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Labeling Jars the Easy Way (No Labels, No Tape)

Bocal de conserve étiqueté au marqueur indélébile sur verre Jar labeled with permanent marker directly on glass Borcan etichetat cu marker permanent direct pe sticlă

It’s the height of summer and the harvest is abundant! You’re busy canning, and you don’t really have the time (or the patience) to cut out pretty labels? Neither do we.Our method: simply write directly on the glass with a permanent marker. Fast, readable, washable. And here’s the bonus: a numbering system that finally puts … Read more

A Herb Spiral: Beautiful, but (Almost) Useless

The herb spiral is something of a holy grail for beginner permaculturists. The first time you come across it in a book by Bill Mollison (co-founder of permaculture), you immediately think: this is what I need.At Ermitaj, back in 2021, a group of young people we hosted wanted one so badly that we ended up … Read more

Nature, Water, Design: The Dripping Torture as a Lesson

The idea of torture often evokes images of immediate and brutal violence. Yet some of the most dreadful tortures ever devised rely on natural, soft, everyday elements. The drip-drip of water falling on the skull of a bound prisoner is one such example. Bamboo growing under another. These methods are based on slow repetition, on … Read more

Slugs in Permaculture: Ecological Role, Life Cycle, and Strategies

During the semi-annual gathering of the Belgian permaculture network Permanant, last March, we were offered a short training by Antoine Clin on slugs. A subject that fascinates Antoine so much that he devoted his PhD thesis to it. He talked to us about the role of slugs in nature, their life cycles, and strategies for … Read more