Growing Fish and Soil on Pool Algae
Animal Forage, Aquaculture, Compost, Natural Swimming, Plant Systems, Urban Projects — by Ecofilms December 7, 2011
Here is Geoff Lawton explaining how this particular swimming pool is growing fish and soil on algae. This is a clip from the recently released Urban Permaculture DVD, which has over 90 minutes of sustainable solutions you can try at home.
Comments (0)Monsanto Versus the Beetle
GMOs, Health & Disease, Insects — by Ecofilms November 17, 2011
 Monsanto versus the Corn Rootworm Beetle in a dangerous game of tit for tat. |
This story is almost a parable of two worlds, a battle between the natural and the man-made.
Like a boxing match, in the one corner we have Monsanto – a large company aided by big money and big investment, tinkering away in the science labs, discovering even more devious ways to develop the perfect pest resistant strain of GM corn that can be easily marketed and harvested to a massively large, over-subsidized monoculture industry.
The one aim is to develop the perfect foodstuff that can’t be attacked by pests or disease. Sounds good.
One the other side we have Nature, in the form of a humble beetle — the corn rootworm beetle — eying off all those wonderful acres of unblemished genetically modified corn, with their silk corn heads waving gently in the breeze signalling “C’mon over here little guy – come on over and eat me!”
The system is out of whack and out of balance. But pesky nature likes a balanced system.
So let the battle begin.
Comments (7)How Not to Milk a Cow
Comedy Break, Livestock — by Ecofilms August 13, 2011
Sometimes things don’t go according to plan…. This is an Elisabeth Fekonia blooper from her excellent DVD on Home Cheese-Making and All Things Dairy. Used with permission from Elisabeth.
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The Making of the Urban Permaculture DVD
DVDs/Books, Urban Projects — by Ecofilms July 27, 2011
Editor’s Note: A few days ago I shared the latest on the Urban Permaculture DVD. Frank, who is the video genius behind our DVDs, gives his own inside view of working with Geoff in this latest creation, below.
It’s been a whirlwind trip over the last six months putting the pieces together for what is to become The Urban Permaculture DVD with Geoff Lawton.
Nothing goes quite according to script and yet making a video like this is a bit like herding cats. It’s chaotic — like walking into a jungle of vines, monkeys and snakes, you are not sure where you are heading or if the whole project will sink into a disaster.
Permaculture is a bit wild and rampant and just when you think you have it all figured out, neat and tidy-like and have it organized and in the bag — a spanner gets thrown into the works and you realize there is so much more to the story that can be told in 90 minutes.
Comments (3)Frank Fekonia
News — by Ecofilms March 7, 2011
I was very sad to hear of the passing of a true legend and active member of Permaculture Noosa – Frank Fekonia. Husband to Elisabeth, Frank was a true maverick character who told me how he escaped from communist Slovenia in the early 1960s by stealing a canoe and paddling night and day for the shores of Italy. Exhausted by the journey, he was picked up by Italian fisherman when he tumbled into the water off the Adriatic Coast. Eventually, as a refugee, he made it to Australia. A frustrated musician and trumpet player who was more used to the traditional Jazz and Swing sound of the 50s, he became a builder instead when the Beatles, he said, ended his career as a musician.
He eventually moved to Cooroy in Queensland and with little money built a three storey home – entirely out of concrete – from moulds he designed himself.
Comments (4)
Urban Permaculture Gets Redesigned
DVDs/Books, Developments, Land, Urban Projects — by Ecofilms February 22, 2011
He looks like a rangy cowboy, but it’s not a six gun that he carries, but rather an artist’s pad and a felt pen marker. In his mid 50s and on a hot muggy Monday morning, Geoff Lawton and fifteen permaculture interns stride into a suburban home located in Lismore, NSW.
The owner turns to me and asks “Who are all these people?” I whisper to her while loading the video camera that these people are all permaculture interns from around the world — Canada, the United States and Europe. They’ve all descended on her little country town to get first hand experience with permaculture and what Geoff has to teach.
Comments (5)Keeping Native Australian Stingless Bees
Insects, Working Animals — by Ecofilms February 2, 2011
There are reported to be over 1600 varieties of bees in Australia, but only 14 species are stingless. Australian stingless bees are a lot smaller and darker looking than your average sized honey bee. There’s one good advantage in being small, and that’s being able to pollinate tiny, delicate, hard to reach blossoms.
That’s where the Australian native, stingless bees come into the picture.
Permaculture practitioner Anne Wensley has been keeping these bees for over 25 years. Whilst we were filming a segment with Anne about her chickens we spotted her bees in a log outside her door. Generations of these bees have inhabited the same log.
Watch the Youtube clip to see Anne show you her native bee hive.
Comments (2)
Ecofilms 2011 – What Are We Working On?
Animal Forage, Animal Housing, Animal Processing, Aquaculture, Bird Life, Breeds, Courses/Workshops, DVDs/Books, Developments, Fish, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Land, Livestock, Plant Systems, Presentations/Demonstrations, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Ecofilms January 2, 2011
We’re planning a number of exciting new titles to be released in 2011.
Urban Permaculture DVD
One of the complaints we often get from people living in the city is that we focus a little heavily on Permaculture titles that require a large scale farm to get the most benefit from practicing Permaculture.
So we are happy to announce that in 2011 we will be working on the Urban Permaculture DVD with Geoff Lawton.
Actually, we really started shooting a lot of footage already that we were going to include in the Permaculture Soils DVD that we completed, but for various logistic reasons we found the segments would work best in a video that focuses in detail on adopting Permaculture techniques in small scale domestic environments instead.
From courtyards to backyards to places where you thought you could never do anything with, we want to make this DVD a Permaculture techniques DVD where people can be inspired by what is really possible.
Here’s an example of the kind of thing we mean. It’s a sneak preview of Geoff Lawton visiting a beautiful Mandala garden in an urban permaculture garden. It shows permaculture can be aesthetically pleasing to the eye with a richness of patterns as well as a productive food source:
Comments (8)
Building a Mandala Garden
Compost, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Land, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Soil Composition, Structure, Urban Projects — by Ecofilms
Building a mandala garden is a great way to break up your garden beds into a riot of living colour, allowing easy accessibility and visual interest. It looks great too. Whilst filming at the Yandina Community Garden with Geoff Lawton we came across this very easy to build mandala garden bed that was tucked away in the shady end of the garden. It’s circular in shape and has a number of keyhole paths or spokes that invite you to look closer at the assortment of plants on display.
Comments (10)Permaculture DVDs on IMDB? Are We Going Mainstream?
DVDs/Books — by Ecofilms December 13, 2010
A couple of months ago we got an email from Todd Moody who wrote to us, “Earlier this year I began an endeavour to submit all released permaculture documentaries to IMDb.com (the Internet Movie Database). I later expanded that effort to include documentaries about other topics related to sustainable living, social issues, and ecological awareness. To date, I’ve successfully registered dozens of documentary films.”
But every Permaculture DVD submitted by Todd got rejected from the submission process. It seems the problem wasn’t that IMDB staff hated Permaculture or Geoff Lawton but a technical mix up with the name of the production company producing the films resulted in the application being rejected. Now getting ourselves listed on the IMDB wasn’t a major consideration for us at Ecofilms as we’ve always considered our work outside the mainstream media anyway. But was this in fact a mistake to think this way?
Todd had proved to be the catalyst for us to investigate the matter further. So a few weeks later we are now recognized by the IMDB as being “official” and all of our films are now listed or in the process of being listed on their site.
So where do you come into the picture?
Well if you have viewed any or all of the Permaculture DVD titles with Geoff Lawton, consider logging onto the IMDB site and rating the films (honestly) and help by writing a short or lengthy review. You’ll need to first register with IMDB before you can either cast a vote or leave a comment.
Please keep your criticism objective and explain where we got it right and where we failed to address your concerns. Let’s get Permaculture out of the fringe and into the mainstream spotlight and start competing against popular Hollywood Blockbusters!
Links to our Permaculture DVDs on IMDB
Harvesting Water the Permaculture Way
Introduction to Permaculture Design
Comments (1)A Couple of Rough Types: Talking to Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton
General, Society — by Ecofilms December 6, 2010
It’s very rare to see Permaculture founder Bill Mollison on video these days and a frank interview with Geoff Lawton and Bill together is probably rarer still. Whilst we were at the Permaculture Convergence held in Cairns this year we stumbled upon Bill and Geoff having breakfast together. So amidst all the breakfasting diners and noisy background we recorded this frank discussion with both men about Permaculture, students, teaching and the future of Permaculture in a troubled world.
I wanted Bill Mollison to introduce Geoff Lawton for the Permaculture Soils DVD and in typical larrikin style Bill decided to turn the tables on us and pretend he didn’t know who Lawton was. Here’s what we ended up putting as an extras segment on the Soils DVD that gives you a good glimpse into the hearts of both men. The title will become self evident if you watch the video all the way to the end.
I noticed on another permaculture website called Permaculture Planet a poll asking people to vote for which day should be celebrated as International Permaculture day? One of the choices was Bill Mollison’s Birthday. I voted for that choice but I have no idea what day Bill Mollison was born on. He was born in 1928 in Tasmania and is still going strong teaching Permaculture with Geoff Lawton around the globe as I write this blog. I believe they are currently teaching the students in Turkey. So here’s to Bill Mollison. Lets celebrate International Permaculture Day on his birthday – whatever that day is.
Comments (13)Through the Eyes of Permaculture
Aid Projects, Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Urban Projects — by Ecofilms November 16, 2010
Further Reading:
Comments (2)Permaculture Soils DVD Now Shipping!
Compost, DVDs/Books, Fungi, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Soil Conservation, Structure — by Ecofilms November 12, 2010
Geoff Lawton’s Permaculture Soils DVD is now shipping. A special thanks go out to all the people that pre-ordered this disk and waited patiently for their DVD to arrive. If you haven’t received them already, your DVDs are now in the mail and will arrive very shortly.
We had a few issues with transport delays which were outside our control but supplies are now all fixed and flowing normally.
The DVD starts with a short introduction to modern industrial chemical fertilisers (NPK) and how monoculture has destroyed the bio-diversity of many living soils.
Geoff seeks to redress this problem through adopting Permaculture management systems, showing you a number of techniques you can use to redress this imbalance.
With probably the most comprehensive instruction on compost creation, using animation and various manures and inoculums, Geoff spends the first 30 minutes explaining the composting process and shows you ways to reintroduce rich bio-diverse organisms back into your soil that feed the plants and actively help build soil. Whether you want to favour tree plantations like food forest systems or green leafy vegetable crops, Geoff will show ways to create the right kind of compost.
Part two of the DVD focuses on building a Permaculture Kitchen garden using small animal systems like worms, ducks and chickens to return nutrients back to the soil.
Part three takes us into broader pasture management techniques from using cattle and chickens together, cell grazing techniques and re-mineralization strategies for pasture management.
The DVD also explains ways to turbo charge larger main crop gardens using biological compost teas. Every step is explained in Geoff’s unique hands-on approach, right in the field.
Comments (1)A Conference Full of Bill Mollisons
Conferences, Social Gatherings — by Ecofilms September 29, 2010
Going to your first Permaculture Convergence can be a funny thing to experience. For a start, as we were checking in at the resort where we were staying just outside Cairns, my wife nudged me and quietly pointed out the number of grey haired old men with white beards hanging around the lobby.
APC10 Gala Dinner
“Bill Mollison look-a-likes!” I whispered to her. Jane had never met the co-founder of Permaculture and was keen to be introduced to him. Later that evening she spots another one and says to me, “I’m pretty sure that’s the real Bill Mollison who was just checking in.”
“No. I’m pretty sure thats a fake one.” I replied.
Comments (3)Soils DVD – Available October 2010
Courses/Workshops, DVDs/Books — by Ecofilms September 23, 2010
