Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Dreampot cooking....and a bit more permaculture learning....

I purchased a dream pot a few weeks back, and this is the 2nd time I have used it. Yesterday I cooked up a coconut ginger chicken and rice. Both the rice and meat dish cook at the same time, and after the initial heating up on the stove, the pots are place in the dreampot and continue to cook. This works very similar to a slow cooker, but doesn't use any power or gas after the initial heating, so will be a great option for when we move to the property, as we will be on solar power.

It can also be used to make yoghurt and keep things cool. They're not cheap to buy, but hopefully a good investment. It will also be good for when we next take the caravan on a trip away, as it is safe to cook in this whilst travelling, which is what a lot of people use it for.
Not too much happening here other than that at the moment, I have things I could be doing, but can't seem to get motivated enough to do them...it's starting to get hot here again during the day, and I'm not a real heat lover, once it gets over about 28 deg my energy levels drop and I would rather be inside. Probably live in the wrong place then! The late afternoons after about 4.30 are just beautiful though....great outside and BBQ weather. I am currently reading Linda Woodrow's book on home permaculture design, I am really enjoying it. Even though I have done my Permaculture Design Certificate, this gives more detailed instructions on the actual setup...Linda, where did you learn all this info from? You are so clever...it's giving me lots more to think about with regards to my design at the new property...I thought I had it worked out pretty much, but back to the drawing board I go :) Better now than after I had started putting gardens in though...
The Permaculture Home Garden

4 comments:

  1. Hi Deb,
    I learned the hard way - by trial and error mostly! I'm glad you are finding the book interesting, but I really urge you to take the ideas that work for you and adapt them to your own situation. Gardening is such a creative pursuit, with every site unique. And, as I have discovered, there is no such thing as finding the perfect design forever. Living things grow and evolve and reach ecological platforms and you are constantly just staying one step ahead. We are on solar power too, and love anything that saves energy.

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    1. Thanks Linda, we studied the mandala design in my PDC, which I had incorporated in to my original designs along with the chicken domes, however I had a separate orchard, by combining the fruit trees around the mandala gardens, that makes more sense. I am still in the design process with regards to the species I will plant, and I still have a lot of observing to do before deciding on the final site, but your ideas are very thought provoking - so thankyou!

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  2. I have read Lindas book too and if/when I design my next garden I will be using her mandala methods. I have not done any permaculture courses so I am interested to hear that the book provides more information. The other book that I am currently reading is the earth users guide to permaculture by Rosemary Morrow. It is a great book and worth a read if you haven't already.

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  3. Hi Fiona, I learnt a lot at my PDC, the course outlines all of the permaculture principles and gives lots of ideas but I believe that there is so much more to learn, which takes further learning after doing the PDC, either by doing more intense courses on a particular area, or doing lots of reading and practice in your own situation. I found that Linda's book gave much more information on the actual "Mandala" design and how to work that to it's best advantage, and gave me lots of thought provoking ideas to nut out. I still have so many other things to learn in more detail about other subjects in permaculture, one step at a time though..I have read Rosemary's book, it's a very good book as well.

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