Every time I mention my journey to living on a permaculture farm, I’m met with the same question: What is permaculture?
For those unfamiliar, permaculture is a way of designing farms and gardens that work with and mimic natural ecosystems, such as forests with a variety of biodiversity. Rather than growing food in isolated rows or relying heavily on chemicals that can degrade soil health over time, permaculture focuses on creating systems that are sustainable, self sufficient, and environmentally regenerative.
Growing awareness around climate change, rising food prices and supply chain disruptions has prompted many people to rethink the way they eat. In uncertain times, more people are turning to growing their own food, supporting local producers, and seeking a deeper understanding of where their food comes from. Rather than relying on food that has travelled thousands of kilometres, consumed large amounts of energy to reach supermarket shelves, and often been produced through large scale industrial farming systems, many are searching for a different way to live. They want food that is fresher, more transparent, and connected to the people and landscapes that produce it.
I felt drawn to this shift too. It led me to explore food forests and eventually find myself living as a volunteer on a five acre permaculture farm in the NSW area of Byron Bay hinterland. It was here that I met Trine and Sime, who are transforming a former cattle property into a thriving permaculture food forest. Here, the couple share more about their passion for regenerative farming.
What led you to move into permaculture and food forestry, and start this project?
We always had a small vegie garden but over COVID realised how fragile our society is and how reliant we are on people from far away to grow and deliver our food. Future without an organic, reliable food source seemed unsustainable.
How would you explain permaculture and food forestry to someone who has never heard of it?
I have never trained in permaculture, I am a novice learning as I go.
I had an epiphany moment in Bali when my friend asked if I wanted to go for a walk in their food forest!!! I had never heard the term. We walked through a forest and all around us was food.
It made sense, it seemed natural, it looked like that is how food had been growing for centuries, before humans started controlling it. Food forestry has been stuck in my head ever since and moving to this property means we can start creating our own food forest.
What does a typical day on the farm look like for you?
Morning coffee in the vegie garden, bit of weeding, seeding and keeping things tidy. At the moment we are planting in our meadow which is an area we stopped mowing and encouraged growth to put goodness back into the soil before planting. Yesterday I mowed a patch and planted cuttings of cassava, Jerusalem artichoke, taro, papaya seeds, 2x ti-trees, 5 finger lime trees, a native hibiscus, a tamarillo and some native gingers. Today I will cardboard and mulch around them.
I have read that the Bundjalung people snacked directly from trees throughout the day for a lot their goodness. I try to do the same and yesterday ate Atherton raspberries, Brazilian cherries, lilli pillis, snow peas and a variety of herbs
How do you measure whether the land is becoming healthier and more regenerative over time?
We are lucky to have rich red soil where once huge rainforest trees stood before they were cleared by colonial farmers. It is great for growing but needs mulch. Once this area would have had metres of mulch covering the red soil so the main thing we bring onto the property is woodchip, truckloads of it. We know the soil is improving when we see a layer of darker soil covering the red soil. Growing trees along side vegetables means the trees send their roots deep and bring nutrients to the surface where they are more available for smaller plants. Seeing fungi appear is also a good sign the mycelium network is taking shape below the surface.
What challenges have you faced in restoring the land?
Old fashioned neighbours who hate trees.
And five acres is a lot of work for two people. Attracting people who are enthusiastic about agro ecology and want to experiment with eating different foods. I would love to meet someone who can make spinach pie from wondering trad.
What types of food are you growing here, and how did you decide what to plant?
We plant anything we can get our hands on. We don’t have the money to buy all our plants so we rely on swapping, cuttings and seeds. There is a great network of people here and we all share our knowledge and stock. I am a seed spreader and one might say a lazy farmer. I throw the seeds and if they don’t grow I try something else. I grow what wants to grow, I avoid plants that are susceptible to bugs, I only plant a handful of annuals as they often require too much input. Perennials are easier and more reliable.
How does food forestry change the way we think about food production?
There are over 7000 thousand edible plants humans have historically eaten but industrial production has narrowed our variety significantly. An average person today is lucky to eat more that 10 different vegetable regularly and most people even less. And 75% of the world’s food is from just 12 plants.
Do you think permaculture and food forestry can play a significant role in feeding more people in the future?
Yes but sadly I don’t think that is the way we are heading. Industrial food production seems to be doubling down on food grown/produced inside where the conditions can be controlled. Another polarised approach, controlled indoors verses wild forest food. Indoors can reliably feed large numbers but we lose nutrients, variety and connection to what we eat.
