Author: permaculturetas

1. Tell me about Tiger Hill Permaculture – how it began, why permaculture
Well, while spending several years doing permaculture consulting work overseas on commercial and aid projects, I was always searching for a hill station where I could set up a project to assist locals with research and development toward permaculture. Getting access to land was no problem but getting funding was. I had studied for some time with other teachers around Australia and completed two PDCs and part of an accredited permaculture training. My father introduced me to permaculture and when I did my first PDC, that feeling of wanting to be part of global change resonated with me. When needing to get experience in the field I packed my bags and headed off overseas as I had a burning desire to work with other cultures and do aid work. Fortunately when I returned to Australia I worked toward finding that special place and started looking nation wide. As my fathers family were from Tasmania, I looked this far afield and found Tiger Hill to fit all my search needs. My dream was always to create an educational community no matter where the location. So I invested in myself and have started setting up Tiger Hill Permaculture as a farm forestry model based on permaculture design. Now I take up to 60 volunteers annually and teach them practical skills towards sustainable living. I am totally self funded from salary.

2. What permaculture principles are in action at THP? 
Major large scale water harvesting and storage systems, small scale water harvest and storage, gravity irrigation, capture and store food resources (preserving), companion planting, zoning, edge systems, recycling, organic food production, care for the earth, care for people, windbreak systems and multi-functional systems.

3. What are the greatest successes & challenges with THP?
One of the greatest achievements is that we can grow up to 90% of our food resources here. The biggest challenge is the lack of full time participation as mostly we get people for 1 or 2 weeks which is not sustainable while I am working FIFO (fly in, fly out) from WA.

4. What is your favourite photo(s) of Tiger Hill Permaculture and why?

Photo 1: Chalet 

Photo 2: Compost toilet

Photo 3: People Care

Photo 4: Catch and store energy

5. Why did you become a member of PT – and why do you think Permaculture is important for folks to get involved with?
I had been doing so much work alone here and sometimes I forget there is a bigger group of people networking out there. We are finally getting some results here and now is the time to get workshops happening to showcase the results. I think it’s important for people to start making any shift towards more sustainable living. While governments don’t seem to be doing enough for supporting where our food comes from, sometimes we just have to do things ourselves. Change the thinking of one person at a time if it is necessary to start a cultural shift towards this permaculture design science.

6. Anything else you’d like folks to know?
We accept help all year round and have started reaching out for long term interns (practical skills trainees). If people are interested to learn to project manage a project and consider share farming arrangements please get in touch with details on our website www.tigerhillpermaculture.net

Upcoming courses at Tiger Hill
We also have several upcoming residential courses here to experience beautiful Tassie during the summer while immersed on Tiger Hill http://www.tigerhillpermaculture.net/courses.html :

Introduction to Permaculture 11th-12th January 2020

Permaculture Design Certificate 15th March – 28th March 2020

Appropriate Technology Workshop with Tim Barker 3-5th April 2020

Sep  6                  Dodges Ferry –  Okines Garden Tour & Tea                                                       Eastern Shore Locals Group Sep 7                   Penguin – Sustainable Transport ~ Big Bike Day                                              hello@reseed.net.au for more info  Sep 8                   Judbury – Farm Visit & Afternoon Tea                                              Huon Locals  (details above) Sep 12                 Sandy Bay – Hobart Retrosuburbia Bookclub  6 – 8pm                                                  Source Community Wholefoods Sep 15                 ~ ~ ~ ~         Sustainable House Day                                                   Renew Sep 20                 ~ ~ ~ ~         Global Climate Strike                                                 –  Burnie – 11am                                                             –  Hobart/Launnie/Devo – 12 midday                                                                     Sep 21                 Hobart –  Introduction to Permaculture  9 – 4                                             Good Life Permaculture Sep  21 – 22         Woodbridge – Gourmet Mushrrom Workshop                                                     Forest Fungi Sep  21 – 22         Buckland – PT AGM at Tiger Hill & Project Day                                                 Permaculture Tasmania & Tiger Hill Sep 20,21,22        Penguin – Non Violent Communication workshops                                                RESEED Centre Sep 29                  Kingston  – Free Home Composting Workshop                                                  Good Life Permaculture Sep 29                  Hobart  – Free Home Composting Workshop                                                 Good Life Permaculture

August Aug 4                Penguin – Local Food Demo 10:30 – 3                                           RESEED Centre Aug 5                Bream Creek –  Garden Working Bee 9 – 4                                   Bream Creek Community Market Garden Aug 8                Sandy Bay – Hobart Retrosuburbia Bookclub  6 – 8pm                                         Source Community Wholefoods Aug 11              Cygnet –  Grafting Workshop  2 – 4                                           Woodbridge Fruit Trees Aug 11              Penguin –    RESEED Centre Working Bee                                                hello@reseed.net.au for more info Aug 11              Riverside –  Retrosuburbia Bookclub 12:30 – 2:30                                                Launceston/Tamar Local Group Aug 11              Deloraine –  Seed Swap & Shared Lunch 11:30 – 2:30                                                Meander/Nthn Midlands Local Group                                               Aug 16              Launceston–  Designing and planting a kitchen garden                                             Tamar Peace Festival / NSCC Aug 17              Hobart  –  Wildsmith Permablitz (pre blitz meet)  2 – 4                                         Hobart Local Group

July  July 1                Bream Creek – Garden Working Bee 9 – 4                     Bream Creek Community Market Garden July 6                New Town – CENT Information & Trading Day                                         CENT & Kickstart Arts July 11              Sandy Bay  – Hobart Retrosuburbia Bookclub  6 – 8                                             Source Community Wholefoods July 13              Launceston – Evening with Rowe Morrow 5.45 – 8:30                                               Tamar Peace Festival July 20              Glengarry – Animals in Permaculture   1 – 2                                         Tamar/Launceston Locals Group July 21              Acton Park – Manure Muster II                                         Hobart Eastern Shore Locals Group July 21             Woodbridge – Hot composting skill share and gathering                                            Channel Locals Group July 28 Penguin – Dying to know RESEED Centre

https://www.examiner.com.au/story/6194795/go-wild-call-for-research-to-harness-tasmanias-native-flora/

30^TH May 2019

[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]

Feisty Tasmanian showcasing Tassie Wild Foods, Beaconsfield this Saturday

Rees Campbell, Wynyard based author of Eat Wild Tasmanian, will present a Tassie Wild Food workshop in Beaconsfield this Saturday 1^st June 11am.

“Our Tasmanian edible native plants should be so much more than just “gourmet garnishes” on the edge of expensive restaurant dishes, they can be the main event in a home-cooked family meal, says Ms Rees Campbell, aka Feisty Tasmanian.

“We want to promote Tasmanian plants as useful, functional, edible…conservation through gastronomy. Almost all of these plants can be easily grown in our gardens – they are, after all, Tasmanian natives,” says Ms Campbell.

Rees will be showcasing a variety of Tasmanian Wild Foods, many grown in her Wynyard property Murnong Wild Food Garden, including recipes and food tastings.

“We are thrilled to host this workshop to learn more about Tassie Wild Foods that we can and can’t eat,” says Ms Kym Blechynden, President, Permaculture Tasmania.

“Many people are unaware of the amazing foods we can grow and eat that are from Tasmania. In addition to the great taste, eating locally grown foods means low food miles and less impact on the environment than if our food was flown in from overseas, says Ms Blechynden.

Rees Campbell is the Wynyard based author of Eat Wild Tasmanian, which explores 138 edible Tasmanian native plants. It shows you what they look like and how to grow them, as well as 100 recipes to enjoy. For more information: https://feistytasmanian.com/ or www.permaculturetasmania.com

[END OF RELEASE]

Media contact:  Ms Kym Blechynden 0402 317 812 permaculturetasmania@gmail.com

Photo opportunity and interviews with Kym and Rees in the lead up to the event in Wynyard and Launceston, and on Saturday 1^st June from 10am at Beaconsfield House, Grubb Street. There will be a variety of Tasmanian Wild Foods – as fresh ingredients and various prepared recipes – to taste and photograph.

” We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams “
A. O’Shaughnessy

Some days we stare at each other in enraptured glee. We are tired, but our hands are dirty and our eyes are shining. Some days we look at each other in exasperation, bamboozled by some new bureaucratic hoop or miscommunication. Some days we think this will never end. Some days we lie and watch the clouds from our bus and remember how fickle and fleeting this now is.

In the midst of PDC wonderland (circe 2013), the idea of buying a piece of old pastured land and starting from scratch seemed so romantic. We dreamed of building our own home, regenerating soil, planting an orchard. These days, as the dream is becoming a reality, we have more and more respect for those who’ve realised this dream before us. I remember being told on our PDC that the first two years of setting up a permaculture property were the hardest. One year and 4 months in, I can only say, I hope that is true. What we are doing is hard work. However, the dream is still alive. It lives on in in our daughter’s connection to food and in our belief that hard work for the land we steward is worthwhile.

There are many ethical ways to build a house. Some people build out of earth, some people build out of recycled tyres, some people build tiny houses. Context is everything. For many reasons, we chose to relocate a salvaged house to our block. The use of a salvaged home may not be very common in Tasmania, but in Queensland people do it all the time. We trucked the house from Hobart and a massive crane lifted it from the roadside into place on our block. We found our house on Gumtree, actually we sourced most of the materials for our house and its renovation there. With so much waste in building, we felt drawn to the idea of recycling a home.

While all of the council approvals, relocation and renovation has been happening, we have been living in a converted bus, with our now two year old daughter. It certainly has been an adventure.

At every opportunity we try to reuse second-hand materials on our build (we frequent tip shops, op shops and gumtree), or use excess materials from others. We have bought new items as legally required, for example bathroom fittings, however we have often managed to find these items on clearance sales and ex-display models. We have also had to find ways to ask for help, something we are not very adept at doing. Throughout May we have held weekly busy bees, enabling our friends, including members of the local permaculture community to help us out in a structured and effective way. We have been overwhelmed by the support of our community, by the kindness and keenness of others. It has reminded us that we are all in this together, and encouraged us to share our story more and more.

Our life is very different now. In Margaret River, WA, we had a mortgage, we worked 5 days a week, and we spent our weekends hurriedly trying to save seeds and make compost. Moving to Tasmania, we felt that we had a fair shot at setting our lives up differently, less focused on financial income and more focused on food production and family. We earn money pruning fruit trees in people’s gardens (and teaching people basic pruning) over Autumn and Winter, while our daughter runs around collecting sticks  and eating hummus in the sunshine (or rain). The rest of the year, we do permaculture design and implementation and organic garden maintenance. We were very fortunate to have financial help/inheritance from Macca’s family. It has enabled us to set our lives up in this way. However, we have stretched it as far as possible. We have made it work as hard as we could for the life we wanted.

For those out there dreaming this dream, we see you. We know what’s ahead of you. To those out there living this life, we see you, we know there are days, weeks even, when you want to give up. We know your joy and we know your pain. To those who have realised this dream, we salute you, we know what you have achieved and your successes give us strength and push us forward when we do not know how to continue. We see you.

Love and seeds,

Heather, Macca and Lux @happyvalleypermaculture

P.S We are considering running a half day course on the ins and outs of the process of building using a salvaged house. It’s likely to be run in the Huon Valley, but we are open to suggestions. To express interest in this kind of course, or if you have further questions about any of what we so, email me on happyvalleypermaculture@gmail.com

Katie returned to Tasmania in 2010 after living in Perth, WA, for ten years. She now can’t imagine calling anywhere else in the world ‘home’. Residing on Hobart’s Eastern Shore, Katie is especially interested in Permaculture in suburban properties. Hoping to someday own goats and chickens, she currently navigates (with varying success) the household and gardening challenges presented by an energetic and curious young canine family member.

Katie is responsible for our monthly newsletter, as well as liaison with our Permaculture Tasmania ‘locals groups’, including looking at setting up a locals group in the Hobart/Eastern shore area.