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Picture of "Mother Goose", April Sampson-Kelly founder and CEO of Permaculture Visions
We
will start the Day at our permaculture site [Silk Farm], have lunch
together, then pop over to Futureworld to put our new found skills to
the test and do a permaculture concept draft plan for their site. Your
chance to learn what Permaculture is about and how it will help your
lifestyle and a […]
Silkworms need no water but must be fed mulberry leaves.
Perfect timing as you get to eat the mulberries as you pick the leaves.
They live for only a few weeks and then spin a silk cocoon, hatch and
breed and give you eggs for next year. Instructions here http://www.permaculturevisions.com/silkworms.htm Silk Worms for sale $10/box Contact us 0413539744
Are
you searching for your ultimate tree? Do you want the highest yielding,
easiest to grow, most multi-functional, resilient, long living, best
tasting fruit, most nutritious fruit, best timber, not-too-tall tree
with fruit has no pests or disease? The search for perfection was at its height centuries ago.
Our ancestors had done thousands of years of genetic selection. But
then, in the industrial era, mankind settled on a bland diet where “75
percent of the world’s food was generated from only 12 plants and five animal species”.
Our Winner Is…
Mulberry Cheesecake with edible flowers
We like abundant tasty fruit from shady, low maintenance trees. Our
favourite is the Mulberry (it is a shrub in cool climates). The
branches are pliable and strong weaving material. In spring, we use the
branches as barriers to stop the chicken digging up our seedlings. We
also make hiding places for the chickens to escape dogs or foxes during
the day. It apparently has edible leaves, (although we haven’t been
hungry enough yet to taste them). They make good fodder for
poultry and cattle. The timber is useful and we use mulberry as fuel
in our winter fires. The Mulberry tree is very tough. It can be coppiced
or pollarded and happily conforms to the shape you desire. It is
self-propagating in a mulched garden and forgiving of most vandal
attacks in a city-scape.
A Yummy By-Product
Most Mulberry trees are not used for sericulture anymore (its primary farming role). The Mulberry was carefully genetically selected for over 5000 years to feed silkworms. The biggest advantage of this fruit for our site
is that these fruits do not succumb to the destructive native fruit
fly. Other wildlife, especially the water dragons, love eating mulberry
and will climb the trees or patiently wait for the fruit to fall. Lucky,
there is plenty to share. Be careful not to hang your washing
overnight near these fruits because the droppings from flying foxes or
birds will stain your clothes. Which brings us neatly into another
function – Mulberry makes a fabulous natural fabric dye.
Conservationists warn against ‘Hardy’ food trees
If you live in an area close to fragile native forest, the Mulberry
isn’t your ideal candidate because the birds will eat and poop the seeds
and it could possibly displace some of your native trees. But if you
live in the city and trees are in short supply there, you can enjoy your
visits from the birds and know that any food you grow in the city takes
pressure off existing native forests which are being felled to make way for farmland.
Prefer Amazing Taste or Amazing Packaging?
Mulberries
are sweet and juicy. But why are they not in the shops? They have a big
commercial flaw. Unlike some berries, the mulberry requires dexterity
to harvest it and the fruits perish quickly. Today, most consumers
choose to buy apples (often these have been stored for years). But we
could simply stop and reach up to pick the fresh fruit that grows on the
corner outside old Aunt Dolly’s house.
Multi-function: a Key Permaculture Principle
Each Element in the design should be used and positioned to perform a range of functions. Each plant in
a permaculture design provides food, timber, mulch, shelter for the
garden and house, soil conditioning, water harvesting and more.
There is a world of difference between making money and making a living.
Making a living requires a greater intelligence.
When we can accept some lost opportunities due to the curbing of
greed, we can then witness rich benefits of preserving resources for
others and for our environment.
We can aim to find way to save energy for the rainy days, enrich
existing resources for our children’s children and build a better future
for all.
Even when the weather is wild outside, we can grow food indoors.
Rooms that have some sunlight can have plants growing at the sill. Lots
of yummy sprouts love the cozy indoors. Indoor plants also help improve air quality by trapping dust and toxins then releasing healthier air. Caring for plants
also improves our mental well being. Best of all, a growing plant
reminds of us of our our own need for natural light, when the plant is
happy, the conditions are better for us too.
Are
you searching for your ultimate tree? Do you want the highest yielding,
easiest to grow, most multi-functional, resilient, long living, best
tasting fruit, most nutritious fruit, best timber, not-too-tall tree
with fruit has no pests or disease? The search for 
Most Mulberry trees are not used for 
Mulberries
are sweet and juicy. But why are they not in the shops? They have a big
commercial flaw. Unlike some berries, the mulberry requires dexterity
to harvest it and the fruits perish quickly. Today, most consumers
choose to buy apples (often these have been stored for years). But we
could simply stop and reach up to pick the fresh fruit that grows on the
corner outside old Aunt Dolly’s house.
Each Element in the design should be used and positioned to perform a range of functions. Each 
