How safe is treated pine?

Having had sections of a new salvaged Jarrah post and rail fence fall over within a year thanks to termites, and seen a friends lovey painted but otherwise untreated pine pergola also disintegrate within a year , I would like to use treated pine for structures but hear conflicting stories as to its saftey. I was…

Wicking bed

Merri Bee Organic Farm  is creating a natural system of perennial abundance to satisfy human needs in food, shelter, energy , community and wilderness, whilst restoring a cleared and overgrazed piece of rural land. Our farm is designed as a ‘closed loop’ in which the yields and by-products of one system are used to satisfy…

Maarten Stapper’s talk at Permaculture Convergence

I just adore Maarten Stapper and here he is in full flight. Tune in for a great rundown on the best methods of soil improvement currently known to science. Maarten was once married to woman who, like him, worked at the CSIRO.  But unlike him, she was into genetic engineering. She remains on  a great…

Swales

Connect the dots: Signs of Global warming are being seen all over Earth •Sea level rise •Drying….Lakes have disappeared. Wells and springs drying •Heat waves •Cold snaps •Floods •Tornadoes and cyclones •Fires…intensity & frequency •Snow seasons failing •Glacial melt In the South West of Western Australia a drying climate is leading to noticeable lower productivity. The…

Raising seedlings

Seeds and seedlings  …Nursery Work for the time poor. Making compost is hardly ever a chore for me , I get so turned on by the process of putting together annoying and maybe stinky waste products to create something so valuable they call it black gold. However one tedious chore for me is pricking out…

How to grow Sweet corn for the New to Gardening

Sweet corn for the New to Gardening .Corn is a warm season frost tender plant so in Nannup it can be planted from September through to the end of February with relative safety. It is thirsty and a heavy feeder so will grow best in soil enriched with compost and or worm castings and a…

Key Line

KEyline farming was a farm/soil/water improving method developed by PA Yeomans in the 1950’s in Australia. He was an engineer who had some acres in Victoria and rose to fame as his Keyline system proved itself in times of drought in Victoria, looking lush and productive compared to his  neighbours. This was achieved with a…

Tips for Starting a Garden

So you are ready to withdraw your support from Multi National Corporations who are poisoning our planet?They have brainwashed farmers to believe they NEED to buy and spray out their chemicals on an unimaginably large scale. I just went for a trip to my accountant in a town an hour way  whose reputation I wont…