I enjoy experimenting with food, it’s true = but I have to admit to being a bit dubious…and quite scared of starting to culture things. My 20161001_071524previous experience of culturing was a sourdough which went very well for a few weeks and then subsequently died when I had to go away for a while. But…
We had a gorgeous hour and a half in THE Hungry Spirit garden with 7 children aged 2-9 on 24th September for our Kids In THE Garden Workshop. Together we enjoyed learning about worms, picking cabbages and mulberries (their red fingers and lips gave the sneaky picking away!), digging in the dirt, planting seeds, transplanting seedlings and…
Permaculture Practical Design Course – In A Semi-Arid Environment 15th – 19th September 2016 A series of 1 day workshops held over a 5 day course that will change the way you look at farming, food production and the world around you. The aim of these workshops (course) is to provide farmers, backyard gardeners and individuals living…
We LOVE it when it rains; the sound, the smell and what it does for our garden! We are coming off the back of a serious dry spell and so when we heard rain was coming early in January, we thought it was a good time to start a bit of experimental earthworks to try…
When we are focusing on our own backyards it is easy to forget that there is a zone 4 (permaculture concept) out there that is full of abundance if you are willing to look for it – even in a semi arid zone. We are always looking for ‘free food’ beyond our borders. This week Michael found…
As part of THE Hungry Spirit Masterplan we will be creating a Food Forrest on site, to show how we can create a productive, edible landscape in a semi-arid environment. We are planning to host a workshop on this later in the year. They have been applying the principles of the Food Forrest in the middle…
We celebrated an incredibly delicious winters weekend after rain in Lightning Ridge (dam was FULL) at the Grow Your Life – Introduction to Permaculture. With 17 students from across the Murdi Paaki region; including people from Dubbo, Tooraweenah and Gilgandra, Coonamble, Brewarrina and Walgett as well as a couple of Lightning Ridge locals, we had…
We aren’t Africa, in western NSW, that’s obvious, but many of the challenges we face could be argued to be similar. Hunger is not from lack of food, but from the wrong kind. Land degradation is from over farming and ill considered land use. Drought is consistent and I think is a reaping of what…
With the conversation in western NSW constantly turning to drought, The Hungry Spirit Centre for Semi-Arid Sustainability at Lightning Ridge is attempting a new strategy – re-inspiring food producers through permaculture. The Centre has engaged the services of world-leading expert, Nick Huggins, to travel to Lightning Ridge on 27/28 June to host a 2 day…