Permaculture

A group of home-schoolers have recently discovered the Yandina community gardens and they’ve all love being there. With the first visit, a garden bed was prepared for them to plant in and then they painted a mural on the besser block wall. With the most recent visit a couple of worm farms were put together from recycled material but the best part for the kids was to be able to sift their hands through the worm castings and look for the worms. It probably stressed the worms a bit!

Permaculture

If you’re looking for a source of food from your garden that is readily available all year round; is of no trouble to grow, and is a food that is satisfying to eat and good for your health, then you can’t go past the sweet potato! As permaculturists we have been growing sweet potatoes in our Permaculture gardens as a living ground cover and it tends to become just that; instead of a source of food for the table. The sweet potato needs to be replanted every year if there is to be food productivity otherwise there will just be vines sprawling all over the ground. I have learnt that it is wise to grow sweet potatoes as a food crop in a garden bed that is meant for them alone so that they can be freely dug up for their tubers.

The sweet potato originated in South America but has found its way all over the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The people of ancient Hawaii grew about two hundred different varieties but there are now only a few varieties left. There is still however quite a selection of different coloured sweet potato to be found. The foliage of the sweet potato can differ as well, making them easier to distinguish. Most sweet potatoes grow directly where they are planted but there are some varieties that grow secondary and more clusters of tubers. There are also some varieties that don’t run at all and these can be very handy to grow in garden beds. The sweet potato is one of the easiest vegetables to grow organically, as there are not too many problems with pests, unless of course the wild life gets to them before you do!

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Permaculture

Ever thought what it takes to have a healthy immune system? We know that to have a healthy diet accompanied with regular excercise, goes a long way to achieving good health; but that's only part of the story. When we are young we seem to have a lot more resilience when disease knocks on our door but as we age a bit, we seem to be more prone to the many ailments that abound in our society. Around the age of forty we usually find that we need reading glasss and we don't have as much puff as we used to. Sure you have your two fruit and three veg a day and you walk the dog around the block every evening after work, but this is simply not enough anymore.

Today we are living in a very toxic age. Every day our immune system is bombarded by petro-chemical toxins. You might be sitting in your new car that has been locked up in the hot sun all day only to breathe in the formedehyde through the fumes coming of the seats and dash board.Our our new furniture, curtains, carpet and that new mattress that you've just bought, have all been treated with mouldicides and fungicides. Don't forget the pest control man has recently been to spray for the vermin in the house and not to mention traffic fumes, stray cigarette smoke and the list just goes on.

There's no getting away from the toxic influence in our lives these days as some chemical sensitive people can attest to. It is very, very difficult if not impossible to escape it entirely. The food we eat is contaminated with pesticide and herbicide residues. It is grown in mineral deficient soils as the farmer applies yet more chemicals to grow the next crop. Agricultural soil in Australia is rapidly being degraded and we simply can't meet our nutritional requirements by eating 'healthy' food anymore. The sale of vitamins and minerals alone are going through the roof!

Welcome to the twenty-first century.