Its been a whirlwind trip over the last six months putting the pieces together for what is to become The Urban Permaculture DVD with Geoff Lawton. Nothing goes quite according to script and yet making a video like this is a bit like herding cats. Its chaotic. Like walking into a jungle of...

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...

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...

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...

Keeping chickens in an Urban environment is something a lot of people would like to have, but when it comes to roosters – people baulk at the idea knowing their neighbors wont like it. After all, who can blame them when they’re trying to get some sleep? Roosters are known to crow...

Filming various homes in Sydney for the Urban Permaculture DVD with Geoff Lawton reveals just what a wealth of Permaculture innovation there truly is. We really need to praise Penny Pyett from Permaculture North for organizing some very special show gardens for us to visit this week. Penny...

Watching a spiral herb garden being constructed is a fascinating thing. Having 50 school kids building it all at once can descend into mayhem, but fortunately Permaculture teacher Leonie Shanahan was able to keep the whole process on track with a certain degree of military precision. After...

The notion of Victory Gardens sounds rather quaint these days and conjures up ideas of thrift and service for the war effort. Used throughout the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and other places, the Victory Garden was a symbol of pride that helped take pressure off the...

He looks like a rangy cowboy but its not a six gun in his hand that he carries, but a artist’s pad and a felt pen marker. In his mid 50’s and on a hot muggy Monday morning, Geoff Lawton and fifteen Permaculture interns stride into a suburban home located in Lismore, NSW. The owner...