Permaculture Kids

Get children and grandchildren engaged in activities

Recently, The Gut Goddess was interviewed by the Permaculture Program for Families, Queens / Goddesses …

Permaculture is about multi-purpose plants, minimizing waste, energy conservation and community-reliance.

Theorized in the 1970s by two Aussies, David Holmgren and Bill Mollison.

Permaculture has become a worldwide movement about more than just gardening.

Tonielle Christensen

Author of the Incredible Edible Tropical Superfood Guide & Permaculture Consultant @ www.organicmotion.com.au

Online Permaculture Program for Families @ Home of the Nature Kids Permaculture Program for Families

And the beautiful, Samantha Jane

Co-Director and Program Facilitator Nature Kids Club

https://www.earthmumma.co/Naturekids

It got me thinking of my why?

I am grateful for my beautiful grandparents and parents who planted the seed for gardening, making the most of what you have, leading a simple life, appreciating the beauty in wherever you are and what you do.

The seed grows, and then you share it with others, and the cycle continues.

Enjoying life’s simple pleasures.

To stop and smell the wild flowers!

Fermentation starts in the soil.

Virtues, skills, and life itself are learned in the garden

Apparently, a permaculture garden differs from an organic garden.

Food types are inter-planted to reduce damage from diseases and pests, with some edibles allowed to go to seed to promote self-seeding and seed-saving. Weeds can be a valuable addition and are often left to flourish.

A eco-system. That resembles a food forest.

There are 12 design principles.

You can explore these with the amazing Permaculture Goddesses above.

Some of my thoughts:

Grow more vegetables and herbs.

Even if you start in pots.

For a healthier plant to plate palate.

Catch & store the energy.

Our beautiful feathered family yield us food in eggs, fertilizer for the garden and companionship.

The joy of tasting, sharing at our community table and bottling to share with family and friends.

Even the smallest herb garden can be stored and shared for use in their off-season and tummy loving too!

So, consume, share, preserve to eliminate waste.

Solar ovens and dehydrators are great ways to utilize passive energy.

Photograph your garden often and keep records of what blooms when, what works where, and what you want to edit.

Share your garden harvest with family, friends, neighbor’s and donate extra produce to a food bank.

Ferment the garden harvest and explore nature and forage gently!!

Compost, compost, compost.

Visit botanical gardens in your family travels.

Encourage pollinators to take up residence by planting and offering habitat that attract them.

Birds, bees, bats and butterflies are precious protectors.

Eliminate nasty insecticides and pesticides

Mulch more to reduce weeds, keep the soil warm or cool depending on the weather, and stop soil erosion.

Take a virtual / local course / class to expand your knowledge. Join Samantha and Tonielle and the Gut Goddess can help with how to store the garden harvest with the bonus of helping make your families gut all happy and strong immune system to boot!!

Find interesting outdoor accents to use in the landscape like vintage ladders, windows, doors, mirrors and signs.

Seating around the garden, where you can sit and ponder the live nature show.

Become aware of the natural world by paying attention to the sounds, smells, and sights.

Add one or more water elements.

Transform a meditating space – like an un-used cubby or shed.

Light a fire and enjoy a family meal, giving thanks for life’s bounty, without media distractions.

Start saving special seeds and swap with others.

Culture and propagate from cuttings.

Start a garden – small steps .. Plant a garden or pots in a patio for the first time.

Plant a cutting garden for creating beautiful bouquets year round.

Sow a path of fragrance with lavender, jasmine, honeysuckle, or other sweet-smelling shrubs.

Plant sunflower for a bean trellis. Grow a bush garden. Leave an area go wild!!

Resolve to utilize organic gardening methods.

Journal outdoor endeavors.

Use plants indoors as air purifiers as well as décor focal points.

Enjoy your garden more, slave less.

Spend at least 15 minutes every day admiring your beautiful handiwork and tidying up.

Ditch the gym! Gardening provides an excellent workout with the digging, tilling, weeding, raking, mowing, moving, planting, and climbing.

Plus gardening is great fun. Each season you try to do better.

My hope for you is that you will adopt one or more of these tips as your gardening promise. Be enterprising. Do things better than you ever did before. Be optimistic. Be the STAR you are.

Compost Recipe:

Keep a bucket with a lid on in the garage or other storage area to fill with kitchen scraps, shredded newspaper, coffee grinds, tea bags, fish bones (no meat products), and egg shells.

Dump daily in an outdoor bin or pile.

Add leaves and other brown materials, grass and plant clippings, and garden waste. Keep moist. Turn often with a spade or pitchfork. When the material looks and feels like a damp chocolate cake mix with an aroma of the earth, spread in your beds.

With the flu and colds that seem to be ubiquitous, make sure to keep lots of citrus on hand, especially oranges and lemons which have a high concentration of vitamin C, citric acid, calcium, iron, fiber, and B complex vitamins. Squeeze lemon juice on salads, vegetables, meat, and, of course, in your water to keep you hydrated.

Explore fire cider / master tonic / sauerkraut tonic / kvass for immune boosting!