Permaculture Paradise

Hi everyone!

Wow. I just had the most amazing day, attending an "Introduction to Permaculture" workshop at Rainbow Valley Farm.

http://www.rainbowvalleyfarm.co.nz/

In less than a couple of decades, Joe Polaisher and Trish Allen turned a wasteland with no topsoil into a sub-tropical paradise, growing everything from bananas, eels, passionfruit, tomatoes, chickens, avocado, citrus, carp, absolutely everything one could imagine. All this, while actually improving the land quality and with a very low environmental impact. What an inspiration. Visiting this farm rekindled my belief that a sustainable future is possible and can be achieved.

Everything has been designed to make the most efficient use of the land with zero cumulative impact. Kiwifruit vines climb trellises of trees, but don't kill them because they are companion plants. Chickens scratch and aerate the soil, while disposing of kitchen scraps and fertilizing. Trapped possums (pests) fertilize trees and encourage root growth. Banana leaves mulch
around exotic fruit trees that shouldn't grow but do, because of created microclimates. Geese eat slugs, one species of goose for every species of slug. Shitake mushrooms flourish on spore-impregnated oak logs growing in a natural live willow greenhouse. Rice paddies produce different rice species. Aquaculture provides fish and eel. Greenhouses are heated by the body heat of chickens. A passive-solar mudbrick and reclaimed and self-harvested timber home sports beautiful bottle-art walls, tile mosaics, green roof and healthy fibres, while root cellar, outdoor kitchen and herb gardens encourage outdoor living. An artsy composting toilet uses worms to break down toilet waste in four weeks. No artificial off-farm inputs are needed, and artsy touches abound.

Sadly, the local council is considering shutting-down this farm because it doesn't allow composting toilets or education from farms. I just found out that wwoofing is actually illegal, as is selling honey from farms, or eggs or dairy products. The legislation is making it nearly impossible for small farmers to survive. The same ludicrous actions are happening around New
Zealand and the world, and gives an idea of how far we still need to come.

My interest in permaculture has been heightened, to say the least. This one-day introduction was a tantalizing taste of what lies ahead for me, and I'm eager to pursue further permaculture design training, and in somehow incorporating this into my master's studies. The past couple days I've been staying with a woman from the pc course, and tomorrow off to another family
that attended the course. It will be interesting to visit an ecovillage next week and see how these same design principles can be applied at the community level. Also a cohousing community in Auckland on the agenda, so excited about that.

Hope you're all well and enjoying spring (or autumn, in the southern hemisphere!)

Love,
Kristi