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Commenced:
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01/01/2007 |
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Submitted:
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26/01/2011 |
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Last updated:
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19/09/2016 |
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Location:
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107 Redfern St , Sydney + Surrounds, NSW, AU |
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Phone:
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+61 2 5300 4437 |
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Website:
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http://www.Milkwood.net |
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Climate zone:
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Mediterranean |
Milkwood is a crew of doers and makers, dedicated to skills for smart, simple, regenerative living.
Milkwood is a crew of doers and makers, dedicated to skills for smart, simple, regenerative living.
We're a social enterprise based south of Sydney, Australia.
We thrive on sharing practical skills and knowledge that can help individuals and communities move towards a mode of living that’s ethical, abundant, and deeply hands-on.
At the moment we do this in two ways: with short courses held in both in Sydney and nearby farms, and with free online how-tos and resources.
We work with the best teachers we can find. People who are not only walking the talk, but are also skilled, humble and awesome communicators, who can empower folks to make the most of their new knowledge.
What do you want to learn today?
Note: The various badges displayed in people profiles are largely honesty-based self-proclamations by the individuals themselves. There are reporting functions users can use if they know of blatant misrepresentation (for both people and projects). Legitimacy, competency and reputation for all people and projects can be evidenced and/or developed through their providing regular updates on permaculture work they’re involved in, before/after photographs, etc. A spirit of objective nurturing of both people and projects through knowledge/encouragement/inspiration/resource sharing is the aim of the Worldwide Permaculture Network.
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MemberA member is a permaculturist who has never taken a PDC course. These cannot become PDC teachers. Members may be novice or highly experienced permaculturists or anywhere in between. Watch their updates for evaluation. |
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Permaculture MatchmakerOne of these badges will show if you select your gender and the "I'm single, looking for a permaculture partner" option in your profile. |
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PDCPeople who claim to have taken a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course somewhere in the world. |
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PDC VerifiedPeople who have entered an email address for the teacher of their PDC course, and have had their PDC status verified by that teacher. Watch their updates for evaluation. |
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PRI PDCPeople who’ve taken a Permaculture Research Institute PDC somewhere in the world. |
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PDC TeacherPeople who claim to teach some version of PDC somewhere in the world. |
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PRI TeacherWith the exception of the ‘Member’ who has never taken a PDC, all of the above can apply to become a PRI PDC Teacher. PRI PDC Teachers are those who the PRI recognise, through a vetting board, as determined and competent to teach the full 72-hour course as developed by Permaculture founder Bill Mollison – covering all the topics of The Designers’ Manual as well as possible (i.e. not cherry picking only aspects the teacher feels most interested or competent in). Such teachers also commit to focussing on the design science, and not including subjective spiritual/metaphysical elements. The reason these items are not included in the PDC curriculum is because they are “belief” based. Permaculture Design education concerns itself with teaching good design based on strategies and techniques which are scientifically provable. PRI PDC Teachers may be given teaching and/or consultancy offerings as they become available as the network grows. |
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Aid WorkerThe individual with this badge is indicating they are, have, or would like to be involved in permaculture aid work. As such, the individual may or may not have permaculture aid worker experience. Watch their updates for evaluation. |
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ConsultantThe individual with this badge is indicating they are, have, or would like to do paid permaculture design consultancy work. As such, the individual may or may not have permaculture consultancy experience. Watch their updates for evaluation. |
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Community ProjectCommunity projects are projects that help develop sustainable community interaction and increase localised resiliency. |
Upcoming Earthship Talk with Michael Reynolds in Sydney!
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A Way Through the Woods: Designing the Paths in our Forest Garden
when you think of a forest garden, do you think of paths, their construction, and their capabilities? Or do you just figure you’ll wind your way through the green herbage as you see fit?
Nick Ritar’s TEDx Canberra Talk: Two things you can do Every Day to save the world
Recently Nick gave a talk at TEDx Canberra. He talked about stewarding nutrients, how we can solve the problem of peak phosphorous, and about how to grow the best cumquats ever.
Rocket Stove Water Heater Redux
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Funky Urban Permaculture Designs by VEG
Adam Grubb and Dan Palmer are some of the most accomplished urban permaculture designers I know. Aside from being the founding forces of the Permablitz movement, they also design professionally – creating functional, edible awesomeness in small suburban s
Top tank overflow: design + implementation
On occasion, our two big water tanks at the very top of Milkwood Farm overflow. What to do with the intermittent extra water? It’s too precious to just drain away. Time to design a water catchment and planting plan to make the most of it.
Eating out of the garden – finally!
Thanks to the amazing efforts of many forces, I can officially say that we are now feeding everyone at Milkwood Farm from the Organic Market Garden each day! Starting with feasts of fresh rocket, lettuce and pak choi.
Forest Garden Blooming
Spring is slowly but surely springing at Milkwood, and our new forest garden is beginning to wake up from the cold and grow, grow grow!
Growing Annual Vegetables CD Rom: review
So we’re sitting at the kitchen table, planning our market garden with Joyce and Mike from Allsun Farm, and Joyce suddenly looks at me sharply: “you’ve seen our vegetable growing CD ROM, haven’t you?” Erm, no?
Our forest garden design: the future is forested and foodlike
Over the last couple of months, we’ve been cooking up a re-design of our top food forest with Harris. Once we move into our tinyhouse, this food forest will be right outside our back door. So we want to get serious about making it a gorgeous place that dr
Joel Salatin: debt-free farming for beginners (video)
Last summer, when Joel Salatin was at our farm, we asked him a question or two. The first one was: what’s your advice for young-uns who want to farm but don’t want to get into debt?
Joel Salatin: how to chose farmland (video)
Where should I buy land? Where’s a good area? What should I be looking for in a landscape?
Rocket stove roundup
At Milkwood Farm we love both our rocket stove water heater and our mini rocket stove, but with winter taking hold I’m dreaming of new ideas, so I thought I’d review what else is out there.
PDC week 1: Permaculture Ethics and History
It’s sometimes a bit hard to explain to people just what a Permaculture Design Course entails – the scope is both broad and intricate – but in it’s essence it’s ecological systems theory, applied to an everyday context.
Joel Salatin: debt-free farming for beginners
Last summer, when Joel Salatin was at our farm, we asked him a question or two. The first one was: what’s your advice for young-uns who want to farm but don’t want to get into debt?
RawBale Chicken House Design
Within the Gravity Chicken Run, we needed a place for our chickens that was warm in winter and cool in summer. We also wanted it to be super easy to clean, cheap to build, and easy to keep our chickens healthy long term. So we came up with a design called
Permaculture School Garden: Cringila Public School
Cringila is one of the most culturally diverse suburbs in NSW, and so the school garden chatters with many languages, with permaculture and gardening as the common tongue.
Kids in the Garden: our pick of School Garden books
School gardens are enjoying a growing revival currently, which is great because they have the power to be pretty transformative places.
Joel Salatin returns to Australia
To call the Salatin’s farming practices at Polyface Farms in Virginia USA ‘innovative’ is a bit of a massive understatement. Joel’s unique approach to productive small-scale farming, that focuses on great ideas, biomimicry, and what can only be called tru
Survivalism is the new black
I am not a survivalist. Really I’m not. I refuse to concede that my family’s future may involve turning our farm into a stockade or living in our root cellar.
Gravity Chicken Run Design
Gravity and chickens are two of our favorite natural forces at Milkwood. Enter the Gravity Chicken Run!
DIY Aquaponics Designs
Recently we ran our first Aquaponics Workshop in Sydney, and it was a very enlightening weekend.
David Holmgren in Sydney
We’re bringing David Holmgren to Sydney shortly as a guest teacher on our Winter Part-time PDC. So we thought we’d offer up a dinner while he’s here. Would you like to come?
The walls they rise
We don’t know of any precedents of doing walls with wattle-and-daub (at least in the recent past), but multiple natural builders have assured us it should work. Hmm!
How to make a wicking box (mini wicking bed)
A wicking box is a contained, portable way to grow vegies (or anything else) with very little water. Essentially, it’s a wicking bed in miniature. Very cool.
Rock Science: building our gabion wall
I am now fully convinced of the glory of gabions. Not only can they create leaky weirs in dryland gullies, they can also liberate courtyards. Like ours, for example.
Urban Beekeeping: checking a Warré hive
No stings, no angry bees, no belching smoke everywhere to drive the bees off – just gentle, bee-friendly behavior of a beekeeper who, frankly, knows better.
Earthbag dome, happy home
We’d always wanted to try earthbag building, but where do you start with such a venture?
End of the Season and an Open Day
At the end of this week we will be closing the gates of Milkwood Farm until next Spring. It’s been a massive year of building, growing, learning and doing. But now we’re about to go into winter mode here at the farm.
Araucanas and Rabbit Stew
Easter on Sunday. Check. Our Araucana chickens already lay blue eggs, so that’s those sorted. Now all we need is a rabbit or two, and we’re ready for an upside-down Easter.
Permaculture at Kiama Public School
School gardens have incredible potential to provide experiential learning. But what’s the best way to go about setting one up? I’ve been wondering this for a while.
Compost toilet specifics: the bins
Wendell Berry once said 'if you eat, you’re involved'. He was talking about agriculture, but if you ask me, he really meant humanure.
Why pasture cropping is such a Big Deal
Col Seis has been ‘doing thing a bit differently’ on his farm ‘Winona’ for decades. About 15 years ago he started fiddling with an idea he had called pasture cropping – sowing crops directly into pasture, without first tilling the soil and turning it over
Design for Life: the Food Forest DVD
I desperately want to be Annemarie and Graham Brookman. Not right away – maybe about 30 years from now.
How to make a mini rocket stove (mark 1)
Rocket stoves have become a part of our lives at Milkwood Farm. They’re hyper energy efficient, can be built out of rubbish and result in more usable heat that any other wood-burning system we’ve come across. Big love.
What we’re reading: Monsanto + Mushrooms
In our reading room this week, it’s all about interconnection. The vast, unseen webs of mycelium running through the soil, and the tangled and huge implications of Genetically Modified Organisms.
Combining Two Warré Honeybee Colonies
This year has been a tough one for our new Warré beehives, and for bees in general throughout the central west. How to get the colonies through the winter?
Sydney Winter PDC with special guest David Holmgren
The aim with this format is that our students are supported and challenged in their learning every step of the way, while being able to continue their normal lives at the same time. Huzzah!
The saga of the middle dam
First off, i would like to make an important point: we are yet to meet a challenge at Milkwood Farm that we could not fix with careful thought, good advice, relentless research, a strong dose of creativity and a stronger dose of humor. That said, the saga
My land is your land: the Landshare concept
Landshare is a concept we’ve been excited about for a while. It addresses the huge (and getting huger) issue of land access in an immediate, accessible fashion.
Visiting the Marrickville Food Forest
Deep in the heart of Marrickville, in a little street of workers cottages, right under the flight path to Sydney International Airport, there is a food forest.
The basecamp kitchen garden explosion
During the Spring Permaculture Design Certificate here at Milkwood, a funny thing happened to our basecamp garden. Somehow, it quadrupled in size. It was the most un-anticipated permablitz i have ever been a part of...
Earthbag workshop Limerick comp winners!
Thanks to everyone who entered to win a spot on our EarthBag Building Workshop. Here are the winning limericks!
Bringing home the bees
Much excitement this week as the bees finally arrived at Milkwood Farm. Tim Malfroy, Australia's premier natural beekeeper, brought around 3 Warré beehives, complete with bees, to come live at our place...
Crash-grazing the creekflat: an experiment
Flat ground. Seemingly simple, but oh so full of implications. We didn’t really think about how cool flat ground was until we calculated that it made up exactly 10% of the total landmass of Milkwood. That means 90% hilly bits. Hmm.
EarthBag Building Workshop at Milkwood Farm
The idea that you can build a structurally strong house with nothing more complicated than a bunch of bags, earth, clay and lime, plus some basic on-farm materials and plenty of hands on deck is pretty exciting for a lot of people, including me. Earthbag