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permaculture

No. 77

www.permaculture.co.uk

the

Art of

Spoon
Carving
John Adams

Rozie Apps visits her local sweet

chestnut coppice and discovers the
delights of carving her own spoons

John Adams

y partner is a coppice worker and creates the most

beautiful benches, gates and buildings from locally
sourced timber. I am always amazed at the beauty of
such things and usually slightly jealous that he gets to work with
such natural materials and make such lovely items from nature.
Luckily I have discovered a way to follow in his footsteps,
albeit on a smaller scale ... I have found the craft of spoon carving.
Every household needs spoons, they are used daily for
preparing and eating meals. So spoon carving is a brilliant way
to get into wood working, as well as crafting something beautiful
for your home that you enjoyed making and it is also an antidote
to the world of plastic ... a step towards sustainable living.
With the right tools and very little experience, spoon carving
is something you could probably pick up yourself. My partner
and I decided, however, to spend a day in the woods on a spooncarving course. Not only does this reinforce the skills needed
to handle carving knives safely and efficiently, we also love the
fact that attending an informal low-cost course like this helps
support local woodsmen and green woodworkers who are at
www.permaculture.co.uk

the forefront of sustainable local woodland management.

It was a beautiful day in one of our local Sussex woodlands,
surrounded by an area of sweet chestnut coppice, beautifully
green and vibrant, and alive with the seasons early regrowth.
Richard of Green Wood Creations, a local coppice worker,
was teaching the course from his caravan. Not only does he
live in the woodland, he lives in harmony with it, meaning he
is best placed to manage the area for the landowner. I love
seeing a coppice workers home peeking through the trees,
the smell of the smoke drifting past and watching it twist from
the fire into the sky between the branches.
There were five others on the course, so the day was mixed with
laughter, story-telling and by the end, many a sore thumb. To top
off the whole experience, we even made our own pizzas, using
Richs homemade outdoor pizza oven to cook our delicious lunch.
First we were shown how to turn a piece of timber into a
spoon blank. Although time limitations meant we couldnt
have a go at this stage ourselves, it looked fairly simple if you
know how to use an axe safely.
No. 77

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27

Crafts

Tim Harland

Previous page:
Rozie and some
of the spoons
she has made.
Above:
Using an axe to
rough out the
blank for a spoon.

John Adams

Left:
Rozie uses a
controlled grip on
a straight bladed
knife to work the
outer shape of
one of her spoons.

Limbs and branches are good to use as they are generally

smaller than whole trunks, although special attention is
required when selecting your blank as knotty or twisted
pieces will make the carving process very difficult. We used
birch in the round, which was then split or cleft in half to
give a piece of wood about 23cm (9in) long and 7.5cm (3in)
across. This was then made easier to work with by chipping
off the rounded side of the wood, to leave a flat rectangle.
Other suitable commonly found species for spoon carving
include beech and sycamore.
If it is your first time spoon carving, you may want to draw
a blank of a spoon onto your piece of wood to give you some
guidelines. You can then use the axe and a series of stop cuts
to transform the blank from a large chunk of wood into a
more manageable piece. Stop cuts are simply small cuts made
with a saw in strategic places to stop your axe splitting the
area of wood that is to become your spoon when roughing
out the blank.
Once our blanks were prepared we all sat on logs in the
beautiful sunshine and were shown how to carve. To carve the
bowl of the spoon, a knife with a curved blade, known as a
crook or spoon knife is needed and for the rest of the spoon,
a straight carving knife is all that is required. They need to be
sharp, which means you have to be very careful. I managed to
finish the day without any cuts but a few others did go home
28

permaculture

No. 77

with a plaster to go with their newly crafted spoon.

We were taught with the straight blade first, using different
strokes so that we would always work with the grain. This gives
smooth, efficient, controlled cuts and reduces the risk of the
knife cutting you. It is a brilliant feeling when you can neatly
slice away layers of wood, watching the spoon start to take
shape. Make sure to work with your hands, tools and wood to
the left or right of your legs and not in between them because
there are arteries in your thighs that you do not want to cut.
It is easy to get carried away with the carving, so be careful
not to make the neck of the spoon too narrow or thin that it
will snap. If you want a flatter handle it has to be wider to
keep it strong and if you want a narrower handle it needs to
have more depth.
Before we knew it, lunchtime had arrived and we each got
to roll out the pizza dough and top it with a delicious array
of cheese, chillies and greens. The outdoor pizza oven had
been burning away all morning so it was nice and hot, cooking
the pizzas in just a few minutes.
After the perfect woodland lunch it was time for carving
the bowl of the spoon, which I was eager to try. At first it was
difficult to keep my thumb out of the way of the blade. I
couldnt hold the spoon with my thumb under the bowl and
it kept creeping up to the edge, which was right in the line of
the knife blade. But once you have carved some depth, the
www.permaculture.co.uk

 John Adams

Crafts

Left:
Richards spoon
carving course
wasnt just
creative, it was
also very sociable.

Rozie Apps

knife stays in the bowl and your thumb is a lot safer. You could
try using the straight blade to get some depth before using the
crook knife. This should give the blade of the crook knife more
purchase on the wood and help avoid it slipping off into your
thumb. The simple scooping motion across the grain is so
satisfying. I could have sat there all day shaving off layers of
pale smooth birch.
Sitting in the warm dappled sunlight, surrounded by the
chirping of birds and the soft whistle of the wind through the
trees was so relaxing it was easy to get lost in the rhythm. I
was enjoying myself so much it was a struggle to make myself
stop. Rich informed us that its all too easy to keep carving
away and end up taking too much off, leaving you with a very
fragile spoon. I could easily see why!
Finishing your spoon is a personal preference. If you want
a more refined smoother finish you can leave your spoon to
dry for a day or two and then sand out the marks left by the
carving using 120 grit (or finer) sandpaper. Though oiling is
not strictly required, I have applied several coats of raw linseed
oil to my spoon to help keep it in tip-top condition. Other oils
suitable for finishing spoons include olive oil and nut oil. If
using linseed oil make sure you are using it in its raw form and
not boiled/processed linseed oil as this contains stabilizers that
can be harmful to us.
Our relaxed introduction to spoon carving was thoroughly
www.permaculture.co.uk

Right:
Richard prepares
some delicious
pizzas for lunch.

Rozie Apps

Above:
Rozie using a
hooked knife to
hollow out the
bowl of a spoon.

enjoyable and gave me the confidence to handle sharp carving

tools and Ive come away with a skill that will be with me
forever. It is also a fantastic way to introduce young children
to the joys of woodcarving in a safe, relaxing environment.
It applies the techniques of woodcarving to something tangible
for adults and children alike and is a great basis to go on and
learn more skills. Its also a great activity to include at village
fetes, summer festivals and garden parties where, Im sure,
your local woodsman or green woodworker would be all too
happy to set up shop for a day and pass on their knowledge
to willing participants.
All that remains now is to wait for some drier weather so I
can sit outdoors by a warm fire and carve more spoons and
hopefully progress on to salad servers, butter knives and
whatever else my permaculture mind can imagine
Rozie Apps is assistant editor at PM and Permanent Publications.
If you are interested in Richards spoon carving courses, visit
www.greenwoodcreations.co.uk 35 for the day, including a
delicious homemade pizza for lunch.
There are a wide range of woodcarving tools, books and dvds
available from Green Shopping www.green-shopping.co.uk
No. 77

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29

30

permaculture

No. 77

www.permaculture.co.uk

Greener than Beer

In terms of energy used in its production, cider is far more eco-friendly
than beer, for beer requires considerable quantities of grain that could
have been used to feed people or
animals. Whilst the process of producing beer uses large amounts of
energy to heat up the wort, cider is a
cold ferment process; apple juice is
simply left to ferment, no heat required.
A similar comparison could be
made with wine. I well remember
staying with the late New Zealand
permaculturist, Joe Polaisher, and
him tutting at the amount of
vineyards springing up in his area.
And all so that the rich people of
the world can drink wine, he
exclaimed. Clearly he saw a far
more productive use for the land
than row upon row of vines.
In the old days, by comparison,
a traditional orchard of standard
trees with sheep grazing beneath
was a form of dual purpose land
use, taking two crops from the
same space. There were also examples
of multi- or inter-cropping
orchards with fruit bushes and
daffodils grown between the rows
of trees, and all long before the
words permaculture or agroforestry
were born.
www.permaculture.co.uk

de r
Ci

e
n of th Eco -drinks
Quee
Wade Muggle

to n

us
exorts

all to beco

me c
ider drinkers

Photos Wade Muggleton

n 18th century England, cider

was the finest drink you could
serve to your guests, be they the
great and the good in a stately
home or the working men and women
in the fields and taverns of the shires.
In some circles (the former) it was
held in the sort of esteem we might
reserve for fine wines today. Yet by
the 1980s cider had associations with
drunken schoolgirls behind bike sheds
or tramps sleeping it off on park
benches. Never seemingly had a once
esteemed drink fallen so far from grace.
Thankfully today, cider is undergoing something of a resurgence,
which is good news, for it has much
going for it and in many ways is by
far the most eco-friendly of beverages.
For in its purest form cider is literally
fermented apple juice with nowt
taken out and nowt added in, so if
you grow your apples organically you
have about as pure a product as you
could hope for, and there are many
reasons to feel good about cider.

No. 77

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31

Food and Drink

Good for Biodiversity

Traditional orchards are also great
for biodiversity and the landscape.
Where I live in the borders of
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and
Shropshire, orchards have long
been a key feature of the area and
part of the local scenery. So if you
buy cider made from apples from
a good old fashioned orchard you
are supporting the retention of
these wonderful landscape features
and the rich wildlife that goes
with them, as well as supporting
another rare species, that of the
native craft cider maker. Rather
than drinking a fizzy, industrially

Overleaf:
From apple to
alcohol Cheers.
Above:
Orchards are
wonderful places
beautiful and
productive.
Below:
Boxes of
organically
grown apples
awaiting
scratting prior
to pressing.
produced, alcoholic beverage from
a multi-national conglomerate,
seek out and support your local
producer and so put your pounds
back into the local economy, and
maintain a traditional landscape
at the same time.
Waste Not
In any orcharding area, every
autumn you will see countless
apples rotting on the ground, such
is the madness of agricultural
economics in the current system
that whole crops are considered not
up to the grade or simply not
worth picking. The beauty of
cider is that once juiced it matters
not how lopsided, large or small
the apples were, what colour tone
the skin had or if there was the
odd blotch on them. So cider
making is a great use of all those
apples that might otherwise be
rejected, wasted or left to rot.

32

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No. 77

www.permaculture.co.uk

Food and Drink

Left:
Pressing out the
juice can be quite
hard work but it
is a joyful task.
Right:
Pure apple
juice a simple
wholesome
product.
Below:
A demijohn with
an air lock and a
bit of patience =
cider.

Home Brew
When it comes to making your own,
cider is probably easier to home
brew than wine or beer. It really is
suited to a rough and ready garden
shed style of brewing. The simplest
of ingredients a quantity of apples,
some sort of scrat and press arrangement (see Making Cider from Scratch
article in PM75) by which to extract
the juice from the apples, a demijohn
or barrel with an air lock, then just
sit back and wait.
It is a myth that cider is only made
from cider apples. Whilst some parts
of the West Country have a tradition of
very specific cider apples, in other parts
of the country fine cider is made from
the juice of cookers and eaters, so any
apple can be used.
There is of course a difference between
the fizzy industrialised cider and proper
craft or homemade cider. The latter will
be flatter, although you can get some
sparkle in it by what is known as bottle
www.permaculture.co.uk

conditioning. It will perhaps be drier

and sharper to the taste. One of the
issues with cider as a subject is that it is
a very broad spectrum: there are some
superb ciders being made as well as
some incredibly rough, almost truly
dreadful brews and every shade between
the two. Thus to say you do or do
not like cider is dependent upon what
you have tried.
If you do get the homebrew bug
your results will vary, for factors like
the weather, the amount of sunshine
the apples received while growing, soil
type and rainfall will all influence the
juice and thus the cider. If you do have
a slightly disappointing batch, do not
throw it away, for warmed up with a few
spoons of honey, some spices, a slug
of apple juice and a few slices of orange
and you can turn a mediocre cider
into great mulled cider.

been backed up by modern research.

So if 2013 does give us a summer,
then on a balmy evening you can
raise a glass of proper English cider
and take good heart in the knowledge
that you are partaking of the best of
environmentally friendly beverages.
Enjoy...!
Wade Muggleton is the Countryside
Officer for Worcestershire County
Council who regularly writes for PM.
Resources
For all things cider related including
instructions on how to make your
own see: www.cider.org.uk

Even Good for You

As if all of the above were not good
enough reason to partake of a glass of
cider, there is now scientific evidence
that it could even be good for you.
Trials by the Institute of Food Research
have found that traditional English
cider is high in antioxidants and that
in moderation (within the recommended units per day) a glass of cider
can have health benefits; half a pint
containing the same amount of antioxidants as a glass of red wine.
It was long claimed to be good for
us, John Worlidge in 1676 wrote of
cider, Constant use of this liquor
hath been found by long experience
to avail much to health and long life,
preserving the drinkers of it in their
full strength and vigour. This has now
No. 77

permaculture

33

Permaculture
Science

Chris Warburton Brown suggests

seven key criteria to develop
permaculture science

lthough permaculture is now nearly four decades

old, and is practised by hundreds of thousands of
people in at least fifty countries, published scientific
papers that deal with it are almost nonexistent.
Searching Google Scholar using the terms permaculture
and journal produces many passing references but less than
twenty peer-reviewed articles with permaculture as their
main topic. It is fair to say that permaculture science does
not yet exist. This article sets out to consider why that is,
what can be done to change it, and what sort of science we
might want the permaculture movement to produce.
Science
Before addressing the issue of permaculture science, we need
to consider what we mean by science in general. Three clear
criteria define whether ideas are scientifically established:
reliability, validity and generalisability. Reliability asks
whether the research findings can be replicated by a different
researcher applying the same methods to the same question.
Validity asks whether the findings are an accurate and true
representation of what was found; a study in which a
researcher focuses only on findings which support their
pre-determined ideas is not valid. Generalisability asks
whether the results can be successfully tested in new settings,
peoples or samples; a study based on one field in one season
may well fail the test of generalisability. Permaculture science
needs to pass all three of these tests.
When I ask members of the permaculture community
what is the purpose of permaculture science?, people

34

permaculture

No. 77

generally answer either to improve the practice of permaculture by permaculture practitioners or to build a strong
body of evidence to convince people of the value of permaculture. Improving the practice of permaculture is rooted
in a comparison between what permaculture practitioners
are already doing and doing things differently, to see if the
difference leads to improvement. Building a convincing
body of evidence means comparing permaculture practice to
conventional practice using robust criteria so that meaningful
comparisons might be made. Each of these two approaches
will lead to different research questions being asked and
need different kinds of research methods. Both, however,
can only be addressed through permaculture research.
Research
Research is any activity undertaken to provide an answer to a
question, such as which football team has won the league
most often?. Permaculture research is any activity undertaken
to answer questions related to the practice of permaculture.
Recent issues of Permaculture have included examples ranging
from the incredibly ambitious: Can Permaculture Feed the
World? (Patrick Whitefield, PM72) to the much more focused:
Are Small No Dig Vegetable Growing Systems More Productive
Than Digging Systems? (Charles Dowding, PM74). In fact
almost every practitioner of permaculture is a researcher; if
you have ever been inspired by something in this magazine
to ask whether design changes to your garden or your house
might make them more effective systems for providing you
with what you want from them, and have then done something
www.permaculture.co.uk

Permaculture

practical to find out the answer, then you are a permaculture

researcher. But if so many people are undertaking permaculture research why is so little of it getting into the scientific
literature? I think there are four answers to this question.
The Four Barriers
1 People
Firstly, there is an issue about the kind of people who are
attracted to permaculture. Permaculture practitioners tend
to be unconventional folk outside of societys mainstream;
they are doers who are investing their time and energy in
projects. Moreover, many have an essentially intuitive
commitment to permaculture; I do what I do because it
feels right. I get the feeling that many permaculture
practitioners like the idea of improving the scientific basis
for permaculture but they lack the time, the skills or the
inclination to devote to developing permaculture science.
All this is entirely appropriate in a movement that seeks to
change the world by doing. It does, however, raise problems
for the development of permaculture science.
To meet this first challenge we need to find ways of
harnessing the energy, passion and practical projects of the
permaculture community while up-skilling people with simple
research skills, without making excessive demands on their time.
2 Complexity
The second issue is that of complexity. Permaculture seeks
to engage at a level of complexity that conventional science
generally does not. If we want to compare food outputs from
www.permaculture.co.uk

conventional farming with those of permaculture, the standard

comparison would be wheat yield per hectare. But this is a
very poor comparator for permaculture growing; where conventional wheat growing is monocultural and the entire crop
is harvested in a single day from fields of several hectares,
permaculture growing is polycultural, with crops harvested
over a prolonged period from small fields or gardens.
Moreover, permaculture practitioners are generally interested
in a far greater variety of yields than conventional farmers.
Participants in a workshop at the 2012 UK Permaculture
Diploma Gathering identified 16 different permaculture
yields: from biodiversity to the effect on personal happiness.
Conventional science methods are capable of measuring
each of these yields individually, but permaculture practitioners
are interested in several of these yields at once; crop yield is
only one part of the story. Even if we limit ourselves to looking
only at crop yield we are not free from complex questions. Just
weighing the apple harvest potentially misses some key yields:
keeping quality, taste, length of harvest period, suitability
for juicing (or drying, or chutney making), commercial value
(possibly linked to techniques such as Community Supported
Agriculture), quality of the fruit. Yields are also subjective:
a grower might consider one sack of fruit from an apple tree
with no labour a higher yield than two sacks from a tree that
was pruned, cultivated and fed. Inputs of time, labour,
fertiliser etc. need to be considered alongside yields.
To meet the second challenge we need to find ways to handle
complexity. Simply trying to compare permaculture yields
to conventional wheat yield per hectare actually misses the
whole point of permaculture as a holistic, integrated system.
This leads directly to the third challenge: the philosophical approach to knowledge taken by much current scientific
research.
3 Approach
Preparing content for the Permaculture Digest, I have found
little of use to the permaculture community in conventional
plant science literature. Because research papers are expected
to show strong statistical significance, work has become labbased, not field-based. Moreover, in order to avoid complexity
contaminating the results, there is an emphasis on the
smallest units of analysis: genes, microbes, chemicals. This
boosts conventional crop yields, but inevitably leads to
interventions at a microscopic level and to GM crops.
If adopted, this kind of rigorous, lab-based scientific
approach has the potential to undermine the key feature of
permaculture its basis in systems thinking and a holistic
approach to life. Instead, we need to build on the scientific
literature which places the growing of individual crops into
its wider social and environmental context; research typically
rooted either in low-tech, majority world agriculture (e.g.
Agronomy for Sustainable Development), or in a consciously
chosen whole-systems approach (e.g. The Journal of Soil and
Water Conservation). In this regard (and in many others),
there is a great deal we can learn from well established
research disciplines like agroecology and agroforestry.
To meet the third challenge we must find a scientific
philosophy and methodology that lends itself to holistic,
systems-based approaches, focusing on the macro rather
than the micro.
No. 77

permaculture

35

Permaculture

4 Funding
The fourth challenge is the minimal financial resources
available for permaculture research. Although there have
been some great small projects, including Masters and
Doctoral theses, as far as I am aware permaculture has yet
to secure funding anywhere in the world for a really
substantial academic research project. The number of
people employed on permaculture research is tiny. My own
post, for example, is funded wholly by private philanthropy
(thanks to Lush Cosmetics and Plants for a Future) and the
projects I support rely on volunteer amateur researchers.
This contrasts with the millions of pounds of research
funding spent on conventional agricultural research. If
permaculture science is to become established, it needs to
attract substantial mainstream funding and partner with
existing research institutes.
To meet the fourth challenge we need to secure research
resources, which means convincing funders that we can
deliver results, and demonstrating that permaculture can
solve some of the challenges humanity faces.
The Seven Key Criteria
I believe these are the seven key criteria of permaculture
science:
1 It should produce results which are valid, reliable
and generalisable.
2 It should either improve permaculture practice or generate
rigorous evidence that can convince the sceptical.

3 It should answer clearly stated permaculture-related

research questions.
4 It should harness the particular strengths of permaculture
practitioners while addressing their weaknesses.
5 It should deal with complexity.
6 It should focus on the holistic nature of permaculture
and communicate the advantages of such a focus.
7 It should be properly resourced.
I do not believe that permaculture science exists yet. By
this, I dont mean that there is no research being undertaken
which meets my seven criteria, because there clearly is.
I mean that we havent begun to build a systematic body of
scientific evidence that meets these criteria. Nor has the
permaculture community created a vision for how that
body of evidence could be created and disseminated.
My hope in writing this article is to stimulate the debate
and the activity that will lead us to our next steps in creating
permaculture science
Chris Warburton Brown is the Research Coordinator of the
Permaculture Association, email: research@permaculture.org.uk
He writes here in a personal capacity, the views stated do not
necessarily reflect those of the Permaculture Association.

http://permaculture-research.blogspot.co.uk

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permaculture NEWS
IPC11 CUBA: The Worlds Biggest Permaculture Event Of The Year!
What you need to know How to book How to support others

Kassondra Cloos/Pulitzer Center

A working scene from a sustainable farm, just outside Havana

The worlds biggest permaculture event of the year, IPC11
Cuba, The 2013 International
Permaculture Convergence, is
taking place this November/
December. But there is still time
to be a part of the event yourself,
or help support others to be there.
Over 100 Cuban delegates
will be at the Convergence
with between 400-500 delegates expected to attend in total.
As well as the legendary
friendly company and world
class music associated with the
people of Cuba, this IPC is offering a wide range of activities,
including:
q A 3 day Conference with
the theme Island Permaculture,
Urban Permaculture, and Permaculture & Climate Change.
q A 5 day Convergence and
visits to permaculture and sustainability sites in Havana and at
two other provinces, so you can
see examples of permaculture
for yourself Cuban style! There
is an open request for presen-

IPC11 Cuba

tations at the Convergence (45

minutes and 1 hour in length).
Contact info@ipc11cuba.com
with your ideas and for further
information.
q A Permaculture Design
Course facilitated by teachers:
Ron Berezan (CA), Brock Dolman
(USA), Paulo Mellet (UK), Eric
Toensmeier (USA) and Cubas
own Roberto Perez Rivero.
Permaculture arrived in Cuba
in late 1993 through The
Southern Cross Brigade an
Australian and New Zealand
solidarity group, some of whom
were permaculturists.
By late 1995 Cuba was facing
a serious economic crisis and
the key goal was to increase
food production as much and as
quickly as possible. This was
done by growing food directly
under the feet of people, on
family and community grounds.
Antonio Nez Jimnezs
Foundation for Nature and
Humanity, a Cuban NGO,
worked on several projects with

The 2013 International

Permaculture Convergence

www.permaculture.co.uk

the support of the Australian

Green Team and the Australian
Conservation Foundation. Their
efforts, along with other similar
projects, contributed enormously
to the degree of local food
security communities, towns and
cities in Cuba enjoy to this day.
Our Cuban hosts will share
elements of these processes
with those attending. They will
also illustrate their responses to
the impacts of climate change
and demonstrate their hurricaneproof permaculture systems.
Importantly, the events
steering group is working with
the Eco-Cuba Global Exchange
so as to pave the way for US
citizens to be able to attend IPC11
and avoid embargo hazards.
The events website has
information on travel, including
a section for American citizens.
It also has pricing and booking
details for all of the activities
available and advice on the
accommodation options.
The programme for the
International Permaculture
Conference is almost finished.
The proposed site looks to be
the Pabelln Cuba in Vedado,
which is in the centre of Havana.
Some names already confirmed
as speakers are: Robyn Francis,
Tony Andersen, Albert Bates,
Toby Hemenway, and others
continue to be added.
For bookings email Harriet Walsh
bookings@ipc11cuba.com and
for all further information view:
ipc11cuba.com
q Permaculture is joining with
the Permaculture Association in
calling for donations to support
delegates from less economically
advantaged areas to attend IPC11,
with a focus on African delegates.
To donate and offer your
support please visit: www.
permaculture.org.uk/donate

Key Events & Dates

IPC11 Cuba
Pre IPC International PDC
11 - 24 November 2013
Havana
Conference Dinner & Gala
24 November 2013
Havana
International Permaculture
Conference
25 - 27 November 2013
Havana
Includes: Day 1 Permaculture in
Islands, Day 2 Permaculture v
Climate Change, Solutions for
the future, Day 3 Urban
Permaculture, cities
become livable
Visits to Urban
Permaculture Sites
28 November 2013
Havana
Convergence
29 November - 3 December 2013
Los Cocos, Mayabeque
Permaculture Tours
From 4 - 6 December 2013
Includes: Matanzas, Sancti
Spritus, the Bellamar Cave
and Trinidad

DEADLINES

Permaculture No.78
EDITORIAL

16th August 2013

DISPLAYS
31st August 2013
& CLASSIFIEDS
PUBLICATION 31st October 2013
Contributions and enquiries to:
PERMACULTURE
The Sustainability Centre
East Meon
Hampshire GU32 1HR, U.K.
0845 458 4150 or 01730 823 311
info@permaculture.co.uk

www.permaculture.co.uk

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permaculture NEWS

Happiness Policy At UN Vote For Permaculture!

NEWS IN BRIEF
The All Ireland Permaculture
Gathering takes place 13 - 15
September 2013 at Parvani
Hall Fields and Gardens,
Clargalway, Co Galway.
www.parvanihall.ie
Peter Maragh is looking to
introduce permaculture to
a poor region of Jamaica. If
you are a permaculture teacher
who could help coordinate and
help teach please email him:
maragh395@yahoo.com
WeTheTrees has launched a
campaign to help people
fundraise for their PDC
tuition: www.wethetrees.
com/pages/fund-yourpermaculture - designcourse
The Permaculture Associations
AGM will take place on
Saturday 9th November
2013, venue to be confirmed.
www.permaculture.org.uk
The LAND Project has 10
bursaries which will support
10 projects with people who
are experiencing disadvantage. For details phone
Alan on 08454 581 805.
Worth hearing! The 21st
Century Permaculture Show
on www.Shoreditchradio.
co.uk If you dont manage
to catch it, fortnightly on
Sundays 8pm, you can listen
to as a Podcast on www.
CloudMix.com/21stCentury
Permaculture
US Permaculture Convergence,
Temecula California, 13 -14
March 2014, with Joel Salatin.
www.permaculturevoices.com
The Real Bread Campaign
launches Sourdough September, Britains first national
celebration of wild yeast.
www.realbreadcampaign.org
We are sad to hear of the
passing of three permaculture people who have
helped so many others.
Maryse Anand Verkaik who
set up the Cludees project
in Scotland, Richard Clare
who started the Sheffield
Organic Food Initiative and
the Permaculture Association Isle of Mans membership secretary Val Garland,
we will miss you.

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Mans place on/within the planet?

A meeting in Bhutan between
an international working group
and the Alliance for Sustainability
& Prosperity (ASAP: www.asap
4all.org) who explore ways for
us to create a sustainable future,
has led to a New Development
Paradigm (NDP) being presented
to the UN.
The Gross National Happiness
(GNH) policy is based on a
combination of old wisdom and
new thinking, which defines the
happiness of the people within
the integrity of nature as Bhutans
central principle, as opposed to
that of money (GDP).
The NDPs framework aims
to provide an alternative to the
money-focussed economies of
the world, while bringing back
our planets wellbeing. With
rising unemployment, the
ongoing financial crises and an
escalating loss of biodiversity
they argue it is clear that the
current system is not working.
The NDP is made up of five
main elements; well being and
happiness, ecological sustainability, equitable society, sustainable economy and living and
inclusive communities.
The ASAP is inviting global
participation and need examples
of what already works, to help
lift people out of poverty and
help solve the environmental
challenges facing us. For full
story: www.permaculture.co.
uk/articles/sustainableapproach-worlds-economiescentralise -happiness-andwell-being

Association Survey
The Permaculture Association
are hoping to gain insight into
how PMs readership perceive
their work. If you are able to
spare five minutes to answer
this short questionnaire, they
would be most grateful: www.
sur veymonkey.com/s/
PermacultureAssociationSurvey

No. 77

Permaculture has made it to

the Top 10 of the most voted for
companies in the annual PEAples Favourite Award.
The awards will take place in
London this Autumn and are
hosted by My Green Directory.
They invite you to vote for your
favourite Green SME which you
think delivers the best environmental practice and products.
All we can ask, is for as many
votes from PM readers as possible
... it is a chance to further raise
permacultures profile.
The last voting round is a
Twitter Voting Poll, which is
using hashtags to count the
votes (these get added to the
previous voting rounds).
The tweet you need to send is:
Our Top 10 PEA-ples Favourite is

#permaculturemagazine they
get our vote to win the 2013
@mygreendir#peaplesfavourite
award
All retweets accepted only
one vote per twitter account.
All entries are free and must
be received before midnight
24th September 2013.
For further information on
the awards please visit: www.
peaawards.co.uk and to see the
other finalists (who are all lovely
but please do vote for us!) please
visit: www.mygreendirectory.
info (vote tab).

The Changing Face Of Green Universities

Winning MMU student John Hindley

Greeniversity students share skills

q 143 UK universities, more than

ever before, participated in the
People & Planets Green League
2013. Each university is awarded
a degree-style classification based
on its environmental management and performance.
Manchester Metropolitan
University came out top this
year. Members of their Urban
Gardening Society, with the
help of a grant from the university, made many changes, including encouraging both staff
and students to use previously
neglected spaces and ensuring
that their raised beds are also
wheelchair accessible.
The awards are the only
independent league table to
the environmental and ethical
performance of UK universities
and are credited with presenting
climate change agenda to every
Vice-Chancellor in the UK.
Plymouth University came
second and Gloucestershire third.
The full results can be viewed
here: http://peopleandplanet.
org/greenleague

q A sustainable skills share

scheme, Greeniversity, has been
launched by groups in more
than 25 cities and towns across
the UK.
Originally started in 2010 in
Peterborough, the city aiming
to create the UKs Environment
Capital, Greeniversity now has
groups in Bristol, Cardiff, and
Birmingham.
Greeniversity helps people
to share and learn new skills.
Teachers are ordinary people
who volunteer their time to host
a class on their chosen hobby,
be it permaculture, woodwork,
growing food, foraging, knitting
or bike maintenance, etc.
Often forgotten skills are
becoming important during
times of economic austerity.
They also help improve peoples
health, sense of belonging and
reduce environmental impact.
Greeniversity classes are
promoted online where people
can sign-up to take a free class.
For further details please see:
www.greeniversity.org.uk
www.permaculture.co.uk

Rewilding
Children
Charlotte Dean explains how
tackling nature deficit
disorder in young children
helps them to develop
empathy and ethics

Investigating the structure

of a birds nest
Photos Manley Park Primary

uring 2012, The Brilliant Seeds project delivered a year-long outdoor learning pilot programme with
Manley Park Primary School in Manchester. We used permaculture principles and design tools to propose,
design and deliver activities, and explicitly aimed to tackle nature deficit. We observed how regular
proximity to the living world, with opportunities to observe, explore and make, led to many of the inner city
youngsters becoming observably more connected, ethical and creative in relation to nature resonating with
the ethos and methodology of permaculture design.
Permaculture teaches us that the first step in effective ecological design is to observe the territory. Only when we
have taken a good long look at the lie of the land, considering whether its energy flows are harnessed as abundantly
and efficiently as in nature, can we begin to interact with it to design and implement for the better. Into our awareness
of how we sensually relate to the world swims the slippery fish of individual perception. How we observe our
surroundings is highly personal, and also site and moment specific in other words as diverse as nature herself.
We encouraged eight year-old pupils (Year 3) to use all their senses to immerse themselves in the school grounds.
We taught them to fox walk to sneak up on other creatures and become more aware of their own presence. We
aimed for them to broaden and deepen their perceptions of what is at play in the living world, and encouraged both
personal and collective responses. Pupils gathered materials on a journey stick to write about in class and recorded
sounds to create an outdoor orchestral piece. Each group performance contained sounds specific to the time of day
plus constants such as engine sounds from the busy
nearby road. The following week Jasmine, 8, told us:
I was listening to different birds on the
way to the shops with my Mum, one
sounded different to another one.
Richard Louvs 2005 call to arms, Last Child in
the Woods, talks of the know-it-all state of
mind that access to pervasive media technology
cultivates in children, as oppose to the wonder
and awe provoked by visceral encounters with
open-ended, infinitely variable real life. He discusses
how replacing primary experiences and personal
connections with standardised ones leads to an
atrophying of touch, smell, attentiveness to
Exploring the different textures and
detail and subtlety of perception, with disastrous
results for childrens social, ethical, mental and
smells of living tree barks
physical development and attunement.

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Education
Growing Resilience
In the spring, pupils made the acquaintance of a tree:
touching bark with eyes closed, smelling trunks, guessing
how long roots extended. For weeks afterward, a few
children ran eagerly to sing to their adopted trees during
playtimes. Collecting twigs, nuts and bark to use in
sculptures; pupils became absorbed in textures, colours and
tiny patterns. A week later one boy reported collecting the
same bark on his walk to school. Year 3s went nest hunting
and were invited to pay careful attention to the kinds of
places and materials birds prefer as homes, and why, before
groups designed and constructed nests of their own.
Children expressed awe and respect for birds, weaving the
delicate materials together was no mean feat with ten
fingers. They revelled in getting dirty fingers squelching
into mud to glue feathers and
moss, despite earlier squeamishness about dirt. The teaching
assistant observed growing
delight in taking risks and
enjoying challenges a
growing resilience as she
put it.
As the year progressed,
we listened as pupils
Line drawings Jane Bottomley
squealed grasping nettle leaves and soothed the
stings with plantain. We heard them complain about the smell of fox musk and
enjoy the bright colours of the latest flush of fungi on the log seats. They
picked wild garlic leaves for teachers and furtively enjoyed the sweetness of
foraged strawberries. Children also generated questions during explorations and
discussions: Do fungi have feelings? After a while they began to notice
natural patterns repeating at different scales a whirlpool in a map book, snail
shells, the story spiral in the edible garden.
Cultivating Ethics
The ethics of earth care, people care and living within our means lie at the
heart of the permacultural rationale, reminding us to re-situate ourselves
within the interdependent webs of our local ecosystems. As we have seen,
pupils increasing sensory awareness encouraged enquiry about habitats and
their own place within them. Sitting in the village circle space that they
helped build, the children were invited to pass around a bean seed and
consider its weight and texture. First one, and then more, began to hold the
seed to their ears, exclaiming:
Its saying something!
Whats it saying?
The seed says, Plant me soon!
The seed says, Dont squish me!
As a sense of connection, enchantment and
playfulness became palpable in the orchard
and woodland, earth care became
instinctive. Pupils tied up wishes for
planted seeds and some boys were heard
singing the tree song to nurture their
newly planted berry bushes. After learning
about the special qualities of soil
superheroes, pupils began to move worms,
millipedes and spiders out of harms way
instead of screaming in horror. Through
A first look at the fruits they had grown
providing both structured activities that
encouraged connection and new skills,
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Education
plus unstructured time for playful
responses, childrens empathy and
enjoyment of their non-human
playmates and habitats increased.
A talking stick activity helped
involve everyone in generating
solutions to a community problem
how to protect seedlings from
careless lunchtime feet? The talking
stick is used by people rejuvenating
Native American traditions across
the UK and beyond, in a worldview
that emphasises peace and
interconnection and that places
people firmly back within the
natural order of things the
Medicine Wheel of Life. Children
were invited to listen to the truth of
nd materials
their heart before speaking in turn,
Winter sculpture made from fou
and to actively listen from their
hearts, rather than be quiet as
others spoke.
Afterwards teaching assistants noted how engrossed was a group containing a number of typically
disengaged children. Through generating ideas and solutions and acting as stewards of the natural landscape,
pupils began to learn to balance the needs of natural ecosystems with the needs of people, and to consider
everyones testimony equally.
In summer we worked with Year 6s to complement cross-curricular
growing and pollination themes. Pupils linked clearing an area for new
pollinator beds to their class discussions about whether real bees should
be replaced by mechanical ones. They felt proud to be actively responding
to a global problem increasingly covered by the media: the scary decline
of pollinator populations. Through planting bee and butterfly friendly
plants, and using
organic gardening
techniques instead
of weed-killer,
children learned
Coming to terms with
to minimise harm
to the other
creepy crawlies
species that
humans depend
on. I was scared of bees til this
morning Miss; now Im not! said one as we counted bees
in the raspberry patch in the sunshine.
Circular & Perennial Nature
The pilot outdoor programme helped children appreciate
circular energy flows, for instance in using their own
abundant energy to capture and store leaves. These
became food for worms and other creatures,
generated mulch for future planting and provided wild
classrooms for studying materials, decay and
microorganisms. Shovelling compost ordered in for the
first years planting, Year 5s began to understand the
circular and perennial aspects of nature and why it
would be the only batch we would ever need to
import: Oh Miss, wow! That is such a good idea, Miss,
whose idea was that?!
Permaculture teaches us to design our solutions;
that potential yield is only limited by the imagination of
the designer. Year 5 were reading Michael Morpurgos
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Education
book, Kensukes Kingdom, in class so we used it to
encourage design-based self-reliance. The orchard became
the storys desert island where children explored the
resources available for fashioning tools, gathering water
and making food and shelter. Ideas included feathers and
raspberries for pens, catching water off trees, making
nettle soup and plantain salad and building dens from
twigs and nettle twine. We discussed the ethics of killing
squirrels and the concept of microclimate identifying
warmer spots like the old brick wall and the steaming
compost heap. Pupils told us about Miswak, a tree in
Pakistan whose twigs are used as toothpaste.
What We Learnt
Learning outdoors invited childrens participation, awe
and often a wild energy and creativity that can often
be stifled by classroom-based learning. The sensory and
kinesthetic aspects of outdoor learning brought their own
perceptual shifts and creative, pupil-led responses.
Creativity lies at the heart of self-sustaining systems of
all kinds, from developing neural pathways to healthy
learning models and ecosystems. Encouraging creativity
frees up childrens natural ability to solve the problems
presented to them using the resources to hand. But we
also obser ved how childrens increasingly direct and
playful experience of nature led to a growing ethics
of empathy, connection and mutual care. Without this
renewed sense of ethics within education, the dire need for humanity to live more sustainably and
harmoniously with the rest of the biosphere will remain an unmet one,
no matter how creative the learning is
Charlotte Dean and Nicki Dupuy from The Brilliant Seeds Project work
with Manley Park Primary School in Manchester.
Recommended Reading
Outdoor Classrooms - a handbook for school gardens, by Carolyn
Nuttal and Janet Millington, price 16.95, is available from
www.green-shopping.co.uk

Part of the school garden and meeting space the pupils helped to create

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big
dream ur
Kids eed yo
We n reams!
d

Welcome
to the first
Permaculture
Kids Zone page!

Permaculture
Kids Zone
Introducing The Editor

Elowen Waters
editor

This is our page, not my page, so please

send in photos/news/letters/drawings,
and/or your puzzle solution to the email
below. Lets make these pages super-abundant!
Please send your material to:

elowen@pentiddy.co.uk

I am 11 years old and I live at

Pentiddy Woods in Cornwall, where
I am community educated with my
nine year old brother, Adeon. It is
not just Mum and Dad who teach
us but lots of people in our local
community who have skills to share.
I particularly love learning the violin,
singing and reading. I help my Mum
run a forest school here twice a
month for families who want to
raise their children more naturally.
We enjoy trying to live as sustainably
as we can and live off-grid with a wind
generator, solar panels, and compost
toilet. We grow our own food including
eggs and meat, plant trees and
manage the woodland. Mum and Dad
also run a natural burial site.
Ed

Please do try this at home!

Heres a great idea that I personally love!
A tasty snack that is fun to prepare. First
you have to make the popcorn maker. Attach
a metal sieve (without plastic handle) to a
long, strong stick using garden wire. Hinge a
second sieve to the first again with wire.
Make a fire and reduce to embers. Sprinkle a layer of popcorn in the bottom
sieve, close the lid and hold over the embers. After a few minutes they will
start to pop. Shake the sieve carefully until popping has stopped. Empty
into a bowl. Now heat some butter and honey in a pan and boil for a
couple of minutes. Pour over the popcorn, stir well and enjoy.

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LETTER: Sweet Treats

I was sitting in the garden in the

sun with my Mum and my little
brother. We were playing a game of
making sweets from the garden.
Our favourite three were:
Sweet Cicely: The green seeds had lots
of flavour aniseed and sweet. The
flowers were soft, sweet and delicious too.
Chocolate Mint leaves: A bit like mint ice
cream cool and minty.
Fennel leaves: Aniseed and sweet, but not quite as
sweet as Sweet Cicely.
We had fun making garden sweets. Try getting some
for yourself!
Eva, aged 6

Super-abundance!

Thank you for your letter, Eva.

Have you tried fennel fronds wrapped
in rose petals? My favourite! Ed.

Its harvest time! Send in a photo of your superabundance with a chance to get your photo
and story in the next issue! Heres a picture of
our cucumber overload back when Mum didnt
realise that six cucumber plants was a bit much
for a family of four! Wherever we went we
took a basket of cucumbers with us and handed
them out to complete strangers! We decided to
only put two plants in this year!

Funding for Youth Projects!

ALL THINGS GREEN WORD SEARCH

There are 14 green words hidden in the grid below.
Can you find them all? Answers in the next issue.
B

X M

Y W K

Q O D

O W

M Q O

H W P

W A

C W

Q M H

R M A

W O

W O

R W N

Z W W Q

As part of the Permaculture

Associations 30th anniversary
this year they are hoping to raise
30,000 from members and supporters to provide funds (grants
of between 500-2,000) for
new projects/events led by young
people in 2014. The plan is to
have an event later next year
to bring everyone involved together to share what they did
and think about what they want
to do next. This is brilliant news!
It would be great to report on
this in future issues. If you have
any ideas for projects contact:
andyg@permaculture.org.uk

www.permaculture.co.uk

Next Issue

Music review,
wacky fashion,
competitions, your
letters and
much more!

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ecological
farming

Patrick Whitefield visits Rebecca Hosking and Tim Greens

Devon farm which is being designed to work like a natural ecosystem

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Farming and Smallholding

We question all received wisdom in farming, said Rebecca
Hosking as she and Tim Green showed me round their
Devon farm this spring. They had only taken the land over
from her father the previous autumn, so in many ways it
looked much the same as it did before, but theyre very
clear about the direction they want it to take and have
already started down that path.
Mob Grazing
They practise holistic grazing management, or mob grazing as
its also called. The key is to keep the animals in a tight mob
on a small piece of ground for a short time, typically one day,
and then move them on. This means the pasture can be
managed with much more precision and constantly increase
in quality. When animals have access to a large area they eat the
most nutritious plants and leave the rough, unpalatable ones
which have little food value. This leads to a steady decrease
in the quality of the pasture. But when theyre concentrated
on a small area for a short time they eat everything equally.
Meanwhile they give it an even dressing of manure and when
theyre moved on it can start regrowing immediately.
Their first aim is to get the sheep grazing on longer
grass rather than the short sward that they inherited from
the previous management system. Longer grass means
deeper roots, which means more organic matter added to
the soil and more mineral nutrients brought up from the
subsoil. It will also mean that the sheep eat some of the
grass and trample some into the soil. By adjusting the size
of the daily paddocks, Rebecca and Tim can decide what
proportion of the grass feeds the sheep and what proportion
feeds the soil.
Trampling in grass is an anathema to conventional
farmers but its a key element in the holistic system. Its a
natural, home-grown source of soil fertility and it also helps
to form a mat of fibrous material at the soil surface. This
will keep the sheeps feet off the soil, preventing lameness

and enabling them to be kept outside all year round without

damage to the soil.
Electric fences are used to keep the animals on their small
daily allotment of land. At first sight this looks unnatural but
actually its much closer to the way wild herbivores graze
than the normal practice of set stocking, where the sheep
or cattle have access to a whole field over several days or
weeks. A wild herd is kept bunched up by predators which
range around and snap up any individual which strays. The
electric fences are taking the role in the ecosystem formerly
played by wolves.
Holistic grazing management has been developed by
Allan Savory, from Zimbabwe, and has been put into
practice by many North American farmers, though here in
Europe its still little known.1 Rebecca and Tim are among
a tiny band of pioneers trying it out.

Tim Green discusses electric fences with Patrick Whitefield.

Previous page: Sheep in metre high pasture.

The pastures are now diverse with species.

Top: Rebecca Hosking inspects a high grown pasture.

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Farming and Smallholding

dont give the sheep any chemical wormers. Nor do they
vaccinate them or treat lameness they leave it to the natural
immune system. There is some lameness in their flock at the
moment but theyre convinced it will disappear as that fibrous
layer of plant material builds up at the soil surface and keeps
their feet out of the mud.
Nor do they assist lambing. Several lambs were born
while I was there and they all popped out quite easily. How
unlike all this sounds to conventional sheep farming!

Healthy Animals
Why on earth did you choose Shetland sheep? a neighbour
asked them. What are you breeding for, meat? Were
breeding for health, Rebecca replied. Shetland are a
naturally short-tailed breed, originating from the wild sheep
of northern Europe, rather than from the Middle East,
where the more commercial breeds are from. The ram is
Icelandic, another short-tailed breed. Although you may
see plenty of short-tailed sheep in the countryside, these
have had their tails docked at birth just the kind of
intervention that Tim and Rebecca are moving away from.
Breeding is one element of animal health and the grazing
method itself is another. Because the animals are moved on each
day theyre always grazing on clean ground, never where theyve
recently dunged. Sheep suffer a lot from intestinal worms and
this is a natural way of preventing infection. So Tim and Rebecca

Agroforestry
The electric fences mean that its easy to plant trees in the
middle of the fields without having to protect them
individually from the grazing animals. Wherever the sheep
are the trees can always be on the other side of a fence.
Over the past winter theyve planted a network of mainly
fruit trees, kindly donated by Martin Crawford of the
Agroforestry Research Trust,2 over part of the farm.
They also plan to plant fodder trees to provide the
animals with part of their diet. This mixing of tree crops
and pasture can be much more productive than either one
on its own. Competition between plants of different shapes,
sizes and annual cycles is less than between plants which
are all the same, as they are in a pure pasture. There are
some positive interactions too, such as fertility brought up
from below ground by the tree roots and shared with the
grass sward when the leaves fall. Where conventional
farmers would see trees planted in pasture as production
forgone, Tim and Rebecca see it as production increased.
They make no hay or silage. Winter feed comes in the
form of foggage. This is grass which has grown in summer
and been allowed to dry in situ. The only feed they bring
in is just enough sheep nuts to train the ewes to follow a
bucket. This makes it easy to move them, even down a
public road with lots of junctions, which otherwise would
need several people to block off the turnings.

Dung and other beetles have made a welcome return

since the farm switched to ecological managment.

Minimal intervention at lambing the only thing we

do is pick them up to sex them.

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Farming and Smallholding

Increasing Diversity
This year they plan to introduce goats and pigs. Apparently
the Large Black breed can thrive on a diet of herbage alone,
though it does mean they grow much more slowly. Theyre
also thinking about turkeys, and they plan for cattle the
year after next. They will also increase the diversity of the
fields by sowing extra grasses, clovers and herbs. The trick
is to sow them in the paddock where the animals will be
the next day, then they get trodden in.
In the first two years profitability builds gradually,
said Tim, as youre feeding the soil more than the
animals. Then, after year three or four the golden acres
effect really takes off and most farmers have found that
as this happens they can increase the stocking rate by two
to three times.
One thing that impressed me was the enthusiasm and
imagination that Rebecca and Tim bring to the task of turning
farming wisdom on its head. Another was their humility
in the face of the complexity of nature. They quoted Allan
Savory, the originator of the system: When youre dealing
with ecosystems, always assume youre wrong.
Pastures New?
Since Patrick visited Tim and Rebecca, they have decided
to look for another plot.After three years of tempered
changes to our farms management we are now seeing
the benefits to ecology and productivity beginning to
take off. Unfortunately, just when the successes are
beginning to snowball, we have found we have reached
the limits of what my family are willing to allow to take
place on this piece of land. says Rebecca. They are
therefore looking for a plot of land of between 100 and
300 acres. Not prime farming land more the opposite
perhaps spent arable or pasture. Hopefully within a
few years it will look quite beautiful, be full of biodiversity,
teeming with wildlife, and be productive quite unlike

normal open farmland. If you can help please contact:

wolftreefarmuk@gmail.com
In 2009, Rebecca Hosking, a farmers daughter, and Tim Green,
a biologist, made a film, A Farm for a Future. The film dealt
with food security in the UK and explored new ecological
farming methods including those that are independent of fossil
fuel, to increase food production. Both Tim and Rebecca worked
for the BBC Natural History Unit producing wildlife films.
Patrick Whitefield teaches permaculture courses, of interest
to both farmers and gardeners. You can see details of his
courses, both residential and online, at:
http://patrickwhitefield.co.uk
References
1 http://tiny.cc/allan_savory
2 www.agroforestry.co.uk

A natural birth of twin lambs that happened during Patricks visit.

Top: Forage flattened and dunged by sheep helps to feed the soil.

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No. 77

www.permaculture.co.uk

Garden Remedies
Pyrethrum

Comfrey

Horsetail

Soapwort
Chamomile

Plant pictures Shutterstock

Tansy

Lavender
Nettle

No dig gardener, Stephanie Hafferty, explains how to make

a variety of garden preparations to feed plants, prevent and
treat disease, and deter unwanted insects and other animals

am an organic no dig
kitchen gardener,
working in harmony
with nature to create ideal
growing conditions for a
wide range of vegetables,
herbs and other edible
plants. The key to growing
vibrant, healthy and
delicious plants that are
more resistant to disease,
pests and adverse weather
conditions is the soil.
www.permaculture.co.uk

An annual dressing of an
inch or two of well rotted
compost spread on the
undug, weed-free beds
creates a well structured,
energised soil full of
beneficial flora, fauna and
fungi. The mulch feeds the
plants, conserves moisture
and also provides a habitat
for many beneficial and
predatory creatures, such
as black beetles. Timings

are an important consideration: many plants become

sickly and prone to disease
simply because they have
been sown at the wrong
time, when the conditions
are not right for that plant
(runner beans put out before
the threat of frost is ended,
for example). For undercover
crops, consider watering,
ventilation and basic
hygiene; if you have piles

of junk hanging about then

the risk of slug and woodlice
damage will be high.
Good gardening and
encouraging beneficial
predators usually gives great
results, but sometimes
problems occur, perhaps
because weather conditions
make some pests and
diseases more prevalent.
Fortunately, nature has
provided us with plants
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Gardening and Cultivation

which can help boost plants
resilience, deter or remove
unwanted insects.
Growing and foraging
for the ingredients and
making your own remedies
is an empowering skill and
great fun too. Even though
they are made from natural
ingredients, only apply
insecticide sprays early in
the morning or later in the
day in order to prevent
bees and other beneficial
insects from being harmed,
and check your plants first
for helpful predators, such
as ladybird larvae. If possible,
use rain or spring water to
make these potions.

Dried Horsetail
Plant of the Dinosaurs
Although it is a nightmare
in the garden, I love
foraging for horsetail
(marestail, Equisetum
arvense). A beautiful,
highly invasive and
incredibly resilient plant,
it is extremely beneficial.
With roots growing up
to 10 feet into the earth
and a history of survival
stretching back over
millions of years to the
time of the dinosaurs,
horsetail is extremely
difficult to eradicate. I am
trying various mulching
and trowelling methods to
do so from a polytunnel
where I work, feeling
hopeful for good results. I
therefore never have living
plants in my own garden
and dispose of any roots
with caution.
I gather basketsful
throughout the growing
season to make potions for
the garden and my home
(it is great for cleaning),
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permaculture

hanging bunches to dry in

paper bags in an airy place
for a few weeks. Horsetail
becomes brittle when dry
and easily crumbles, so may
disintegrate if not dried in
paper bags.
Horsetail is a powerful
plant, rich in minerals,
alkaloids and silica, used
in some biodynamic
preparations as well as
extensively in herbal
remedies. A natural
fungicide, horsetail tea
is used to treat fungal
problems including
powdery mildew and
black spot and makes a
magnesium rich spray which
can be applied directly to
plants and as a soil feed.
The spray helps to prevent
damping off and rust; treat
mildew on roses; treat peach
tree leaf curl; can be used as
a root dip; and is an effective,
purifying cleaner for greenhouses and cold frames.
Horsetail & Chamomile Teas
To make the tea, take one
cup of fresh horsetail ( cup
of dried), add three cups of
water and boil for five
minutes. Remove from the
heat and cool, still covered,
for six hours. Strain, dilute
one part horsetail solution
to five parts water, and pour
into a clean spray bottle
before use. Spray every two
weeks. You can also spray
as a preventative measure,
should it seem likely that
problems may occur due to

No. 77

The author making a Horsetail solution

weather conditions.
Ventilation is the best
preventative for damping
off, however if it does occur
sprinkle cinnamon powder
over the affected area or
make some chamomile tea
spray (Anthemis nobillis or
Matricaria chamomilla).
Add a handful of flowers
to three cups of hot water
and steep for two hours,
strain and pour into a spray
bottle. An organic chamomile
teabag in a mug of hot water
will be fine too.

Dried Chamomile flowers for infusing

Moth Repellant
Pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum
cinerariifolium) flowers
make one of the safest and
most potent insecticides
for repelling moths, flies,
ants and most flying pests.
For pyrethrum spray, mix
one tablespoon of flower
heads with one litre of hot
water, cover and steep for
24 hours. Strain and pour
into a spray bottle.
Insect Repellents
Garlic spray acts as a
fungicide and insect
repellent. It is especially
good for removing
caterpillars from brassicas.
To make a gallon of garlic
potion, either finely chop
a whole bulb of garlic and
mix with two cups of
water or whizz them
together in a blender. Pour
into a large jar and leave
for two days, shaking
occasionally. Strain into a
bucket or similar large
container and mix with
www.permaculture.co.uk

Gardening and Cultivation

Garlic
seven pints of water and
one of soapwort solution
to help it stick to the leaves
(see recipe at the end of
the article). Mix well and
apply using a spray bottle.
Treat affected plants once
a week.
Chilli and garlic insect
spray is a more potent
insecticide. Always wear
eye protection and consider those around you,
including animals, before
applying. Chilli is
extremely painful if
sprayed in the eyes or
inhaled. Any chillies are
fine for this. Whizz four
chillies, four garlic cloves
and half a cup of water in
a blender or chop by hand
and mix. Leave for two
days, strain, then add
cup vegan eco-friendly
washing up liquid (or one
cup soapwort solution)
and mix. To use, add
cup of garlic and chilli
liquid to one gallon of
water more concentrated
solutions could damage
the plants, so dont get

over enthusiastic.
Chillies discourage
mice, squirrels and rats
from eating pea, squash
and other seeds either
in the greenhouse or
garden by chopping and
sprinkling fresh or dried
chillies around the seed
trays. Dried crushed
tansy leaves (Tanacetum
vulgare) repels ants, fleas
and flies. Southernwood
and wormwood used in
the same way deters
slugs, flies and (allegedly!)
also snakes.
Pot marigold
(Calendula officinalis)

Dried Chillis
spray repels leaf cutting
and chewing insects. I
grow a lot of calendula; it
is a brilliant companion
plant, the petals are lovely
in a salad and you can
make many valuable
potions for your garden
and body from the flowers.
Dry the petals for the
winter in those stacking
blue mushroom crates

one sees at greengrocers,

lined with kitchen roll or
muslin. To make the spray,
mash one cup of calendula
leaves ( cup dried) in
litre of hot water. Cover
and leave for 24 hours.
Strain into a large container and dilute with 1.5
litres of water. This keeps
for about a week.

Compost teas
I forage for a lot of nettles
and comfrey throughout
the growing season (they
dry well for winter use
too). Although I rarely
feed plants which are
planted into the soil (the
annual dressing of well
rotted compost does
this), for potted plants
homemade liquid feed is
a potent food. I used to
make a liquid feed in a
dustbin with water, very
effective but so smelly.
Charles Dowding has
encouraged me to try this
method, however, as it
produces a powerful but
less overpowering liquid
feed: gather nettles or
comfrey (or a mixture
of both) and fill a large
plant pot with the leaves,
pressing down firmly.

Mammal deterrents
To deter cats, mice and
rats, make some gorgeous
mint spray. Just steep a
large handful of finely
chopped mint (any variety)
in a litre of hot water.
Leave for 24 hours,
strain and pour into a
spray bottle. Use pennyroyal in the same way to
deter ants (dangerous for
pregnant women).

Comfrey liquid maker

Comfrey

Place on top of a bucket

and cover. After a few
weeks, a thick potent
liquid will drip down. Mix
with water at a ratio of
one part liquid to 10 parts
water. I like to make liquid
feeds at the new moon, to
harness the lunar energy,
feeding the plants during
the waning moon.

Preparing garlic for blending, it makes a good fungicide and insect repellent
www.permaculture.co.uk

Making Soapwort
Solution
I grow soapwort (Saponaria
officinalis) in a large clump
in my garden, in a corner
where its invasive nature
will not affect anything else
alternatively, grow in pots.
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Gardening and Cultivation

Rock Soapwort
Soapwort contains saponins,
which create a soapiness
that has been used for
cleaning for centuries.
All of the plant can be
used, including the flowers
which make a colourful
addition to salad (but do
not eat any other part of
the plant, it is poisonous).
During the spring and
summer I harvest the
leaves and stems, digging
up some of the roots in the

54

permaculture

autumn. Leaves, stems and

roots can all be chopped
and dried for use in winter
or early spring, before the
new lush foliage appears.
To make a soapwort
solution, chop two handfuls of fresh leaves and
stems (or one handful of
dried) and add to three
cups of water, with some
rose petals, chamomile
or lavender if desired.
Simmer for 30 minutes,
strain and store in a sealed
container for up to a week.
Alternatively, chop
two handfuls of fresh
root, or one handful of
dried root (it is better to
chop it before drying)
and add to three cups of
water. Soak overnight,
boil for 30 minutes,
strain and store. Again,
this keeps for a week.
Josh (see photograph
bottom of page 53) uses
soapwort solution to wash
his dreadlocks!

No. 77

Stephanie Hafferty works

as an organic no dig
gardener in Somerset,
specialising in edible plants
and those which can be
used to make natural
potions for the body,
garden and home. She
manages a kitchen garden
on a private estate, has a
highly productive domestic
garden and allotment and
is also helping Charles
Dowding set up his new
garden at Homeacres,

where they run courses.

Stephanie writes for
gardening magazines,
contributed to Mark
Boyles Moneyless
Manifesto, creates pop
up festival gardens, give
talks and workshops and
is currently working on
two books.
For more information
about Stephanies talks
and workshops see:
www.StephanieHafferty.co.uk

Common Soapwort roots and leaves

www.permaculture.co.uk

Photos Lilia Zandpour

a ray of light in

South Africa
Lili Zandpour explains how permaculture
has become a powerful tool to uplift communities,
combat malnutrition and disease, and facilitate self-reliance
www.permaculture.co.uk

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