Cath Manuel (Horticulturist, Permaculture Designer & School Garden Co-ordinator) decided to live a more self-reliant life with her husband, Paul (School Teacher) and two young boys, Edison and Archey. The family’s move to a semi-rural property in the Sunshine Coast hinterland has enabled Cath to put her skills into practice, creating a Permaculture design plan for their 3.5 acre site. With a philosophy of using as many onsite resources and recycling sustainable materials wherever possible, Cath and her family have made great progress in bringing many of the elements in their design plan into reality, with others on the drawing board as future projects. They’ve already established an abundant kitchen garden and orchard, integrated chooks, improved their health, use environmentally friendly products and continue to save money on home grown produce. They are continually working on their goal of living a sustainable and abundant healthy lifestyle and helping others do the same.
About us......
We purchased our first home at Sunrise Beach, Sunshine Coast in 1997. We enjoyed having the beach so close and I loved our little piece of paradise so then we created a beautiful tropical style garden. Living on sand created difficulties when it came to plant choice, but we improved the ‘soil’ and grew a gorgeous range of colourful plants.
Our two beautiful boys came along a few years later and we knew that the house and small yard in the suburbs wasn’t where we wanted to live as a family, so after looking around the Noosa Hinterland areas we found our home and I fell in love instantly. It had a nice big house (the huge walk in robe and extra huge ensuite did it for me!!!) and the 3 and half acre block was perfect for my plans for a permaculture based property. After a long wait we finally settled and moved into our new home. I had spent the months waiting for settlement planning and designing our property and this was helped by completing a Permaculture Design Course with Janet Millington at Eumundi.
Once we moved in the gardens were established very quickly and we planted many fruit trees as I knew these would take a few years to start producing fruit. It was a lot of fun working together in the yard and the boys absolutely loved the space. The ride on mower was a hit and so was the 2 acres of untouched forest, including a flowing creek. Oh what fun the boys had!!!
Since moving here in 2008 we’ve planted many fruit and nut trees, including our own coffee which Paul dries, roasts and grinds ( OMG it is so amazing !!!) established a large kitchen garden, built a chook yard, installed more water tanks and solar power. We have a few more plans including a dam and food forest, which in time we’ll get around to. By using my Horticulture and Permaculture skills and knowledge we’ve been able to provide our family with many delicious meals, ingredients for preserves, fresh eggs, plenty of sweet fruit and having our own water and power feel that it’s all finally coming together. I enjoy planning the next season in the garden and thinking about the amazing foods that we can harvest. There’s so much satisfaction knowing that we can walk outside and pick the fruit as we need it or my boys can stand in the garden eating something they have just picked (oh the strawberry’s are good) and that unbeknown to them they’re filling up their little bodies with so many vitamins and minerals that I just have to smile and tell them to eat whatever they want.
Now my deep passion for growing and sharing food has extended to the desire to teach and show others how this can be done. I feel that as a wife and mother to provide something to your loved ones that you have put all the work into producing is so incredibly satisfying and this is what I want everyone to feel. That satisfaction that you have worked hard for the delicious fresh food on the table and you have watched and nurtured it grow then harvested it just at the right time and served it up to your family and friends.
So from that deep passion came my consultancy business and workshops. To be able to share with others the skills and experience I have is so satisfying for me. I know that I want to share my knowledge with everyone as I think it’s a waste if others can’t have those unique experiences as well. I have been so blessed to have the skills in something that I love to do, so why not help others do it all too….
Words of Wisdom.....
- “If we did all the things we were capable of we would astound ourselves.” - Thomas Edison. I’m sure you all will astound yourselves if you just give it a try!
- Make a ‘Wish List’ of what you want on your property and work towards it, one step at a time.
- Start a compost system – it’s one of the main resources for your garden.
- Use local, preferably on-site resources and sustainable materials whenever you can.
(September 2011) (
