Establishing A Food Forest

Geoff Lawton is a permaculturist’s permaculturist. As one of the first ‘wave’ of designers and teachers in Australia, he has been implementing and thinking about permaculture for many years, and has become internationally recognised as a repairer of landscapes, and a creator, even in the most unpromising ecosystems, of food forests and abundant, productive landscapes. This film offers an inspiring and enlightening immersion in his work and thinking, and also a moving look at just how productive permaculture systems can be if they are sufficiently well thought out and designed.

The Edible Garden

Alys Fowler attempts to avoid shop-bought fruit and vegetables and live off her own home-grown produce. It's no easy task because Alys doesn't want to turn her garden into an allotment, so she's growing her fruit and vegetables among her flowers.

Alys will focus on different foods and show how anyone can grow, cook and eat from their own garden - even if they live in a city.

The Food Forest (The Guytons, NZ)

The Guytons started planting their food forest in 1998 on two acres of bare land in Riverton, New Zealand. This style of gardening was new to Southland so their neighbours did not approve. Now it is an established food forest with hundreds of different plant species. Fruit and nut trees, berries and herbs and wild plants all blended together in a productive and sustainable way.

Urban Permaculture At Its Best

Follow Geoff Lawton as he shows us around a beautiful and amazing urban garden. An example of permaculture design is used throughout the small city patch, which feels like a mini forest as we are lead through the various areas. Each aspect of the garden has many functions. There are edible plants for the grower with zero food miles, a place to reuse waste from the kitchen by creating compost and a beautiful garden that can be seen from within the home. Featured in the well planned design is a herb garden that enables picking from any angle. There are raised pots attached to the wall, which makes use of the shadiest area of the garden while still allowing the plants to get sunlight and varying heights of plants which means no space is left unused.

Ron Finley: Guerilla Gardener

Ron Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central LA - in abandoned lots, traffic medians, along the curbs. Why? For fun, for defiance, for beauty and to offer some alternative to fast food in a community where "the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys."

Bill Mollison: Global Gardener

Bill Mollison is a practical visionary. For three decades he has traveled the globe spreading the word about permaculture, the method of sustainable agriculture that he devised. Permaculture weaves together microclimate, annual and perennial plants, animals, soils, water management and human needs into intricately connected productive communities. Mollison has proved that even in the most difficult conditions permaculture empowers people to turn wastelands into food forests.

Global Gardener is a series of four half-hour programs. Each episode looks at examples in different bioregions.

In The Tropics - Mollison introduces the basic principles, and shows results in Australia, India, and Zimbabwe.

Dry Land - Reversing desertification in Arizona, Botswana and Australia.



Cool Climates - Europe, Tasmania, and the San Juan Islands in Washington State.



Urban - New York City and Harare, Zimbabwe.

Grow Food, Not Lawns

'I would like to see our culture change so that keeping up with the Joneses means you're more sustainable.' says Heather Flores, the founder of Food Not Lawns. They are a non profit organization that promotes the idea of growing food instead of wasting resources on grassy lawns.

'Lawns are the single largest agricultural sector in the country. They are responsible for more fertilizers and pesticides and herbicides and toxins into the river, erosion, run off, water waste, you name it. Petrochemicals. There's really nothing good that lawns are doing for the environment. It seems like it would make a lot more sense to use your land for something that benefits you as an individual vs. surrounding yourself with something that's poisoning you and your family.' she adds.

She estimates that for every 100 square feet, you can generate 100 lbs of food. She says: 'Food Not Lawns is a challenge to the homogenous monoculture of lawn after lawn after lawn'.

Growing Edible Fruits and Vegetables in your Front Yard



The Edible Backyard Barrel Garden



Creating a Food Garden in a Front Yard



Part 2

Keyhole Garden African Style

Keyhole Gardens are a great garden to make - here is one being built in Uganda. This organic technique is part of Send a Cow's training in sustainable agriculture and is a great home garden idea too. Keyhole gardens survive floods and arid conditions well as the raised bed holds moisture and is 'fed' via a central compost basket.

Vanishing Of The Bees

This documentary takes a piercing investigative look at the economic, political and ecological implications of the worldwide disappearance of the honeybee. The film examines our current agricultural landscape and celebrates the ancient and sacred connection between man and the honeybee. The story highlights the positive changes that have resulted due to the tragic phenomenon known as "Colony Collapse Disorder." To empower the audience, the documentary provides viewers with tangible solutions they can apply to their everyday lives. Vanishing of the Bees (2009) unfolds as a dramatic tale of science and mystery, illuminating this extraordinary crisis and its greater meaning about the relationship between humankind and Mother Earth. The bees have a message - but will we listen?

Colony Collapse Disorder

Jacqueline Freeman is the author of an upcoming book "Bees, the OTHER Way". She points out the different strategies that conventional bee keepers might try to save their hives from colony collapse disorder.

Throughout the video I count off the first twelve. There are several more points that ended up on the editing room floor. For that stuff, make sure to visit the discussion.

12 things to prevent colony collapse disorder:

#1 general approach: use organic practices
#2 general approach: strengthen bee immune system instead of "attack and kill" what nature uses to remove weak bees
#3 don't use insecticide (for mite control or any other insect problem) inside of hives - bees are insects!
#4 allow bees to create their own cell size (typically smaller) - no more pre-made foundation or cells
#5 genetics based on "survival of the fittest" is superior to genetics resulting from mass production where the weak are medicated
#6 swarming is the natural way to good genetics
#7 local bees have adapted to challenges in your area
#8 stop moving hives
#9 feed bees honey, not sugar water
#10 feed bees polyculture blossoms, not monoculture
#11 stop using insecticides on crops - bees are insects!
#12 raise hives off the ground

The Art Of Gardening

Save money, learn about the earth and discover the wonderful world of nature! Learn how to grow your own food in everything from a small container garden in a city backyard to a large vegetable garden. Packed with helpful instruction to help you grow beautiful healthy flowers and vegetables, learn about composting, pest control, container gardening, vegetables, potato patches, climate conditions, flowers and more!

Edible Flower Garden

There are more edible flowers already growing in our gardens than we think - this film guides us towards some of the lesser known ones and inspires us to plant more useful plants in our gardens - using ecological gardening techniques.

Straw Bale Gardening

Straw bales (not hay bales) are a great place to plant vegetables. Here's my start-to-finish results! The straw is an easy, loose place for the plants to spread out their roots. Also, up on the straw bale there is essentially zero weeds to pick. (Note: do not use a "hay" bale: unlike straw, the hay has lots of seeds and you will have wheat/oats/grass/etc. growing as weeds in your garden!).

Humanure Toilet

The fourth is an amazing piece of art. With some really smart engineering.

It seems that the secret to having no odor is to have a large pit and to vent the pit. It also helps to separate the pee. In all four, folks were encouraged to pee outside - way from the outhouses.

Sawdust is used in case there is any smell. A properly built outhouse can be better for the environment than a septic tank or a sewage treatment plant. I like these three designs much better than any of the humanure systems or composting toilets.

The Loveable Loo is demonstrated by loveable Lulu, who shows us the compost toilet and the garden that it can produce.



Build one yourself: Humanure Toilet

Manual: Instructions

Supersize Your Vegetables

John shares with you how you can double your yields in your garden by using wood chips and rock dust.

Lawton's Guide To Permaculture Design

Here’s another 5 part series which demonstrates the diversity of considerations which lead to diversity of crops and foods in permaculture forest-gardens. At least watch the last two parts for a system overview and tour of an actual eco-system which demonstrates the concepts described in the first three parts.

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



Part 4



Part 5

Stephen Ritz: Green Bronx Machine

A whirlwind of energy and ideas, Stephen Ritz is a teacher in New York's tough South Bronx, where he and his kids grow lush gardens for food, greenery -- and jobs. Just try to keep up with this New York treasure as he spins through the many, many ways there are to grow hope in a neighborhood many have written off, or in your own.

How To Be A Gardener (BBC)

Season 1 - Website: How to be a gardener

Episode 1: Know Your Plot

You wouldn’t dream of moving into a house without taking a look at the area. It’s the same in a garden. Before you can grow anything, you need to know what sort of conditions you have. Then you can choose plants that are suited to them. There really is no need to waste money on plants that will hate your environment. You’ll need to know what sort of soil you have, how much light there is and the prevailing weather conditions. Is it a windy site, a particularly cold one, or is it sunny and sheltered?

Episode 2: Understand Plants

Think of your garden as a theatrical production. It's all right - you don't need any artistic training. You are aiming for a variety show that lasts a long time, offers year-round interest and alleviates boredom. The way to achieve this is to use a wide range of plants: from trees and shrubs to climbers, perennials, annuals and bulbs. What's the difference between them, and what can each of them bring to your garden?



Episode 3: Planting Schemes And Themes

Once you’ve understood the different types of plant and what they can do, you can tackle the job of putting them all together in a garden - working out which ones will look best where, and how they will complement each other. There are lots of different planting styles, from cottage gardens to prairie gardens, tropical borders to bog gardens. And there are ways to use shapes, textures and colours to create different effects. Soft pastels or vibrant shades?



Episode 4: Practical Planting

When you know what plants you want, and which of them will be happy growing together, it’s tempting to rush off to the garden centre, go mad with the plastic, then come back and chuck them all in. Not a good idea, is it? You’ve done it before and half of them have died. So before you take the plunge, make sure that your soil is well cultivated and enriched. This module will tell you how to get your garden ready for plants, and it will also explain what sort of plants you should look for in the nursery or garden centre; what makes a good one, and which ones you should avoid. 

Episode 5: Caring For Your Garden

Once your plants are growing you will need to keep them happy. How do you do this, and what sort of tools will you need? Plants need water and food, but when and in what sort of quantities? This module explains the cultivation techniques necessary to keep your plants in fine fettle. Don’t worry; you won’t have to be a slave to them, just a good mother. And when it comes to pruning don’t shake in your shoes. There are simple basic steps you can take to ensure you cut the right stem, at the right time, in the right place.



Episode 6: Problem Solving

However good a gardener you are, there are always outside agencies that do their best to prevent you succeeding. That’s life. Weeds will invade your beds and borders, pests will fly in to nibble leaves and suck sap, and diseases will spread death and destruction in their wake. But grow your plants well, and know what steps to take when you spot a weed, a pest or disease, and you can stay one step ahead. Whether you are an organic gardener like me, or use chemicals wisely, making sure that the right product is used in the right place, the important thing is that you achieve a working relationship with nature and still enjoy your garden.



Episode 7: The Productive Garden

Growing flowers is wonderfully fulfilling. Growing fruit and vegetables is wonderfully filling. To pick and eat your own crops is a great thrill. You know they have been well grown; you know they are fresh and you know that, just like your own baby, they are the best in the world! Here you can discover just how to cultivate your own fruit and vegetables – and you don’t need a big garden to do so. Edible crops can be squeezed into the tiniest of plots.You’ll be surprised at how good some of them look – it’s a shame to pick them really!



Episode 8: The Gardening Year

The garden never stops moving, and no garden is ever finished. It follows, then, that the gardener is always gardening – even though to some the winter seems to be the closed season. But year-round gardening has its rewards. You can ensure that there is always something to cheer you up in the way of flowers, and always more things to plant and existing features to keep up to scratch. Not all these tasks are chores. Many of them will keep you in touch with the earth and things that grow, which is what 'how to be a gardener' is all about.

Roger Doiron: A Subversive Plot

Roger Doiron is founding director of Kitchen Gardeners International, a network of people taking a hands-on approach to re-localizing the global food supply. Doiron is an advocate for new policies, technologies, investments, and fresh thinking about the role of gardens. His successful petition to replant a kitchen garden at the White House attracted broad international recognition. He is also a writer, photographer, and public speaker.

The Heart Of Permaculture

Former truck driver Bill Wilson tells an insightful story about the energy packed in a gallon of gas — which we won’t always have in cheap abundance. Now a permaculture educator, he sees permaculture as a viable, realistic way to use nature to provide the abundance we really need — harvesting sunlight, food, wind, water and more. Can you guess what the magic stuff is that we all can’t live without? (No, it’s not oil.)

Permaculture: A Quiet Revolution

As corporate media fails to provide accurate news of the world's dire environmental predicament, the Earth sends a clear message in the form of record-breaking natural disasters, famine and epidemics. People are mobilizing for what lies ahead. In May 2007, the 8th International Permaculture Convergence (IPC8) was held in Brazil, bringing together visionary activists from 43 countries in the common goal of preparing for, and mitigating, our looming global crisis. Their strategy: Self-reliance and sustainability through permaculture. This timely documentary offers practical steps on how to 'permaculturize' our lives. It invites viewers into a permaculture community that spans the globe. Most importantly, it gives the critical inspiration needed to turn our backs on that which is failing us, and to create a sustainable future of our own making. 

UMass Permaculture

UMass Amherst transformed a 1/4 grass lawn on campus into a thriving, abundant, permaculture garden during the 2010-2011 academic year. Learn how this student-led project can be easily replicated and spread to other campuses, institutions... any piece of land for that matter. UMass Amherst is one of the first university's undertaking a project like this, directly on campus, and supplying the food to its dining commons.

Guerilla Gardening

Depave. From Parking Lots to Paradise - Guerrilla Gardening in Action!

Depave promotes the removal of unnecessary pavement from urban areas to create community green spaces and mitigate stormwater runoff. Through partnerships and volunteers, Depave strives to overcome the social and environmental impacts of pavement with the use of action-oriented educational events, community stewardship, and advocacy to reconnect people with nature and inspire others. Depave is a project of City Repair, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, USA.

Website: Guerilla Gardening
Book: How To Depave Guide



One London gardener on a mission to make our green spaces brighter.



Holes Of Happiness is a short documentary looking at the reactions of the public to some pothole gardens that have been popping up around East London.