Open Afternoon

Again, we opened our site to visitors for an afternoon in an effort to share Permaculture ideals, ideas, and knowledge. More than 35 adults and about 10 children came along on a very warm Sunday 19th October. We stared by explaining the benefits of compost for soil improvement and that it could be bacterial or fungal dominated:

We moved to the greenhouse and talked about how it will be heated next Winter with a rocket mass heater (that needs to be completed, on rainy days):

Next came some of the areas dug up by the pigs and what we are trying to grow (cover crops, corn, rows of veges, pumpkins, and the like):

Digga and the girls were in the pen for today in case they got freaked out by too many visitors. The worm box is sited next to their pen for easy manure transfer (and watering from chicken house roof tanks):

After talking about pigeons and their function (phosphate manure, self foragers, squab harvest), we went up to the reservoir for a view of the site from a high vantage:

Back down the hill, we talked about food forest preparation and maintenance, raised beds above compacted areas, as well as water storage:

At the end, Carleon explained about LETS (local exchange network) because we combined their monthly market get together with our open afternoon. LETS fits in with the Permaculture principles of People Care and Sharing Surplus:

I could have talked a lot more about some of the other systems and strategies we have in place, but sustenance felt necessary: