permaculture

Enormous opportunities are opening up as we transition from an unsustainable industrial food production and distribution model, to one that regenerates the very soil and land that supports life.

Thankfully and not before time, this topic is receiving increasing amounts of attention.

A rising chorus is now coming from UN agencies on how food security, poverty, gender inequality and climate change can all be addressed by a radical transformation of our agriculture and food system.

• The UN report: Wake up before it’s too late
• The USDA: Soil is a living and life-giving substance we depend on
  
• USDA video promoting soil biology as a key

Here in New Zealand we’re playing our part.

Food Forest Design course

The application window is still open for the first intake of the Food Forest Design course. On Feb 17th the fun begins when a small group of keen learners meet at Koanga Gardens in Hawkes Bay with James Samuel, Jon Foote and Kay Baxter, to begin the first block course of the inaugural Food Forest Design course.

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Last year I was teaching social media to a group of Graduate students at The Centre for Sustainable Practice, one of the Otago Polytechnic schools, based in Wanaka. That's where I met Andy Cambeis, who's major project was to establish a food forest on public land in Hawea Flat. What I didn't realise until the end of the year, was that he was documenting the process in a way that others could benefit from.

When I read the first draft of his "Manual for creating a Food Forest on Public Land" I was delighted and excited. Here was a paint-by-numbers process, written in a beautifully summary form, with links to every detail one could possibly want, and all very relevant to the New Zealand situation. I knew this was my project for 2013 - to establish the first public access Waiheke Food Forest.

But what's been happening in the last few weeks has been quite astounding... beginning two weeks ago, as I prepared for presenting our Waiheke Food Forest project to the Waiheke Local Board, I learnt of three new Food Forest projects across Aotearoa, and this was a hint that there was some real movement in this space.

Four days later I received a persistant phone call – on the third ring I finally answered it, and I'm glad I did. A polite and well spoken man was wanting to know if I was using www.foodforest.co.nz, because if not he wanted it.

I was clear that I wasn't about to hand this over but suggested we meet. Over a coffee two days later, as we shared our stories, it was clear, we both saw Aotearoa abundant with forests of food. This proud Manawatu farmer shared his vision of 10 acre food forests, up and down the country, in those highly visible locations some farms are blessed with. We’ll be meeting up again soon – with time to flesh out some details and explore possibilities.

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The 2013 National Permaculture Hui will be held in Taranaki on March 9-11.

The kaupapa or theme of the hui is "Upskilling", with an emphasis on practical workshops, Matauranga Maori, connecting, and sharing.

Have you got a skill or knowledge to share?

Can you help develop the capacity of people and communities to live sustainably?

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The 11th Australasian Permaculture Convergence, April 11 – 15th, will see more than 500 people involved in planning, designing and creating a resilient future. With peak oil, climate change and an unsustainable monetary system impacting us from all directions this event comes at a time when we need it most. » Read more