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Building a Raised Bed Garden
Recently when filming with Permaculture gardener Rosina Buckman, we asked her how she managed to grow her amazing vegetables in her raised bed gardens without importing a lot of expensive soil. These tanks were raised off the ground and faced a sunny spot right out at the front of her house. Rosina responded that we need to look and think about our garden beds the same way we approach a compost heap. “All you have to do is think of it as a great big compost bin.” she said. Rosina cleverly asks her neighbors to donate their pruning...
read moreChop Chop Compost
Rosina Buckman’s front garden is right out on the suburban street. A number of corrugated colour-bond Zincalume planter beds dot her front garden. Rosina is keen on growing food in her raised beds. Lettuce and herbs spill out of her tanks as she exuberantly explains how she keeps the plants fed. “It’s my Chop Chop Compost system.” she tells us picking up her meat cleaver. Rosina who is a retired pensioner wields her cleaver in the air, giggling with glee as she throws a heavy timber plank over her wheelbarrow and...
read moreWater Tanks in the Urban Garden
Most people when siting their house want to take advantage of the available commanding views. So you commonly see people positioning their homes on the highest point on their land. But that’s not necessarily the best place to site your home if you are into Permaculture and your aim is to get something for nothing. Free energy. In this case, the owners aim was to harness the energy of gravity to water all her productive crops for free. Without pumps or any extra energy to move water where it was needed most – her food forest and...
read moreMini Swales in an Urban Backyard
The term “swale” is often used by Permaculture people when designing large earth work constructions but it’s very rarely spoken of in an urban setting. What is a swale anyway? Well its commonly defined as “a water harvesting ditch on contour.” Imagine it as a long wide cup rather than a gutter or drain. You can gain a better idea of how a swale functions by looking at the animation here. Drains are designed to get rid of water – fast. Swales are designed to keep water from draining away too fast –...
read moreAquaponics and Goldfish Pond Systems
Recently in Sydney we met Charles Bacon from Ecolicious who builds Aquaponics systems that are cleverly disguised to look like natural ponds. A pond builder for many years, Charles likes to use as many easy to find components as possible. Some of his designs are quite clever too. The Aquaponics grow bed made from a row boat is one that you can see at Kimbriki a recycle refuse dump in North Sydney. In this short you-tube video, we have Peter Rutherford from the centre explain this system that Charles designed. Its one of the first aquaponics...
read moreBuilding an Urban Greywater Reedbed
Permaculture teacher Geoff Lawton scrambles through a clump of reeds perched over a some large boulders and gingerly steps over a pond choked with Duckweed and Salvinia floating on the surface. You can hear the frogs croaking in the background. Birds are singing in the trees. He peels back a clump of papyrus reeds to reveal another hidden frog pond. You may think this is a scene taken from a wilderness somewhere in a thriving jungle. But its not. We’re in a suburban Sydney backyard. A yard no bigger than most you’ll find...
read moreCosta gets a Permaculture Logie Award
Colourful TV personality Costa Georgiadis told a packed audience yesterday how he was asked by the TV Network to attend the annual television Logie awards – but he knocked back the special occasion because of his prior engagement with Permaculture. You see, Costa had promised Leonie Shanahan of Permaculture Noosa to attend the National Permaculture Day held yesterday at Yandina on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Speaking to a packed audience at the event, Costa described how the media tried to explain his exuberant style of...
read moreNational Permaculture Day
It’s National Permaculture Day on May 1, 2011. Apart from being a system of growing fresh food all year round, the rise of permaculture is also knitting communities together who help each other establish productive gardens and share knowledge, information and friendship. Here at Ecofilms we’re looking forward to attending our local Permaculture Day held at Yandina Community Gardens on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Jane from Ecofilms will be manning our stall. Hope to see you there. SBS’s Greek Garden Guru, Costa, of ’Costa’s...
read morePond Aquaponics
For some people, aquaponics should be aesthetically pleasing and resemble a natural ecosystem as much as possible. It should blend in with their landscaping and not be intrusive. Some people don’t like the idea of growing fish in large tanks believing they look too much like a factory rather than a relaxed garden feature to their backyard. They may also be vegetarians who are naturally reluctant or squeamish about killing their own fish that over the months have grown into a loved pet! This is where pondponics comes into its own as more...
read moreConverting a Swimming Pool to Grow Fish
One of the advantages of doing aquaponics is that it gives you the knowledge of how a natural system works. For Les and Annette Mulder it was only a natural progression to apply their knowledge of fish farming to their 55,000 liter chlorinated swimming pool located in Sydney. Les switched off the swimming pool pump over a year ago and decided to grow one hundred silver perch the same way a natural system occurs in nature. This meant the fish would have to survive on their own. Could such a thing work in a suburban sized swimming pool? The...
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