On his final day at the Greening the Desert Project (https://greeningthedesertproject.org) this year in Jordan, Geoff takes us on a unique tour of the property. Rather than showcasing its renowned living systems, he’s excited about how the project is continually evolving. The tour starts on the high mezzanine roof next to solar panels donated and installed by 24 Hour Solar Power from Australia (https://24hoursolarpower.com). The system has a live action feed that allows Geoff and the crew to … [Read more...]
Geoff talks to Naema about her permaculture garden
Naema is a local student of the Green the Desert project, and she created a highly productive garden at her house. The garden is terraced and carved out of solid rock, but via a “chicken tractor on steroids”, she and her family have created a fertile place to plant. She is a symbol of success for the GTD project, and she is now having a huge influence on the local community. Geoff takes time to interview Naema after students from the GTD internship have had a guided tour of her property. Her … [Read more...]
Permaculture Neighbours at the Greening the Desert Site
Hayal is a neighbor of the Greening the Desert site and has a young family with seven children. Their home has an established permaculture site with a distinct food forest. They have chickens adding fertility to the system. They’ve added some solar energy. There are two production gardens, recently cultivated wicking beds, and few beehives around. The winter garden is underway and generates income for the family. The food forest is very straightforward with drip irrigation throughout, … [Read more...]
Geoff Leads a Teaching Tour of the Greening the Desert Site
We started about 11 years ago, and it looked like the other bare blocks around the area. we purchased the land, created a society, and gave the land to the society. There was no funding, so everything advanced slowly. With each new success came a new stream of funding. Course by course, they volunteered, and the site got off the ground, so much so that funding eventually came from LUSH (https://www.lush.com). Ultimately, Mulsim Aid Australia (https://www.muslimaid.org.au) began funding the … [Read more...]
A Student-Led Permaculture Tour
Benson introduces Sam Parker Davies (both Australian) to tell us about how the group has been tweaking earthworks to capture water and recharge the landscape with organic material. It’s only just rained for the first time in over a year. They’ve created a diversion ditch to capture a little sheeting runoff coming from a nearby landform. The ditch leads to a berm, both of them lined with rocks to prevent erosion. The berm has been planted to Leucaena and pioneering species to create a biological … [Read more...]
Water Recycling with Reed Beds
Greywater reed beds are simplistic systems for filtering used water into something clean enough to irrigate with. A horizontal delivery pipe drops the water through large boulders, and the water then soaks under a bed of gravel. The gravel is 65 centimeters deep and the water level sits at 60 centimeters, i.e. below the surface, where roots from reeds take minor toxins out of the water. When the water rises to the surface, it’s time to open the tap and drain the system down to the base level … [Read more...]
Learning and Practicing Permaculture
The Greening the Desert Project offers once-a-year internships at which students get to work side-by-side with Geoff while they learn, hands-on, permaculture techniques suitable for arid climates. In this video, Geoff takes us on a short tour of the first day of the 2019 internship program. One group has already begun on the major project of tidying up the food forest using the chop-and-drop technique. Much of the work is pollarding Leucaena trees, both opening up the forest to sunshine and … [Read more...]
Two Years of Permaculture Application
I've returned to the Greening the Desert site in Jordan which is located 10km north of the Dead Sea, 6km east of the Jordanian-Palestinian border, and directly east of the West Bank. When we started this project, our aim was to set up a permaculture system of permanence, one that could be extended and replicated throughout the community. This is Abla's place and she lives across the road from the project site. Two years ago she took a permaculture course with us and then began transitioning … [Read more...]
Talk About Return of Surplus!
Vegetable production from the month of 12-7 Eggplant 72.435.kg Tomato 39/225KG Parsley 6,690 bunch Mint 12,735 bunch Green Onion 18.225 kg Hot Pepper 39.345kg Sweet Pepper 36,035 kg Thyme 3.080 bunch Sage 4,680 bunch Cauliflower 35.355kg Cabbage 20,140 kg Fennel 10.290 kg Potato 10 kg ( first Trail ) Spinach 12,980 bunch Okra 6,820 Malukhia 14,530 Pawpaw 150 fruits Egges 2010 egg … [Read more...]
Abla’s Garden
Meet Abla, the former school teacher who bought a small piece of property in the desert. After nine months on the property, she met her neighbours Geoff and Nadia, and she took our permaculture design certificate course here at the Greening the Desert project. She then began to transition her own property, which had been mostly rocks and barren soil, into a green desert site as well. Having left the city unhealthy, she has felt renewed with a permaculture lifestyle, caring for plants and … [Read more...]
Jordanians on the frontline of climate change, turn to permaculture
Olive, lemon and palm trees provide shade over the small garden where Abu ElHajj recently started growing carrots, tomatoes, beans and herbs.Surrounded by arid cliffs and a harsh desert landscape, it seems an unlikely place to start cultivating food. 'Geoff taught us how to work with nature, not against it'- Abu ElHajj Facing drought and rising temperatures, Jordan is on the frontline of climate change. Overgrazing and inappropriate cultivation practices have contributed to increasing … [Read more...]
Celebrating 10-Years at the Greening the Desert Project, Jordan.
The Greening the Desert Project started with the purchase of land about ten years ago, and it expanded slowly until that mounted into exponential growth. Things started at the top, literally, with a large water tank that feeds a shower/toilet block just downhill. The toilets are dry composting, supplying fertilizer for plants on site, and the greywater from the showers and sinks goes to a nearby reed bed. The reed bed, still high in the landscape, is then able to send gravity-fed irrigation to … [Read more...]