Make a garden that waters itself!

Get your garden as drought-resilient as possible in the face of this year's super El Nino, using simple passive water harvesting techniques.

You're probably familiar with rain tanks and waterwise plantings, but there are other clever ways to keep your garden green in a hot summer?

Come and join us in the fabulous world of passive water harvesting!

See how we capture rain runoff and grey water in our garden using swales and French drains. Learn how easy it is to make your own with some simple tools and techniques!

This relaxed and family-friendly workshop will cover:

• Defining passive water harvesting

• Tour of our French drains, swales and diversion channels

• Advice on grey water

• Pros and cons of rain tanks

• Other water harvesting techniques for steep slopes

• How to measure contour lines and relative elevations (have some fun practising with some simple equipment you can make at home.)

No previous knowledge or experience necessary. All ages and abilities are very welcome. We love the idea of sharing our garden lore and positive ideas for a better future to the next generation, so children are most welcome as ong as they are accompanied by a responsible adult.

• Food and drink

A selection of tea and coffee, other hot drinks, and snacks will be available at the workshop.

• Where to find us

The exact address (street number) will be provided in your confirmation email. This workshop is in a residential garden.

• This workshop will be outdoors

We encourage you to wear weather-appropriate clothing, and bring your own water bottle if it's hot and an umbrella if it's wet.

About your teacher: Dr. Cally Brennan

Cally has been practising permaculture for over 15 years. In 2013 she founded Canberra Permaculture Design and Education, a permaculture-focused garden design business in Canberra. She has qualifications in permaculture and advanced permaculture design and when she's not busy creating designs and plans for clients, she is out in the garden, planting, weeding, making wicking beds or hosting workshops. She also served as a Director and Treasurer on the Board of Permaculture Australia in 2018 and 2019.

Cally, together with partner Jeremy, and their daughter Sophie, manage their productive home food garden in Cook, along with chickens and quails.

About the garden

The garden is on an 840 sqm residential block in Cook. That land also contains a house, driveway, existing trees and shrubs - so it's a pretty typical older suburban garden. The aim is to see just how much food a home garden can produce. In 2024 the family harvested over 430kg of vegetables, fruit and eggs. The goal is to reach a tonne one day!

The garden sometimes gets a bit wild and weedy (two working adults means not a lot of time for maintenance gardening) but so long as it grows food while the soil gets more fertile, things are heading in the right direction! In this and other workshops Cally will lead you through what she and her family have learned on their journey - and invite you to try some of their techniques in your own garden!