Permaculture

A new Retreat style venue and productive farm is being created in Doonan, up near Noosa. Robin has been invited to create a ‘Kitchen Garden’ Plan to be implemented in 2025 and to offer an ‘Introduction to Permaculture Design’ on Sunday 28th April. Here’s the link for more info and to book

The scheduled March 2024 PDC (Permaculture Design Certificate Course) was postponed till August to make the most of time, resources and numbers of interested people, which included three people from overseas countries. The PDC last August was fantastic and enjoyed by all and this coming August PDC, from 11th to 25th August is promising to be a fantastic learning experience. The course is a fund raiser for Crystal Waters Community Cooperative with all organisers, presenters, cooks and support people being paid reasonably for their time and efforts, and all surplus going to the Co Op. The main Presenters and Facilitators of learning are Robin Clayfield, Annaliese Hordern, Max Lingdigger and Jessica Steele with guest appearances from several other skilled and passionate people. Robin and Max are Permaculture pioneers and acknowledged Elders of the Permaculture Movement with decades of experience teaching, presenting and facilitating Permaculture and related topics. Max was the …

Robin’s ‘The Vision Tree Planning and Design Framework’ which will be a whole chapter in her upcoming book ‘Dynamic Teaching and Facilitation’ will most likely be featured as an article in the UK ‘Permaculture Magazine’ sometime through the middle of this year. Delvin Solkinson from Canada and ‘Visionary Permaculture’ encouraged the article and drafted the first version and after slight edits from Robin and a Yes from the magazine editors and publishers, it’s ready to go. A wonderful tree illustration for the book chapter has been created by the very talented Permaculture artist and illustrator Brenna Quinlan and this will be used in conjunction with the article. ‘The Vision Tree Planning and Design Framework’ gives a map to journey through to plan and design anything, be it a land based design, a project or event, a business plan, a life design or the creation of a new group, organization or …

After a very successful ‘Women’s PDC’, for women and presented by women, in November last year, Annaliese Hordern and the Ground Permaculture crew are putting on another Women’s PDC in October this year. The course last year was in honour of and celebrating that is was 40 years since the first ever PDC, which Robin was a participant in. To support the course robin did seven sessions as a special guest, two of which were tours of Crystal Waters and of her garden. She’ll be a special guest again this October. Here’s the link to look or book

Last year’s ‘Dynamic Groups’ course saw some special guests as participants and everyone enjoyed a fun filled, deep learning and confidence building time together. Robin organized an exciting music event the night after the course to host ‘Formidable Vegetable’ playing two big sets and Jimmy Halliday, who grew up on Crystal Waters, playing with Charlee McGee and Brenna Quinlan to complete the band and also doing his debut with a new style of Looping music. Robin gave a challenge to the ‘Dynamic Groups’ course – to design and plan together an interactive, creative and potentially musical process piece that was 10 minutes long and would involve the whole group and all of the audience. After Jimmy’s set the group rose to the challenge and took to the stage. They had the whole crowd (over 200 people) up and dancing in sync and we saw introverts become extroverts and very professional …

The weather here has not been very supportive of gardening lately. First a very hot dry period towards the end of 2023 where many plants and trees died, then this year has been so wet and humid up here in South East Queensland. The result has been an overgrowth of tenacious grasses and ‘weeds’ that threaten existing trees and take over whole orchards, access paths and large areas of land as well as many large woody herbs and trees overextending themselves to obscure anything around them. Then along comes fantastic Volunteers and WWOOFers (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) who have helped turn a problem into a solutions.Lots of hard work…• Making Hot Compost from the ‘weeds’ and prunings, often chipping them first• Sheet mulching weedy areas by cutting ‘weeds’ and grasses then adding biochar, rock minerals and some nitrogen bombs then covering with soaked cardboard then straw• Placing ‘weeds’ in …