The Milkwood Permaculture Living Handbook

Kirsten Bradley is the co-founder of Milkwood with Nick Ritar - together they've been teaching permaculture design and skills for living like it matters for more than 15 years. When she's not helping folks to create meaningful change through their everyday actions, Kirsten can be found tending her backyard ecosystem of veggies, bees, berries and family, on melukerdee country in lutruwita/Tasmania. Discover more at www.milkwood.net.

This book is all about a passion for sharing skills, igniting the can-do, cultivating the possible, calming the chaos, delivering the doable. And, above all else, connecting and caring for the community. It's a home, a safe place to come and grow hope in what is a challenging world. - Costa GeorgiadisOverflowing with information for our times - one of the best permaculture books ever! - Hannah Moloney Kirsten Bradley shows us that it is never one big action, but rather a life of small, intentional, daily actions that truly make a difference. This is how we empower ourselves, our families and our communities to create a world in which we want to live. - Paul West The time is right for this volume and it is very welcome. - Rosemary Morrow, permaculture elder As author and activist, Kirsten Bradley walks her talk applying the deep and ethical thinking behind permaculture to everyday habits that she and her family have tested and documented through the very successful Milkwood Permaculture Living Course. This book distils the lessons learnt from helping so many others make positive changes in their own lives. In the process it is an accessible introduction to permaculture as powerful thinking tools for regeneration and resilience. - Dr David Holmgren, co-originator of permaculture

• Welcome to MilkwoodIntroductionHabit Zero: Learn whose country you're onPrinciple 1 - Observe and interactHabit 1: Identify five useful wild plantHabit 2: Research the life cycle of something you use dailyHabit 3: Pay the rentHabit 4: Regulate your household's temperatureHabit 5: Learn about your local waterwaysPrinciple 2 - Catch and store energyHabit 6: Store the season by preserving foodHabit 7: Harvest rainwaterHabit 8: Build a mini greenhouseHabit 9: Create a budget and start savingHabit 10: Grow a storage cropPrinciple 3 - Obtain a yieldHabit 11: Grow sprouts and microgreensHabit 12: Use what you haveHabit 13: Start a herb gardenHabit 14: Do a life/work time auditHabit 15: Pest-proof your gardenPrinciple 4 - Apply self-regulation and accept feedbackHabit 16: Locavore challengeHabit 17: Rehome all that stuffHabit 18: Use your privilege for purposeHabit 19: Learn how to communicate wellHabit 20: Get water wisePrinciple 5 - Use and value renewable resources and servicesHabit 21: Make natural home cleanersHabit 22: Start a worm farmHabit 23: Cook with sticksHabit 24: Reuse your weeHabit 25: Reuse your packagingPrinciple 6 - Produce no wasteHabit 26: Commit to a five-day no-waste challengeHabit 27: Learn to mend: Habit 28: Eat real foodHabit 29: Learn to love second-hand thingsHabit 30: Compost everythingPrinciple 7 - Design from patterns to detailsHabit 31: Make a base mapHabit 32: Start a garden or nature diaryHabit 33: Write a Will - and talk about itHabit 34: Learn about your local climateHabit 35: Get to know the soil beneath your feetPrinciple 8 - Integrate rather than segregateHabit 36: Reuse your household greywaterHabit 37: Keep chickensHabit 38: Engage with the commonsHabit 39: Support a local person in needHabit 40: Eat with friends and familyPrinciple 9 - Use small and slow solutionsHabit 41: Start a home seed bankHabit 42: Make your own sourdoughHabit 43: Walk or ride thereHabit 44: Take your lunchHabit 45: Plant a tree and take care of itPrinciple 10 - Use and value diversityHabit 46: Support your local pollinatorsHabit 47: Make your own probiotic drinksHabit 48: Install a gate in your side fenceHabit 49: Make a lizard hotelHabit 50: Share a gardenPrinciple 11 - Use edges and value the marginalHabit 51: Get to know your local fungiHabit 52: Cook a meal outdoorsHabit 53: Join your local food co-opHabit 54: Learn to identify and use local seaweedsHabit 55: Explore your local gift economyPrinciple 12 - Creatively use and respond to change: Habit 56: Raise your voice on the climate crisisHabit 57: Make an emergency planHabit 58: Do a first-aid courseHabit 59: Engage in mutual aidHabit 60: Revisit your personal goalResourcesReferencesThank youIndex