WA's REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE - WRAP UP

With Western Australia's population expected to double in the next 30 years (Refer ABS) agriculture faces increased pressure from changing weather conditions, salinity and even social and industrial pressures on farming families.  Food security is essential in all future planning no matter what level, whether that be the backyard veggie plot, the local community garden to the way we are farming food in large scale agriculture.  As Charles Darwin said, "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives.  It is the one that is most adaptable to change."

Wednesday 11 September 2019 marked the date for what was a sold out event at Optus Stadium in Perth with over 350 attendees from all over the state across a widespread representation in farming, agriculture, organics, permaculture, industry and supply together with, representatives from government both local and state including the Hon. Alannah MacTiernan, Minister for Regional Development; Agriculture & Food.  It was a chance to meet with innovative farmers, hear from key industry stakeholders and participate in a LIVE interactive survey to develop a strategic plan for investing in our food future.  It was a demonstration of practical approaches to farming already in production by the collective few, which holds the ambitious possibility for Western Australia to provide safe and healthy food, using innovative sustainability practices. 

Welcome to Country was led by possibly one of the most inspiring women I personally have ever encountered, Ingrid Cumming, who while highly entertaining in her delivery really pulled at the heart strings and called forth a new collective conversation of giving back to the land and preserving country.  Following the Minister’s Address, world renowned sheep grower, historian, regenerative agriculture consultant, advocate and author Charles Massy, famous for his thought and heart provoking book "Call of The Reed Warbler" A New Agriculture, A New Earth set the tone of the conversation for the day inside of a new way of securing our food future, discussing regenerative agriculture at length and why we need it - now. 
We heard from pioneering farmers already leading the way in doing agriculture as we know it 'differently' and inspiring others to do the same.  Among them were Dianne and Ian Haggerty who own and manage 13,000 hectares of cropping and grazing farm land in the Wyalkatchem and Mollerin areas of Western Australia. Since 1994, the Haggerty's have developed their system of "Natural Intelligence Farming" and have become world renowned as two of agricultures most open-minded thinkers. They have demonstrated success by combining natural processes with the latest in technology to produce the highest quality grains, meat and wool, while regenerating the landscape's natural biological functions and water cycles, like growing wheat crops with zero synthetic Nitrogen or fungicide applications.  (More RegenWA case studies like the Haggerty’s can be identified here).  The line-up of inspiring speakers continued throughout the day with the likes of Terry McCosker, Natarsha Woods, Oral Maguire, Walter Jehne, Sue Ogilvy, Peter Hazell and Richard George.  Lachy Ritchie led the group through an interactive survey workshop identifying the needs of the group to take regenerative agriculture forward.  And the day was engagingly jelled together by MC Anthony James of RegenNarration.

Profoundly the take away for me was the responsibility of everybody, no matter what scale we are at.  Whether it's a community verge garden project providing free and accessible food for a neighbourhood, to establishing a local community garden supporting those not privy to a garden space, to a hobby farmer and large scale farmer who wants to be part of a new food future.  Effectively I think deep down we all want the best possible outcome for everyone involved and we have to think, plan and create a broader picture and be playing a much bigger game in our contribution.  And it's very new territory for a lot of people, especially our farmers and so we have an exponential offering of experts in Permaculture to assist in creating a new possibility for food security here in Australia.  Let's not forget that the Permaculture movement originated in our very own backyard and  it provides us with an unwavering opportunity to lead the way, inspire, innovate and create new ways of thinking, being and acting for the best possible outcome of land and country for future generations to come.  

Tamara Lilly
Marketing & eNews Editor
PermacultureWest

KAMBARANG - Season of Birth
Transformational time of the year. Flowers abound.
Second Spring ~ October - November

The lifestyle for the Nyoongar communities during Kambarang

During the Kambarang season, we see an abundance of colours and flowers exploding all around us. The yellows of many of the Acacias continue to abound, along with some of the Banksias and many other smaller delicate flowering plants including the Kangaroo Paw and Orchids. Also during this time the Balgas will also start to flower, especially if they've been burnt in the past year or closely shaved.

One of the most striking displays of flowers to be seen during this season will be the "Mooja", or Australian Christmas Tree (Nuytsia). The bright orange/yellow flowers serve to signal the heat is on its way.

For the animals, October is also the most likely time of the year that you'll encounter a snake as the reptiles start to awaken from their hibernation and look to make the most of the warm to assist them in getting enough energy to look for food. It's also a time that many young families of birds will be singing out for their parents to feed them. Koolbardies (Magpies) will also be out protecting their nests and their babies.

Many things are undergoing transformation with the warm change in the weather.

Longer dry periods accompany a definite warming trend.

Read more here

Principle 4: Apply self-regulation & accept feedback

Supervised ranging in the garden

When contained in their straw yard, chooks work over garden scraps and weeds, which, mixed with manure, form the basis of a rich compost. However, this scratching behaviour can create havoc if left unchecked in the food garden. Shorter supervised periods of free range time allow chooks to scratch weeds and pick insects from around the edge of garden beds and paths without damaging plants. Train chooks to return to their pen afterwards with a handful of grain.
 

(Sourced Information & Photograph): Website: Permaculture Principles.   --> link Photo taken by Jessamy Miller

A forest school

Lily, Verti, Nate and Beatrix hang out in one of their favourite places, which they call ‘the mud trampoline’, as part of The Eco School’s nature play sessions. They pretend that they are a family of spiders in a web, where they climb, hang, bounce and sometimes fall onto the thick layer of leaves and soft earth below. They choose their own adventures for the day, outdoors in all kinds of weather, take risks, experience consequences, and learn to manage themselves in the world.

(Sourced Information & Photograph): Website: Permaculture Principles.   --> link  ‘A forest school’ photo by Dani Lebo at Kaitiaki Farm – Whanganui, New Zealand.

Extending the harvest

Ethan, Margaret and Dan show their store of food at the Possibility Alliance – an educational homestead practicing self-reliance and radical simplicity. Preserved and fresh produce are stored in their communal cellar during times of abundant harvest, which gives them a diverse array of food for the lean winter and spring seasons. They manage to thrive without electricity or petrol, by living within the limits of what they are able to source locally and preserve on the farm.

(Sourced Information & Photograph): Website: Permaculture Principles.   --> link    Photo by Scott Mann in La Plata, Missouri, USA.

Night light is soft

Electric light switches are so easily turned on, and can easily be turned off. In some countries electricity is relatively cheap; we can ‘afford’ to light our houses up and turn night into day. The negative feedback that we must accept is climate change due to carbon emissions. The average daily electricity use for Australian households of 20 kW/hr could easily be reduced to less than 5 kW/hrs.

(Sourced Information & Photograph): Website: Permaculture Principles. --> link  Photographed at ‘Melliodora‘, Australia by Oliver Holmgren

Boundaries

In this small home garden spaces are carefully organized. Level paths set lower than garden beds act as infiltration basins, preventing vegetables being flooded while storing runoff water in soil under a thick layer of woodchips. Fruit tree prunings weaved around stakes retain soil and mulch and act as a barrier to deter traffic. Kai and Sen are learning to understand boundaries. They are free to play and graze, but not to run amok.

(Sourced Information & Photograph): Website: Permaculture Principles. --> link  Photographed at Abdallah House in Australia by Richard Telford

Very Important: We are looking for people who can trade their ticket for time rather than money. For this we are willing to trade tickets in return for a commitment to coordinate and organise fund raising prior to the workshop. We have set aside several tickets for those willing to take this role on - message us to find out more!

Our Permaculture Stories ~ Enriching the 40th Anniversary of PermacultureWest

As part of the 40th Anniversary of Permaculture West celebration we though it would be wonderful to help everyone share their permaculture story/journey/inspiration. We are hoping this sharing process helps you reconnect a little with your story and inspires and excites you as you browse through what others have shared.

Anyway it can be difficult to get started on these sorts of things so we have a process below for you to follow and/or if you would prefer a verbal podcast to listen to and help the creative juices flow.

All contributions have value. Even if your writing seems to you that it might seem of minimal interest to others, it can almost be guaranteed others will find it interesting if not inspiring too. This is often because your writing might only represent a fraction of what you want to say, or of your experience, whereas to others it is likely to be something new or a refreshing way of looking at things.

All contributions are valid, whether they answer questions or prompts specifically, or go way off on a tangent to produce what needed to be told. To put it another way, there are no rules and no wrong answers. All material produced during the podcast workshop remains the property of the writer. Electronic copies sent to Permaculture West may be used for the 40th Birthday Celebrations of the Permaculture Association of Western Australia.

Please submit photos, scans or typed versions of all or any of your work produced during the podcast session to convener@permaculturewest.org.au. 

We strongly urge to limit editing if typing up what was hand written during an activity. Sometimes the gems are in raw and earthy unedited versions even if you can’t see it in your own writing. In other words, shove a sock in the inner critic. Your drawings and photos of mandalas or other workshop creations are also encouraged. And perhaps a single favourite ‘permaculture’ photo. It is possible the collective writing from around the state will be used to produce a book, an art installation or other artistic creation by Permaculture West.

One last thing to consider: whether you want your name and location assigned to your writing, or you wish it to be used anonymously. Variation examples: eg Donna, Suburban block, Denmark; Donna Marie, Southwest. Donna Carman, south coast. Thankyou for CELEBRATING !!!

So lets get started on our Story Seeds and create a web of life history of Permaculture in WA...

Written instructions are available via the PermacultureWest website for the engineers among us, or play our helpful PODCAST for a more creative experience.

Know of a great workshop coming up? Or a permablitz near your place? Is your garden looking fabulous or are you’re just bursting to share photos of your community or school garden? Would you like to introduce your Permaculture business? Would you like to connect with local community gardens in your area?  Let us know about it!

And! Your input is what really makes this monthly eNews special and relevant to local readers here in Western Australia. Plus! It helps us showcase all the great stuff we’ve got going on to readers from other parts of the world too.