The Food Forest

Permaculture Visit
April 20 2008
Full details of courses and tours held at The Food Forest see their website:
See their interview on ABC Landline Apr 6 2008, read the transcript here:


We met at a gathering site in the forest...140 people keen to explore this Food Forest. Graham Brookman gave a comprehensive introduction to Permaculture, how and why he and his wife Annemarie have been developing this 15 hectare site over the last 25 years.

The tour began at the bank of the Gawler River where we saw plantings of native grasses and shrubs/trees. This is their design for catastrophe work, their biggest threat is flooding of the river.

Up the hill past the storage areas to the 'On Farm Processing Facility' the fruit packing/processing/storage shed. The first of a series of strawbale buildings, the well insulated drive in Cool Room. It's viewing window to show the bales that it is made of.

On to the Strawbale Studio where the WOOFERS stay. An outdoor eating area sheltered from heat and cold by more Strawbale walls.


Out to the Eco Gazebo sheltering a child friendly sand pit.

Up towards the Learning Centre past it and the poultry run with the chickens and geese; the weeders on the property.


A quick stop to see the extensive vegetable growing area where organic veg is produced for sale at the Farmer's Market in Adelaide.

To the 160 year old homestead that has an added Strawbale extension. The roof is covered (on the north side) with a photovoltaic system producing electricity for the house and feeding back to the grid system.


Out the back of the house to view the Reed bed system that takes all of the waste water from the house cleans it and sends it via a storage tank with pump to the orchard area of the property.
The orchard area is protected by a 1.5km long predator proof fence to keep the Brush Tailed Bettongs living there safe.

Back to the Learning Centre for a much appreciated cup (or two for Doc) of coffee and herbal tea (for me).

The 2.5 hour trip home seemed to pass very quickly as we discussed all the things we saw and made plans for our own property!