Farmer of the Month: Louise Dragsund, Cosy Nook, St Albans.
Louise and husband Len live at Cosy Nook, St Albans, neighbouring the common. They are recent arrivals to the valley and wanted a place like Cosy Nook for quite a while. Since their arrival they have transformed the piece of land into a productive oasis, building a...
Recipe: Homemade sauerkraut
Monica and Martin shared their traditional Polish way of making sauerkraut whilst here and it was delicious! Making sauerkraut is a great way to introduce fermented food into your diet and improve your gut health greatly. Fermented foods are known to have a lot of...
Colors of Nature – Natural Dying Workshop
Work Exchanges
February was a very popular month for work exchange and farm stay guests here at PSI. We have had lots of requests and have more for coming months. One of our most recent guests, Maud, a trainee Agriculturalist, has been a real delight to have working with us here in...
Farmers of the Valley Series – Heath Bailey
Each month PSI profiles a farmer of our valley who is growing food and contributing to the ‘Valley Veg Basket’. This month is Heath Bailey. Farmer of the month profile - Heath Bailey History repeating itself - Heath in blue and his brother Kurt with their large...
The Mandala Garden Project
March saw the commencement of the Mandala Garden Project on our farm. Our seven large mandala gardens clustered around a herb spiral not only looks sensational but also will feel beautiful to work in and be highly efficient and productive. The garden is a commercial...
PSI New Trainer of the month
Phil Ridler is this month’s new PSI teacher. Apart form Permaculture, Phil’s passion is in renewable energy and sustainable living. Even though Phil fairly recently completed a PDC Course in July 2017 with PSI he has vast experience in the area and comes very well...
Farmers of our Valley Series – Ninian Sternbeck
Each month, we will profile the wonderful Farmers of our Valley as a way to inform and honor what they contribute. Over the year, I think you will be surprised about who is growing produce, how much is being produced and how it’s being produced. New, young farmers...
Caretaker Required – long-term residence farm share opportunity
Do you love the country and a permaculture lifestyle? Would you like a change or to take some time out to think and slow down? Would you like to live on a farm submersed in nature for a while, rent free, in exchange for some work? Then read on… maybe this is an...
New PSI Trainer – George Gilmour
George is one of latest trainers here at PSI. George is local here and brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise that will assist future students. George has excellent people and communication skills and is a very fine trainer. He has completed the...
PSI in Pictures
PSI IN PICTURES 2018 marks the end of 7 years since PSI began. We have achieved much in that time but have so much more planned for the future. Take a look below to see how far we have come and where we are headed. Thank you for being part of our journey.
News from our recent Wicking-Pot Garden Workshop
The wicking-pot garden workshop attracted a range of people - locals, a Sydney restaurateur, the local school, and others concerned about water wise low maintenance gardening. Everyone got to make their own systems to walk away with at the end of the day ready...
Another year over and what have we done?
It was the year we celebrated 40 years of permaculture (since permaculture one) and in honour of this we ramped up our delivery of Permaculture whilst continuing our usual activities and services. In a nutshell we: EDUCATION: Delivered extra permaculture...
A Visit from Guangdong Farmers
Organic farmers from Guangdong province of China visited us here at PSI this week to learn about Permaculture and see it in practice here. Most had never heard of Permaculture so the visit was a real eye opener. There were loads of questions and interest about...
From the Aquaponics system – Our trout harvest, what a treat!
Well these are the ones that didn’t get away! And I’m so pleased we now have 12 rainbow trout in the freezer – one for each month of the year! They are great tasting and really good for you too! Here is our neighbour Heath who helped with the harvest. An experienced...
Another group of new beekeepers emerged very happy from the day’s workshop
Here’s what some participants had to say about the workshop Before doing the beekeeping for beginner’s course I had thought a lot about how I could include bees and bee keeping in my everyday life. I had read a lot and interacted with other beekeepers. So not...
Our Spring Permabee
At our last Permabee we constructed a new wicking bed for some Perennial vegetables and espaliered fruit trees. We made the slightly raised garden using small children’s wading pools for the water reservoir, blue metal gravel, wicking material, soil and of...
Ethical Christmas Hampers
Why not consider giving a special xmas hamper this year? We are now preparing different types of hampers including a mixed hamper; a woodlovers hamper and a produce lovers hamper. All the contents have been lovingly sourced and home made from the farm and are...
Introduction to Permaculture Design Course – The 10 module weekend option
If the 5-day course doesn’t suit you then take your time and do it over 3 weekends, over 3 months. It’s the same course content however offered slower which suits those who want to take the time to thoroughly design their garden with course support spaced apart over...
A five-day straight or monthly course? the choice is yours.
Introduction to Permaculture Design Courses The Five-Day Intro course. 15th to 19th September. Bookings are now filling for our upcoming spring 5-Day Introduction to Permaculture Design Course 15th to 19th September. There are still places left if you want to jump in....