Purple Pear Organics has developed into a Biodynamic farm offering food grown in a Mandala style market garden through a community supported agriculture scheme. (big breath) We offer permaculture courses - including three Permaculture Design Courses each year in a variety of formats. We also run workshops in skills for living sustainably. There are opportunities to study as an intern as well. You can visit us on line at www.purplepear.net.au
Thank you Kate and Mark! This post you posted so long ago is still having a permaculture effect on the mind of others. I thank you for this. I loved visiting your website. You have taken so much time to provide great information. Some of the main points I took away from your site and video is, "No Stir Compost" "We are not organic, our customer's certify our food." Thank you, Grace
Grace, i do a lot of very simple stuff here, to minimize the amount of work and soil disturbances. burying organic materials instead of composting them in piles seems to work just fine over the longer term. because i only need a part of a garden to bury stuff i can often leave most of it undisturbed for a few seasons until i get around to that bit in rotation. the worms seem happier. when i do finally get back to a previously buried garden debris area it is usually looking about like what peat moss is like. we have fairly heavy clay soil here so the moisture is usually enough to keep something rotting. the digging that time mixes the previously rotten stuff into the garden and then i bury the new stuff. i don't even bother to really mix it super well as i figure all the micro-climates/edges are ok for creating niches for various soil critters. seems to be working well. i have a lot of gardens to put up for winter the next few weeks... i will be digging and mixing and slow composting, but just only what needs to be done.
Hello SongBird, I assume you are responding to the no stir compost. Yes the drop in chop is a great method. Tucking it in works well too. I learned long ago not to mix it into the clay. I am also working with clay. The earth worms have saved me. In my first site they dug tunnels full of castings 6 inches to 8 inches down. This was only after one year! Tucking in material into the mulch that is already there works great too. I have been learning so much in this area of thought. Of course Geoff Lawton's video "Soils" is a must watch. I also have been listening to on You Tube, "Building Soil Health for Healthy Plants by soil scientist Dr. Elaine Ingham". Dr. Ingham has amazing research and information on the subject. Thanks for chatting! Grace
Thanks for the kind words Grace. We continue to run our programs here at Purple Pear. I have not been a regular on the forum for a while but rest assured we are fully engaged in Permaculture here in the Hunter Valley.
Checking in with absent friends. Drought. wet and covid have hit hard and losing my bees too was difficult. We do feel a sense of optimsim for the future and look forward to continuing with the school groups and workshops in biodynamics and skills for living sustainably.