Peter Andrews the creator of Natural Sequence Farming talks to us about the role of weeds in a natural system.
Sitting down on a stump with sprig of Patterson’s curse – a noxious weed – proudly tucked into his top pocket, Peter reckons the authorities have got it all wrong. He’s a champion for weeds and doesn’t care what people think of him or his radical views on land management. He’s had his critics. He’s used to them. Sitting near the creek that he has re-engineered to follow the natural rhythms of nature at Mulloon Creek Natural Farms near Canberra, Peter allows weeds to grow on this property unchecked. Its an experiment that is closely monitored by the authorities in Canberra.

Although he doesn’t like to be confused with permaculture – his views are in fact similar. He defines weeds as a repairative mechanism. A plant with a natural instinct to germinate when the soil is degraded, trashed or disturbed and begin the pioneer process of fixing the soil so other plants can grow in succession. He believes weeds are part of the “fix” and are not the problem and should not be eradicated by poisoning them with chemicals.

Working with weeds by slashing them with a tractor or mower when they grow to a certain height is the way to improve soil fertility. Returning carbon back into the soil is the answer. He believes farmers are so conditioned to believe that herbicides are the solution to the weed problem that they fail to understand or appreciate the way the natural system works.

In this video clip, Peter explains his views on how weeds are eventually replaced by grass and illustrates the case for Victa – Australia’s popular lawn mower that had a unique slogan back in the 1960′s in its television advertising campaigns dubbed “Get a Victa – Turn Grass into Lawn.” This slogan was a pitch to sell lawn mowers but the slogan held a powerful theme that was not well understood by the Australian population. How grasslands are created by constant slashing of your field, allowing the slashed weeds to fall and decompose and gradually over time and repeated slashing – to build soil fertility.

Peter is an avid horseman. When he was a young man he went to England to study the land management techniques of champion horse breeders. Like many people he thought the solution to breeding champions was lush green pastures. He asked an old breeder with many grand national winners to his credit how much chemical super-phosphate he applied to his field. The old man said none. Occasionally he applied a bit of Kelp. The solution the old man said was to have as many different weeds on your property for the horses to nibble on. Any less than 50 weeds was considered a pasture in decline. Peter always remembered that lesson in plant diversity.

Harvesting Water DVD

A while back when we made our first DVD on harvesting rainwater to drought proof your property we first came across this term “Swale.” What does it mean exactly and why do Permaculture people advocate its usage? If you asked Geoff Lawton from the Permaculture Research Institute what it meant he would give you the standard definition:

“A swale is a water harvesting ditch on contour with a soft mound on the lower slope.”

Swale contour map with the swale ditch marked in red

If that definition went over your head – you are not alone. The swale ditch must be excavated and perfectly aligned to follow the natural contour of the property.

It can be as long or short as you like. Some swale systems can run for many miles. It’s function is to slow the flow of water. To hold water for as long as possible, perfectly level for as long a time before it runs away.

Most engineering ditches deal with getting rid of water. Think of guttering on your roof or on the side of roads.

In Permaculture theory the principal is to slow the movement of water right down. To keep the flow moving slowly and allowing it to soak gently into the surrounding landscape and rehydrate the aquifers.

It can take a lot of active field work to become proficient in reading the rhythms of the landscape – but the principal is sound and if you use it cleverly on your land it can rehydrate a sizable property and replenish underground water springs and be a clever way to reforest a trashed environment with say – a food forest system that adds value, beauty and natural abundance to your property.

Its no wonder that many Permaculture consultants are asked to walk over farmland, define the best place to site a swale that connects to properly situated dams that have a spillway that directs water where it can be put best to work.

A swale to work best must be sited exactly on contour. Hiring the services of a laser level might be an easier choice to peg out the natural contour on your property but knowing where to site the swale and dam system is an art that takes many factors into consideration.

Australia with its long periods of drought, followed by heavy downpours sees most water run off the landscape very quickly leaving the substrata still dry.
This is where the landowner during periods of drought should plan their water harvesting infrastructure very carefully to make the maximum use of every drop of rainwater that falls during the big wet periods.

At Mulloon Creek near Canberra Australia, Geoff Lawton built 2 kilometers of swales that feed into a network of dams that help drought-proof the valley.

A swale after a downpour at Mulloon Creek

The swales help to recharge water back underground where it can be “banked” for later usage during the inevitable dry periods that can last many years as well as feeding back into the neighbouring creek system sending water down steam to other farms.

The advantage of swales is that you can also plant a food forest system on the lower mound side where the water will gradually seep away. A Food Forest will build you a canopy of trees, reintroduce native flora and fauna and generally stabilize fragile eco-systems.

For many years they’ve been seen as a symbol of pride in Australia. Expatriate writers in the 50′s and 60′s would  write about returning to Sydney by ship and about being greeted by the  smell of  wafting gum tree leaves as they waxed lyrical about the nostalgia they felt for home.

Authorities still plant them everywhere. In parks, next to footpaths, street corners, new housing development estates, Eucalypts are as Australian as the Emu and the Kangaroo. They are seen nearly everywhere and nobody seems to take them as a threat in Australia.

But should Eucalypts be re-examined as a noxious weed?

Supporters of Natural Sequence Farming describe Eucalypts as:

• It is invasive.

• It burns.

• Its alleolopathic

• It’s residue fails to break down.

• Its a monoculture.

• It’s poisoning and killing ALL of our catchments.

• It prevents biodiversity from growing beneath it.

Peter Andrews thinks so and gives them a blast at Mulloon Creek recently whilst we were filming at the field day held there. In this video clip he gives a frank assessment of their worth in planting along river beds. Oddly enough its the humble Willow tree that he loves and has plenty of  time for, replanting them along creek beds. This has brought him at odds with Government authorities who have declared willows as noxious weeds and are ripping them out of  creeks and rivers.

We filmed Mr Andrews hugging the trunk of a willow for the cameras as he said,

“If I had a daughter, I’d name her Willow!’

Government authorities in Land, Parks & Conservation declare Willows as rampant invaders and believe Peter Andrews’ methods are disruptive of biodiversity and the  natural ecosystem. Tony Coote of Mulloon Natural Creek Farms where willows are grown on the creek beds is a firm supporter of Peter Andrews and his methods of land management and sees no evidence of Willows threatening landholders downstream.

Its not often that you get to meet a living legend everyday and lets face it, the term is bandied around for all sorts of people, sportsmen and even celebrities – all the time. But Peter Andrews is different. Here is a guy not afraid to speak his mind and more importantly – back it up with evidence. We were invited down last year by Tony Coote the owner of Mulloon Creek Natural Farms to look at the possibility of doing a documentary explaining  the work done on his farm.

Tony had seen our Water Harvesting DVD that we made with Geoff Lawton and was keen to put in a major network of swales on the surrounding hills of his property.

He had already started work on the creek with Peter Andrews and his Natural Sequence Farming technique to re-hydrate the creek and flood plains during one of the longest periods of drought in living memory. To be honest, we weren’t really that interested in the project as we had seen Peter Andrews already featured on ABC-TV’s Australian Story and felt that his system was well explained already.

But we were wrong.

Walking around the creek in the late afternoon, you couldn’t help but marvel at the network of leaky weirs and the chain of ponds that were restoring a featureless eroded channel into a wetland, complete with reeds, willows and a wide assortment of biodiversity. And yes it even looked beautiful because it looked – well – Natural – the way you would expect a beautiful creek to look. I was hooked. I took a heap of photos. I wanted to know more. How do you build something like this? What is the hydrology like under the soil? How would you explain it all?

So we flew down to Canberra in the winter of 2009 and started filming the Mulloon Creek Project.

Fast forward to the Field Day held here on November 1 2009 and Peter Andrews is the guest speaker. 250 people from all over the country have assembled in the barn to hear him speak.
Its 9am but the day is already warm.
Tony Coote introduces my wife Jane and myself to him around the back of the barn. Peter is sitting under a tree eating a peach and cracking a joke about Tony being the “headmaster” of the show.
He reaches down into the green grass and pulls up a clod of dirt and inspects the mulch in his hand. He explains that his system is quite simple, yet most people fail to understand it.
He points out the gleaming droplets of dew glistening on the grass and explains how the natural system functions.
You suddenly realise that this bloke is actually looking at the landscape like someone with uncanny x-ray vision – he’s pointing things out that we are not even aware of.

Over the course of the day, people are broken into groups and given a guided tour by volunteers who have studied what Peter has accomplished. The next day we meet Sue a tour guide on the farm who describes herself as a “rocket scientist” who studied physics at university but feels that what has seen and learnt at Mulloon Creek is of far more practical value.
She describes one of Peters engineering accomplishments. Diverting rainwater run-off down a steep slope into the creek. In a sudden downpour water is diverted off its course by building a large earth barrier near the creek to turn the rushing torrent and make it turn and hit the stream head-on. Whats the point of that I ask? She explains its elementary physics. When two forces meet they cancel each other out. The end result is that the water is pacified and slows down any removal of precious topsoil. Its simple techniques that looks rudimentary to us but is subtle enough in an elegant solution when applied to the natural system. Like boulders sitting in the middle of the creek. We grill Peter in an extensive interview why they are there. He looks at us like an exhausted parent does with a dumb child.
“Its like a Kayaker rushing down a mountain stream.” he says “Ever seen that on TV?” Apparently nature doesn’t move in a straight lines from A to B – but in elegant arcs and figure eight patterns. Peter harnesses those patterns in his design to mimic nature and divert water to flow naturally and improve the landscape.

Its slowly making sense. You realise how little we really do know.

The next day we meet for our agreed interview but Peter is missing. He’s up the hill above the homestead treating a horse with a foot problem. Mixing a secret ingredient he applies the remedy directly to the hooves of the horse and seals the poultice with a plastic bag wrapped around the foot.

“The vets don’t know about this.” he adds.

By this stage – I’m beginning to believe him.

The man has a love for these horses as he talks to them gently saying they are more sensible than humans.

“Horses were my living laboratory.” he says.”They taught me a lot.”

Later that morning we go down to the creek and record our interview with him. He grabs a thistle and sticks it in one shirt pocket and another weed Paterson’s curse is placed in the other top pocket. Hi knows this action will provoke some farmers who strive to poison these weeds from their property. But Peter sees weeds as fundamental to good pasture management. He looks like something out of a Thomas Hardy novel with those weeds bulging out of his shirt, as he sits perched on a rock grinning at us with good humour ready to reveal all.

And he does. Much more than I can say right now.

In this documentary we travel through much of Peter’s early life and in the course of this story he explains Natural Sequence Farming techniques and how it can be adopted to build fertility back into farm soils. But not before taking a swipe at multinational chemical companies who peddle their herbicides. He describes them as snake-oil salesmen. “We used to tar and feather them and run them out of town years ago!” he grumbles with a wry smile.

We hope to illustrate his theories with animation to show how the NSF process works. In the coming weeks we hope to post small video clips that highlight some of his ideas. His parting comment was “Don’t mix me up with that mob – Permaculture!” He has firm views about where he wants to take Natural Sequence Farming.

As we part, he sits in his car talking on his mobile phone. He winds his window down and extends his hand to me as I walk up to the vehicle. We shake hands.
I say to him. “You know Peter – You’re a living treasure.”
His soft brown eyes turn away and look somewhere else. He doesn’t say anything. He looks embarrassed.

The Peter Andrews documentary on Mulloon Creek will be released in 2010.

Recently whilst filming at Mulloon Creek Natural Farms near Canberra we spotted a lone figure in the barren landscape quietly digging a series of holes on a 2 kilometre stretch of swales that were designed by Geoff Lawton.

Matt Kilby has been on the farm now for 12 months and in that time has developed a system of giving the trees he plants a successful start to life.

Planting trees in heavily compacted soil is not easy as Matt will tell you, but it can be done if you follow some basic tips.

In this video Matt explains the right way to plant a tree on a swale, especially if its located in a fairly inhospitable landscape and how to make sure that the trees you plant have a high success rate. The pink tree guards that Matt created are not cosmetic. They have a particular part to play in speeding plant growth as Matt explains.
Matt’s life is trees. He’s been inspired by the words of Richard St. Barbe Baker’s book “My Life My Trees” and is determined to build a beautiful oasis on this planet by planting as many trees as he can. Matt has a vision of this planet and it’s a beautiful one. Where some people see problems, Matt sees a lush food forest fed by a cleverly design water harvesting swale. A model of sustainable design.

Visit Matt’s website at treesforearth.com.au and say “G’day Matt, Well done!”

One of the longer format documentary we are currently working on is to look at the nature of river systems in Australia and how in this dry continent functions in hydrating the landscape. Mulloon Creek Natural Farms near Canberra is home to Tony Coote who has attempted a unique experiment on his farm. Seeing the spectacular results obtained in clover yields on a neighours farm, Tony has turned his farm over to Biodynamics.

But he’s also gone a lot further by also looking at how he can improve the water flow in the creek that runs through his property. Natural Sequence Farming is the invention of Peter Andrews who has been extensively featured in a number of short documentaries on ABCTV’s “Australian Story.” The theory as Tony Coote explains is that Australia’s river system were heavily overgrazed by cattle and sheep and the hard-hoofed animals have effectively destroyed the surrounding creek beds by cutting erosion channels and gullies that in a downpour of rain have further eroded the creek bed and washed away a lot of fertile topsoil. Over the years the river bed drops deeper and deeper.

The underground water level drops further and further. The surface soil get dryer.The problem according to Tony Coote is that we don’t have a river systems like they do in Europe, fed by glacial and seasonal melting ice but rivers that have turned into gutters or channels in this country. Channels that wash away the top soil and any fertility away to the sea. But it wasn’t always like that. Australia and Nature had a way with dealing with water and the answer is revealed in this documentary.
Here’s the first 10 minutes under the working title of “Rehydrating the Landscape” it will look at the work of Peter Andrews and Geoff Lawton. Whilst Peter works on the river system to return fertility to the lowlands, Geoff Lawton from the Permaculture Research Institute tackles the hill country by building a series of swales or water harvesting ditches on contour that snake around the high ground, soaking rain water and feeding underground aquifers. Thousand of trees both fruiting and non fruiting mulch trees are planted on the swales to create a mini food forest that will bring fertility and life back to the area and make it a showroom of sensible and sustainable design.