The notes from my recent presentation to Jamberoo Community Growers on swales.

We had 9 cubic metres (4.6 tons) of mulch delivered – and I have to move it all by wheelbarrow!

Photos and videos of Monday’s flooding around Jamberoo.

It took a long time, but I finally finished digging the swale across the back of my shed. With mango, banana, coffee, loquats, sweet potato, taro and more it should be a productive little area soon!

Photos and a description of a very cleverly designed chicken coop.

Some ideas from Permaculture Visions for incorporating water into your garden design to add an extra dimension in both aesthetics and practicality.

I’ve long had the feeling that more and more people are getting into things like growing their own food, keeping chickens, and living sustainably. But then my own interest in these areas has been growing over the past few years too, so I wasn’t sure if it was just that I was paying more attention [...]

There was a very good segment on ABC TV’s Landline show last Sunday, How Green Was My Valley, on the challenges faced by dairy farmers as our climate slowly changes. You can watch it online.

The first 10 minutes or so focuses on a Victorian dairy famer, and the problems he faces when water allocations are [...]

I somehow missed this announcement when it came out a couple of weeks ago, but Sydney Water are happier with dam levels and have eased their water restrictions.

They’re calling the new rules the “Water Wise Rules” – because we’ve all learned from the drought and heavy restrictions, and are now much more water wise.

The new [...]

In our never-ending quest for more gardening space, I’m thinking of building some raised beds on top of the concrete in our backyard. A 2-foot-deep bed around the edge of the area wouldn’t impact our usable space much (we already have pots etc all around the edges), but would give us a fair bit of [...]