Comedy Break

Interview with Duncan Dunderstone

Today at The Permaculture Research Institute we are fortunate to be talking to Duncan Dunderstone, renowned author of the Extreme Permaculture series of books, about his new book “Permaculture for Very Confined Spaces: A Five Year Study into Self-sufficiency in Long Bay Jail”. His previous works include “Rooftop Permaculture: a Guide for Mount Everest Climbers” , and the wildly successful top-seller “Permaculture for the Hitman”.


Practicing Permaculture in prison can be challenging
but rewarding, as Duncan Dunderstone explains

Hamish: Good morning Duncan. Can I start by asking why you wrote this book?

DD: G’day. I think it is important that ordinary everyday folks like you and me get to enjoy the benefits of permaculture. I mean, why should free, high quality organic food and a great sustainable lifestyle be available to only a select few? And besides, I had a bit of time on my hands.

Hamish: And why did you choose Long Bay Jail for your study?

DD: I didn’t.

Hamish: Er, OK. Moving on then, tell us a bit about the project – the land, the participants, the objectives; that sort of thing.

DD: Well our actual block was only 12 feet by 8 feet, but it was a good one. It was a preferred north facing block on the ground floor. Jeez, these poor guys on the South Wing had trouble even growing moss. There were two of us, me and Bubba. Initially we just wanted food that was edible, but the project just took off and quickly became self-sustaining and self-funding. It was going to run for eight years, but the Parole Board cut it short.

Hamish: Tell us about how you introduced Permaculture Design to your ecosystem.

DD: We started with a sketched out design plan, and drew in where the access road and residential buildings were.

Hamish: You mean the door and the bunk beds?

DD: Yes. Then we added the Wild Energy sectors – sun, prevailing hot and cold wind directions, bushfire risk quadrants and the like.

Hamish: That couldn’t have taken too long.

DD: Longer than you’d think. One of the most important PC tools is the power of observation. Since the only window was very high up and very narrow, sunlight was a bit limited, so we had to plot the sun trajectory through the seasons as arcs on the floor with a bit of chalk. Once we knew all this we could see the obvious locations for other elements, and added them in.

Hamish: What do you mean?

DD: Well the compost heap went behind the dunny, the bed bug farm was put in a wastebin in the darkest corner, and we built trellising between the bed and desk using wool from an unravelled jumper to take best advantage of available light.

Hamish: What about inputs like soil, organic matter and seeds?

DD: Soil was a real struggle to start with. I talk about this in my chapter on growing miniature potatoes in belly-button fluff. After we got to know the tunnelling mob in C-block, soil was never a problem. A win all round. The guys on surrounding blocks knew we needed organic matter, so most mornings they would chuck a potful through the door onto the compost heap. To this was added nail clippings, rubbed off skin, and the like. We ran a charity hair and moustache shave and got loads that way. Even the odd punched-out tooth went on the heap as calcium was hard to find. When it was salad for lunch, everybody sucked out the tomato and cucumber seeds to save for us. There was a real community spirit.

Hamish: You must have had difficulties with getting enough water. How did you manage this challenge?

DD: We planned to dig a deep well through the cell floor, but couldn’t get permission, so had to make do with soaking our towels in the shower block, then wringing them out over the veggies. When it was real hot and things were wilting we had a special technique to make it rain. Bubba would act all mad, stick his head out the door, and yell that he was going to kill anybody who came near him. He’s a big lad. After he’d stirred up a hornet’s nest we’d barricade ourselves in, and retreat to the back of the cell while still cursing and yelling. Sure enough after a few minutes a fire hose would get turned on us to shut us up. Of course, we’d try and capture and store this water as high as possible, so we’d fill all our socks with sand and put them on the top shelf over the dunny. That way, we could drip irrigate the crops for a week or so after a flood.

Hamish: Now, having got all this together, what were you able to grow, and what permaculture techniques did you have to maximise yield?

DD: After a bit of trial and error, we could do pretty much anything you’d expect of a temperate zone block. Limited light was always the issue though, but you could plan for that. Between 11.47am and 12.13pm we’d get a long, but only 12 inch wide, slit of sunlight moving in an arc across the block. We learned to carry between us 77 trays of veggies in a stacked formation, and shuffle across the arc keeping the trays in the light. We’d slip, slop, slap first though. This is the midday sun in Australia we’re talking about here! Also we invented a hat that we could hang a dozen flowerpots off, and during exercise time, we could walk a few of the veggies round the yard. I also read Masanobu Fukuoka’s stuff and realised we had been missing huge opportunities. See there were some guys who never washed. I mean never. So we made sticky seedballs by rolling a bean or tomato seed in a mixture of ear wax and snot, and flicked them at these guys, who were basically walking compost heaps. Three months later it was a just a matter of sneaking up behind them to get a feed. No effort, no till agriculture.

Hamish: How did you manage with “fair share” and “returning a surplus”?

DD: No worries really. There was this one time that we got invited to a wedding in cell 434. Quite a posh do. 60 guests and an orchestra.

Hamish: An orchestra?

DD: Yup. They had guys humming “Here come’s the Bride” on combs covered in tissue paper. Anyhow, we agreed to do the catering for nothing, seeing as the Gride and Broom were both part of the community and given us so many organic donations in the past. There was Sushi-style radish for starters, and a main of radish curry. We took along a brew of fermented radish tops in a huge basin. That really got the dance floor buzzing! It was a great day. Me and Bubba really enjoyed it.

Hamish: From reading your book, it seems that Bubba was quite special, wasn’t he.

DD: Yeah, he was more than just a mate. He wasn’t just my rock. He was my carbon and nitrogen source too. His whole body was just one great big edge. We’d shove seeds into the rolls of fat on his belly to germinate them. We weren’t allowed sandpaper to scarify seeds, but his feet were so callused that 10 minutes in his socks was more than enough for most seeds. I was devastated when he was transferred interstate. Three years cultivating a 250kg ecosystem and with the stroke of a pen it was gone.

Hamish: So now that the project is complete, what next?

DD: Well, I’d like to spend more time on a book series I’m planning on energy harvesting.

Hamish: Any secret peeks for our readers?

DD: The first one is no secret, really. It has got to be “Energy Harvesting for Skydivers”. Obvious when you think about it.

Hamish: And what about the Extreme Permaculture series?

DD: I think there’s loads of work still to be done there. The Australian Government asked me to do “Permaculture for Australian Working Families”, but I don’t know about that. That group is pretty hard core. It’s a small niche market, and I’d like to get the ideas more mainstream first. I think “Permaculture for Scuba Divers: Coping with The Big Wet” is probably needed far more.

Hamish: Well that all sounds very interesting. Perhaps we could have a chat again in the future?

DD: Any time mate.

 

2 Comments

  1. Darren,

    Duncan has been released on license after satisfying the parole board that he no longer poses a danger to the public. He pleaded that his multiple crimes of “causing alarm with reckless endangerment to public safety armed with a chicken in a public place”; “possession of useful seeds with intent to supply”, and “hanging around in a swale in a suspicious looking manner”, all crimes under the Sedition and Anti-Terrorism clauses of the Crime act, were severely misguided intents to cause public good.

    He has applied to the NSW Government to have block 312 in Long Bay Jail preserved as a show-cell to attract potential new inmates. I will relay your excellent suggestion about the Open Garden Scheme. I am sure there will be no objections from two-thousand odd of his old neighbours, especially to the “open” bit.

    He has a lifetime full of rich stories to tell, and a library of unwritten books.

    Fortunately, the PRI has managed to secure access to his old manuscripts, and communicates with him regularly about his views on current Permaculture Issues.

    He now lives on an acreage block at The Edge of Reason in Queensland.

    Colin

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