Brisbane

I'm back in Brisbane again. For one night I visited Len and Renee (and Stella and Mike and Betty) at their vegetable farm. It was great to see how they are now harvesting, and selling, their first crops -- beautiful, healthy, organic vegies. And no more mud! ;)

They also prepared and planted additional fields and so their business is visibly growing and prospering. Less visible but equally important, Len is also making progress on a second endeavour: to organize tours of students (such as international hospitality students) to visit their farm for educational day trips. A second pillar (Standbein) for their permaculture habitat.

And now I'm staying at the house of Bob and Sonja, Renee's parents, who live 30 km south of Brisbane. Sonja is the daughter of Werner from Yorkeys Knob/Cairns. She has a big cause: to fight against the flouridation of water. (For background: Australia, like the USA and a handful of other countries, put flouride in the public water which is believed to be good for the teeth. But there are also many health related arguments against flouridation, so the practice is disputed. If anyone wants to learn more about the dangers of flouridation, they can ask Sonja or visit the Flouride Action Network.)

The boy in the picture is Sonja's grandson Ben (the child of Renee's sister Megan). And there's a wallaby somewhere in the back of the photo.