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How to Keep Warm in Winter

How to Keep Warm in Winter

A renter-friendly permaculture guide to surviving winter in a freezing Australian home

by Kate Fardell, Gavin Hardy, and Barb Ford

It’s no secret that a lot of Australian homes aren’t well-designed for cool weather. When winter-hardened expats from Europe and North America are online complaining about how cold Australian homes are, you know it’s bad. While an airy home and wooden floors are great in the heat of a Brisbane summer, the drafts and lack of insulation in winter can make our homes feel Antarctic! 

For various reasons related to budget (cost of living), agency (renting, time poor) or ethics (carbon footprint, resource use), many of us shiver through the cold months. But we don’t need to! In our guide to keeping warm this winter we’ve taken a permaculture principles approach to help you ‘Catch and Store Energy’ and ‘Produce No Waste’ using ‘Small, Slow (and cheap) Solutions’. 

Whether your own your home or are renting, these tips are for everyone!

1. Layer Up

Psychology tells us that if we can keep our head, hands and feet warm in winter, then we will feel warm.  So, pop on your wool beanie, scarf or buff, some thick socks, and a pair of fingerless gloves when you’re at home. If you don’t have an elder or retro friend who loves gifting their knitting, op shops are a great place to get your winter warmies. 

Of course, you’ll also need to layer up your other bodily parts. Invest in some good quality thermal shirts and pants and wear them under your clothes while at home. Even if fashion is your top concern, there are plenty of great colours and ways to style thermals under clothes while still looking your best. Add a fleece or down jacket on top of all that, and you’ll be ready to tackle even the coldest Aussie home.  As a bonus, these pieces are often readily available in op shops or second-hand online spaces like Depop.

We also suggest cultivating a lifelong friendship with a warm natural fibre blanket that you can hide under while streaming your favourite media or working from home!

2. Get in the Hot Seat

Placing a seat or couch against a north- or east-facing brick wall that gets full sun is an easy way to warm up! If you only have a timber wall, place a large piece of cardboard (fridge and bike boxes are perfect) that’s been painted black between the wall and the seat. This adds an extra layer to soak in the warmth, especially if it’s a dark colour.

3. Move Your Booty

On a sunny day, if protected from wind, it’s often warmer outside the house than inside! Because of this (and the lack of sweltering heat) the cool months are the best time to get active. All those gardening and building repair jobs you’ve been avoiding are great to do now – pruning with hand saws and pruners keeps you fit and warm, as does painting walls and cleaning out the gutters on a warm roof. If you can’t garden at home, community gardens are often looking for volunteers to help out. You could even get involved at Northey Street City Farm!

4. Avoid the Wicked Winds from the West (and South)

On the east coast of Australia almost all our cold winter winds come from the west and south. As you go about your day, aim to avoid these aspects and stick to the north and east. Parking a van or truck, stacking up hay bales, or planting a hedge, when positioned correctly in the western and southern sectors, can act as a windbreak and slow down cooling of your home.

Pop into City Farm Nursery for some great hedging plant ideas!

5. Seal it Up

Drafts can sneak between window and door gaps, so look at where the gaps are and start sealing them up. An easy way to find gaps is to use Barb’s method of passing a lit incense stick around the edges of your doors and windows and watching for the smoke to blow.

Once you’ve found some cracks, there are plenty of rental-friendly ways to seal them up. For a makeshift door snake, roll up your summer beach towel, secure it with rubber bands and place it at the bottom of the door (see image above). You can also use brush door seals, and draft excluders underneath doors, while adhesive weather stripping can help seal any cracks around windows and the sides of doors. And take note: if your windows rattle when it’s windy, you can simply wedge some folded paper into the gap between the frame and the window to help with draft sealing (and to stop the god-awful rattling). 

6. Rug Up

The drafty gaps in the wooden floors of many Queensland homes are a great way to keep things cool in summer, but they can lead to frozen toes in winter. Putting down large rugs in rooms with wooden or tiled floors is an easy way to add insulation to the floors – plus it’s a great way to add a touch of flair to your home!

If it’s an option, you can also use a caulking gun with polyfiller to seal up any minor gaps in wooden or tile floors and reduce cool drafts from below. 

7. Curtain Call

Up to 40% of heating energy can be lost through glass in winter, so swap the sheer curtains for some heavy floor-length block out curtains and close them in the late afternoon to reduce heat loss in the evening. 

Bonus points if you can install a pelmet above the rod to avoid any extra air seeping out the top of the curtains. This could even be made from stiff, light material like cardboard and installed using command strips to keep the adjustments renter-friendly! Check out this Instagram reel by Melanie Lissack Interiors for DIY pelmet inspiration.

Another way to use curtains to conserve heat is by installing them as doors or makeshift room dividers to reduce the size of the room you’re trying to heat up. Use tension rods if drilling isn’t an option.

8. Become Little Miss Sunshine

While closing the curtains is a good idea in the evenings to reduce heat loss, don’t forget to use the sunshine as your home heating during the day if you have some large windows that let in direct light. Plus, if you’ve got pets, they’ll thank you for that warm sunny spot! 

9. Reverse Ceiling Fans

Did you know that some ceiling fans have a winter mode? This means the fan blades move in the opposite direction and more slowly to distribute the warm air near the ceiling downward. If you’ve got ceiling fans, see if they have a reverse or winter mode! If not and you own your home, consider installing some to improve warm air flow.

10. Cheap Heat(ers)

If you need to use an electrical appliance to heat your home, then perhaps the most efficient option is to place a radiant heater in your bedroom or other small room with the door closed.  Radiant heaters work like the rays of the sun and can heat a room very quickly, while helping to keep it warm for longer, even when the heater is turned off (due to it being able to heat the objects in a room, not just the air). They are also relatively cheap to buy and run compared to other heater types.

For a larger space, like a living room, an electric oil heater may be a better option, and more energy efficient. However, the price to buy an oil heater is generally a little higher.

Note: Floor mounted radiant heaters and oil heaters are not suitable if you have small children or curious pets. For homes with pets or small children, convection heaters may be the best option for price and cost of running as the panels generally don’t get hot enough to burn. A lot also come with timers that can be set to turn on and off automatically.

11. Be Snug as a Bug

Fill up a hot water bottle or two and pop it under the blanket just before you’re about to go to bed to stay toasty while you sleep. It’s definitely more comfortable than great-grandmas method of taking a heated brick wrapped in a towel to bed (though that’s an option too, in dire straits). Add some flannelette sheets, wool/fleece blankets, and a thick doona insert – down or thermal are good to look out for – and you’ll be snug as a bug in a rug! 

For an extra a bedtime heat boost, electric blankets are more energy efficient than running a heater and can keep you cosy all night long. 

12. Get Baked

Get the oven fired up and bake your favourite meals! When done, open the oven door and let all that gorgeous heat flow into your home. Baked potatoes and pumpkins, swedes and sweet potatoes are delicious. Roasts, shepherds’ pies, apple crumbles, apple and rhubarb pies, cakes and biscuits – what are you waiting for!? 

13. Don't Hate, Insulate

Many Aussie homes were built before insulation was mandated by the Building Code of Australia, meaning a lot of warmth in winter is lost through the roof. If you own your home, then installing ceiling insulation is a must. Plus, it has the bonus effect of keeping in the cool air in summer, so it’ll help with energy efficiency in all seasons! In South-East Queensland, the Building Code recommends roof insulation with a total thermal resistance (R-value) of 4.1.

Tutorials for basic DIY insulation for renters also exist, but the costs can add up and extensive research should be done prior to installation. Have a chat to your landlord or agent to see what they’re willing to help out with.

14. Double Glazing

If you own your home and have some money to spare, consider replacing single-glazed glass with some double- (or even triple-) glazed glass. Double glazed windows can reduce heat loss in winter (and heat gain in summer) by up to 30 percent, which when combined with block out curtains and pelmets, really packs a punch. Plus, double glazing reduces outside noise, so you’ll have a more peaceful home. 

If you’re a renter or if double glazed windows are out of your budget, you can apply any clear film over glass to help reduce heat loss. A popular option in a pinch is bubble wrap, but clear acrylic pieces stuck against the glass with some clear double-sided tape are a less-visible option. As a bonus, it can help protect your windows, and there are plenty of recycled options available!

Check out this Instagram reel by The FixIt Chicks to see how it looks.

Learn More

Our Permaculture Design Course can teach you plenty about sustainable building design, cost-saving and eco-friendly methods for heating and cooling, and much more. For more information, visit the course webpage.

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Book Review: Nature Day and Night

Image of Front Cover of Book

‘Nature Day And Night’ is informatively written by Richard Adams and beautifully illustrated by David Goddard.  I have enjoyed this book in my personal home
library for over 40 years, but I would now like it to be enjoyed by more people.

It describes scientifically developed insights and provides amazingly detailed drawings of familiar country scenes-a woodland, meadow, mountain stream and reservoir;  and records the changes that occur to both plants and animals observed within throughout a 24 hour time frame.

Example chapters include:

  1. The Meadow by Day – moisture and dew, and natures clock pattern
  2. The Sky by Day – hot air and cold air cloud formations, and weather charts
  3. A Mountain Stream by Day – aquatic patterns, and water insects and their life cycles

Sadly, there are no Tropical or Sub-Tropical sections; but the way in which the knowledge is presented could easily be utilized when studying life cycles in a tropical environment. The style of the illustrations are totally worth looking at just to appreciate and enjoy life in any environment.

Kory

Thanks, Kory, for donating this little gem of a book to our library!  You can find it under the Sciences section, call number 570GOD.

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Food Forests – a global solution re-emerging from an ancient idea

By Gavin Hardy

In 2022, I was fortunate to travel overseas and visit some of the world’s leading community food forest and orchard projects to understand how they work and what we in Australia can learn from them.

Food forests – assemblies of food producing trees, shrubs, ground-covers & vines that mimic young forests – offer incredible benefits to planet Earth, including humanity, and have been around for a very long time.  Permaculture teacher and designer Geoff Lawton ‘discovered’ what is thought to be the world’s oldest food forest in Morocco during a surfing trip in the 1970’s. The 65 Hectare food forest at Inraren in the Atlas Mountains is thought have been operation for a least 400 years, possibly up to 2,000 years. This incredible site yields dates, citrus, pomegranates, bananas, broad beans, olives, and goat milk to name just a few.

The United Nations estimates that about 75% of the humanity’s food currently comes from just twelve plants and five animal species1. This narrow range of sources makes our food system extremely vulnerable to pests, disease and climate extremes. Additionally, ecosystems that are beyond the natural range of these species have to be modified in order to grow the food, often resulting in massive biodiversity losses. In 2018, agriculture was the source of 12% of Queensland’s greenhouse gas emissions2.

In food forests here in Australia and around the world the diversity of food species eclipses that modern industrial agriculture. At the Beacon Food Forest in Seattle, USA about 1,000 species of edible plants is been grown on a 0.75 Hectare site!  At Northey Street City Farm in Brisbane, over the last year, we have been re-establishing an edible forest garden under established trees and already have 65 edible plant species in place.

During my overseas research I was introduced to potentially important vegetable protein foods – nut and seed crops – for Australian agroforestry systems including acorn flour, once a native American staple food, and its rediscovery as an important food for these times. Acorns, harvested from oak trees, have enormous potential as a food source in the temperate zones of Australia (and New Zealand). In some places, like Canberra, avenues of existing mature red oak already line some streets with each tree dropping several hundred kilograms of food in a good season. Modern food forest pioneers like Martin Crawford in the UK  talked about Chinquapins and other dwarf chestnuts, black walnut and butternut in the temperate zone systems they have developed.

In terms of the energy and resources required, food forests are one of the highest yielding food growing systems around.  Whilst they will never be able compete with the single output monocrops of industrial agriculture, the way most of us get our food requires huge inputs including herbicides and pesticides, oil (for fuel and fertiliser) and a massive transport and distribution system largely based on debt finance. Food forests sequester carbon and build biological capital in a system that largely pays for itself, requiring decreasing inputs over the medium to long term.

The urban food forest can also be envisioned as all the edible plants growing throughout the city. Here and overseas thousands of kilograms of fruit are been harvested in residential yards, public greenspaces and other places. In Seattle, USA and Victoria, Canada not-for-profits are harvesting 15 to 20 tonnes of fruit in an average year from entire city regions. This is fruit that would normally go to waste, and instead is taken to charitable food banks as table fruit, processed into drinks and preserves for sale, gleaned by volunteers and put out on neighbourhood free food tables. Beacon Food Forest reported 1714kg of food harvest in 2021.

Other Benefits

One of the great things about food forestry in public places is that the benefits extend way beyond food sustainability.

Public Amenity

For a start, they’re just awesome places to relax and enjoy. Local residents tell me how much they enjoy these places on their morning walks, gatherings with friends and family or visits with the grandchildren. Community food forests and orchards, through sensitive design, are relaxing and grounding sanctuaries away from the stresses of the city. They offer respite, social space and design inspiration to the greater community, not just the project members. Almost all of the orchard and food forest spaces that I visited felt great to be in.

I feel blessed to be experiencing another delightful place surrounded by abundance everywhere I look – fallen fruit, berry bushes, trees heavy with apples.  The sun is out but under the trees it is cool and restful.  I feel like I could come here and lay out a blanket, lay back and read a book. I don’t feel I have to leave. 

Journal Entry, Welland Community Orchard in Victoria BC

Child Nutrition

I visited the Food Forests for Schools program in Miami USA where primary school children are learning about edible perennial plants and how to prepare food with them. The students are also doing their science and maths classes in these spaces and getting significant overall improvements in test results! The kids are also doing biology lessons, getting involved in gardening sessions run by passionate teachers, and are taking home nutritious local food to their families. Grandparents, who have knowledge of the traditional foods being grown in the school food forests, are teaching their grandchildren as well!

Social Connection

Many people say how activities and events at the food forests and orchards make them feel more connected with the local community. Fruit harvesting from public orchards is particularly satisfying, fun and uniting. Regular volunteering to establish and maintain these systems builds rapport and friendship. I loved the harvesting and gardening events that I attended overseas and here in Brisbane and feel more connected with people from these experiences.

Spent Tuesday morning… harvesting apples in an old orchard… Beautiful old apple trees, gnarled and covered in moss and lichen. The group were friendly, convivial and welcoming. No pressure but I felt like I wanted to harvest, to pick as many apples as possible. Good conversation as we picked. 

Journal Entry, Holy Cross Lutheran Church orchard in Seattle USA.

References

1 FAO Fact Sheet (2004) ‘WHAT IS HAPPENING TO AGROBIODIVERSITY?’ https://www.fao.org/3/y5609e/y5609e02.htm#bm2 , accessed 24.01.2023

2 https://www.stateoftheenvironment.des.qld.gov.au/pollution/greenhouse-gas-emissions/agriculture-sector-greenhouse-gas-emissions (accessed 15.3.2024)

 

 

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Homemade seed raising mix

By Michael Wardle, NSCF Adult Education Co-ordinator

One of the things when having your own garden is the ability to keep it going through sowing your own seeds. While some seeds benefit from a direct sow into the garden bed, many survive and thrive when they are planted in seedling trays first.

While you can spend a lot of money on seed raising mix, it is much easier and cheaper to be able to do it yourself. Typically, this can be done at home using things that we already have available to us and more so if you have your own compost and worm farm.

Below is a variant of a recipe I was introduced to years ago, which I use today. It is based on what I have in my local community that is readily available

3 parts sifted worm castings

2 parts copra

1 part river sand

Mix well.

First off, I sift my worm castings  (vermicompost) so that they have an excellent tilth and remove any of the large chunks. While worms can have a simple diet and survive, to get the best vermicompost to use for seed raising mix or even in your garden, the more varied and diverse their diet the better.

I do not have a commercial sieve, but I built my own out of an old casement window frame and some fine chicken mesh. I tend to do batches of sieved vermicompost, so I have bins with lids to store it until it is needed.

Copra is the dried ground kernel of the coconut. You can purchase it at most produce stores. It is typically used to supplement the feed of animals, but due to its protein content it is also an excellent supplement for the microbes in the soil (which is fantastic for seed raising mix, which in turn ends up in our gardens). You can use coir instead of copra if you prefer.

I use river sand as it’s grains are large enough to help stop compacting in the mix and it allows the water to flow so that the seedlings do not become waterlogged.

Once the vermicompost is ready I use a large measuring cup and take 3 parts of worm castings, 2 parts copra and 1-part river sand and place them in a large bucket.

Mix well. Then mix well again. Then mix well again.

The idea is that each of the three ingredients is evenly distributed across the mix.

From there it is a simple step of filling the seedling trays, add the seed, and then I  sieve a small amount of the seed raising mix on top to cover the seeds, then it all gets a good misting.

All that’s left to do is to care for the seedlings and plant them out when they are ready.

I have found this mix relatively inexpensive and has excellent results.  So, start where you are, use what you have and get into it!

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Call out for Australasian Permaculture Convergence 2020 Workshop Presenters

 

Northey Street City Farm will be hosting the next Australasian Permaculture Convergence (APC) at Redland Bay near Brisbane from 20 to 23 April 2020. More information about the APC is available on www.apc.nscf.org.au. Tickets are on sale through the website now.

There will also be a Permaculture and Community Gardens Festival on Sunday 19 April 2020 at Northey Street City Farm in Windsor, Brisbane. The Festival will showcase community gardens and permaculture projects. If you are a community garden or permaculture project interested in having a stall at the Festival, please email Simon Calcinai on markets@nscf.org.au.

Submissions are now open for presentations and workshops during APC2020.

The overall theme for APC2020 is Celebrating Nature’s Abundance. We are calling for submissions for workshops covering topics relevant to the three ethics of Permaculture, which are Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share.

All workshops will be 90 minutes long, and we expect presenters to include some audience participation in the workshop.

90-minute workshop application form:  https://forms.gle/rTJK6oidxwYSov628

There will be opportunities for some 10-minute presentations or project reports one evening and a project poster display area to share your projects with everyone at the Convergence.

10 minute presentation application form:  https://forms.gle/NadykVU3YAQTgacd9

Please fill in the relevant application form outlining your proposal to the selection panel. The panel will review all submissions and choose those that will complement each other and provide balance, depth and spread to the program.

Absolute DEADLINE for submissions is 5 pm on Tuesday 29 October 2019.

We’ll notify all applicants by 1 December 2019.

 

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August 2019 Permaculture Design Course at Northey Street City Farm

Saturday, 3 August 2019 at 8:30 am – Saturday, 16 November 2019 at 4:30 pm
8.30am-4.30pm

Come join us for our 25-year Silver Jubilee Permaculture Design Course. For 25 years Northey Street City Farms has held up the standard of sustainable living in the city and we invite you to come participate and begin your journey with us.

To Book CLICK HERE

“Visions of an Ancient Wisdom”

This unique course, delivered over 16 weeks in Brisbane, gives you the knowledge and skills to observe and design from the natural patterns to create productive gardens & properties, grow your own food, apply appropriate technologies, learn to use resources wisely, build on living systems and rebuild communities.
Learn to:
• Build Resilience through Connectivity
• Facilitate Regeneration of the Earth
• Create Abundance through Design

The Permaculture Design Course (PDC) builds from its foundation in the ethics and design principles to strategies giving you the techniques and tools to inspire critical thinking.

YOU WILL LEARN

• the history of permaculture and agriculture and the foundational concepts of the permaculture ethics and design principles
• to design from ecological pattern literacy, systems thinking, using Ethics and Design principles, designing from the whole, differentiated into parts
• to use the Scale of Permanence to give realistic outcomes for any design
• climate analogues and how varied mirco-climates affect your site
• the patterns of our intent and that of our landscapes, elements and their functional connections in your design to minimize waste
• to savour our soils: soil biology, amendments, uses and putting it all together
• about trees and forests and how we can integrate them into our systems
• how we can cultivate our ecology to produce food based on our unique needs by including annuals, perennials, forest gardens and animals into our systems
• to enhance our communities and local economies through social permaculture design
• a practical understanding of the design process through group and individual design work

INCLUDED IN YOUR COURSE FEE
• Rosemary Morrows ‘Earth Users Guide to Permaculture’
• Extensive resources and handouts to complement course outcomes
• Teachers whose conceptual understanding of the permaculture design process complements their broad range of knowledge and experience to create an immersive learning environment
• Hands on experience at a 25 year old permaculture site in Brisbane
• An experience of COMMUNITY & FUN

COST 

$1140/ $873 Health Care Card Holder Early Bird Discount (full payment one month prior to course commencement) + Eventbrite Booking Fee 

$1250/ $930 Health Care Card Holder + Eventbrite Booking Fee

To avoid booking fees you can pay by direct deposit to:
Northey Street City Farm  BSB: 313-140 Account Number: 120 459 54
After you have paid by direct deposit, please email us to let us know the date of payment

To book for the August 2019 Course at Northey Street City Farm CLICK HERE

Enquiries
Phone: (07) 3857 8775 (Tuesday -Thursday, 10am-4pm)   Email: adultedn@nscf.org.au

Each of our NSCF Permaculture Design Courses has one part-scholarship position available at half price (totaling $625) for a First Nations Australian. If you are interested in this opportunity please contact Ronni Martin on educationandsupport.mgr@nscf.org.au or call the office on 3875 8775.

To apply for a First Nations part-scholarship, complete the application form HERE.

 

 

“Thought provoking, inspirational and informative – whether you are planning for a farm, house or unit. Everywhere I now look I see patterns, choices and opportunities…” Mark Lacy, PDC student

Bookings and Payment Options

Places are limited in most courses and workshops so book now. Bookings for the PDC require payment of a deposit of $300 ($240 Health Care Card holders.) Deposits are non-refundable if enrollment is cancelled less than two weeks prior to course commencement. There is a discount for payment in full one month prior to course commencement.

The balance from the deposit can be made by direct debit here:

Name: Northey Street City Farm  BSB: 313-140 Account Number: 120 459 54
After you have paid by direct deposit, please email us to let us know the date of payment

Course cancellations

We understand that sometimes circumstances change and participants may not be able to attend a course or workshop that has been paid for. For Permaculture Design Courses (PDC), deposits are non-refundable if enrollment is cancelled less than two weeks prior to course commencement. Exceptions may be made in cases of serious illness, sickness or emergencies. Once the PDC course has commenced, course payments are not refundable. However, if students need to withdraw from the course due to illness or emergency, exceptions may be made.

For shorter courses (Introductory weekend courses etc) we require a minimum of 7 days notice for cancellations. We do not provide refunds for any cancellations that are made within 7 days of a workshop. If participants cancel participation in a course and are entitled to a refund, they can opt for a credit for another course, to be used within 12 months of the original date of course commencement, instead of a refund.

Cancellations of courses and sessions by Northey Street City Farm:

  • Northey Street City Farm (NSCF) may cancel or change a class at any time, for reasons including but not limited to, lack of participation, inclement weather or facilitator availability.
  • Registrants can opt for a full refund, or can use the credit for a future workshop, to be used within 12 months of the date of the initial workshop or course.

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Feb 2019 Permaculture Design Course

Come join us for our 25-year Silver Jubilee Permaculture Design Course on Saturdays from 9 February to 25 May 2019.

“Visions of an Ancient Wisdom”

This unique course, delivered over 16 weeks in Brisbane, gives you the knowledge and skills to observe and design from the natural patterns to create productive gardens & properties, grow your own food, apply appropriate technologies, learn to use resources wisely, build on living systems and rebuild communities.
Learn to:
• Build Resilience through Connectivity
• Facilitate Regeneration of the Earth
• Create Abundance through Design

The Permaculture Design Course (PDC) builds from its foundation in the ethics and design principles to strategies giving you the techniques and tools to inspire critical thinking.

YOU WILL LEARN

• the history of permaculture and agriculture and the foundational concepts of the permaculture ethics and design principles
• to design from ecological pattern literacy, systems thinking, using Ethics and Design principles, designing from the whole, differentiated into parts
• to use the Scale of Permanence to give realistic outcomes for any design
• climate analogues and how varied mirco-climates affect your site
• the patterns of our intent and that of our landscapes, elements and their functional connections in your design to minimize waste
• to savour our soils: soil biology, amendments, uses and putting it all together
• about trees and forests and how we can integrate them into our systems
• how we can cultivate our ecology to produce food based on our unique needs by including annuals, perennials, forest gardens and animals into our systems
• to enhance our communities and local economies through social permaculture design
• a practical understanding of the design process through group and individual design work

INCLUDED IN YOUR COURSE FEE

• Rosemary Morrows ‘Earth Users Guide to Permaculture’
• Extensive resources and handouts to complement course outcomes
• Teachers whose conceptual understanding of the permaculture design process complements their broad range of knowledge and experience to create an immersive learning environment
• Hands on experience at a 25 year old permaculture site in Brisbane
• An experience of COMMUNITY & FUN

Saturdays, 9 February to 25 May 2019

COST

$1140/ $873 Health Care Card Holder Early Bird Discount (full payment one month prior to course commencement).

$1250/ $930 Health Care Card Holder

For more information and to book see our PDC page here

Eventbrite - February 2019 Permaculture Design Course

For 25 years Northey Street City Farm has held up the standard of sustainable living in the city and we invite you to come participate and begin your journey with us.

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Brisbane Permaculture Design Course starts 11 August 2018

This unique course, delivered on Saturdays over 16 weeks gives you the knowledge and skills to observe and design from the natural patterns to create productive gardens & properties, grow your own food, apply appropriate technologies, learn to use resources wisely, build on living systems and rebuild communities.

Learn to:

Build Resilience through Connectivity

Facilitate Regeneration of the Earth

Create Abundance through Design

DATES:   Saturdays, from 11th August to 24th November 2018
COST:   $1450/ $1130 Health Care Card Holder (GST Inclusive)

INCLUDED IN YOUR COURSE FEE

  • Rosemary Morrows ‘Earth Users Guide to Permaculture’
  • Extensive resources and handouts to complement course outcomes
  • Teachers whose conceptual understanding of the permaculture design process complements their broad range of knowledge and experience to create an immersive learning environment
  • Visit to Crystal Waters where we will explore how these landholders have implemented permaculture design concepts into their lives
  • An experience of COMMUNITY & FUN

To BOOK a place on this course CLICK HERE

YOU WILL LEARN

  • the history of permaculture and agriculture and the foundational concepts of the permaculture ethics and design principles
  • to design from ecological pattern literacy, systems thinking, using Ethics and Design principles, designing from the whole, differentiated into parts
  • to use the Scale of Permanence to give realistic outcomes for any design
  • climate analogues and how varied micro-climates affect your site
  • the patterns of our intent and that of our landscapes, elements and their functional connections in your design to minimize waste
  • to savour our soils: soil biology, amendments, uses and putting it all together
  • about trees and forests and how we can integrate them into our systems
  • how we can cultivate our ecology to produce food based on our unique needs including annuals, perennials, forest gardens and animals into our systems
  • to enhance our communities and local economies through social permaculture design
  • a practical understanding of the design process through group and individual design work

 

“Thought provoking, inspirational and informative – whether you are planning for a farm, house or unit. Everywhere I now look I see patterns, choices and opportunities…” Mark Lacy, PDC student


More Info on our PDC page or Email: adultedn@nscf.org.au  or Ph: 38578775       

To BOOK CLICK HERE

 

 

 

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Learn How to Compost at Home

Sat 12 May 2018 • 9:00am – 12:00pm at Northey Street City Farm

Free

Celebrate International Compost Awareness Week at this interactive workshop.

This workshop will cover the basics of composting, worm farming and the Bokashi fermentation composting system including; setting up, managing and maintaining different compost systems, how to choose the best system for your home and options for using second hand materials to set up your system.

This event is facilitated by Krystelle Ellaby from Northey Street City Farm.

To book CLICK HERE

We pay respects to the Traditional Custodians of the Country Northey Street is on - the Jagera and Turrbal peoples.

get in touch

Farm & Education
(07) 3857 8775
info@nscf.org.au

Nursery
(07) 3857 8774
nursery@nscf.org.au

Markets
0491 191 434
markets@nscf.org.au

Connect with us

VISIT US

Location: 16 Victoria Street, Windsor QLD 4030
Office Hours: Tuesday - Thursday 9am-4pm
Market Hours: Sunday 6am-11am
Nursery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 8:30am-12:30pm, Sunday 7:30pm-12pm. Closed Mondays.
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