Robyn Francis has published a number of small practical books, countless articles, course handbooks for training, Celtic Eighfold Year Garden Chart posters, and is a contributing author to several books. She was editor of the Permaculture International Journal (PIJ) for 6 years 1987-1993, taking the publication from a small print-run subscription-only magazine to a 20,000 […]
Robyn Francis Consulting & Design – introduction
Creative Solutions for a Post Carbon World Robyn Francis has designed and consulted on hundreds of projects locally and internationally for over 3 decades, from edible landscapes and rural properties to ecovillage developments, community projects to corporate and government sectors. This work has included master planning, strategic frameworks, landscape concepts, community and participatory design facilitation, […]
12 Useful Herbs for your Garden Apothocary
Here are 12 common and exceptionally useful herbs that no garden should be without. I value each of these herbs as essential for my garden apothecary, for basic first aid, treating simple ailments, as well as for their culinary or edible uses. Some of these plants, gardeners consider weeds, while others are planted and nurtured […]
Everything Cycles – Microcosm to Macrocosm
In Celtic philosophy, the macrocosm is reflected in the microcosm, everything cycles, and there are cycles within cycles– the times of day, annual seasonality of the earth, stages of the human lifecycle, to astronomical cycles of sun and moon spanning decades and longer time frames. The diagram below maps some of these cycles and their […]
The Celtic Eightfold Year
The Eight Stations of the Year for the Southern Hemisphere As the earth cycles the sun on its annual journey, the respective seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres are created by the tilt of the earth’s axis. Thus the key pivotal quarters of the solar cycle are the solstices and equinoxes, which determine the […]