Sustainable Food Garden at Moss House 2019

House Notes – Sustainable Food Garden at Moss House

Note: Only the garden is open to the general public.

Real sustainability means growing your own food. It saves millions of litres of water used to grow crops and reduces the use of fossil fuels, which otherwise power the farming machinery, transport and cold storage of food.

Located on a steep hill, the Moss House garden is an example of a 12-years-old vibrant, sustainable permaculture property, designed with the primary goal to provide the owners with food and medicinal plants.

Annual vegetables are grown in 11 raised beds (eight of them are self-watering wicking beds) and the produce is either eaten fresh or preserved in various ways for storage. Nearly 30 fruit trees and many perennial vegetables are mixed with flowering plants, attracting beneficial insects and creating a rich and colourful ecosystem, which includes also two beehives of native stingless bees and a flock of five egg-laying hens.

Rainwater is harvested from the roof of the house and two other structures in the garden (total storage 15,000L) with main tanks feeding garden taps, laundry and the second toilet. Surface water runoff is captured using swales, mulch and a composting pit.

Nothing ever leaves the garden; all non-edible materials collected from it are composted (in bays, bins and worm farms), mulched or used to build plant supports.

You will have an opportunity to see elements of permaculture garden design in action and to taste some of the produce grown on the site.

The 1938 double-brick house (not open to the public) is partially retrofitted.

Electricity is provided by the grid and by 1.5 kW solar panels. Eaves, window awnings and shutters protect interiors from the sun in summer. In winter, the house is heated by two slow combustion wood heaters (firewood is foraged locally).

For more information about the garden, go to the Moss House website or check the ABC TV Gardening Australia episode from 21 May 2016, “A Productive Paradise”.

Moss House have classes and speakers throughout the year.

DAY EVENTS:

10:00 – Garden OPENS

10:00-10:30 – Crop Swap Australia – Sydney meetup

10:30-11:00 – guided garden tour

11:30-12:00 – “Fermenting Vegetables 101” – talk and demo on basic vegetable fermenting methods by Moss House

12:30-13:00 – guided garden tour

14:00-14:30 – guided garden tour

15:00-15:30 – guided garden tour

16:00 – Garden CLOSES

Sustainability Features

Years Open
2016
2017
2018
2019
ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENT FEATURES
    • Energy efficiency:
    • Efficient lighting
      Efficient appliances
    • Passive heating cooling:
    • Shading
    • Active heating cooling:
    • 2 x slow combustion wood heaters (the larger one includes a fan)
    • Water harvesting and saving features:
    • Above ground rainwater storage
      Stormwater management
      Low flow shower heads
      Low flow taps

    • Storage connected to
    • Garden
      Toilet
      Laundry
    • Water harvesting and saving
    • Swales, composting pit, mulch
    • Window Protection:
    • Awnings (external)
      Blinds
INSULATION SPECIFICATIONS
    • Insulation Type:
    • Under-roof
      Ceiling
    • Under Roof Insulation Type:
    • Reflective foil
RENEWABLE ENERGY SPECIFICATIONS
    • All-Electric Home?
    • Yes
HOUSE DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
    • House Size
    • 115m2
    • Roof
    • Tiles (Clay)
    • Wall Materials
    • Double brick
    • Number of bedrooms
    • 3
    • Number of bathrooms
    • 2
GARDEN AND WASTE REDUCTION
    • Garden / Outdoors
    • Swales capturing rainfall, 7 x self-watering (wicking) garden beds, composting, chickens, native stingless bees
    • Garden / Outdoors
    • Bee keeping
      Bee hotels/friendly
      Chickens
      Composting
      Edible garden
      Organic
      Permaculture
      Native plants

    • Waste Reduction Practices:
    • Compost all food scraps
      Recycle
      Repair
      Swap with friends and neighbours

    • Other Waste Reduction Practices:
    • Processing waste from a coffee shop and coffee roasters (spent coffee grounds, coffee chaff, hessian sacks)
Location
Denistone NSW 2114
    • Housing Type:
    • Standalone House
    • Project Type:
    • Garden Only
    • Open with support of
    • Permaculture Sydney North

Ask questions about this house

Load More Comments
Name
Email
Comment
Leave Comment