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http://www.adelaide.net.au/~brookman/
-- 
Lawrence F. London, Jr.  Venaura Farm
http://metalab.unc.edu/intergarden InterGarden       
http://metalab.unc.edu/permaculture PermaSphere       
http://metalab.unc.edu/intergarden/orgfarm AGINFO
lflondon@mindspring.com  london@metalab.unc.edu
Title: homepage
 
The Food Forest 
      Permaculture Farm   
                 and   
         Learning Centre
 
 The Food Forest is a permaculture farm producing 160 varieties of organically certified food; it is a busy centre for people interested in learning skills for a sustainable way of life through short courses and it is the base for a consultancy service specialising in the design of ecologically sustainable properties.
 
 The Food Forest  

Permaculture  

Short Courses  

Consultancy  

Tours 

Education Service 

Fact Sheets & Info  

Food for Sale  

Energy Efficient Building  
 
 

The Food Forest was originally developed by Annemarie and Graham Brookman and their children Tom and Nikki, to demonstrate how an ordinary family, with a typical Australian income can grow its own food and create a productive and diverse landscape. 
Many people began to help with skills and knowledge handed down from previous generations and others have come up with stunning new ideas rooted in a fusion of modern science and a commitment to sustainability. More than ten of these keen, optimistic people now teach with us in a team which harnesses University and research experience, practical hands-on skills and a passion for the future of our landscape and the Planet. The empowerment of people to understand and work with natural systems is the most exciting part of working at The Food Forest.  
We are committed to the sharing of information through our courses and field days and at this website you will find some of the technical  information that we have learned in 15 years of sustainable gardening, farming and building.  
We welcome information from other sources and we are keen to link sites with other information providers; feel free to link this site to yours or to  suggest it as a research address for students.  
PO Box 859, 
Gawler, SouthAustralia, SA 5118 
ph/fax 08 85 226450  
email   brookman@camtech.net.au  
 
 
  The Food   
    Forest 
 
 
 
    The Food Forest is a remarkable 15 hectare Permaculture Farm. From its buzzing biodiversity come over 160 varieties of fruit and  
    nuts, organically grown wheat and vegetables, free range eggs, honey, carob beans, bush tucker, nursery plants and timber.  
    Fourteen years ago, the property was a bare barley paddock. Only a few towering River Red Gums remained along the Gawler River  
    from the time the Kaurna Aboriginal people camped in their shade and gathered food from the land.  
    Today there are thousands of native plants and endangered wildlife species such as Brush Tailed Bettong help the goose flock and  
    the soft-footed alpacas to manage the orchard floor. Together with thousands of species of insects, birds and other creatures they  
    form the complex and bountiful ecosystem contained within a 1.5km predator proof fence.  
    The homestead was built within the first few years of white settlement of South Australia and much of the fascinating history of the  
    farm can be traced through the stone troughs at which Clydesdale horses drank and implements that once made life easier for the  
    farmers of the day.  
    The farm is complemented by a Learning Centre located in an old stone barn, now outfitted with modern teaching equipment, but the Centre's short courses take advantage of being in the middle of a working property, featuring practicals and field walks. 
    The Centre is serviced by a state-of-the-art composting toilet and reedbed system and other environmentally responsible structures include a straw-bale coolroom, cob oven and a straw-bale indoor/outdoor teaching space.
 
 
 Permaculture 
 
 
          Bill Mollison  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Permaculture is.... 

  • sustainable agriculture
  • alternative energy 
  • ethical investment 
  • organic gardening 
  • whole farm planning 
  • bioregionalism 
  • eco-villages 
  • appropriate technology
  • alternative economics
  • solving problems
and much more! 
 
 
 

 
 Careful placement of trees  
with relationship to each other 
and a recorded planting plan 
pay rich rewards 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
A tyre-pond made from an old  
truck or tractor tyre can  
provide habitat for frogs, 
water chestnuts to eat and a 
beautiful element in your  
garden

    Permaculture  (permanent agriculture) is a framework for thinking about and designing environmentally sustainable farms, gardens buildings and communities. It aims to create systems that will sustain not only for the present, but for future generations.  

     It is based on a philosophy of co-operation with nature and each other, and of taking responsibility for our impact on population and consumption of things which have high environmental costs. 

    Permaculture presents an approach to designing environments which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems and also the productivity of naturally improved plant varieties and technologies from many cultures and countries. 

    It was devised by Bill Mollison (who worked on the land for many years and spent time in both the CSIRO and the University of Tasmania) and David Holmgren (an environmental designer who runs a property and a farm design service in Victoria, Australia). 

    The principles of Permaculture are laid out in the 'Permaculture Designers Manual' and 'An Introduction to Permaculture'. They are based on a combination of modern science and traditional wisdom.  

    Permaculture design is used widely and successfully in the developing world.  
    It encourages the individual to be resourceful and self reliant, and become a conscious part of the solution to the many problems which face us, both locally and globally.  

    A good way to learn more about permaculture is to enroll in  in courses approved by the Permaculture Institute. 
    The Food Forest presents a Permaculture Design Certificate Course each summer and many other short courses on weekends. Details of courses taught elsewhere on the planet are available at the Permaculture International website which is currently being rebuilt (May'99). 

    Permaculture is very much a community based movement and Associations, bioregional groups and collectives operate in each country to support members, share information and resources and to promote permaculture practices.  
    One such organisation is The Permaculture Association of South Australia is a non-profit voluntary resource body which provides information through a regular newsletter, and facilitates courses, seminars and field visits to homes, gardens and farms which demonstrate permaculture. 
    PASA meets monthly. Its website is at: 
    http://www.nor.com.au/environment/perma/ accredited Permaculture Design Certificate Course is taught at The Food Forest each summer. 
    More about Permaculture Priciples and Technologies 
    Processes, principles and technologies used in Permaculture design include: 
    Reading the landscape - Each property falls within a broad landscape which provides a broad set of limits to the capability of the land and suggests the nature and most likely location of potential catastrophic events such as floods, elevation of salty water tables, fire, black frosts etc.  
    Beyond that an individual property is analysed in terms of microclimates, soils, topography, aspect, water, wind, existing vegetation, frost pockets, lime outcrops, access etc to enable detailed planning within the regional land capability limits. Maps, aerial photos and plastic overlays are used.  
    Placement of elements in the design - The intelligent placement of windbreaks, shade trees and biodiversity plantings, particular orchard blocks, packing sheds, animal housing and handling facilities, plantings for the utilization of waste water, the house etc can lead to a smoothly operating, healthy system 
    Energy - A permaculture design is done not just spacially (where things are placed on the ground) but also in terms of energy flow. This will produce a property which minimises the use of outside resources and production of waste 
    Using biological resources - Many functional horticultural operations can be carried out by plants or animals without external inputs….pest management, weed control, fertiliser application, Nitrogen fixation, shade, shelter etc.  
    Multifunctional elements - A dam can provide for fire control, waterbird habitat and a cooling and aesthetically pleasing outlook for the house, a leguminous ground cover controls dust and weeds, fixes Nitrogen, provides grazing and bee forage. The more of these useful elements there are in a design the more productive and stable it becomes. 
    Important functions of the property served by various elements - 
    A job like weed control can be achieved by, grazing, mowing, mulching, shading, outcompeting, hoeing, spraying, flaming, steaming, parasitising etc. Marketing can be done by farm gate sales, subscription farming, local sales to retailers and restaurants, regional, national or export. Value adding before sale adds another dimension. 
    Permaculture in action 
    Permaculture is most effective at property and regional level where we are dealing with common values of resources. It works extremely well within a relatively closed economy where the preservation of the environment and the right of every person to a life of health and dignity are valued. When World trade puts commodities onto the market from places that do not share these values, the consequence is that ecologically sustainable systems sometimes appear to become uneconomic. 
    Whilst Permaculture systems can then export ethically produced goods to people who value environmental sustainability (Europe in particular) it remains an aim to convert all systems to a sustainable footing. 
    There are farms and households all over the World operating on Permaculture principles.

 
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