Maddy Harland |
Wednesday, 6th October 2010
Ah, autumn is well and truly here. The gooseberries, currants, greengages, plums and figs have all been eaten. We’ve feasted on berries and succulent fruits like Brown Turkey figs and Oullin’s golden gages, as exotic as mangoes. Though the evenings are getting shorter, the pleasure isn’t over yet. This is one of the real joys of the permaculture... more
Maddy Harland |
Tuesday, 7th September 2010
My feet haven't touched the ground in the last few days. On Saturday I went with Ben Law and Tim to launch Ben's new book Roundwood Timber Framing at the Weald and Downland Museum in Sussex. It was the museum's 40th birthday and they put on a great English country fair event with acrobats, vintage cars, horticultural competitions, crafts and of... more
Maddy Harland |
Thursday, 26th August 2010
This week I had an unexpected windfall. I got a text after work from Imogen (assistant editor at Permaculture) saying that her local Co-op were about to throw out loads of cartons of strawberries – too many for her jam making activities – and she couldn't bear it. Would I like some? She could just about manage 7.5kg on the bus the next day. 7.5kg... more
Maddy Harland |
Sunday, 8th August 2010
At this time of year the forest garden is beginning to burgeon with top fruit.
Asian pear, apple with perennial kale and comfrey as undercover
We like making jams and chutneys to give as presents and for our larder. The first fruits to come are plums, closely followed by Oulin's Golden gage, an exquisitely juicy fruit. I usually pick early... more
Maddy Harland |
Thursday, 15th July 2010
In these times of disruption, change and transition, all of us can be excused for sometimes feeling perplexed, challenged, even a little lost. We are watching the old world slowly disintegrate. Our financial and political systems in the West are under the greatest of duress. Our natural global resources are seriously diminished as we face not only... more
Maddy Harland |
Thursday, 10th June 2010
In our world of rising fuel and food prices prices, practical life skills are becoming increasingly important. One of the best things we can do with our children is to show them how to grow their own food. Even at an early age it is both fun and empowering and they will never forget these important skills nor the time a parent has taken to pass... more
Maddy Harland |
Tuesday, 1st August 2006
Who are you?
Looby Macnamara. I am currently chair of the Permaculture Association (Britain). I run my own business – Spirals of Abundance – fairly trading gifts and organic cotton clothes from Nepal. I also teach permaculture and have a six year old daughter, Shanti. Hence, I lead a productive, interesting and busy life.
Where do you live?
I live... more
Maddy Harland |
Wednesday, 1st December 2004
Nine years ago Simon Roberts read about electric vehicles (EVs) in Switzerland and decided he wanted to drive a zero emissions car in London and reduce his environmental impact.
After negotiating miles of red tape, a reserved parking bay painted right outside his house and the development of an innovative kerbside charger, this became a genuinely... more
Maddy Harland |
Friday, 1st August 2003
The state of our front garden had become legendary in our neighbourhood. Our house eco-renovation had at last been completed, solar hot water was flowing in abundance during summer months, and the back garden was planted up with wildflower meadow, top and soft fruit and some veggies. We were fairly sorted. But years of work had turned our front... more
Maddy Harland |
Thursday, 1st May 2003
Walking near the neighbour's house, a rabbit, startled, bounds off into the pasture. I notice how the young broadleaf trees Ben planted about ten years ago are doing, many over ten feet tall. Then up the slope and into the chestnut wood, dark and still on one side, and light and open with freshly sprouting coppice stools on the other.
The path... more
Maddy Harland |
Tuesday, 1st October 1996
By a beautiful meander of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders is Tweed Horizons, Centre For Sustainable Technology funded by Scottish Borders Enterprise and the Millennium Commission. The Centre, a converted monastery, is the first of its kind in Britain and was established in 1993 to support a variety of projects in the areas of environmental... more
Maddy Harland |
Monday, 1st January 1996
John started his journey by contacting a number of aid organisations but found that none used sustainable practises. "The Africans need practical teaching to improve their food production, not just money thrown at them by big organisations," he says. This viewpoint led him first to Katale Agricultural College in western Kenya where he got involved... more