The Milkwood Permaculture Living Handbook: Habits for Hope in a Changing World

by Kirsten Bradley

What if your habits could create a more meaningful life for you and a better world? The Milkwood Permaculture Living Handbook is your guide to improving your home, health and happiness – and the planet – one simple step at a time.

Packed with practical skills and projects, it's regenerative living for busy people who want to make a positive impact in a world out of balance.

Discover how simple changes to your every day can make a big difference. Maybe it's decluttering your home, growing sprouts on your windowsill, connecting with your community or taking on a locavore mini-challenge. Maybe it's going waste-free or falling in love with compost. Inspired by the life-affirming principles of permaculture, all 60 habits will help you reconnect with your ecosystem, save money and celebrate sustainable living.

Wherever you start, this book will help you change your lifestyle in small but significant ways – one powerful, practical habit at a time – towards a resilient, abundant life and a hopeful future for all.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening, Environment, Nature, Ecology, Plants

296 pages, Paperback

Published October 10, 2023

Reviews

[Hannah]

Great book. I borrowed it from the library but finding myself not wanting to return it because I want to use it as an ongoing resource. Lots of accessible recipes, project ideas, and just generally uplifting ideas. Also the garden and nature photos are stunning and inspiring!

[Sally Coady]

Some good tips and reminders.
It was nice to read that I am doing some of the good things. There’s more I can do for sure and this book gives some easy and achievable ideas.

[Em]

5/5 ⭐️

So this is permaculture!?! Permaculture seems to be THE concept that beautifully encapsulates the life I’d been working towards creating. I just never really had a word that fully captured all that I was feeling, but now I do.

The idea of living in harmony with nature, having a deeper connection to the community, living a lower (zero) waste life and building a slower life… every page of the book resonated so deeply with me. This book met me exactly where I’m at and it was glorious. It’s one I’d love to save and reread. ❤️🌿

[Jem]

Permaculture ethics: earth care, people care, fair share.

Principles (David Holmgreen and Bill Mollison): observe and interact, catch and store energy, obtain a yield, apply self-regulation and accept feedback, use and value renewable resources/services, produce no waste, design from patterns to details, integrate rather than segregate, use small and slow solutions, use and value diversity, use edges and value the marginal, creatively use and respond to change.

Permaculture is simply a goal: of living in functional meaningful relation to our ecosystems. That benefits land, waters, life and community. How we eat, use energy, use our privilege, help out, advocate and garden. “System based on regeneration rather than extraction” Bill Mollison.
Forage wildflowers
Find out the lifecycles of products we use everyday
Get to know local waterways
Preserve food - freeze, dry, ferment, bottle, cooking.
Harvest rainwater - rainwater barrel, rain garden.
Build a mini greenhouse - a windowsill, old window propped against a wall.
Grow a storage crop (beans corn)
Grow sprouts and microgreens
Start a herb garden
Eat local - Find a local co-op
Mulching plants can save up to 70% of the water that would be lost during evaporation.
Make natural home cleaners
Create a worm farm for food scraps to collect worm wee as a fertiliser.
Create a rocket stove
Using liquid gold as a fertiliser - one persons urine contains all the nutrients needed to grow an ongoing supply of food for one adult - packed with nitrogen.
Reduction and reuse over recycling

[Victoria]

In a time of overwhelm in the world, this book offers ways to be proactive and how to take steps forward with small individual solutions to help reduce our personal contribution to the climate crisis. With so many books on permaculture available, this one is excellent for anyone wishing to start out on a learning journey with the permaculture principles at the heart of their actions. The book is written in an informative, friendly way, with beautiful photographs and simple illustrations to follow for possible projects. Having read the handbook from start to finish I am now looking forward to focusing in on the different habits and putting them into action overtime.
The wording on the front cover says what it does 'Practical skills for an abundant life' and 'Habits for hope in a changing world'.
Ideal for older teens and adults alike.

[Diana]

If you are new to the concepts of Permaculture, sustainability, organic gardening etc then this book would be a 5 star good introduction.

But for me I found the content quite broad, basic and really common sense. I already make my own compost, sauerkraut, have chooks, harvest seaweed, built a greenhouse, volunteer, share produce, visit community garden etc, etc. Nothing new for me here but nice to affirm I am going about it in the right way …… except

I cannot see many readers ( or myself) fronting up to pay 1% of their wages annually to the local Indigenous organisation to pay rent for our colonised land. Howl me down but I am being honest- and yes I am sure this is due to my privilege. Another topic covered in the book.

[Janelle]

The thing I loved about this book is how it breaks down so many permaculture principles and ideals into really achievable steps. Having done a permaculture cert where I was given huge amounts of information (and expectations) in a short amount of time, I found this book to be an ongoing support for reflection, encouragement, inspiration and learning.

[Jen]

Lovely writing with lots of practical ideas. But I feel like I already do most of the 'low hanging fruit' ones and now it's just harder activities and habits left.

[Paula Moros]

Hopeful.

[Talia Loggenberg]

My dining room table book for sparks of wisdom and inspiration ✨️