I was honoured to be invited to Tom’s wedding shortly after the Trinity PDC course, meet his beautiful wife Zaia and their amazing childen, and discover the wonders of their permaculture property a couple of hours drive north of Brisbane. Their main food production area is laid out on a perfectly sloping, north facing section with a succession of swales, creating the perfect growing environment, let alone an extremely asthetically pleasing and calming atmosphere.
Twisting through paths and over swale bridges uncovered an immense variety of food no matter where you looked.
It was even a joy to visit the toilet (or Thunderbox as they so aptly call it), perched in the centre of a banana circle.
Tom generously welcomed us back to his property in July 2009 to gain some experience building with stone. We collected the stones from the nearby creek (learning about stone selection), and went through many trials and tribulations learning how to place the right stone where on the wall, as well as mixing the grout and creating beautiful shadows between the rocks. Considering we have an abundance of rock on our land in Tassie, it was a fantastic opportunity to gain some exposure to this kind of construction project.
A hard day’s work was always rewarded with bananas from the garden and Zaia’s delicious and healthy cooking. We had no idea you could sprout green or brown lentils, and have become completely addicted to her lentil soup! Soak the lentils overnight, then keep moist in a colander for 2-3 days. Fry onion, garlic, add the lentils and some sea salt, cover in 2 inches of water and simmer. You won’t believe how delicious this simple meal is!
Apart from learning a bit about building with stone, many things came from this visit to Tom and Zaia’s permaculture property. Firstly, a realistic idea of the effort involved in both establishing and maintaining a property like this… Tom had spent three years (full time) in its making. It became even more apparent that the sooner we can get to Tassie and start developing our property, the better. Secondly, a bit of an awakening. In these surroundings I realised just how dependant we were, and how vastly better Tom and Zaia’s situation would be over ours in a crisis situation. Deep down I already knew this, but being at their property really brought it home. It’s typical nearing the end of a holiday to think “oh well, back to reality”, but this was the complete opposite. I felt like their permaculture way of life was reality, and I was going back to insanity!!!
Thirdly, this trip to Tom and Zaia’s farm also had an extremely positive impact on Steve and Liane’s life – as they now own a permaculture property just a few kilometers down the road rather than a chemically grown peach farm!
Twisting through paths and over swale bridges uncovered an immense variety of food no matter where you looked.
It was even a joy to visit the toilet (or Thunderbox as they so aptly call it), perched in the centre of a banana circle.
Tom generously welcomed us back to his property in July 2009 to gain some experience building with stone. We collected the stones from the nearby creek (learning about stone selection), and went through many trials and tribulations learning how to place the right stone where on the wall, as well as mixing the grout and creating beautiful shadows between the rocks. Considering we have an abundance of rock on our land in Tassie, it was a fantastic opportunity to gain some exposure to this kind of construction project.
A hard day’s work was always rewarded with bananas from the garden and Zaia’s delicious and healthy cooking. We had no idea you could sprout green or brown lentils, and have become completely addicted to her lentil soup! Soak the lentils overnight, then keep moist in a colander for 2-3 days. Fry onion, garlic, add the lentils and some sea salt, cover in 2 inches of water and simmer. You won’t believe how delicious this simple meal is!
Apart from learning a bit about building with stone, many things came from this visit to Tom and Zaia’s permaculture property. Firstly, a realistic idea of the effort involved in both establishing and maintaining a property like this… Tom had spent three years (full time) in its making. It became even more apparent that the sooner we can get to Tassie and start developing our property, the better. Secondly, a bit of an awakening. In these surroundings I realised just how dependant we were, and how vastly better Tom and Zaia’s situation would be over ours in a crisis situation. Deep down I already knew this, but being at their property really brought it home. It’s typical nearing the end of a holiday to think “oh well, back to reality”, but this was the complete opposite. I felt like their permaculture way of life was reality, and I was going back to insanity!!!
Thirdly, this trip to Tom and Zaia’s farm also had an extremely positive impact on Steve and Liane’s life – as they now own a permaculture property just a few kilometers down the road rather than a chemically grown peach farm!
