of fruit trees and other publically available edibles onto this website to share with the rest of the community. Do you have a fruit tree that is hanging over your front fence and you have so much fruit that you couldn't possibly eat it all yourself? Don't let it go to waste. Why not add it to this database and help to make our food free.

11.01.2022 Our dam has overflowed and is spilling safely off into the bush via the new trench

10.01.2022 Our dam was about to BLOW OUT THE WALL! With our recently redug dam about to overflow and more rain expected last night we checked the levels on the dam only to find that the spillway (where the water is supposed to overflow safely) was at the same height as a point in the dam wall thanks to a large ants nest built on the spillway that had raised its height. The risk is that when the dam overflows it will do so over the wall and the rushing water will take out your dam wall a...s it goes. We needed to fix it fast! We decided to redirect where the spillway overflows so rather than clear the ants nest we dug an emergency trench off to the side. This is now the lowest point and when the dam overflows the water will go down the trench and safely off into the bush. Disaster averted. And like the true water-obsessed Permaculture designer I am I was out there last night, in the rain and in the dark, waiting for the dam to spill. I expect it to go over sometime today .

08.01.2022 As we face one of the worst flood events in many years here in Sydney it is interesting to note that today is World Water Day. World Water Day, is about what water means to people, its true value and how we can better protect this vital resource. A short few weeks of rain and flood does not mean we should become complacent and forget our many years of drought.... Today, water is under extreme threat from a growing population, increasing demands of agriculture and industry, and the worsening impacts of climate change. This precious resource is highly misused and mismanaged. We use water of drinking quality in our toilets, authorities prevent us from installing grey and blackwater systems at home, and we pollute ground water and rivers and oceans with our agricultural and industrial waste and with our own garbage. Water which, in its natural cycle, would have taken hundreds of years to move through the system going from cloud, rain, soil, tree, transpiration, cloud, rain, etc, suddenly finds itself swept out to sea via our giant stormwater systems in a matter of hours. Because we have paved everything in concrete... And the next day we stand in our yard and water our gardens with a hose pumping the water from many kilometres away... #WorldWaterDay #Water2me https://www.worldwaterday.org/

07.01.2022 This Sunday (20 September) is Sustainable House Day and it is completely virtual. You have the unique opportunity to explore sustainable homes from all over the Australia from the comfort of your own home. You’ll also will be able to join over 30 free virtual sessions with homeowners, architects, and sustainability experts. Register now and get some great ideas on living more sustainably.

07.01.2022 Earth Hour is coming. On Saturday 27th March at 8:30pm local time switch off your lights for Earth Hour to show your support for Australia to switch to a renewables-based economy.

07.01.2022 GROW YOUR OWN FOOD AT HOME PERMACULTURE DESIGNS - SERVICING THE SYDNEY AREA Designing site specific, low maintenance, highly productive ecosystems that provide for your needs. Something that is important now more than ever before. Self-managing edible landscapes (food forests, organic vegetable gardens, medicinal gardens, herb gardens) Passive water systems (greywater, swales, rainwater collection, wicking beds, hugelkultur)... Waste recycling (green waste composting, worm farms, composting toilets, pet manure composting systems) Disaster mitigation (bushfire protection landscaping, drought resilience, storm resilience, designing for climate extremes) Maximise energy efficiency in the home Livestock integration (assist with system maintenance, eggs, meat, milk, etc) Utilising nature to take care of the garden (beneficial insects, encouraging predators of pests) From balconies to broad-acre farms. The permaculture principles will work for you. Designs in 3D and walk-through movies. To turn your garden into a productive oasis contact Full Cycle Permaculture today www.fullcyclepermaculture.com.au

04.01.2022 USING YOUR POND TO GROW OTHER HERBS Keeping water up to the plants in my garden which are particularly thirsty can be an issue for me since I am solely reliant on tank water on my property. Wasting our water supply on irrigation is something that I avoid if I possibly can. I never water my fruit trees simply because (until our dam is finished) I don't have enough water to give them the good soaking that they need to develop deep roots (too little water and you promote shallow... root growth). My fruit trees have been slow to establish but they have developed a good deep root system as they have been forced to seek water in the lower soils - they are now virtually bomb-proof during our long dry spells. So a few weeks ago my vietnamese mint plant (which likes a lot of water) didn't look too happy. I thought about how you can put a mint cutting in a glass of water on your kitchen benchtop and it will quite happily grow roots and continue to thrive. I decided there was no reason why I couldn't use this to my advantage and just stick a cutting in my frog pond. Here the mint would have all the water it wanted, will get filtered sunlight, is contained in my pond by the rocks around the border, and I never have to change the water in a glass on my benchtop. Seeing no downside to my idea the vietnamese mint when into the frog pond - along with lemon balm and peppermint. The plants are surviving well and I am about to start testing other herbs which might be quite happy being grown as a "water plant". Clumping or running ground cover type plants will work best as anything that gets too tall will topple over without the soil to support their root system. I am curious to try plants such as thyme, oregano, and various other mint plants - just to name a few. The pond is well established and has already created its own balanced ecosystem with other waterplants thriving in there. I will need to keep a close eye on my "water herbs" for a while to ensure they are not becoming deficient in any nutrients and perhaps make adjustments to my pond if necessary. If nitrogen levels are too low, for example, I may need to start adding a few small fish so their waste will add nitrogen to the pond. I can't wait to see where this little experiment leads me! Now run outside and create your oasis! Jo

04.01.2022 OUTSMARTING MR FOX Anyone who owns chickens (or any other poultry) is all too familiar with the cunning and relentless persistence of the local foxes. Perhaps at first you were complacent (It won’t happen to me) but let me assure you that a fox WILL eventually find your chickens. And when they do you will be added to their regular nightly route. They will visit your coop during their rounds and take advantage of any mistake a little too late locking the gate? A hen escape...Continue reading

01.01.2022 CHICKS STARTED HATCHING Today marks 21 days since my broody duck started sitting on 5 chicken eggs and 6 duck eggs and - like clockwork - the chickens have started hatching. I can hear them chirping away underneath her. Duck eggs, on the other hand, take 28 days to hatch and since the mother duck will leave the nest with her chicken brood in about 3 to 5 days time she will leave behind any unhatched duck eggs. Once she does this I will candle all the duck eggs to check if the...y have ducklings inside. It's likely that the eggs aren't fertile because I don't think my drake is doing his job. Ducks usually mate on the water and (believe it or not) my drake seems to be scared of swimming. Ever since 2 of his female ducks disappeared when they were all on the dam one day (I assumed taken by a fox) he hasn't gone back in the water. He has never again lead his girls to the dam and while the females will swim in the pond I've provided he will stand at the edge and watch. Still I live in hope that just maybe there are ducklings on their way. If the eggs are fertile this means I will have to finish hatching the duck eggs myself and I will put the ducklings under their mum at night. It's been a long 3 weeks waiting for this day and I'm so glad it has finally arrived. Now the weather is warm and the rain has been falling - the plants in the gardens are going bonkers at the moment so run outside and create your oasis! Jo