A Tale of Two Tokyos – Domestic Robots and Permaculture Bathrooms
Biological Cleaning, Building, Conservation, Urban Projects, Waste Water, Water Harvesting — by Cecilia Macaulay August 3, 2011
Written a year ago by Cecilia Macaulay
Robot and charcoal-fired tea ceremony brazier
Roving, roving. I’m now staying in Central Tokyo, at my usual home with the Ota family.
This morning I reached for the broom, I got a surprise. Professor Ota came running out "No No!"
He bent down, fiddled with something on the floor, and out it sprang — the floor-sweeping robot.
Comments (3)Edgevertizing – the Story of the Itinerant Japanese Knife-Sharpener
Consumerism, Eco-Villages, Economics, Society, Village Development — by Cecilia Macaulay July 7, 2011
Knife shaperner photo by Cecilia
Marginal overheads
This itinerant knife sharpener does the rounds every few months in my neighbourhood in Tokyo.
Comments (6)Start at Your Doorstep – John and Laura’s Shade-Garden Makeover, Inner Urban Sydney
Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Land, Medicinal Plants, Social Gatherings, Urban Projects — by Cecilia Macaulay June 24, 2011
"If you want to change the world, start at your back doorstep" said Permaculture’s Bill Mollison.
John and his big sister Cecilia
Here is the story of how John and Laura turned a shady dirt-patch into a little jewel-box organic garden.
Comments (31)Cecilia’s 13 Steps to Creating Beauty in the Permaculture Garden
Land — by Cecilia Macaulay March 16, 2011
Introduction and article concept – Erin Marteal
Words, pictures and illustrations- Cecilia Macaulay
Intro: After encountering numerous objections to permaculture in the public garden sector based on a perceived fault in aesthetics, I’ve become keenly interested in the relationship between permaculture and beauty. (See background article, Permaculture is many things; Is beauty one of them?) I recently interviewed Cecilia Macaulay, artist and permaculturalist, and asked her for tips on how to go about designing for beauty in the permaculture garden. Though aiming for 10, she easily came to 13, and I have no doubt she will some day write a book on the subject. We hope these ideas spark conversation and inspire aesthetic explorations in permaculture gardens everywhere. — Erin Marteal
Comments (8)Indoor Farm in Tokyo
Building, Energy Systems, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Food Shortages, Land, Plant Systems, Retrofitting, Urban Projects — by Cecilia Macaulay January 13, 2011
Conference room, Head office, Pasona Group Inc.
With all my Japan projects bedded down for the winter, I set out for some sightseeing in my final weekend in Tokyo (Dec 4th) with a visit to the head office of the Pasona Group Inc.
Comments (20)Permaculture for Keeping Cosy
Comedy Break, Consumerism, Energy Systems, Urban Projects — by Cecilia Macaulay October 27, 2010
If you have been struggling to adopt a ‘more sustainable’ approach to heating your home, it’s time you got a big hug, permission to be extremely warm, and a generous dose of Permaculture. ‘More sustainable’ often means turning the heater down 2 degrees, living a tepid existence, and saddest of all – ‘more sustainable’ won’t get you to ‘sustainable’.
Comments (8)How to Turn Astringent Persimmons into Enchanting Natural Confections, Japanese Style
Food Plants - Perennial, Processing & Food Preservation, Trees — by Cecilia Macaulay April 20, 2009
This week I’m shopping for a persimmon tree for the Edible Japanese Garden I’m creating. Of course I will be planting a sweet, rather than an astringent, or ’shibui’* persimmon. The sweet ones, such as Fuyu, are squat-shaped, and can be eaten either crunchy or yielding. The long-shaped Hachiya variety, the ones Aussies first planted before we knew better (sorry Hachiya), are awfully ’shibui’. You have to wait until they become syrupy-ripe before eating, otherwise, biting into one will give you that ‘cotton-wool-in-the-mouth’ reaction. Awful. I find slush and string almost as unattractive as shibui, and so too it seems, do the Japanese. They usually hang the autumn harvest under the eaves, and let the dry winter air transform them into something like enchanted dried apricots: intense, chewy, and frosted in sugar crystals. ‘Hoshi Gaki’, in Japanese.
