Maddy Harland's Blog

Forcing Rhubarb – the early shoots of Spring

2011-03-28T14:23:00.000+01:00

Forcing rhubarb is simple and is a great way to add fresh homegrown organic produce to the table during early Spring.

forcing rhubarb under a humble plastic pot

There is a little food in my garden at this time of year. The coldframes are full of salads – self-seeders and other leaves that have survived the winter snow in their protected environment. There's a few carrots left, spring onions and some cavollo nero and beetroot. We are still eating jams and preserves from last year and there is fruit frozen in the deep freeze, but there is nothing quite like the first rhubarb crop.

We celebrated it at Sunday supper when all the family meet and sit down and share food together.
Forcing rhubarb couldn't be easier. If your budget allows you can buy a lovely terracotta forcer hand made by a bespoke potter (in my dreams) but mine never has so I use a humble plastic pot. Just add manure that is still hot around the rhubarb crown when it is just starting to shoot above the ground. Place a pot that covers the small shoots (or two as I have above) and stick a brick on top to secure the (plastic) pot. Leave until you have enough of a crop to cook.

To read Maddy's rhubarb & mixed fruit crumble recipe please go to www.permaculture.co.uk

It's a New Dawn

2011-02-02T20:56:00.006Z

This week we have been publishing for 21 years. As the song goes, we survived. We have grown and the permaculture message has spread around the world.

From a whirling Amstrad, someone else's pc and glue and paper in a spare bedroom, we have travelled to an amazing online world of downloads, eBooks, YouTube, e-commerce, Twitter, Facebook, Drupal and more. We can message and connect with people all over the Earth and we can tell your stories.

And we are still of a publishing paper magazine and printed books because people like reading them.

Today we launch Permaculture magazine online, a project we dreamed for years. So for us, this really is a new dawn and I, for one, am feeling good.

If you enjoy this blog and want to carry on reading my editorials and articles please bookmark this link.

This new site is yours and every week we will post more practical readers' solutions, articles, video clips, editorial, inspiration... Enjoy. Please tell other about it. It's free.

P.S. The photograph of the heron (above) was literally taken at dawn from my bedroom window. One of those wonderful days.

Foraging For Oyster Mushrooms

2011-01-08T17:03:00.003Z

There is a treasure in the woods near me: a semi-rotten beech tree that hosts oyster mushroom mycellium. Every year, after a very cold snap (usually in January) the mycellium runs and its fruiting bodies appear. Behold! Sumptuous oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus).

Last weekend on our regular walk Tim and I went and checked the tree and saw that there was activity and so we made a note to come back weekly with a sharp knife and a bag for spoil. Today I took a Cutco knife called a 'Bullwhip'. It is American and was kindly given to me by my brother Nick who knows I have a penchant for good knives. Good man! He bought it in an auction years ago but never used it. It holds a fiercesome edge and is ideal for foraging. (Vegans cover your ears – it is also great for breasting pigeons – the pigeons who have eaten all of my annual and perennial winter brassicas.)

The tree is just at the beginning of its fruiting cycle so I only took enough for two people. I am going to make wild mushroom gnocci with chilli and sage as suggested by my lovely foodie daughter on her delectable blog (full of very tasty recipes gleaned from her wild imagination and her European travels in a 2CV).

Oyster mushrooms are easy to identify. They grow on beech and have a beautiful fluted shape. They are a usually white on top but they can go a shiny grey colour when exposed to frost. They have white gills. These gills run all the way down the stem. There are other oyster genus and they are not poisonous either. They just don't taste so good. Apparently, there is a poisonous look-alike found in Australia and Japan, called Omphalotus nidiformis. For a great identification guide, have a look here.

I also have a few identification guide books for my foraging trips. They are also marvellous inspiration. My two loves are Richard Mabey's Food For Free and Wild Food by Roger Phillips. The latter I couldn't live without as it has great pictures and delicious recipes. I also have a useful Easy Edible Mushroom Guide that can slip into a coat pocket. Finally, if you really want to get into mushroom foraging and not make any fatal mistakes I highly recommend Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall's DVD Mushroom Magic. I find seeing edible fungi in its rightful location on film very helpful.

I am a self taught forager and cautious. I would not wish to imitate the behaviour of two women who spotted 'mushrooms' at Vennor Botanical Gardens on the Isle of Wight, picked them and took them home to eat. One died. They had mistakenly harvested Death Caps (Amanita phalloides). Apparently, they were rather tasty. Talk about a Last Supper.

The other precaution you can take is to be intimate with your foraging patches and observe them all year round. Then you get to know when certain trees will fruit and how the forage grows year on year. This is working with the cycles of nature in true permaculture style. I also never decimate a crop. I want to come back next year and pick again and I also want to share my treasure with the local wildlife.

Foraging is akin to finding your joy and beats shopping. Once the weather gets warmer, I am going to try the stinging nettle pesto recipe that is going to be in the next Permaculture mag out in two weeks. Sounds delicious and it costs virtually nothing to make.

To learn more about permaculture go to the hub at permaculture.co.uk or contact Permanent Publications, The Sustainability Centre, East Meon, Hampshire GU32 1HR. info@permaculture.co.uk or speak to us: +44 (0) 1730 823311

The Call To Adventure

2011-01-01T16:40:00.002Z

Happy New Year to you all who kindly read this blog or who have just stumbled upon it. Welcome.

The New Year is an opportunity to pause and reflect: What do I want to focus on this year? What do I want to change and how can I better find my joy and be a more effective human being? I don't usually set myself a long, self-critical and impossible list of stuff I have to give up but I do take the opportunity of a few days away from work to think about how I can make the coming year better and also focus on what new things I want to be bring into my life.

When I need insights into how to control and master my destiny rather than be swept along in the tides of life, I think people who inspire me. The transworld sailor is someone who comes to mind. I have an enduring image of Ellen MacArthur before she was famous for sailing around the world single-handed. Penniless and unknown, she lived on a small boat in a freezing boatyard on the Hamble, near where I live in Hampshire. Long days and nights were spent working on the boat alone, eating cheap food and sleeping in the prow. Her dream, however, was more powerful than any hardship that life could throw at her.

I am fascinated by this steely grace that all adventurers share.

Born in landlocked Derbyshire, she learnt to sail on her aunt’s tiny boat, in the holidays, and saved every spare penny to buy a boat of her own. At eighteen, she sailed around the coast of Britain alone, an extraordinary achievement for someone who had so little experience at sea. In 2004, she went on to be the first woman to circumnavigate the world in record time. Her new book, Full Circle, takes up the story and tells of further record-breaking attempts, plus the unfolding story of her family and her personal relationships. But, to me, what is fascinating about this book is her description of her decision to give up competitive sailing and focus on sustainability. Her passion now is to communicate nothing less than the restoration of the planet and engage government, corporates and the public in positive behaviour change. This is her new call to adventure, an even greater challenge than circumnavigating the globe.

The Hero's Journey

This wonderful evolution from a passion for the sea to a passion for the planet and its well-being makes my heart sing. Many of us hear the call to adventure but how many are prepared to give up everything and devote themselves to its fulfilment? This is truly the hero’s journey and Dame Ellen MacArthur is a quintessential hero of the twenty-first century. We need more of her like.

So what characterises this journey? Can it be mapped? Is it something we could all dare to do? This is work of Dr Chris Johnstone, who sets out to discover the answers to these questions. As a young man, he singlehandedly took on the NHS and fought a legal battle to reduce the hours of junior doctors working in hospitals and won, against huge odds.

He went on to be an addiction specialist, helping many people to free themselves from their substance abuse.

His work led him to Rob Hopkins and the Transition Movement where he has helped develop an understanding of our society’s ‘addiction’ to oil and how we can become empowered to create a more ecological society. He also works closely with the deep ecologist, Joanna Macy.

Chris has helped me to unravel the structure of my journey of positive change – the call to adventure, how the journey unfolds, how to respond creatively and with my potential – and how to overcome the many pitfalls that may occur along the way. In his book, Find Your Power, he has created a map to help us navigate our own voyages, whether they are to overcome an addiction, learn new skills or nothing less than to become an effective activist for positive social change, a planetary server.

Here are two role models: Ellen MacArthur is one of the world’s greatest adventurers, both brave and vulnerable, and a steely, uncompromising gambler who has a vision and is compelled to follow it to completion. She inspires me and gives me courage. Chris Johnstone, on the other hand, holds a light that helps illuminate the path. He helps me find my way and overcome my lack of faith in my magnitude (and we all have the potential for unbounded magnitude). Chris is able to unpick the delicate complexities of how we can find our inner power that enables us to live our dreams.

Finding Your Power

I know that I have a steely determination and a vision. 21 years ago my partner, Tim, and I decided to found a publishing company to provide ‘information which encourages people to live more healthy, self-reliant and ecologically sound ways of life.’ We started with practical books about permaculture and launched Permaculture magazine in 1992 with just 600 readers. It was not easy. Today, it is read in 78 countries by over 100,000 people. We are now developing the idea of transformational media, connecting together inspiring, information-based, empowering material in every sphere – still producing books and magazines, but also websites, downloads, films, YouTubes, blogs, using social media to network, share information and inspire people globally. And of course we meet and talk with people too.

We are passionate about sustainability. We want to share these messages as widely as possible. There are practical ways in which we can live together on this beautiful planet in peace and in ecological balance and permaculture design is a practical, tested strategy for restoring habitat and creating ecologically sound communities. We know that time is running out for the Earth’s many species and habitats and that climate change is a very real threat to humanity’s survival – let alone all the creatures with which we share this planet.

We are shamelessly in love with this world. We think it is miraculous. We do not want to see it driven to extremes – overheated, flooded, frozen, parched – by atmospheric changes caused by human actions and we want to help prevent as much suffering as possible. We also know that climate change and our collective response to it is the greatest call to adventure humanity has yet to face. It has become a matter of evolution for our species. We are being asked to entirely change the way we live on this planet and to evolve beyond selfishness, fear, greed and instinct into intuition, harmlessness, service, love and reverence for life. This is the call. This is our journey.

Going To Market – Christmas Shopping Locally

2010-12-18T19:48:00.004Z

Yesterday I went Christmas shopping in my local town, Petersfield. I know I am a bit late in the day but I recently have to switch from being an editor to an elf: our own Green Shopping has been busy this year and our customers always come first. I couldn’t face driving to our nearest city on a Saturday, sitting in queues and then paying an extortionate parking fee. There isn’t a huge amount of choice in town but the Harlands don’t do lavish consumerism. Anyway, we have made some nice homemade presents to give (like strawberry and golden gage jam by the ton from the summer glut) and we have sent away for a few gifts too but not many. Local is the key.

Getting to town was challenging. Five inches of snow had fallen in three hours but Seb (daughter Hayley’s man) is a seasoned Alpine driver so Tim and I bundled into his car and slid our way there. Petersfield was lovely in the snow. It’s a friendly market town with lots of independent shops and a few chains. I felt happy supporting my local traders, bought a few items at way beyond Amazon or eBay prices, but I know they need the business and I picked up a few bargains too.

I even bought a big hardback specialist book in the local bookshop. I don't do that very often. Consequently, I worry about the demise of bookshops and independents. I love browsing in them and picking up titles I’d never consider reading normally. I also like the idiosyncratic nature of local shops. I realise the irony of what I am saying as an online retailer. But then we do have a little shop that lots of people visit and we talk to our customers on the phone. We are not the faceless profiteers either. Green Shopping helps fund all our publishing projects like Permaculture Magazine and our series of Permanent Publications (plus the DVDs and all the free work on websites, YouTube and so on). And God knows we really need the funds. It is not an easy life being a small independent green publisher.

Tim and I bumped into lots of friends in town, some we hadn’t seen for ages, so amid the shopping there was some good catching up to do. That for me is the best part of going to town beside the market – it’s all about meeting people and appreciating being part of the community. The snow fell, the streets were busy but not heaving, and the shopkeepers were all friendly. There was a general air of happiness and good cheer.

I have struggled to tell my family what I want for Christmas because I don’t really want anything except good cheer. That’s what it’s all about for me: taking some time out, having some good feasts with family and friends and enjoying the goodwill. Simple.

To learn more about permaculture go to the hub at www.permaculture.co.uk or contact Permanent Publications, The Sustainability Centre, East Meon, Hampshire GU32 1HR. 01730 823311 and talk to an elf!

Has Alan Titchmarsh Really Discovered Permaculture?

2010-11-30T18:36:00.003Z

Earlier this year Tim and I had a call from a BBC producer. Would we like to appear on another programme that wanted to feature permaculture? We are always interested in deepening understanding of the subject, but also wary. It is so easy to trivialise permaculture and wrap it up as an alternative form of organic gardening. We asked how long we would get and what was the angle?

The programme Tim and I are on (with guest appearances from other garden residents) is tonight's episode of ‘Alan’s Garden Secrets’, BBC2 at 8 pm Tuesday 30th November). It is on YouTube (a shorter link). The producer promised a full five minutes air time to present about permaculture and how we have applied it to our garden (and we hope a little more of the wider context). Her words were: “One day, we are all going to have to garden like you, with sustainability, self-sufficiency and biodiversity as its basis.” What Tim and I have developed is a semi-wild forest garden forage system that combines edible landscaping with nature conservation. Nearest the house is a more conventional organic raised bed system with annuals and perennial vegetables, salads and self-seeders. What characterises the garden is, however, the extraordinary level of biodiversity – reptiles, mammals and insects – and the pest/predator balance. We use no sprays at all or any form of insect traps. The bats, slow worms, common lizards, toads and beneficial insects do the work.

Filming a long shot of the garden from an upstairs bedroom

We were worried about being on TV this year. The cold winter, rainy spring and drought in summer had made the annual patch in particular look less abundant and the wildflowers had peaked by the end of July when the producer/director and cameraman came to film. We needn’t have worried. Nature turned out in force to help us. The insect kingdom like chalkhill blue, common blues and fritillary butterflies – plus an abundance of solitary bees and ladybirds – were breathtaking.
I hope they will be the stars of the show.

The show also features Sissinghurst, famous for its naturalistic planting. Alan discusses how it works with head gardener Alexis Data and shows how to create a wild flower meadow. “The Sissinghurst nuttery would become famous as one of the first wild gardens. This new philosophy would ultimately lead to today's perma culture gardens. Alan shows you how to create one in your own garden.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wfdw4

We hope we have done a good job in presenting permaculture to a new audience and more seriously that we were articulate enough on the day.
We wish we'd been invited on to the One Show or Alan's own chat show to elaborate on the subject beforehand the screening. At the moment the links between habitat preservation and restoration, food, permaculture and sustainability are not understood. We are doing all we can to change this.

Permaculture is not a garden fashion or a fad. It is part of the jigsaw of earth restoration – a design system for a post-carbon age. It forms the basis for much of the transition movement's thinking.
One day I hope we will be given the chance to climb out of our happy, biodiverse and abundant garden box and explain more of the wider picture. But for now, enjoy the garden.

Maddy Harland is the editor of Permaculture Magazine – inspiration for sustainable living. Issue 66 features articles about how to make a natural swimming pool, how to feed pets naturally, choosing a woodburning stove, winter recipes, news, reviews, & solutions plus money offer readers' offer. To support this independent publications please subscribe digitally for just £10 (approx $13.40) or subscribe to the printed edition (which will save you at least 20% of the cover price and allow you to enjoy it in the wilds!). To read a sample copy click here.

Harmonising with Nature & the Sticky Question of Land

2010-10-20T12:01:00.000+01:00

A dear friend of mine who spent much time in the beautiful Western Isles of Scotland once told me a story about the Queen. HMS Britannia was on its annual summer voyage with its royal passengers and stopped at a small bay one quiet afternoon. The Queen disembarked and waved away her bodyguards and other familiars and set off for a rare walk on her own. Her path took her to a small cottage where she saw its owner gardening. The Queen greeted the woman and they stopped to chat over the garden fence. Then she asked if she could come in and have a cup of tea. The two women went inside, brewed tea and sat down in simple surroundings by a small fire, drinking tea. They passed the time of day and then eventually the Queen asked her host what she did and how long she had lived on the island. The woman was a writer and she told the Queen that she visited the island in the summer months in search of seclusion, to appreciate the nature there and for literary inspiration. The Queen’s response was one of wistful understanding and the writer became acutely aware that her celebrated guest was rarely able to truly alone and meet strangers informally over a simple cup of tea.

I found this story a deeply poignant insight into our Royal Family. I believe that despite the glamour of vast wealth and global fame, the Queen’s role as sovereign is in part a sacrifice. It is obvious that she has a deep connection with the natural world. Prince Phillip was an early experimenter with solar water technology at Windsor and enjoys farming – he even has an experimental orchard of truffle inoculated oaks. The Princess Royal speaks with intelligence and obvious knowledge of biomass, coppicing and peak oil. They have all championed homoeopathy. I met then briefly a couple of years ago. It was obvious that they were not two dimensional people.

Prince Charles has come in for a lot of stick for talking to plants, being ‘mystical’, and inferring with architecture, imposing a pseudo neo-Georgian pastiche, only viable in affluent places like Dorset. Yet his passion for preserving heritage, his work with young people and his championing of organics and habitat conservation over decades have hit the mark. He has proved that he is well ahead of most of the rest of society. Far from being a heir in waiting, he is consolidating a powerful role as a social and environmental commentator.

So it is with interest that I read the Introduction to his latest book, Harmony, written with Tony Juniper and Ian Skelly. In it Prince Charles openly admits that he has been challenging the accepted wisdom, the current orthodoxy and conventional way of thinking that has its origins in the 19^th Century when industrialisation took full sway and the Newtonian worldview began to fragment our vision. He has been accused of dilettantism – of leaping from one subject to another – from architecture to agriculture “as if I spent a morning saving the rainforests, then in the afternoon jumping to help young people start new businesses.” But the subtext to his interests and work has been an appreciation of holism, of inter-relationship. Organic agriculture, natural medicine, conservation, gainful fulfilling employment, especially for the young, human-scale design and architecture are inter-related. They are threads in the woven tapestry of a creative and more sustainable world.

Harmony examines our global crisis born from the relentless pursuit of economic growth technological progress. It travels back in time to explore how the ancients saw the world as a whole and in necessary balanced with Nature. It looks at how sustainability springs from seeing the world as an interconnected whole and speaks of “this timeless view… rooted in the human condition and in human experience” and suggest how we might do this.


Prince Charles visits volunteers at The Sustainability Centre © John Adams

The Prince of Wales no doubt puts his cards on the table with this book. He will be vilified and celebrated all at the same time. Carbon counters will inevitably scorn his private jets and billionaire lifestyle, asking him to walk his talk; republicans will call for democratic reform; and I might point out that the root of our economic problem lies with land ownership. It was when we enclosed the commons and cleared the Highlands that we forced people out of relative self-sufficiency into paying rents and the subsequent necessity of earning a wage. This was the turning point. Now 90% of us live on less than 10% of the land and even the plots we inhabit are shrinking. Just under one-third of Britain’s land is still owned by aristocrats and traditional landed gentry. If we are to harmonize our lives in accord with Nature, we will have to revisit this thorny question and create a more sustainable land-based life for all sectors of society. Inevitably, that necessitates deep social change.

As we steer away from being ‘Masters of Nature’ to the ‘sacred duty of stewardship’ it is inescapable that we will have to share natural resources more equitably. How we do this will require a clear vision of what an ecologically based society actually is. We cannot see-saw between political ideologies – this is not about communism, socialism or capitalism – but about how we are to create a society based on holistic, earth-based values and ethics. Prince Charles, a complex cocktail of spiritual intent and material privilege, brings this debate even more firmly into the public arena. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out.

Maddy Harland is the editor of Permaculture Magazine – inspiration for sustainable living. Issue 65 is just out and features lots of articles including Ben Law on Transition Trees, Perennial Vegetables, Small Scale Farming & Permaculture, profile of an ethical business, news, reviews, & solutions plus how to make a terracotta fridge and 10 money offer readers' offer. To support this independent publications please subscribe digitally for just £10 (approx $13.40) or subscribe to the printed edition (which will save you at least 20% of the cover price and allow you to enjoy it in the wilds!). To read a sample copy click here.

You will also find lots of useful permaculture and gardening books at Green Shopping.

Heavenly Food – Autumn in the Permaculture Garden

2010-10-06T20:18:00.002+01:00

Ah, autumn is well and truly here. The gooseberries, currants, greengages, plums and figs have all been eaten. We’ve feasted on berries and succulent fruits like Brown Turkey figs and Oullin’s golden gages, as exotic as mangoes. Though the evenings are getting shorter, the pleasure isn’t over yet. This is one of the real joys of the permaculture garden; you can continue to keep reaping the benefits late into the year.

We grow 23 varieties of apple, early, mid and late cropping varieties. They ripen from July onwards and at least some store well and there is always the cider press! We have one tree, Hambledon Deux Ans, which originated in the neighbouring village. As indicated, it can store for up to two years in optimum conditions, but the arrival of refrigeration almost eradicated it. It isn’t very sweet, and when supermarkets started flying in apples from South Africa and New Zealand the old varieties were grubbed out. Luckily a local nurseryman decided to save a few trees. It’s a magnificent, healthy, vigorous tree full of large tart green apples, ideal for sauces, pies and crumbles.

This is a salutary tale. Pre-refrigeration and pre-supermarkets, each village had its own special fruit tree that was locally adapted, cropped better and was more disease resistant than our generic modern varieties, bred to look pretty and uniform for the supermarket. How many of these heritage varieties have been lost? Thank goodness for places like Brogdale, home of the national fruit collections. We’ll need them in the near future once the madness of squandering our finite stock of oil and makes flying food around the globe an unacceptable insanity.

Besides the Hambledon Deux Ans and another ‘local’ apple, Isle of Wight Russet, my other apple gem is a fabled tree from Bardsey Island off Wales. The story goes that a bird watcher found an old tree covered in sweet, golden apples outside the ruined monastery refectory on the island and brought some apples home to Ian Sturrock, a nurseryman. He tasted the apple and sought permission to propagate the tree. I am the lucky recipient of one of the trees. It has a fragrant blossom and is again a vigorous tree. Planted some years ago, I have eating my second season's crop and it was crisp, juicy and sweet for an English apple.

Merton Pride

Besides apples, early autumn brings me my favourite pear. Merton Pride is the most sensual fruit I have ever encountered, being so large and juicy. The Hindus speak of Amrita, the nectar of the gods. I think one of its progeny is in my garden. Resplendent with blossom every spring, I have even made a remedy from its flowers with the traditional method of Dr Edward Bach. This is a tree of happiness, I am sure.

All this glut of fruit isn't only for the rural gardener. Modern dwarf rootstocks and growing techniques like espaliers and fan training allow everyone with a garden to grow at least one or two trees. I have a friend who successfully grows nectarines fan trained on her southerly house wall. All she has to do is pollinate the flowers with a small paintbrush in the spring. I’m growing peaches too but mine are from a friend in Germany. He gave me 30 stones and assured me that if I germinate them they’ll produce small but sweet fruits. They are also hardly and resistant to peach leaf curl, the scourge of Prunus trees in our damp climate. So far I have planted three saplings, having nursed them for two years in pots. I gave a few away too.

Fruit trees don’t have to be expensive. Figs, for example, are like weeds and easily root from cuttings. Sharing cuttings and experimenting with own fruit root stock trees is fun if you have the room. A few well chosen trees from a reputable nursery are also worth every penny and will reward you with an annual crop that is incomparable to shop-bought varieties. And don’t forget the vine fruit! It is also easy to root cuttings of plants like tayberries and Japanese wineberries that will outstrip raspberries in terms of size and taste, in my opinion. They too can be grown up a fence, a building or even in a hedgerow and autumn is the time for planting both trees and vines.

But the latest tree to harvest in my garden is the Medlar, an old Turkish variety. It crops faithfully every year, is disease free but its fruits have to blet – ie they have to be left until after the first frost. This breaks down the fibre in the fruit and allows it to ripen. I once made a wine from medlar and Asian pear that was a powerful as sherry!

Family Foraging

Kids love foraging for berries in a hedgerow, picking their own tomatoes and scrumping top fruit. Taught young, they will pick and eat any food, but raw French beans and peas are a favourite. It’s easy to encourage good foraging habits. Just teach them what they can eat from babyhood and don’t grow poisonous berries. My kids experimented with an additional tadpole and slug when my back was turned but survived to tell the tale! I also taught them to pick fruit early in the morning, before the wasps get busy. That way, there are no stings. Becoming wasp and hornet savvy is important with lots of fruit around – they don’t need to be a hazard if we work around them and don’t let the fruit go rotten on the tree or the ground. Hornets aren't aggressive either. They just look formidable.

GCSEs and realise they know so much already.

TIPS for Planting Fruit Trees

•    Plant what you love to eat but be practical. Nectarines, for example, just don’t like rain and late spring frosts. They need to be grown in very sheltered conditions.
•    Seek out local varieties that suit your soil and climate. Grow fruit that rarely makes it to the supermarket (perhaps because it doesn’t store well) like green and golden gages. They are delicious.
•    Ask a reputable local nursery that sells fruit trees for advice.
•    As figs are vigorous plant them in a pit. Place rubble for good drainage at the bottom and paving slabs around the walls of the pit – or sink an old washing machine drum into the ground and plant into it! This constricts the roots and restricts the height of the tree leaving fruit within easy reach. Figs love a warm microclimate and the Brown Turkey variety will reward you with a succulent crop.
•    Experiment with medlars, quinces, damsons and mulberries. Less common, but very productive.
•    Don’t forget the nuts! We can also grow cobnuts – like giant hazelnuts – in small spaces – and large walnut trees that fruit after seven years.
•    Turn your hedge into a ‘fedge’ (fruiting hedge). Fedges can include figs, damsons, elder and trained berry vines like tayberries.

Back to Veggies

The permaculture garden isn’t all about fruit! Autumn brings to fruition tomatoes, beans, corn, courgettes, pumpkins, marrows, squashes and so much more... I grow as many butternut squash as I can and store them until March in a cool place. They are wonderful roasted and then topped with crème fraîche and Parmesan or grated in fritters and bakes.

The family love spaghetti squashes as well, so called because their fruit scooped out resembles strands of spaghetti. They are delicious with butter and black pepper (but they don’t store so well as butternut). Pumpkins too keep well into the next year in a cool place. Don’t just plant the large Halloween affairs for sculpting, chose varieties that are sweet and flavoursome like Moschata Muscade. They make great roasts, savoury stuffed dishes, sweet pies and soups. My favourite soup is pumpkin, coconut milk, and chilli with freshly ground curry spices.

RECIPE
One medium sized squash, peeled and seeded
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4     teaspoon fresh nutmeg, grated
black pepper to taste
200g crème fraîche
Grated cheese (parmesan or cheddar according to family preference)
1 glass of white wine (optional)

1.    Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2.    Cut peeled and seeded squash into 5cm lengths.
4.    Place squash on baking dish and drizzle with olive oil.
5.    Toss to coat and arrange in a single layer.
6.    Bake for 45 minutes, or until tender.
7.    Mix together crème fraîche, cheese, nutmeg and pepper and white wine if required. Add to roasting dish.
8.    Replace in oven and brown for 15 minutes.
9.    Serve hot with a roast meal.

Runner beans too can grow well into the autumn. We have a passive solar kitchen – a large glazed area that heats the house when the sun shines. In mid summer, it can get hot so we grow food on the outside of the glass. The beans provide shade, and the house creates a fertile microclimate. This allows us to crop late into the year and the food couldn’t be closer to the kitchen sink for preparation.

What To Plant in Autumn

September
Sow broad beans, spring cabbages, carrots and lettuces under cover. Plant out spring cabbages towards the end of the month in the colder north.

October
Plant cabbages in the south. Plant winter and spring lettuces. Continue to sow broad beans and lettuces under cover.

November
Continue to sow broad beans under cover and lettuces in the south. Sow early peas under cover and garlic outside.

New Roundwood Buildings, New Media, New Editor - what a week!

2010-09-07T18:07:00.000+01:00

Bobby the Donkey & owner at the Weald & Downland

My feet haven't touched the ground in the last few days. On Saturday I went with Ben Law and Tim to launch Ben's new book Roundwood Timber Framing at the Weald and Downland Museum in Sussex. It was the museum's 40th birthday and they put on a great English country fair event with acrobats, vintage cars, horticultural competitions, crafts and of course a presentation and book signings by Ben.

The Weald and Downland is a fascinating place. It is set in 50 acres of beautiful Sussex countryside is a very special place to wander amongst a fascinating collection of nearly 50 historic buildings dating from the 13th to the 19th century, many with period gardens, together with farm animals, woodland walks and a picturesque lake.

I love listening to Ben talk. There is always something to learn. Ben's been evolving his roundwood framing techniques since he built the Woodland House in 2000. He has developed new ways of pegging the cruck frames, new jointing designs and a whole new form of architecture that uses timbers that are normally pulped for paper or burnt on the fire. His most notable project is the Woodland Classroom here at the Sustainability Centre. It is breathtaking.

Southern elevation of the Woodland Classroom

Rumsford fireplace set in cordwood wall

What excites me about this building technique is that it builds beautiful structures – small outhouses and shed to larger barns, workshops, houses, even a village shop – from overstood plantations that have been neglected because they have little economic value in conventional forestry. Ben takes crops like Lawson's Cypress have been neglected for 50 years. The trees are slow growing due to overcraowding – their rings are therefore set close together – and they produce long straight but small diameter poles. These are useless to foresters but ideal for roundwood framing.

Ben told the Weald audience that wood used in the round is 100% stronger than when it is milled because the fibres are undisturbed. This means thin poles of chestnut and Lawson's Cypress, for example, can be of equivalent strength to 100 year old oaks needed for milled timber frames after just a few years. In short, we don't need to fell our great oaks for structural timbers, we can make frames out of quick growing Lawson's Cypress or chestnut. This may be critical in 50 - 80 years time in the south of England where a warmer climate will make oak marginal on many soils.

This form of building is also distinctively local. Ben teaches people to build with what they have locally, rather than specify materials from all over the world. Most of his timbers come from no further than 10 miles away. The builders are local too. Someone asked Ben if he would build in Gloucestershire but the whole point is that he trains people in roundwood building so that they can go home and use their local resources. Even more impressive is the fact that these buildings are much cheaper than conventional alternatives. Ben's local shop, the Lodsworth Larder, was built for one third of the cost of a conventional design.

Besides hanging out with Tim and Ben I met Kate Mosse who is the author of Labyrinth and Sepulchre and had a fascinating conversation with her about when and how she writes. I like to ask creative people how they work. Kate gets up at 3 am and writes until 6 in the morning. The still of the night is when she is most productive. A little nap in the afternoon helps her keep going. She never writes in the evening. Ben, by contrast, is an 11 - 2 am man. And yes, Kate bought Ben's book and subscribed to the Permaculture!

Having had a great day out I spent Sunday preparing for a big developmental shift at Permanent Publications. Pete Cooper, our digital maestro, is at the final stages of launching a new Green Shopping website. It will be much easier to use, with more detailed descriptions, and will have a cast iron server and the latest secure payment system. You will be able to post reviews and suggestions to us. It will be a far more interactive service and , unlike other more famous online retailers, every penny generated will support permaculture projects, publishing and otherwise. We have been working on this project for a year and it is going live TODAY! Please support us and tell people about this service.

This is also the week that Mark Anslow starts as Permaculture's new online editor. Mark is the former editor at The Ecologist and fell in love with permaculture which is so positive and solution orientated. He says, "I've been a huge fan of Permaculture and Permanent Publications for years, so it's a real honour to be able to join the team and help develop an exciting new world of online content for permaculturalists and environmentalists the across the globe." We invited Mark to join us and bring all of our websites under one roof. You'll see gradual changes as we incorporate our YouTube channel, Permaculture Media, the blogs, special subscribers' offers and of course a regularly updated PM online.

But don't worry, the print version isn't going the way of the Ecologist Magazine. I haven't designed myself out of a job! Many readers tells us they don't want to read online (and some don't even want to have a computer). They love reading PM in the shed or down the allotment. We have no plans to take that pleasure away. We just want to offer you additional bonuses online. PM in print and books like Roundwood Timber Framing will continue to be produced. It's just that we will have links to blogs, film clips (see below), DVDs in production and news under one roof, online.

The ultimate aim is to create a means of sharing information as effectively as possible with as many people as possible in as many countries of the world as we can. What Ben is to woodlands, we want to be to permaculture publishing.

Strawberry Jam Recipe – finding abundance in supermarket waste & Fairshare

2010-08-26T09:40:00.012+01:00

This week I had an unexpected windfall. I got a text after work from Imogen (assistant editor at Permaculture) saying that her local Co-op were about to throw out loads of cartons of strawberries – too many for her jam making activities – and she couldn't bear it. Would I like some? She could just about manage 7.5kg on the bus the next day. 7.5kg of English strawberries for £5.40. Riches!

At this time of year, there are so many seasonal gluts. It is the time of abundance – opportunities to preserve the summer glut for later in the winter when there is no fruit on the trees. It's a great way of gathering Christmas presents too. Keep an eye out on your travels for wild plum trees, fruit near its sell by date in the supermarket and bargains on the market stall. (Freegans also check the supermarket waste bins as well and liberate some of the millions of tonnes of perfectly good thrown-away food.)

One project I really like is FareShare, a charity dedicated to reducing food poverty in the UK (with one of the three great permaculture ethics as its name!) It is offering supermarkets, manufacturers and sandwich chains an alternative to using landfill. FareShare currently takes unsold food to provide meals for about 12,000 homeless and low-income people every day. And now it wants to provide a much wider service, charging a fee to get rid of much larger quantities. My daughter, Gail, observed that the scheme could be extended to the many students who are increasingly in debt and can't afford to eat vegetables and other healthy foods.

Anyway, back to my supermarket glut.

When the starwberries arrived I divided them into lots. 4kg for jam, 2 kg to freeze for strawberry wine that I will make later on (recipe to follow on a later blog), 400g for Granny and 400g to eat and the remaining to replace any over-ripe fruit in the jam allocation.

I made 4kg in one batch but here is the recipe halved in case you have less fruit:

2kg of whole strawberries

the juice of 3 lemons

2kg of jam sugar (or normal sugar plus added pectin)

knob of butter

Method

1. Wash, drain, de-stalk the fruit and cut in half. Put in a large non-metallic bowl or bowls (plastic or glass is fine). Add sugar as you go along and the lemon juice, gently mix. Cover with a upturned bowl and leave overnight. (This helps keep the strawberries whole.

2. Put the fruit and juice into a preserving pan or a 4.5 litre/8 pint saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, to dissolve the sugar.

3. Bring to the boil for 4 minutes. Add a knob of butter to prevent scum forming. Take off the heat to test for setting point. Spoon a little jam onto the cold saucer (you can put it in the freezer). After a couple of minutes gently pull your finger through the jam and if the surface wrinkles it's ready. If not, return to the boil for 2 minutes, then re-test. Or use a food thermometer (useful for yogurt and wine making),

4. Take off the heat and cool for 10-15 minutes to stop fruit rising to surface when you pot.

5. Stir gently to distribute the fruit, then pour into warm sterilised jars. Put in a cool, dark store or cupboard.

2kg makes about 9lbs (454g) pots of jam. Heavenly!

Coming soon: recipes for strawberry wine and golden gage (plum) wine plus a guest blog from the Moneyless Man.

Making Plum & Golden Gage Jam & how to avoid wasp stings

2010-08-08T16:52:00.004+01:00

At this time of year the forest garden is beginning to burgeon with top fruit.

Asian pear, apple with perennial kale and comfrey as undercover

We like making jams and chutneys to give as presents and for our larder. The first fruits to come are plums, closely followed by Oulin's Golden gage, an exquisitely juicy fruit. I usually pick early in the morning when the fruit is soft and before the wasps are too active*. Making plum or gage jam couldn't be easier.

Ingredients:

4.6 lbs (2 kg) plums
1 pint (570 ml) water
4.6 lbs (2 kg) sugar

juice of half a lemon

knob of butter

Method:
Wash and wipe the plums. Make sure they are not too ripe and are dry and cut out any wasp damage. Over ripe fruit lacks pectin and acid, wet fruit can make the final jam go mouldy in the jar. Cut in halves (or thirds if you don't like too many lumps).
Put into a pan with the water and simmer gently until the fruit is soft. This extracts the pectin and acid from the fruit.
Add the sugar, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until the jam sets when tested, removing the stones as they rise to the top.
Add the butter to prevent scum.

You'll know if the jam is set either by testing with a jam thermometer or by taking a teaspoonful and allowing to cool. If when cool a skin forms on the surface when you draw your finger across it, the jam is set.
Pot and seal while still hot.

Makes around 6.6 lbs (3 kg) of jam.

Yum!

Nothing compares to the taste and colour of home made jam!

I use the same recipe for golden gage jam but because the gages were mostly very ripe, I added the juice of one lemon to help it set.

* If we have left it too late to pick and wasps are abundant or I am picking for a tall tree, I use a Burgeon and Ball apple picker. This is a really useful tool, especially if you have taller root stocks. It saves clambering around with a step ladder, speeds up picking and prevents wasp stings as well. They cost £19.95 inc p&p. For me, this tool will quickly pay for itself but if you are handy you could easily make a DIY version from a broom handle, by weaving heavy duty wire (coat hangers?) into a basket form, putting a bit of foam in the bottom to cushion the fruit and attaching to the handle with a jubilee clip. If you make one please tell me what you used and send a picture of it. I'd like to post your design here to encourage others who want to make their own.

Outdoor Cooking & Coping with the Seasonal Glut

2010-08-04T09:32:00.003+01:00

This week my guest blogger is Trish MacCurrach, an experienced year round outdoor cook. At this time of year, Trish spends much of her time thinking up new vegetable recipes for the Kotlich (a wood-fired Eastern European hanging cooking pan) and new places to take it to cook.

The greenery in my vegetable patch is positively jungle-like. Despite the lack of rain, ‘mange tout’ and broad beans are cropping well and the leafy vegetables are positively abundant. Pumpkins, gourds and courgettes are very slow, but we have had some tasty root veg this week. So if, like me, you have a very small deep freeze, what will you do? No doubt you will give some things away or swap them for something you want (and it is worth contemplating a time when we don't have deep freezes because they are too expensive on energy to run). Think creatively: bottle, preserve, pickle, dry and think up some new recipes.

I have a passion for making things out of a hotchpotch of leftovers and for doing this out of doors, over a fire, in my Kotlich. I became an avid outdoor cook while working in Serbia for several years, where, in the villages, most of the summer months are spent preparing for winter. The Kotlich is a common sight and the most usual dish to be found cooking in it is Riblja Chorba (fish soup).

One trick is to use your abundant harvest as it appears and not to save it all until everything is ripe at the same time. I throw a handful of mange tout into many different dishes at the last minute. If cooked briefly they retain their lovely florescent green colour and add crunch and sweetness to any soup, stew or stir-fry. Spinach or sea kale, baby carrots and mini broad beans can be added to any dish as it finishes cooking.

This time of year presents the perfect opportunity for making Beetroot Leaf Soup. Don't throw the leaves on the compost heap when you pull your beetroot, instead cut them off about 2cm from the root and cook briefly, with a couple of cloves of garlic (if you like), a small chopped onion, liquid (water or stock) and then whiz it up. It is smooth and creamy and quite lovely.

I have just had a brilliant outdoor cooking session using a variety of vegetables. It turned out to be Creamy Summer Soup. First, gather wood. We regularly carry wood back with us when we go for walks so we have quite a good pile of small pieces. Second, light your fire. Thirdly hang the Kotlich over the fire with the first ingredients in it. Fourthly stir regularly, and don't let the ingredients become dry.

This soup/vegetable stew consists of just about anything you have in the garden – except dark green leaves. Finely cube four new potatoes, cover with water and a good slurp of olive oil. When they are cooked add baby carrots, topping up a little with water again to keep them covered. After a few minutes add broad beans, peas, and courgettes if you have them, and cover again with a little more water. Add salt and pepper and half a teaspoon full of dried crushed (not powdered) paprika. Chop fresh herbs for the garnish. At the end add the mange tout, and half a cup of cream. Sprinkle with fresh chopped herbs, croutons if you have some and maybe crispy fried bacon – or serve with hunks of fresh bread. This is really quick and easy and each mouthful is like an explosion of tastes. Adding chunks of cooked smoked fish or cooked gammon in the last stages easily bulks this recipe up.

We should all be saving at least one day a month, if not two, for preserving. Jam making is a favourite, half the fun is adding impromptu ingredients – things you have too much of. We have made Rhubarb and Ginger, Gooseberry, Strawberry and Raspberry jam all sourced from a pick-your-own just down the road. It is important to get the proportions right, as I have often discovered to my cost...

For jams:
•    1lb fruit
•    1lb sugar

For jellies:
•    1lb juice
•    1pt sugar

Very soon the hedgerows will be heavy with blackberries, followed by Rowanberries and hopefully lots of windfalls.

In our neglected orchard in Serbia there were three cherry trees, apples, plums, an apricot and four walnuts. I learnt during my time there how to bottle fruit – and it seems extraordinarily simple.

These are the instructions I followed successfully – but I am still a little afraid of explosions! A wooden slatted tray in the bottom of the saucepan gives me more confidence.
•    Prepare the fruit, peel, and chop if necessary into small pieces.
•    Wash and dry jars with fitting lids.
•    Gather together a bag of sugar, a spoon, slices of lemon or ginger and a jug of water.
•    Pack the prepared fruit into jars to the neck, adding either a little of the ginger or sliced lemon in layers, cover with water to the top (does not have to be boiling), add 2-3 spoonfuls of sugar, depending on the sweetness of the fruit.
•    Close the lid tightly and stand in a saucepan with 2-3 other prepared jars.
•    Bring to a steady boil, place the saucepan lid on, and when fruit floats to the top of each jar it is done.
•    Cherries are very quick (6-8 minutes), but larger pieces of apple, pear or quince may take up to 15 minutes or more.
•    Using oven gloves, remove saucepan off the heat. Lift jars out of hot water. Place the jars on a wooden board and wrap in a thick towel so they can cool down slowly.

I have seen people doing this with all types of fruit, including apricots and peaches. They often added home brewed brandy to these more precious and less abundant fruits.

We should already have gathered elder and lime flowers to dry for tea. We still have time to dry lemon balm, mint and achillea. (The last is drunk with blobs of honey and great enthusiasm to cure flu like symptoms.) Pick with long stalks if possible and hang in bundles out of the sun and in the wind. When they are dry and crinkly pack into jam jars. They make very warming teas for the winter with honey and a pinch of cinnamon.

For me Kotlich cooking combines several key elements: being outside, growing and preparing really fresh food and using less energy. I am literally ‘cooking off grid’. I love the excuse to get into the woods to search for fuel. I love food for free and I will preserve anything I can.

The 8lt Kotlich with a 120cm tripod is available from The Green Shopping Catalogue. The Kotlich is double dipped enamel, with a black outside which never needs washing. The inside is an attractive, easy to clean mottled grey. It is light enough to carry on an escapade but not so light that everything burns easily. The tripod is black painted twisted wrought iron with a hook and chain for attaching to the Kotlich. The handle stays cool throughout the cooking process so you can grasp it and adjust the height of the Kotlich at any time. Trish happily demonstrates ‘Kotlich Cooking’ at fairs and has even been a ‘café’ at a small green festival.

Maddy Harland is the editor of Permaculture Magazine – inspiration for sustainable living. Issue 65 is just out and features lots of articles including Ben Law on Transition Trees, Perennial Vegetables, Small Scale Farming & Permaculture, profile of an ethical business, news, reviews, & solutions plus how to make a terracotta fridge and 10 money offer readers' offer. To support this independent publications please subscribe digitally for just £10 (approx $13.40) or subscribe to the printed edition (which will save you at least 20% of the cover price and allow you to enjoy it in the wilds!). To read a sample copy click here.

Creating Sanctuary Closest to Home

2010-07-26T16:13:00.001+01:00

We all seek a sanctuary, a place that lifts our spirits where we can relax and appreciate the beauty of the natural world.

Early this year, our cottage was overflowing with people and work was particularly intense. Tim and I were feeling the need for peace and we knew that there would be no escape to Cornwall for our annual holiday this summer. So we decided to create our own little haven in the garden.

Our first job was the zone nearest the house, as you would expect for permaculture practitioners. I am always mindful of the Chinese saying, “The best fertiliser is the gardener’s shadow.” We planted the beds nearest the house with edibles like heritage French beans (a friend saved the seeds for us), Japanese wineberry, tomatoes, spinach and lots of flowers – for the pure pleasure and to attract beneficial insects. Being south-westerly in aspect the patio gets very hot, so in previous years we made sure we had good shade insummer and also invested in FSC garden furniture, literally making it into another room. We often eat and cook outside and the kids like to hang out there with their friends of an evening. Here’s Granny and the dogs chilling out there yesterday.

Just beyond the patio we grow tender salads. This year we have sown oriental saladini plus Italian and French blends, chives, rocket etc. We have to place sticks over the seed beds to stop the blackbirds digging up the bed, but once the seeds get away we get lots of salads from a small space.

Next, our raised beds are mostly annual vegetables. We never have much of a problem with slugs, in part because the woodchip paths deter them. We also have three small ponds nearby plus rotting wood piles that provide habitats for frogs, toads, hedgehogs, slowworms and common lizards. These little creatures seem to control any daring slugs that enter the patch and the thrushes (of which we seem to have had an abundance of this year) finish off the snails.

The lack of rain this year has meant that we have inadequate supplies of rainwater, despite having 240 litres capacity in our harvesting system. This autumn we will be doubling this to try and avoid resorting to mains water which is both energy intensive for water companies to produce, reduces the amount of water in local rivers, reservoirs and streams, affecting wildlife, and is full of chemicals. There is nothing like rainwater to germinate and grow healthy plants.

This year’s hot weather has encouraged bees, butterflies and moths which abound in the wildflower meadow, so much so that I need a lepidopterist to come and identify them all! Beside the usual candidates like cabbage whites, brimstones and commas, we have an abundance of blues who thrive on chalk downland and tiny moths. There are also many solitary bumble bees – we have added little habitats to encourage them – but sadly honey bees are now a rarity. This is an extraordinary change, as they used to be so abundant, and is disastrous in the long term for agriculture.

With a bustling and busy house, Tim and I decided to create another garden sanctuary at the top of the meadow. After a lot of thought about yurts, tipis, tents and wooden structures, we decided on a bell tent made with heavy duty canvas plus a simple awning for shade and shelter. We have begun kitting out the interior with rugs and sheepskins and a comfortable bed from our camping gear collected over years of happy holidays. We’ll develop our outdoor cooking area and make some very simple rustic furniture to go with it.

Even after just an afternoon setting up, it is already a lovely little sanctuary. Yesterday, we sat and watched the butterflies in the meadow and the birds flying overhead. I doubt this sanctuary will end up being just for us, however. Within hours a little cuckoo (Gail) came home and found us up the garden and promptly climbed into bed for a snooze… and who could blame her?!

But the moral of this story is if circumstances don't allow you to take a holiday this summer, don't give up on the idea of being outdoors, enjoying nature and relaxing in your free time. Find some space and peace, either in your local nature reserve, a local weekend campsite, on the allotment or in your back garden. Make sure you can brew a cup tea, maybe cook a meal. There is nothing so good as to be outside in the elements, on your back doorstep, appreciating what is always under your nose.

Permaculture & The Flowering of Happiness

2010-07-15T12:27:00.007+01:00

In these times of disruption, change and transition, all of us can be excused for sometimes feeling perplexed, challenged, even a little lost. We are watching the old world slowly disintegrate. Our financial and political systems in the West are under the greatest of duress. Our natural global resources are seriously diminished as we face not only peak oil but also peak water. Whilst the work of earth restoration has never been more important, it is still largely ignored, subsumed by the broader fears surrounding economic chaos. It is understandable that any one of us can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the scale of what is wrong.

When those dark times envelop me what do I do? I go home and walk in the woodlands or go up on to the Downs and look out over 360 degrees of countryside. I savour the light dancing on the Solent and the silvery glints from the high rises of the City of Portsmouth. I look out over my bioregion and feel gratitude that I live in such a beautiful place. I am glad it is designated as a National Park, open to anyone, celebrated and preserved for future generations.

Having got my dose of landscape expansion, I go home to my garden and enter into a connection with the natural world there too. As Emma Cooper, friend and author of The Alternative Kitchen Garden, an A-Z, said to me recently, “Just putting my hands in the soil makes me feel better.” She has certainly entertatined me with some of her wonderful experiments!

I know every tree and shrub in my garden, its habit and blossom, its coming fruits. I know where the wrens nest and where the robins stake their territories in my hedgerow, and all the species of wildflower that bloom from early January right through the year. I love to listen to the drone of insects and happen upon shy common lizards that hunt in the long meadow grasses.

You may imagine that I have a smallholding, but it is a garden (admittedly a good size), full of as many habitats and species as we can invite in. It is near the greater habitat of the wild South Downs, full of deer, foxes, badgers, owls and birds of prey. I feel a part of this land. It nurtures and feeds me and places in perspective my small concerns within the largeness of Life and its mystery.

You may also imagine that permaculture gardening is a rather functional affair, where the focus is on yields of food, fuel and medicinal plants. This is a part of it, but gardening is also my art. This last year, with climate change pressing painfully into my consciousness and with fellow businesses struggling and failing, I took sanctuary in growing and planting. Tim and I have planted many hundreds of bulbs so that next Spring they will provide the plummeting bee populations with early nectar and ourselves with balm for the soul.

For me flowers are the equivalent to happiness in nature – as well as a practical key to planting robust diverse ecologies. I grow many types of fruit and none of my trees require sprays or codling moth traps because the pests are in balance with the beneficial insects and birds.

This passion for nature and celebration of biodiversity is not just an organic technique. It is both a meditation and a way of connecting with the powerful forces of nature. It makes me feel aligned to the other kingdoms, a co-creator of a beautiful place. Most of all it makes me happy.

Happiness is one of the most powerful forces in a human life. It opens us up and encourages us to love. It brings energy and appreciation, gratitude, reverence, and the capacity to invite adventure into our lives. It is incredibly important that we nurture it – for our health, wellbeing – and also to help make us more effective and loving human beings. Above all, happiness is a skill that can be learnt.

My friend, Chris Johnstone, has taught me much about the value of happiness and the importance of nurturing it. Dr Chris is an addictions specialist who has helped thousands of people overcome their problems, and he is a happiness ‘expert’. He works with Rob Hopkins, co-founder of The Transition Movement, and Joanna Macy, the inspirational teacher and activist who developed The Work That Reconnects.

His book, Find Your Power, is not just another boring pop psychology book. It is the distillation of his rich approach, helping people to become more effective and live the life they dream of. The book is also a call to adventure at this time of deep and challenging transition. In the latest Permaculture mag – out on Wednesday 21st July – Chris shares tried and tested strategies for growing happiness.

I like the way he ends his article, "Mood isn’t just something that happens to us, it is also influenced by choices we make and strategies we can learn. By recasting happiness as something linked to skills we develop, challenges we face and relationships we value, we contribute to a cultural recovery from over-consumption and help grow instead a model of sustainability that is attractive and deeply satisfying."

Because ultimately we have to change the way we live and move beyond our dependence on relentless economic growth to fuel our economies. What and how we consume will be the most vital and empowering factor in that process of change. It really is in our hands.

Maddy Harland is the editor of Permaculture Magazine – inspiration for sustainable living.

You can also read a sample copy.

See Chris Johnstone’s The Great Turning Times.

Emma presents the Alternative Kitchen Garden show, a free online podcast all about growing edible and useful plants in an environmentally friendly way.

Glastonbury Festival – an imperfect act of human co-operation on a vast scale

2010-07-01T10:29:00.002+01:00

Just back from the 40th Glastonbury Festival and having put my clothes in the washing machine and myself in the shower, it is back to work after four days of sun and fun and no mud for a change. Glastonbury comes in for a lot of criticism for all the rubbish and abandoned camping equipment, the tonnes of crates of booze, fast food and drugs consumed. I do have mixed feelings about the event but I can't trash it with journalistic ease. It's a complex animal, like its maker.

Maddy and Michael Eavis

Tim and I represent Permaculture Magazine there as part of the press crew annually. We divide our time between the main stages and the farer flung Green Fields, seeking solace in the Permaculture area and the Healing Field where our friends reside. We also hang out in Hospitality – between the two main stages – meet interesting people (and talk to them about permaculture and the wonderful variety of the 'off-piste' Green Fields) and watch the paparazzi falling over themselves (literally) to photograph Kate Moss and other celebs. This year I interviewed Michael Eavis.

One of the paparazzi agitatedly lurking for a shot in front of a
VIP camping entrance.

Glastonbury is known for its amazing headline acts but Michael says that in spite of it consciously engaging with the mainstream, its roots are still firmly in non-conformism. He, as his beard betrays, is from a Methodist background and south Somerset itself has a long history of non-conformism. Besides Methodists, Clarks Village in Street just a few miles away, is a remnant of a strong Quaker presence in the area. Clarks, the shoe manufacturer, was once a big local employer and like so many Quaker business, affordable housing, Fair Trade, and ethical business were key elements (which is why it was such an abomination that Cadbury's was sold to an American corporate.) I went to Sidcot School, a Quaker school in Somerset, way back in the 1970s when I was Madeleine Wood. Michael says it is this non-conformist element that has kept Glastonbury going. He has had a surprising amount of local support over the years.

There's a lot of criticism of Glastonbury – the air miles of performers and the industry, the mountains of rubbish, the underlying drug culture, the whole bonanza of consumerism it encourages – but I don't see it that way. My friends in the Healing Field and the Permaculture area are in stark contrast with the main areas that we fondly call 'Babylon', and I need to retreat to their gentler spaces every day to recharge. But Babylon itself is a hugely good natured affair. Where else on a Saturday night in a typical city centre could you party and not experience violence? Just moving from one stage to another in a mass of humanity is a huge feat of communal co-operation. I personally saw only two small arguments (between man and wife, and another between father and child) during the whole event, no acts of aggression, and sure people had fun and ingested substances I'd personally avoid for health reasons, but they were good natured and in control. Only a few characters were off their heads. There were also a lot of people who go for the music – both big names and lesser knowns like Martha Tilston and at the lovely little music space in the Healing Field.

The other critical thing for me is that Glastonbury is often first exposure to creative ideas for young and old: sculpture, installations, circus, performance, green campaigns, renewables, eco-building, forest gardening... the Green Fields were heaving with people and the Permaculture area was constantly packed. I ate lovely ethical, organic salads and smoothies in these areas – you don't have to binge on cheese burgers and chips. Even Babylon has the most delicious and healthy spinach crepes cooked by good natured guys who work very long shifts.

The Eavises also have their charities. Last year they donated four million pounds to Greenpeace, Oxfam and Water Aid, built a local post office, supported a local school and have just finished an affordable housing development. Michael told me that the festival itself has saved seven local farms from going bankrupt and there is zero unemployment locally due to the event. I asked him how long the land takes to recover and he said by September all the wildlife has returned to the Farm. He rests the land every few years. I noticed that despite the damage he nonetheless has some good clover leys in his fields. Perhaps all those humans add to the fertility! He also said the birds love the remnant grains of rice and other bits of food that we all leave behind.

There's a lot of activism at Glastonbury. It is stealthy sure, but in those Green Fields you can see why another world is possible and lots of people do visit and have their eyes opened. I loved hanging out in the shady Permaculture gardens and watching people read the explanations of permaculture and absorb the messages.

The other aspect of Glastonbury activism is more subtle. It is impossible not to hear Stevie Wonder's message this year – he made articulate and moving pleas for peace in our lifetime, greater accessibility for the disabled and openly criticism anyone who kills in the name of religion, Christian or Muslim – but he was not the only artist requesting greater tolerance and unity. It came from all directions, including Faithless, Gorillaz and the Scissor Sisters, and was not just a cultural phenomena of Stevie and the Green Fields.

Of course the Eavises do make money and vast amounts of discarded waste does go to landfill, but it's a complex business this Glastonbury extravaganza and it isn't perfect, mainly because we as humans are not perfect. There are plenty of messages everywhere to 'Love The Farm' and take everything home with you when you go. We are the ones who trash the place, not the Eavises! I do agree that we need local green festivals in every region, but on balance we need Glastonbury because it proves that 177,000 people can co-exist in community, albeit only temporarily, in a relatively small space with almost no rules, practising goodwill and co-operation, and very largely have a good time. It works. And who in their right minds would not want the good fortune of seeing such a great man as Stevie Wonder once in a lifetime? He is extraordinary and beautifully vulnerable as well – and that is something I would never have experienced on TV. It was humbling. I'll never forget it. I am extremely grateful Glastonbury exists, for all its imperfections.

Maddy Harland is the editor of Permaculture Magazine – inspiration for sustainable living. To read a sample copy click here. To support this independent publications please subscribe digitally for just £10 (approx $13.40) or subscribe to the printed edition (which will save you at least 20% of the cover price).

Living Democracy in London Central

2010-06-21T16:13:00.001+01:00

This week my blog is from Emma Stoner who has been photographing a peace camp that is taking place under the shadow of Big Ben, largely ignored by the mainstream media.

On the 1st May a group of people gathered on Parliament Square to occupy the space and demand that 'the war in Afghanistan ends and the troops are brought home with immediate effect'. The peace camp is now running into its 7th week, despite the opposition of the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who is pursuing a court injunction against the activists gathered here. The trial is currently underway and looks to wrap up this week.

One of the groups camping at the square are from the Kew Bridge Eco Village, a land rights group with the aim to live sustainably within the urban environment. Activists took over a plot of disused land by Kew Bridge on the 6th June 2009 and formed a community here. The site was evicted in May this year and about 50% of the community shifted to Democracy village. I spent several months documenting the village as it evolved in Kew and have since followed the group to their new home in Parliament Square. Simon Moore, one of the core team who initiated the Kew Bridge Eco Village project, is now based at Democracy village and shared some of his thoughts about the idea behind the urban community in Kew and what their role is here.

Simon believes that you can't be ecologically friendly until you are free to do so and that the option to live sustainably on the land is only available for people with access to capital for the purchase of land and planning permissions. In the UK less than 1% of the population owns 70% of the land, 8% of which is concreted and 90% of people live in these areas. He is calling for the rights to use derelict land for sustainable and environmentally friendly developments "A lot of people do want to live sustainably on the land in a way that is liberating and not damaging to the earth."

Although setting up a community outside the city would give it more chance of success, setting one up in London throws the issues into the limelight. The idea was to bring people together in an urban setting in a very open way to set an example of another way of life. After taking over the patch of land by Kew Bridge the group immediately contacted the land owners and neighbours to say that they were caretaking the space and started community projects to involve and inspire local residents. Every Saturday the village held a permaculture meeting and they were active in greening the space and growing food.

Lou Almond, a permaculture student, was a resident here for 3 months and sees the Kew Bridge Eco Village project as a major achievement in empowering people to be self sufficient. Food at the eco village was cooked on a stove heated by wood, which was also used for heating. Wood and solar power were the main sources of energy here. People initially lived in tarp benders and these later developed into small dwellings made from hazelwood poles which were really well insulated with blankets, keeping out the cold
during the winter months.

"One of the main motivations of the project was to create an urban centre to educate people about growing food and other practical life-skills which often aren't taught today. A lot of people lack the basic knowledge that our ancestors had of how to survive - building a fire, building a home, growing food etc."

Although the open door policy allowed outsiders to get involved and learn, because the here land was reclaimed it limited the scope of how far this community could progress. Only a small percentage of the food consumed was grown here and the rest was skipped from the waste of nearby supermarkets and shops. All of the allotments created over the time spent here have now been bulldozed.

One of the lasting impacts of this eco-village development has been to create a movement of people which has now branched out into two different locations - one at a new eco village site in Hounslow and one which is currently based in Parliament Square. The Kew Bridge group were central to founding Democracy Village and brought with them a variety of skills and knowledge of communal living which has been applied here. This space is much more temporary than Kew was so people have not been looking at long term sustainability but they have created a garden with an oak tree in the centre and strawberries, beans and flowers are all growing in abundance.

Through the peace protest at Democracy Village this land rights group have been able to also draw attention to the issue of land-ownership in the high court. Gareth Newman, from the Kew Bridge movement, explained how, although the protest here is focused on ending the war their presence in the camp serves as an example of how to be independent: "If people learn how to be self-sufficient then we won't need to fight a war for resources. We are here to show that it is possible to live a more peaceful and low impact life."

www.emmastoner.com
+447554934750

Maddy Harland is the editor of Permaculture Magazine – inspiration for sustainable living. To read a sample copy click here. To support this independent publications please subscribe digitally for just £10 (approx $13.40) or subscribe to the printed edition (which will save you at least 20% of the cover price).

Water, Food & Fun - Summer in the Permaculture Garden

2010-06-10T15:18:00.002+01:00

In our world of rising fuel and food prices prices, practical life skills are becoming increasingly important. One of the best things we can do with our children is to show them how to grow their own food. Even at an early age it is both fun and empowering and they will never forget these important skills nor the time a parent has taken to pass them on.

Summer is a favourite time in the permaculture garden. The weather is usually a big factor though – in the height of summer I tend to garden in the early morning or evenings to avoid sunburn, particularly important with young children. So many vegetables planted in early spring start to grow and there is already much to start harvesting. My favourite early summer feasts consist of cut-and-come-again salads like rocket, corn salad, land cress, spinach, and gorgeous home grown potatoes.

Preserving Water

A vital aspect of summer vegetable gardening is having adequate water. The most obvious strategy is to collect rainwater. Plants far prefer rainwater to chlorinated drinking water and so will your conscience. Over the years we have acquired a variety of water butts. Look out for second hand fruit juice barrels, butts and water tanks at your local recycling centre. It is now possible to buy tanks made out of recycled plastic. They are manufactured in thicker plastic and are more durable as well. Councils sometimes have butts on special offer – well worth applying for. We have four 200 litre butts attached to our downpipes with rainsavers that divert the water down the drain once the butts are full. We also have another one on our greenhouse. These are adequate in a normal year but the drought in early spring this year has left us short of water, so on the cards this year is a large rainwater collector attached to the new garden shed.

Rainwater harvesting isn’t the only way to conserve water. Covering the soil with mulch prevents evaporation. Mulch also suppresses weeds and can be used in between rows of veggie plants and also around larger plants like runner beans, courgettes and squash. Mulch prevents competition and therefore aids growth. Soft fruit bushes and young trees also benefit from being mulched.

I have used all sorts of mulches from commercial exclusion mulch for permanent cover under woodchip paths, hemp matting to mulch around bushes, cardboard, newspaper, carpet made from natural fibres (synthetics slowly rot and disperse plastic fragments), spoilt straw (cheaper than bedding straw), home-made compost covered by a layer of commercial and therefore guaranteed weed-free compost, even sheep’s wool (a great water retainer that doesn’t rot quickly)… Whatever you use make sure it is made of biodegradeable material and mulch the soil when it is damp. That way the mulch retains the moisture. Mulching when dry will form a barrier that the rain will find hard to penetrate.

In times of drought reusing greywater is a good idea. I often simply wash up in a bowl and then water the garden outside the kitchen with the remnants. It’s important to use biodegradable washing up liquid. If you have external piping from an upstairs bathroom, it is easy to fit a simple rainwater diverter and pipe the bathwater directly on to the vegetable patch (called a Water Two Greywater Diverter). Or you can feed it into a water butt and save it too. We recommend adding balls of tights, or plastic pan scourers, in a colander below the output to prevent the majority of the soap particles building up in the bottom of the barrel, making a smelly sludge.

Growing the ‘Right’ Plants

I do struggle to understand why gardeners plant heathers on chalk and add loads of peat to create the needed acidity. Peat is a non-renewable resource that, when extracted, releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – grumble over! Tim and I garden on what once was chalk downland and grow wildflowers like devil’s bit scabious, corn marigolds, ox-eye daisies, lady’s slipper, goats beard, marjoram and knapweed. The flowers require no extra watering, minimal seasonal mowing and are a wonderful attractor of insects from butterflies, hoverflies (which incidentally eat aphids) to solitary and honey bees. Our fruit trees are selected for their preference for chalk where possible (Asian Pear pictured above is very successful) and our garage roof is very definitely drought resistant, being composed of sedums and alpine plants rather than tar and felt.

Whatever the soil, slugs are always challenging in an organic garden and it is important to protect tasty young plants from slugs which love damp mulch. Heritage seeds were often selected because they were relatively slug resistant, an excellent reason to plant them now. If you are having problems, however, the ideal slug and snail predators are ducks. We have kept both Khaki Campbells and beautiful ‘trout’ Indian Runner ducks. They need to be penned and allowed into the vegetable garden in the early morning and early evening while slugs are still foraging. You need to watch them though and protect newly sown beds from being flattened by their webbed feet.

Not everyone has the room for ducks but there are a variety of other techniques of controlling slugs. A small meadow area and wildlife pond without fish (as they eat spawn and young toads and frogs) creates habitat that encourages the amphibian population who predate on slugs. Slowworms love the heat of a compost heap (see right) and will lay their eggs there. They too eat slugs. But if you are in a small urban garden with limited space, nocturnal slug ‘picking’ with a torch is recommended (I also recommend it in all gardens when tender young crops are on the menu).

I prefer to germinate plants in the greenhouse and plant them out once they have become more robust. Even then a slug barrier such as a circle of grit or a copper ring is useful. Commercially made copper rings and tape are available but a cheaper option is to cut up an old water cylinder or adapt copper piping that can sometimes be found abandoned in skips. Slugs cannot cross copper – it holds an electrical charge and it is their equivalent to an electric fence! I also garden with raised beds surrounded by woodchip. This deters slugs and snails because they do not like crossing the paths. Human hair can also be used. We save our hair trimmings and place them around delicate, tasty seedlings plus the dust from the bottom of the charcoal bag and the spent coals as well from the bbq. Slugs do not like contaminating their skirts with charcoal.

And then there are beer traps too. They work well. Ask your local for slops from under the pumps.

Is it all worth it, you may ask? I know slug pellets are the norm but I love my garden birds and do not want to risk them eating a poisoned slug. Very young children too can be tempted by colourful pellets. The best way is to design a healthy biodiverse slug and snail resistant garden modelled on nature from the onset and incorporate as many strategies as you can. Then you can savour home grown organic vegetables and fruit, introduce your children to all the creatures that visit your garden and relax in a shady corner with a long, cool drink when the weather gets really hot.

What to Plant in Summer

June

Continue to sow French beans, peas and salad crops in the soil. Plant out Brussels sprouts, winter cabbages, tomatoes and leeks.

July

Continue to sow salad crops in the soil. Put your feet up and enjoy your abundant veggie garden!

August

Sow early carrots, winter lettuces and spring cabbages.

Home Education – the Permaculture Way

2010-06-01T16:18:00.004+01:00

I had an enthusiastic response to last week's blog by my guest, Marian Van Eyk McCain, on the interconnected side of permaculture design. This week Sandie Roach from Australia wrote to me about how she home educates her three sons. A keen practitioner of permaculture, she has spent some time thinking about how permaculture principles apply to bringing up kids. I liked her take and I thought you would too.

Permaculture Principles applied to Home Education

Observe and Interact - Spend time with your kids, learning alongside them. Watch how they prefer to learn, and then assist.

Catch and Store Energy - Facilitate their moments of enthusiasm, with encouragement and resources.

Obtain a Yield - Watch them blossom and grow into compassionate, strong and intelligent people.

Apply Self Regulation and Accept Feedback - Listen to your kids. How do they like to learn? How are they feeling? Set a good example.

Use and Value Renewable Resources - Use your local library and scrap store for educational materials.

Produce no Waste - Allow learning to become full-time, life-long experience. Never waste a moment.

Design from Patterns to Details - Every child is unique, but they all need the basics to flourish and grow: love, encouragement, security and positive experiences.

Integrate Rather than Segretate - Mix with people of all ages, religions, nationalities and abilities.

Use Small and Slow Solutions - Helping three kids with a project is easier, for me, than a teacher having to assist thirty!

Use and Value Diversity - Let your kids learn about everything and anything that interests them. It doesn't just have to be things that they would learn at school.

Use Edges and Value the Marginal - You are 'the edge'; home educating is marginal. Your positive experiences will offer valuable encouragement for others.

Creatively Use and Respond to Change - Allow your kids to learn skills that will assist them in 'their' future of peak oil, climate change and global financial instability.

About the Family

With three sons, who have never attended school, our home educating family is rarely found around the house. Tomorrow we head off to Kalgoorlie-Boulder for a few days to visit the Royal Flying Doctor Service Museum and learn about life in a Western Australian mining town. We often share learning experiences with other home educating families, who come from many cultures, religions and walks of life, and who approach home educating in a variety of ways. The boys learn as they choose, and as adults we facilitate this with resources, assistance and opportunities. We are registered with the Western Australian Education Authority and once a year receive a visit from a really sweet chap (our moderator) who always writes nice things about us in his report!

The Web of Connections

2010-05-25T13:07:00.003+01:00

This week I have the pleasure of hosting Marian Van Eyk McCain on my blog. She is a long-term permaculturist, co-editor of GreenSpirit Journal and has recently published a book, GreenSpirit: Path to a New Consciousness.

When my daughter was four years old, she stopped one day in the middle of what she was doing and looked around the room, slowly, thoughtfully, at everything in her surroundings. For a moment or two she was quiet. Then suddenly she said, with a kind of wonderment in her voice, “Mummy, the world’s all stuck together.”

She was right of course. And I sort of knew she was, even way back then. But in those days I was still planting vegetables in orderly rows and learning yoga and meditation and I didn’t realize that there was any connection whatsoever between my spiritual life and my veggie garden. I never understood just how right that little girl was about how everything—and everyone—is stuck together. ‘Ecosystem’ was a word still foreign to me in those days. And ‘bioregion’? What’s that?

It was not until the year that same daughter turned 26 that everything changed for me. That was when I signed up for a Permaculture Design Course under the masterful tutorship of David Holmgren, Hugh Gravestein and Andrew Sheridan, (brilliant teachers all three of them). From them I learned to read the landscape. From them I learned how to observe and understand – and to move with – the dance of sun and rain and wind and frost, the rhythm of the seasons, the complex patterns of interaction between living organisms. And from David, Hugh and Andrew I learned that within the thirty acres of Australian bush my partner and I had recently bought, every inch of soil and every life form was connected and interdependent. Every atom was part of a molecule, every molecule was part of something bigger and everything was part of a system.

I learned that we, too, and our inputs (our work, our energy, our love and nurturing of the land) and our outputs (our productivity and our waste) were all an integral part of it also.

Those teachers taught me that Permaculture is about whole systems, at every level, from atoms to galaxies. A bee, a beehive, a garden, a smallholding, a farm… each is a system, nested within a larger system and that nested holarchy of smaller systems makes up the master-system we call Gaia, our Planet Earth.

As I toiled each day in the sun, making mud bricks to build a house, carrying water from the rainwater tanks into the caravan that was our temporary home, planting trees, creating a garden and an orchard, making compost, setting up solar panels, I found my love of the land growing. The experience of living so close to that land and to the other creatures with whom we shared it – the kangaroos, emus, cockatoos, wombats and all the rest including snakes – was gradually moving me into a new kind of spiritual practice that suited me better than yoga. It was a spiritual practice of learning to live every moment in full connection with the Earth’s rhythms and with full awareness and appreciation of my surroundings. I became increasingly in awe of the elegance of ecosystems and I marvelled anew every day at the fluid, ever-changing patterns of Nature.

One of my teachers, Andrew Sheridan, had inspired me to create a composting toilet system that not only worked perfectly in that warm, dry climate but was constructed almost entirely from recycled and scavenged materials and cost the Aus$ equivalent of less than £20 to build. The first time I carried a bucket full of what had once been human shit (but was now a dry, odourless, pathogen-free powder) into the orchard and scattered it around the trees, it felt – I kid you not – like a religious experience. A circle had been completed. I, too, was fully integrated into the system.

I published an article, last year, about how I still miss that composting loo all these many years later at age 74. And I remain ever grateful to Andrew for his part in my ‘orchard epiphany.’

He and my other Permaculture teachers really got it through to me that I must think holistically – not just about the garden but all the time and about everything. Because everything is connected to everything else and whatever we do to one part of this amazing and awesome Earth system affects other parts – and thus affects the whole. Unless we understand and appreciate that, we don’t fully realize how every action we perform, every move we make in our lives, whether big or small, helps either to destroy or to heal those very systems on which all life depends.

This is why I asked Maddy Harland to write about Permaculture for the new anthology which I have edited, GreenSpirit: Path to a New Consciousness. The book has chapters on cosmology, economics, law, ecopsychology and a host of other things, including education. I see education – our own and our children’s – as an important key to creating a green, peaceful, just and sustainable world, one in which people of all ages are aware of the web of connections within which we live. The world is, indeed, all stuck together. If, through our ignorance, it should end up falling apart, we would never be able to put it back together again. And I think that’s something we are finally beginning to understand.

Marian Van Eyk McCain is a columnist and free-lance writer who has published articles on many subjects, from mind/body/spirit and women's issues to environmental politics, organic growing and alternative technology. She is the author of three non-fiction books and the co-editor of the GreenSpirit Journal, Editor of the ‘Elderwoman Newsletter’ and Secretary of the Wholesome Food Association.

2010 sees the publication of her new book GreenSpirit: Path to a new consciousness  (O Books, 2010). This is an anthology of writings by thirty contributors who all believe that a deep love of the Earth is necessary if we are to survive as a species and to live in a peaceful, sustainable world.

Come and see Maddy Harland and Marion in Southampton at the Edmund Kell Hall, Belle Vue Road, Southampton, SO15 2AY. Thursday June 3rd from 7 to 9pm Enquiries to: Chris Clarke on tel: 02380 552 546 or Joan Angus on tel: 02392 599299.

There will be book launches all over the UK from the end of May onwards.

Don't Let Work & Obligation Be the Thief of Love & Innate Joy

2010-05-21T10:31:00.003+01:00

Over a month ago I found a lump in my breast. I put off a visit to the GP for a week or so. I was practicing the very human art of denial but after a couple of worried nights I decided that resistance was futile. I made an appointment with the GP.

I decided that a lack of drama was critical and I only told my husband, Tim. What was the point of worrying my beloved daughters? It might be nothing. Also ‘energy follows thought’. I didn’t want people worrying about me and feeding the possibility that I had breast cancer.

I went to the GP on my own. The visit was sobering. She basically said she could not tell whether I had cancer or not and immediately referred me to our local hospital’s breast screening unit and a consultant.

During that waiting time I simply carried on as usual. I probably ate more healthily and I caught up on my sleep. I became kinder to my body. I started taking more care of myself and I tried to avoid stress.

The appointment came through in days and I only had to wait two weeks. Synchronously my brother wanted to visit on the day I had to go to hospital and I decided to tell him. His wife has had similar and her lump was benign. I felt their quiet support from coastal Suffolk.

I was self-disciplined about my thoughts and tried not to project into a dark future of cancer diagnosis but the visceral edge of fear inevitably unveiled itself in the depth of the night. A work colleague suffered a loss: her boyfriend’s mother died of breast cancer and they had to organize the funeral during my waiting period.

It is interesting what went through my mind. I realized those simple truths that people speak about in extremis: that dying wasn’t so bad but that I, aged 51, haven’t really learnt how to live yet. Sure I have worked hard. I have set up an international publishing company. Permaculture has become more known due to our efforts, I have helped set up Gaia Education, the Sustainability Centre etc etc but that is not really living. Living is loving more fully. I love Tim but I have yet to spend days walking in the hills with him, savouring life and communicating on the most intimate level. We seem to be mistakenly saving that soul communion until ‘later’, until we ‘have time’. There may never be time.

Most poignant of all, the idea of not sharing my children’s life was unbearable. They are beautiful, wonderful souls and I want to watch them grow into women. I want to be there when they marry, give birth, find their paths in life. How rich and full life is potentially and how I, in my busy-ness and striving, have placed an invisible barrier that prevents life fully flowing through me. Suddenly, I really wanted to live, but with a different emphasis. Ambition seemed like a total folly.

The mechanics of breast screening itself is amazing. I was given a two hour appointment and told I would have to wait for diagnosis that day. I went in and had four mammograms – top and side of both breasts. The radiographer was Australian and very soothing. She smelt faintly of cigarettes and it felt like playing Russian roulette on the wheel of fate. Maybe doing that kind of job needs fatal gamesmanship.

I was aware of my fear that day. It was tangible, a strange involuntary animal scent. Mammograms themselves aren’t that bad, especially if like me you are 'well endowed'. It’s just rather a squash. So I urge anyone reading this not to avoid them if they are necessary.

Then I had two ultrasounds with a consultant. At that point she confirmed that I had a lump on one side and a cyst on the other but she thought neither was cancer. I felt like I had got out of jail free.

But it wasn’t over yet and I had to wait another three hours to see another consultant for further examinations. They are very thorough you see. I watched women of all ages (and one man because men too can get breast cancer) come in for examination and to plan treatment. It was plain to see who was being diagnosed with cancer, who was booking in for treatment and surgery, and who was being sent away clear. It seemed unseemly to be so thumbs up cheerful but some women were. I felt huge compassion for those who had a darker diagnosis.

And now? I have to go back in two months to be checked again. I know that something subtle in my life has got to shift and it is a positive. I have to take care of myself.

Life deals out ironies. Tim and I went the next day to The Bristol Happiness Lectures where we launched Dr Chris Johnstone’s book, Find Your Power. The whole evening, sponsored by the NHS, was funny and interesting with upbeat presentations by three doctors who have studied the psychology of happiness and who teach their patients (and notably themselves) the techniques of how to be happy and avoid taking anti-depressants which often don't work.

(Photo courtesy of Nadia Hillman)

With one in two of us likely to suffer from depression at some time in our lives and millions on pounds spent of anti-depressant prescriptions in the UK annually, this is good work. Happiness is a skill we can all practice. We don’t have to wait until we think we might die to really live.

I felt deeply happy that night and I vowed that I would take this opportunity, a punctuation point in the intense flow of my life, to hold on to that awareness and not allow the trivia and illusion of work and obligation to be the thief of my love and innate joy.

Rambling with Clare Balding and Mates on the South Downs Way

2010-05-12T19:42:00.012+01:00

At the risk of this becoming a permaculture mag meets celebs blog, I thought I’d tell you about my unusual day.

It started off in bed with a cup of tea giggling over post-election jokes with Tim (“No milk for breakfast? Aw, the Tories are back in power.” And, “ David Cameron has just appointed Nick Clegg as his deputy PM. It’s still called fagging at Eton.”) But we quickly threw on some walking trousers and boots and went off to the Sustainability Centre to meet Clare Balding, BBC presenter and former jockey, and Radio 4 producer Maggie Ayre.

The plan was to walk from the centre along the South Downs Way, through the Old Winchester Hill nature reserve and down into Exton for BBC Radio 4’s Ramblings programme. Beside Clare, Maggie, Tim and myself were Mary Lewis, who manages the Sustainability Centre, Alan McVittie who manages the Old Winchester Hill and the Beacon Hill Beaches nature reserves. Andy Gattiker who looks after the South Downs Way trail also joined us.

We had a wander around the Sustainability Centre first and showed our guests the woodland burial site. That is always a keen area of interest. What kind of coffins? What sort of people? What varieties of ceremonies? The answer are: totally biodegradable – bamboo, wicker, wood (no veneers and brass fittings), even cardboard and shrouds – all sorts of people, from Christians and other religions to bikers and pagans, and a wonderful array of ceremonies and celebrations. We have had High Church, secret Egyptian (strictly no peeping!) and gorgeous Harley’s with sidecar carrying the bier. Brilliant.

We also talked about sustainability and energy and how micro-renewables like our biomass and photovoltaic systems here can make a serious contribution to our energy needs. The subtext is: just because we have a centralised energy system doesn’t mean we have to replace it solely with one. Bring on diversity of renewable generation that matches an area’s resources.

Having solved some of the problems of the world, we began our walk along the South Downs Way, which runs right past the Sustainability Centre. This is exquisite country with gentle rolling hills, arable fields, pastures full of frolicking lambs and woodlands full of bluebells under beech and hazel. We even have some remnant yew stands – dark, quiet stands of secret groves where little light penetrates and nothing grows on the rich brown earth beneath the trees.

Old Winchester Hill is a special place all of itself, an Iron Age Hill fort dotted with tumuli and an occasional dewpond. At this time of year it is carpeted with cowslips.

We also came across early purple orchids (the one below was taken in my nearest woodland and not on the pasture, but you get the picture – literally), wild thyme, speedwell, early signs of yellow rattle and St John's wort.

We sat on one tumulus with a 360º view – the silver thread of the Solent glimmering in the distance, and patches of fields and woodland all around us. Swallows dives, skylarks sang and even a red kite graced us with its majesty, floating on the thermals. The hills gently fold into the landscape. You would never know that the vast expanses of Portsmouth and Southampton are in the distance.

We had good chats – about the landscape, biodiversity, the future of farming, sustainability and permaculture. It was good to be with people who appreciate the pleasure of walking and have a keen interest in the future of our world. Clare Balding was obviously feeling very relaxed. So much so she put her hand on some very squishy sheep poo, washed it clean and then dried it on my little border terrier’s coat. Bluey didn’t mind – but we teased her about the misuse of dogs, being a Cruft’s presenter!

Coming down off the hills, we walked by the river Meon, a chalk stream that rises in the valley by the Sustainability Centre. In a world that can feel so broken, I love the chalk streams and rivers of Hampshire. They are pristine aquatic environments, full of trout, perch and grayling with waters often so crystal clear that you can clearly see each fin of every fish. It feels primordial to see such abundance. I feel blessed to live here in this quintessentially English countryside and it is good to talk to people who are interested in permaculture and in what our collective future may hold.

It pleases me too that this place is an hour from London by train. The whole point of the trails and ways, the South Downs National Park and The Sustainability Centre, with its low cost hostel and campsite, is that it is open to people who want to simply put on their boots, grab a sandwich and get out into the wilds with all its magic and adventure.

The Ramblings programme we will be on is the last in a six part series on BBC Radio 4 which we believe is scheduled to start towards the end of May.

For more information on The Sustainability Centre

(By the way, that's Mary and her daughter and partner on the cover, taken at the centre.)

This Ramblings will be broadcast on Saturday 26th June and repeated on Thursday 1 July at 3 pm on BBC Radio 4.

Life Beyond Appearances

2010-05-04T16:01:00.010+01:00

Maddy Harland visits the woodland enterprise, smallholding and eco home on ‘the South Island’ set up by Sue and Geoffrey Hughes.

Tim and I first met Geoffrey and Sue Hughes when they visited the Sustainability Centre for a seminar on biomass production for fuel and we were later invited to visit them at their beautiful island home, smallholding and woodland. Geoff has had a long career as a successful actor on TV, film and stage and is perhaps best known to millions as Britain’s greatest slob, notorious for characters like Onslow in ‘Keeping Up Appearances’ and Twiggy in ‘The Royle Family’. In real life, he is a keen woodsman and conservationist. His wife, Sue, is the daughter of a shepherdess and a smallholder. They are a far cry from the marvellous array of characters Geoff has portrayed.

The Hughes live on the Isle of Wight (often proudly referred to by the natives as ‘The South Island’) where Geoff is a Deputy Lieutenant and patron of the Red Squirrel Trust and Sue quietly looks after ducks, geese, chickens and sheep (Polled Dorsets) and also runs a ‘nickywood’ (kindling to the uninitiated) business. They bought a tumbledown property there with 10 acres of pasture and 23 acres of woodland in 2003 before property there rocketed. It is an interesting place, near to the municipal tip and high up in the centre of the island with stunning views of the Solent to the north.

Regenerating Woodland

The Hughes’ wood was heathland until it was planted with coppice – oak, ash and sweet chestnut over hazel – in 1780. In 1950, the Forestry Commission clear felled the standards and replanted with Douglas fir and Corsican and Macedonian pine with a Monterey pine windbreak. Then it was left untouched for 50 years. The result was a dark, derelict woodland with neglected coppice stools on the edge. The plan is to thin the ash and oak, take out the conifers (leaving a strip as a red squirrel habitat), open up the rides and regenerate the coppice.

Wherever the Hughes thin or clear, plants like woodland spurge, spindle trees and ancient woodland indicator flowers, like the town hall clock (Adoxa moschatellina), reappear.Common spotted and early purple orchids bloom in spring and the woodland floor is covered in dog’s mercury. Biodiversity begins to teem in the once dark and sterile woodland and butterflies again draw nectar from the emerging flora.

Turning Old Wood Into Money

The trouble is, what do you do with derelict pines and thinned oak and ash that hasn’t been managed for half a century? The Hughes started by deciding to make the island self-sufficient in kindling (previously all imported from ‘The North Island’) and bought a machine to produce it in quantity. Sue runs this side of the operation and supplies wholesale customers.

The enterprise didn’t account for all the trees they need to fell to restore the coppice however, so they investigated supplying timber to a pulping mill. The going rate they were given was£8.25 per tonne for a roadside collection and it costs £20 a tonne to fell and sned. Clearly thiswasn’t the solution, any more than was selling logs for firewood.

The Inspired Link

The Hughes began exploring the economics of woodchip production, first for garden paths, and then for a more ambitious project with their woodland consultant, Danny Horne. Her Majesty’s Prison Parkhurst was building an extension and part of its sustainability remit was to look at heating it with renewables, specifically biomass.

The problem was there weren’t any producers on the island even though the Isle of Wight has a huge amount of woodland needing management that could be brought back into production. So they risked buying a HeizohackHM8-400 drum chipping machine and eventually won the contract to supply the prison. They have now received BSI1177 accreditation meaning they can now supply woodchip for play areas. By creating a financially viable solution to derelict woodland they plan to encourage other owners to restore their woodlands and get the Isle of Wight’s coppices back into rotation once again.

Maddy Harland is the editor of Permaculture Magazine – inspiration for sustainable living. To read a sample copy click here. A longer version of this article with colour photographs is published in Permaculture Magazine 64, describing the design and build of the Hughes’ eco home (below). To support this independent publications please subscribe digitally for just £10 (approx $13.40) or subscribe to the printed edition (which will save you at least 20% of the cover price).

Teeming With Life & Food – How To Make A Healthy Forest Garden

2010-04-19T16:27:00.034+01:00

One of the ways to ensure a really healthy forest garden run on organic principles is to create maximum biodiversity. This means not only filling the garden with fruit, nuts, herbs and perennial and annual vegetables, but also adding flowers, wild berries and wildlife habitats.

Over the years, a few permaculturists have looked askance at our wildflower meadows. A recent comment was, “You’ve got loads of room for more trees!” but we don’t think so. The diversity makes our garden incredibly robust, a haven for companion species who take care of the pests.

The wildflower meadows are divided by a home-made ‘barrow’. Nearest the house is the spring meadow. When the flowers are over we use this space for sunbathing, playing, camping and generally hanging out. The summer meadow is above the barrow. The barrow itself was designed as a seat, facing the sunset, but nature has colonised it. It is full of marjoram, oxe-eye daisies, and cowslips. Ants also love it and green woodpeckers come and feast there later in the year. There are also tiny burrows made by field mice and voles.

The spring meadow starts with snowdrops and progresses through to crocuses, daffodils and narcissi. Our great joy is the self-seeding cowslips that are blooming now as well as the snakes head fritillaries. I love their chequered bells. The cowslips are particularly useful as early bumble bee forage. The bees come to them and then move on to pollinate the early blooming cherry. Later on English bluebells will bloom by the hedge mixed the delicate smell of wild garlic, a potent native herb that is delicious in cooking and a real tonic.

Already the skylark is singing overhead, and we have our own flock of visiting pheasants who browse each day. They politely don’t walk on the raised beds or eat our vegetables, more than I can say of the pigeons who require bird scarers (old CDs) which hang from the small trees.

The summer meadow is full of marjoram, it is our chalk downland ‘weed’. We also grow ox-eye daisies, knapweed, white and red campion, salad burnet, small scabious, wild sorrel and black medic (and more). There’s a variety of grasses too, including the delicate quaking grass, appropriately called Briza media. The garden is too small to graze sheep (the traditional way of managing these meadow species), so we cut it in autumn after the seed has dropped and mulch the trees with the hay. If flowers grow under the fruit trees in the mulch we leave them. We are sterner with the grasses.

Butterflies, especially the Chalkhill Blues (Polyommatus coridon) love the flowers and herbs. Small mammals burrow under the soil and in the hedgerow (we don’t have dormice but we do have wood mice) and buzzards and hawks hover overhead. We’ll keep adding the diversity and sow more varieties like yellow rattle in the autumn to plug plant next spring.

We also build up big piles of rotting logs for the common lizards, slowworms and beetles and leave piles of brashing under the walnut tree.

Bumble bees love the gentle chaos of the rough grassland and made their nests in small holes. We have dug a variety of ponds (from salvaged butler sinks and bathtubs to ones lined with membranes) for frogs and toads as well as damsel and dragonflies and put up a variety of nest boxes for birds. When I get a moment I want to build a special hibernaculum, a haven for our amphibians and reptiles, and another hedgehog box as the old one has collapsed. I’ll let you know how these projects go.

Meanwhile, I recommend that gardeners mix up edibles with native trees, hedgerows and wildflowers as much as space will allow. It will bring in the birds, insects, reptiles, mammals and amphibians and reduce the number of slugs and aphids. But besides being organic good practise, it is also a joy to the spirit, especially after a long, cold winter.

Maddy Harland is the editor of Permaculture Magazine – inspiration for sustainable living. To read a sample copy click here. To support this independent publications please subscribe digitally for just £10 (approx $13.40) or to the paper edition (which will save you at least 20% of the cover price).

Flower and bee photography courtesy of Gail Harland.

Our Permaculture Garden

2010-04-08T09:11:00.014+01:00

Last night my family and our permaculture garden appeared on Alys Fowler's new series 'The Edible Garden' on BBC2. If you didn't see it and you live in the UK you can watch it on iPlayer. If you live outside the zone it's on YouTube.

It was weird being on TV and we were nervous, mainly because we have devoted 20 years of our lives to publishing and promoting permaculture to as many people as possible in the world. Permaculture is regarded as a way of growing food and even a design method for creating sustainable communities. It is all that and more. Permaculture has helped us connect deeply with the land – not just our garden – but the landscape in which we live and breathe. We have learnt to read its language. It has been the most profound of life enhancers for us and it has made us happy. It was therefore important to present permaculture in the best light possible – to share its subtleties and magic. Not easy in three minutes!

The garden was filmed in late July when the wildflowers are setting seed and everything is a riot of growth. I thought you might like to see it this morning with the spring flowers under the budding fruit trees. I love this time of year – actually I love all the seasons of the year – but the flowers that bloom after a long winter feed the soul.

We grow snowdrops for just that reason under fruit trees as well as daffodils. We like to have a succession of flowers. We also plant comfrey and cut it to add fertility. Sometimes it goes to flower and the air is full of the drone of huge bumble bees feasting on pollen.

Violets have spontaneously volunteered in the meadow grass. Nature gardens all by herself.

But we did plant cowslips that seed themselves all over the garden. One day I'll be able to make cowslip wine.

Here's the veg garden full of leeks and garlic waking up in the early morning light, surrounded by the new growth of comfrey.

There's new seeds in the greenhouse and some mizuna that I sowed in early winter for the hungry gap. And perennial kale in the forest garden area that is recovering from an onslaught from hungry marauding pigeons.

We don't pretend to be self-sufficient in food. I'd need a polytunnel for that and to garden full time, but we are increasingly self-reliant. My great joy is watching nature share the garden with the veg, fruit and nuts. No sprays, no chemical pest control, just flowers, food and teaming diversity...

Maddy Harland is the editor of Permaculture Magazine – inspiration for sustainable living. To read a sample copy click here. To support this independent publications please subscribe digitally for just £10 (approx $13.40) or to the paper edition (which will save you at least 20% of the cover price)

Patrick Whitefield: Meeting With a Remarkable Man

2010-03-29T13:48:00.031+01:00

Patrick Whitefield came to visit us a few days ago. He has been writing books about permaculture since 1992 and we have been publishing them. His first, Permaculture In A Nutshell, is now translated into seven languages. The Earth Care Manual, his magnum opus, is read all over the world and the latest, The Living Landscape is all about how to reconnect with our landscape and how to ‘read’ and understand it. This is not only a vital skill for permaculture, landscape design consultants and professional conservationists but also for the rest of us who simply love the land and wish to live more sustainably.

Seeing Patrick is always fun. I like to cook him a good meal – he’s a big, tall man who lives simply but appreciates a well cooked feast – and he always has a walk around our forest garden, noting the changes, which experiments have been successful, and any new plantings.

This year we gave up on trying to grow almonds and replanted the spaces with an assortment of new trees described in an earlier blog. Patrick was interested in my own root stock peach tree (i.e. it is not grafted) that I grew from a collection of stones gleaned from ZEGG, an ecovillage in East Germany. Their continental climate means winter temperatures plummet and summers get very hot. Their peaches are all own root and are small, hardy, sweet and resist peach leaf curl. I have managed to grow on six trees, one is planted freestanding in the garden, the others will be dotted in our hedgerows and allowed to grow to standards. I will also give one or two away – Ben Law already has one reserved for a clearing in his woodland.

Patrick admired our crop of leeks which has survived the snow and the new rainwater harvesting system on the greenhouse. It’s very Heath Robinson but nonetheless effective. I had puzzled about how to attach guttering to an aluminium greenhouse that does not sit on the level and has nothing to fix to. In the end, Tim and I drilled bolt holes and fashioned some aluminium from strips we bought at B&Q to hold the gutters. We used aluminium, not the most eco of materials, because it is easy to bend. ‘Transitional’ ethics, I guess.

After that I gave Patrick a tour of the Sustainability Centre, showing him all the finished and upcoming projects that I wrote about in my last blog, and bought him lunch in our new café. Patrick used to teach permaculture design here and has seen this place struggle since the mid 1990s. It felt good to show him just how hard everyone involved has worked and what we have achieved. I introduced him to the people who live and work here that we met on our walk and I teased him about it being like showing round a ‘top brass’ or a dignitary. He is rather a Grand Old Man of the permaculture movement now.

We also talked about the impending climate change crisis being rarely mentioned. When it is, it is usually played down and ‘qualified’ by the BBC and other broadcasters. It seems policy to balance any statement about how desperate things are with a sceptical viewpoint. Patrick thinks runaway climate change is pretty much inevitable now because of the positive feedback systems. Have a look at Mark Lynas’ Six Degrees if you want to know more.

We agreed that human beings are generally in profound denial about the severity of climate change and there is a large, vociferous and powerful lobby of sceptics out there ready to fight for business as usual. It’s a kind of ‘group think’ that defies reason. I see evidence of this in online newspaper comments, public statements made by vested interests and in Congress. Even my Facebook link to a recent blog on climate change was registered as abusive and blocked. We are muzzled by these powerful forces. Thank God for Indie media.

Patrick and I also talked about living in a world where football and celebrity culture gets so much passion, attention and financial clout whilst the whole ecosystem on which we depend for our lives is unravelling. Life is incredibly surreal. I asked him if this depresses him. He said sometimes, especially when he tries to work locally and realises that most people (99.5%) don’t actually care about climate change, permaculture, Transition or any other positive initiative.

I am always very interested in what inspires and motivates people, especially people like Patrick who have dedicated their lives to a pioneering task. What makes him tick and what puts the spring in his step each day? He told me that when he teaches permaculture he meets people who are deeply enthused by the subject who will use the course information to literally change their lives. He says, "I am inspired and uplifted by the people who come on our courses." It is these few, not the 99.5%, that positively motivate him.

This resonated deeply with me – as I am sure it will with you – because it is the doing that inspires me; planting trees, sowing seeds, making water harvesting systems, publishing books and magazines that enable and support others… But all the doing in the world is no good unless I can connect with others and share in the vision. We are an interdependent species on an interdependent planet. I want to steep my consciousness in that glorious web of interdependence.

Maddy Harland is the editor of Permaculture Magazine – inspiration for sustainable living. To read a sample copy click here. To support this independent publications please subscribe digitally for just £10 (approx $13.40) or to the paper edition (which will save you at least 20% of the cover price).

For more information on Patrick please visit his website.