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To us, permaculture is not a state of mind, place to be or end goal to reach. It’s a constant process that can be added to our lives as a tool to help us, not just regenerate the environment, but to regenerate the very fundamentals of life.
It’s all in the name really. We are a family run enterprise based on Raymond Island in the heart of the Gippsland Lakes. Our aim is to one day be knowledgeable and experienced in permaculture to a point where we can, with confidence, assist others in growing their knowledge – and their own produce. One day, we will be a small farm, with some fruits and vegetables alongside chickens, pigs and goats, as well a small nursery of plants suited to the island's unique conditions. We will develop a functional permaculture-based ecosystem for others to come and enjoy, learn or hold events. We will develop and share our produce and knowledge, while finding site specific fertility solutions for our sandy island home.
So, we are, along with our property and concepts, long term projects in the making - hence the name.
The ‘WHY’ of Raymond Island Permaculture Projects.
Our WHY for the land is - to regenerate soil life to a point of self-regeneration where it is able to retain enough moisture from our country’s ever more random rain events to support natural forests and landscapes alongside many small scale enterprises designed to sustain multiple families.
Our WHY for the community is - to move in a direction of community sufficiency, catching as many valuable waste streams as possible before they are lost and return them as valued products and services. This also makes it easier for all of us to feel we are a part of a solution to the many crises facing our and future generations.
Our WHY for ourselves is - much more simple - and selfish. We want to be able to eat good food until the day we die also knowing we have left the option for following generations to do the same.
Learning how to better manage ourselves, make decisions and communicate with others and nature is all just a very nice bonus.
You can spend your whole life traveling around the world searching for the Garden of Eden, or you can create it in your backyard.
Jan Franz, the property owner, is donating the space for this project. She has had an abiding interest in permaculture for many years and she has enjoyed creating her home garden even more as, in line with the natural forces of life, she moves into her later years. Jan has been in love with Raymond Island since the mid-1990s and moved here permanently in 2004. Since then her 17 acre property has flourished, hosting a multitude of native flora and fauna. She herself has planted hundreds of native trees and with the assistance of Raymond Island Landcare, has planted over 2000 more. This effort cannot be underestimated especially as Jan undertook much of this work during a long period of drought in Australia and with only tank water available on the property. During much of this time Jan was also operating her restaurant and approaching retirement. Fortunately she has had great support from her fellow Raymond Islanders and a gregarious group of enthusiastic friends. Without ongoing support in the future Jan would not be able to stay here in the coming years as the house and land requires more attention than she would be able to financially or physically manage. This brings us to our next introduction - NC Franz.
Franz or Franzy, as he is known to everyone, is Jan’s son, but we will introduce him as the property / project manager. Only discovering permaculture in 2018. His interest was not initially for reasons related to gardening, farming or even the environment but for the way it gives us the tools to understand bigger and bigger life pictures and systems. Permaculture teaches us to observe, think and act in ways that are more balanced and in tune, not just with nature, but with who we aspire to be as human beings. Franz discovered permaculture and its set of life tools during a time of personal injury and crisis. As a result he abandoned his city and social life to disappear down the permaculture rabbit hole by way of youtube, podcasts, books and online courses. During this time he made more of an effort to connect to his roots, where as before Franz might go 3-6 months without calling his family to let them know he was still alive. Long story short, a plan was set in motion and in 2020 the near 40 year old son moved into his mothers home (hmmm doesn’t sound so great when you put it like that!). The plan was that he would take care of the house, manage the property and try to create a regenerative ecosystem. However, with little water, sand instead of soil, a limited market for produce and no sizeable funds to call upon, how or what could be done is yet to be seen. From here begins the Raymond Island Permaculture Projects journey which is exactly that - a project, a work in progress and one we are willing to share.
We hope that you can join us along the way.