Biodynamics Workshop

admin Community

By Rafaele Joudry Last weekend, five members and five visitors spent a wonderful two days learning about Biodynamic compost and other wonders of Biodynamic gardening methods. Teacher Diane Watkin attended despite having an infected leg, but she said the whole experience was so delightful, feeling the gentle welcome and peaceful atmosphere of our community that she felt restored by being …

Ecoliving Podcast #6: Renovating a Heritage Home, with Bellbird House

Adam Weiss Podcast

This episode is about giving an older home a sustainable makeover — and it’s not just any home. We’ll be talking about: it’s Bellbird House, a Heritage-listed home and B&B here at Narara Ecovillage that’s over 100 years old. Owner Mark O’Brien talked about what it takes to bring a classic Australian home into the 21st century without risking its …

Ecoliving Podcast #5: Straw Bale and Straw Panel Homes, with Viva Homes

Adam Weiss Podcast

With Sustainable House Day happening here at the ecovillage and across Australia in March, we wanted to focus this episode on one type of sustainable house that we have several of here at the ecovillage: a strawbale-insulated home. Straw has been used for insulation for all of human history, but that doesn’t mean that a straw-insulated house has to look …

Ecoliving Podcast #4: Mushrooms and Mushroom-Growing

Adam Weiss Podcast

Want to move beyond fruit and vegetables in your garden? How about mushrooms? This episode features Lincoln DeKalb, a Narara Ecovillage resident who runs Shed 30 Mushrooms, a small mushroom-growing business based at the ecovillage. Lincoln started cultivating mushrooms at home (and in the forest that surrounds the village), then relatively recently started growing and selling gourmet mushrooms at a …

Ecoliving Podcast #3: Community Batteries, Smartgrids, and Microgrids

Adam Weiss Podcast

We just celebrated the official launch of our Narara Ecovillage community battery and microgrid, and Toby Roxburgh came up from Canberra to launch the system, which he helped design. Toby is the founder and executive director of Carbon Neutral Delivery Partners, and he joined Adam to talk about the differences between smartgrids and microgrids, and the benefits of batteries for …

Community Battery & Smart Grid Launch

admin Sustainability

An incredible milestone! This week we launched our Community Battery and celebrated the achievement of building the smart grid and battery to-date. Very appreciative of the support from our local members Dr Gordon Reid and Liesel Tesch, Central Coast Council and ARENA who provided the grant that made it all possible.

Ecoliving Podcast #2: Passive House (Passivhaus) and Envirotecture

Adam Weiss Podcast

After a bit of a hiatus, our second podcast episode is ready – we’ll be more consistent in the future. This episode features Andy Marlow from Envirotecture, a Sydney sustainable design firm. Andy is also involved in Passivhaus Design & Construct, and joins Adam for a conversation about the Passive House (also known as Passivhaus) concept, how it works, and …

House-sitting at the Ecovillage

admin Community

A big and sincere thank you to all the wonderful villagers who through their kindness made our summer holiday the most amazing stay ever. Through your thoughtfulness and generosity, we were able to enjoy the beautiful bird singing every day, having the scenic views over the surroundings, spend time amongst the nature every day learning catchy tunes of the butcher …

Circular Economy

Plotting our progress – Evaluating Narara Ecovillage’s social, environmental, and economic projects

admin Community

Rosemary Leonard Narara Ecovillage (NEV) is a living experiment in how people can work together at the local level to create a thriving community. NEV members know we need to explore new ways not only of regenerating the environment and our communities but also our economic systems – because they all work together. One of the most exciting aspects of …

Revising our Aim

Marg Community

Background notes Nurture: some people did not like the word “develop” because it sounds like a mainstream housing development.  “Create and Build” were in the last aim and are not suitable because we will have built it before the end of 10 years. “Grow” sounds a bit odd! So we landed on ‘nurture’, a word requested several times during the Picture …

Ecoliving Podcast #1: Tiny House Living

Adam Weiss Podcast

We’ve launched a podcast! Ecoliving will look at ways to reduce your impact on the earth, from cutting your greenhouse gas emissions to minimizing land and water use. Our first episode features Narara Ecovillage resident Chris Wenban, who lives full time in her tiny house on wheels. Listen Here:

The Bulk Food Store (aka ‘the Food Co-op’)

admin Community

by Annie McCluskey Early this year, I started volunteering at the Narara Ecovillage bulk food store for two hours each week. I really enjoy this role, as it allows me to meet more village members and learn about food, while contributing to our community. Six village volunteers run the store, which opens at least twice a week. The store was …

Sustainability meets comfort in a hemp house

hanna.lofgren Sustainable Houses

“This house has been described as hugging its occupants, which is exactly what I wanted in my new home.” Donna The house sits on a sloping block with sweeping views across the valley. It is a single storey house split over two levels following the natural slope of the site. The upper level has a burnished concrete slab floor, which …

A family of Finno-Swedes make Narara their home

admin People

Recently joined Ecovillage members, Hanna and Peter Lofgren and their four children, are excited to be embarking on a new adventure in sustainable, community living. The Lofgrens come from a minority called Finno-Swedes who have Swedish as their first language, so they are tri-lingual and are dual citizens of Australia and Finland. Peter studied history and film in Copenhagen and …

Sustainable Houses

Jaw-Dropping Houses at Narara Ecovillage

John Huang Video

We are excited to bring you the creative minds behind some of the Ecovillage’s most distinctive houses. Join us as we discuss their vision and journey so far. Circular, hexagonal, natural and organic – this session will be a delight for your eyes.

Deb and Dan – seeking more connection and meaning

admin People

Deb and Dan were looking for a place where their kids could roam free, and they could have meaningful connections with their neighbours. They had visited other ecovillages before choosing Narara, and were wanting to know they would have like-minded neighbours. Deb says: “We had heard stories of inter-connectedness, but hadn’t really felt it. What we didn’t really expect was …

Best schools on the central coast

School Options (around the Central Coast)

John Huang Community, Video

A conversation between families in the Ecovillage who have chosen different schooling options for their children. Which schools are great in the Narara area? What are considered to be the best schools on the Central Coast? How do the local Steiner, Montessori, Home School and Public Schools differ in aspects of classroom sizes, homework and use of technology? Which dovetails …

Earth Bag Hobbit House

Natural Building at Narara Ecovillage

admin Sustainability, Sustainable Houses

Ben’s House  Ben’s workshop We’ve had a great Winter on the build of this round recycled home, with plenty being done to get us from a bare slab to a roofed and walled light-straw-earth and cob home, thanks greatly to the help of some pretty awesome workaway volunteers (big shoutouts to Euge and Fran, Lois & Koen) and our designers/natural …