You can follow the Chronicle of our adventures at Pebblespring farm by clicking here:
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| The dam is really beautiful |
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| The Cottage as it was when we found it |
This is the story of Pebblespring Permaculture Farm: an exercise in Regenerative Design. It is also is the story of my personal quest to live a life closer to the land. A quest that is odd, given the fact that I live and work in the city and did not own a farm when I started this quest. On these pages we set out our step by step progress toward this goal since the beginning of 2009, when I first bought four “Quacker” ducks to keep in our back yard. The journey led eventually to the purchase Pebblespring Farm in 2014 and the further adventures that this move led to.
The farm is 10 hectares in extent and comprises a unique combination of grassland, forest, marsh and stream. There is a very old cottage on the farm. At this stage we can’t rule out the possibility that this is the oldest remaining house in PE.)
We learn from and build on the ideas of:
- Alan Savory
- Bill Mollison
- Geoff Lawton
- Joel Salatin
- Sepp Holtzer
- Mark Shepherd
- Wendell Berry
The name, “Pebblespring farm” is a nod to the Khoisan and the nearby lake they named “Kragga Kamma”. The surrounding area is named “Kragga Kamma” after this lake.
The most reliable source we can find (Margret Harrodene) records the Khoisan translation for Kragga Kamma as being “pebbly waters”. Our spring is at the source of a little river that feeds the “Pebbly Waters” so we called the spring “Pebble Spring” and the farm Pebblespring Farm. I love it! The name talks to the fact that this property would have been a centre of human habitation for a very long time before the Dutch arrived an called it Goedmoedsfontein, in itself a beautiful name.
We farm with Chickens, Beef, Pigs and Tilapia. We are beginners, but we are giving it a go.
Pebblespring Farm, is the remaining piece of land around the original farmhouse of the once expansive “Goedmoedsfontien” (roughly translated from Dutch as” Spring of Wellness”). Located 20 km from the PE CBD on the KraggaKamma road, it includes a cottage (derelict and abandoned when we bought the place) which was the original residence of the farm granted to Johannes Kok in 1816.
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| The stream flows from the spring on the western boundary |
buildingfreedomtoday.com 
Hi there, I saw your post on permies.com and decided to look at your blog. I want to do exactly the same thing as you. Buy useless land and develop it into a permaculture paradise. I plan to do Geoff Lawton's PDC course next year to equip me properly, but also have been reading every book I can find. I now believe that only a permaculture future will save mankind from extinction. Good luck with your project! Cheers, Daniel. PE, Lorraine
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Hi, I've been in PE for a few days volunteering at a permicultre set up in Redhouse. However, I'm keen to find a new project. How does one get in touch with you?
Thanks
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Hi, i've been in PE for a few days volunteering through http://www.workaway.info at a permaculture place. However, I'm keen to see what else is going on in the area and your project looks like a massive undertaking. The kind of project a lot of people would love to get involved in. How does one get in touch with you other than through permies.com?
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Richard,
My email address is tim@noharchitects.co.za
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