- (Slow guitar) - [Brett] Hi Folks, it's Brett
from Limestone Permaculture. It's been four years since you
last visited our little farm here on the mid north
coast of New South Wales. So much has changed, the
farm has evolved, we're in the middle of a pretty serious drought, we've got some fires that
aren't too far away and making everything quite hazy,
but we're gonna go through and check what's goin'
on the farm right now, so how about you come for a stroll. Let's go. (birds chirping) - (Chickens clucking) This are here is the
integrated poultry run, and this services the
chickens, they layer chickens, layer khaki campbell
ducks and the breeding khaki campbell ducks. We've got some exclusion growing tunnels set inside this integrated
pen that allow us to grow vegetables without it being harmed by the chicken and the ducks. It's important when
considering integrated animal management systems that
you try to promote natural habitat for your animals. You know, one of the things
we try to do on Limestone Farm is incorporate forest
layered level systems to give them not just the fodder, but the protection they require. So, these forest layers give shade And essentially, you're
giving a stable environment for the animals to enjoy life. And that's important. It's been amazing to see the farm really grow over the last four years. The design we implemented
back in 2010/2011 it has moved forward
in such a way that it's ramping up at a faster and faster speed. So nature's actually taking
over what we originally set up, so we're excited about that. It's hard to be full-time
on a farm with an income that only has one income
stream, you have to diversify. So even using permaculture
principles in your business is really important. - [Nici] Which is a form of farm-steading. - [Brett] Yep. - [Nici] Um, you got homesteading, which is making good
use of your own produce and on your farm and farm-steading is a way of making a bit
of cash from that as well to keep the farm ticking. - [Brett] So in February
2018, we officially became full-time on the farm. Oh my goodness. (goats
bleating) His head's sticking through the barley. Over here we've got our whicking beds. These things are fantastic
for saving water. I mean you've got a raised bed system has a water retention
well in the base of it you've got this whicking action that via capillary action, draws
water up through the soil. It reduces the amount
of water that you need. You've got an integrated
mesh trellis coming through which creates a kind of a canopy. We've got worm farms in over the back over here, which build in
some ecology to the soil because these things are
disconnected to the ground. So they're a great little integrated unit and either on the farm or
in a unit on the veranda these things are perfect. We've only been on this
property since 2010. We understand that, but one thing we know is that 2010 to pretty much
2015 we had a relatively regular rainfall that
met our annual rainfall that comes with this region. That has dropped off dramatically, started dropping off at the end of 2016 and hasn't stopped. We're now down to a stage where we're not even making half our rainfall
for this particular area so you need to set your place up in a way that you've got a stable
environment that captures the morning sun, is protected
from the harsh winds, has land forming in place
that retains moisture, retains water, so when it does rain, and it does rain, when it does you capture every drop. You get the maximum benefit out of it. (Birds Singing) Over here we've got our
three bay compost system. You can have two bays,
four bays, five bays, it just assists you
with being able to turn your compost and keep it in some form. The idea of your compost,
obviously is for promoting soil conditioner, which is
something you put in the soil for good health, but the
secret ingredient for making hot compost is this really
stinky manure and weed tea. So we use comfrey, nettles,
dandelion, we use our chicken poo, usually the
sloppiest of the chicken poo and we make these tea
bags up and we soak it for about a week and
then we use it straight into the different layers
of the compost build and it promotes the biology
in there to actually build that compost into
something really special. So guys, this is the harbored shady areas, more importantly it's the quail amazon. So when you were last here, it was mainly a vegetable producing area and we've now turned this into the quail amazon. Um, and thus the habitat
that we've created here is to actually give them a
more natural environment. From their height looking up, they're looking at papayas, they're looking at
various different bananas. The bonus we get back
from the quail as well they do very light
scratchings, there little poops that go through the soil. For us, there's a nice
little symbiotic relationship of them looking out for our plants, and us getting something
back that in return. So it's awesome. [Birds Screeching] The Gentelman's Pissatorium. It's water saving, and
the most important part, when you're actually going to the toilet to do a wee, you're weeing onto a hay bale and you're providing your
rear into a carbon base that's then removed and
used in a composting process and in return it gives you great soil. This is very worthy. Guys we're in our northern
market garden here. What's important about
this little area here is we've got little zones
of mixed plant guilds and forest layers. In this bed here, this
is a ginger crop set up, you can't see the ginger at the moment, because we're actually
building the forest layered canopy in readiness for the ginger. We're looking at corn as being the canopy, buckwheat has been the sub canopy, we've got beans and cucumbers
that are going to climb and then create a webbing through there which they also make
up part of the canopy, and that's going to
create a protective system for the ginger growing
through that harsh summer. So the ginger is the main crop, but in the meantime, as part of the protection
system, we're getting corn, we're getting beans,
we're getting cucumber, we're getting buckwheat. We also get parsley and
chickweed to go into the salads. So you've got this ability to
support the main crop being the ginger, which is the
idea around plant guilds. Beneficial communities of
plants supporting a main crop or main plant, and then
you're getting all that extra bonus food because you're
setting up that protection. Again, this is just a worthy
example of how you can actually get the most
from each garden bed. The important thing for us,
when we're actually setting ourselves up to be working on farm, is the diversity of income. So in the early days, the
first thing that we could do was we could grow food. We produced vegetables,
herbs, there was some quick growing frit that we could put out and you know, we started going to markets and then slowly had brought in, you know,
farm tours, because people were interested to see what we were doing. We've got the courses,
we've got the workshops, we've got farm tours. Education for us would be
the most important fact of what we do now. We get a lot of enjoyment,
um, it's a passion. And so we're teaching
at all different levels. And obviously Nici is working
through um food, nutrition. - [Nici] Yeah. - [Brett] And I'm working through
farm design, garden design um planning, growing,
you know, plant guilds, forest layers, you name it. - [Nici] Yeah, we're finding
that people are coming here thirsty for not just
knowledge of how to take food production back into their own hands, but also they are quite
desperate for getting their health back on
track and their wellness. Physical and mental. - [Brett] We have
consultancies, we do off-site project implementation and
we still get produce sales, it's just that the bulk
of our produce these days comes back into the
students, it comes back into our guests so what we're finding is- - [Nici] Into my cooking. - [Brett] Yeah, back into Nici's cooking. - [Nici ] I am so passionate
about good clean eating, because it's not just
helping me with my overall wellness and my gut health
and my energy levels, but it also is helping
other people as well. My personal experiences and my knowledge, I can pass on to other
people, because there are so many people out there
with that are desperate for answers to their unknown illnesses. And not all of it, but a lot
of it can be food related, not just what we're eating
but how we're eating it. - [Brett] Hey guys, we're
in the Muscovy duck pen. They've got protection
from trees that actually drop fruit for them. The really good thing about these shatoots is that you give them a little shake and it provides fruit. The wind usually drops it for us. We have a self-watering
system up here that gives the ducks enough water
there to obviously drink and have a washing and the excess water runs down into this pit area here. This isn't actually a pond,
it's actually a silt trap, so the idea is that with
all the duck's manure, we add a little bit of height to that and we drag it up and we actually
make another from of compost. When we have a reasonable rain
event, it overflows into here and goes down into this
little swale system and this, once again, is a silt trap so the idea is we're
always collecting nutrient uh, and that nutrient and
that soil then gets used back in the garden, and that's important. So this is the Hills Hoist Vineyard. Uh, when we first moved
here, there was a Hills Hoist clothesline sitting in
the back of the place. So we've repurposed it and we've
used it here to grow grapes over so it's a great
vertical growing structure. We've got three varieties of table grape. It's supporting as a
canopy for the sub canopy plants to grow, it's nice and
protected throughout summer. The good thing about
something like this is you get high production in a small space, which is ideal. [Birds Singing] We've got Bam Bam and Buttercup here. So in the goat run, here
guys, this is a bit of an integrated goat run. We've got vertical fodder trees running through the center. The idea is these guys browse by climbing the sides of the mesh here. So it's a protected
zone away from the goats but it actually provides
the goats with food. We don't introduce any
pellet or anything else to these guys, they've got
enough here between the prunings from the fruit trees, the
benne grass, the mulberry, the vertical fodder and the
stuff that grows through the actual pen itself, to
feed these guys year around and we're pretty excited about that. Guys, we're in the swaled orchard area. The idea of a swale is, it's designed to actually hold water for
a period of time and slowly release it underground. And to my right, we've
got a terraced area, terraced beds, and these guys
don't actually hold water, they just slow water down. We've got our espalier
apples through here, backed up by some of
our larger fruit trees and olive trees. They provide protection from the west. This supports and protects
this little veggie garden through here. The system works, we don't
use much water down here, and it really has been surviving
the drought quite well. It's been really good. - [Nici] Really exciting to see so much interest and increasing
interest in what we're doing here on the farm and people wanting to put
that into practice in their own lives in their own homes. We're looking at probably
educating, feeding, nourishing over- - [Brett] Over a hundred. - Over a hundred, probably
average about a hundred people a month at the moment. [Goats Bleating] - [Brett] Another project
on Limestone Farm is our goat tent arbor. It's an integrated system
where first and foremost it's going to eventually
protect the goats during summer so the idea is our various
vegetable vines will grow over the top of the
arbor, providing shade back to the goats. More importantly for us as
well, is it's gonna provide us with approximately over
a hundred square meters of ariel growing so here
we're going to get pumpkins, squash, cherkos, guards, cucumbers. We think this will work for us, and we're watching it grow right now. So we're in the kitchen
garden, we're in the zone one. And we've been picking veggies
out of here since April, it's now coming up to November,
so the gardens have done really well to get to this stage. We're in the final throws
where most of the veggies are going to seed, which is perfect. That's our time for seed saving. So we're waiting for
that to actually produce it's seed heads and dry out. There's still plenty of food in here, I mean we can just pick
carrots out willy nilly I mean there's still
plenty of food to be had. So we've still got
potatoes, we've still got broad beans, still some
herbs to be picked and the flowers are beautiful, but essentially what we're after now is
seed for next year's crops. - [Nici] As the world is
changing, as the environment is changing, we're changing as well. Changing our thought patterns. - [Brett] Adaption is survival. - [Nici] Yeah. - [Brett] We got a farm that
has become it's own ecology, it's own set up, it's own system. And we've now got the
ability to be able to show quite a few, if not
most of the permaculture principals on this farm. We've learned many lessons
since us getting here, so you know, we've been
here for nearly nine and a half years, but more
importantly in the last sort of four years, one
of the biggest lessons I'm really starting to understand is that there's no such
thing as a final design. Don't get caught up in the
stuff you can't do right now. Learn about the things
that you can get happening. - [Nici] And put it into action
and you'd be surprised once you start to live this type
of life whether it's in urban or rural, and start
to eat fresh vegetables and watch nature and live with the seasons, it makes you a much
healthier, happier person. - [Brett] This our outdoor oven, um it's very special to us. Um, it took three months to build. Not only can you set the
fire up and cook pizzas on the first night, but
once you get to a certain core temperature, you
can then shut the door, the fire goes out and we get
four more nights of cooking after that. The temperature does
slowly decline, but we cook according to those temperatures. What's important also for this oven, is that all the timbers
we use come off the farms. So we've got cherry wood,
apple wood, pear wood, acacia timber. It usually only takes
about a wheel barrel load and essentially we've
got enough timber to then look after this and that
for us, brings some form of self-reliance on our ability
to cook into this farm. So we love using our
own timber off our farm, and it makes a delicious pizza. We feel privileged to be able to say that, "Yes we can survive, we
can earn enough income to pay everything we need
to pay, live a healthy and happy life, and be where we want to be in our dream property." I mean, it doesn't get any
better than that, seriously. - [Nici] Taking a bit more control of our future. - [Brett] Yeah, absolutely. - [Nici] And our family. - [Brett] Yeah, you know, I'm happy. - [Nici] Yeah. - [Brett] We got so much
more to do here and I think that's the beautiful thing. You never not want to
have something to do. - [Nici] Yeah - [Brett] So, you always want
the challenges, you always want something to strive
for and for us we just think that this is, this place,
this property has so much to offer us back, and we've
got so much to give to it, and we'd like to think that
maybe in a few years time you'll come back and check that out.
This is actually the video that inspired me to start learning more about permaculture!
This really is incredible, I love how he takes time to explain all the features. I took a permaculture design course 7 years ago and dream of applying it to this extent.
Really cool to see the update from the first video, thought that is certainly larger than 1 acre lol.
I was looking at touring this property as I'm only a few hours away, but I was looking right before the ronies. Ah well