All the citrus and olives we wanted - that was the bounty gifted upon the Permi8 people who came along to Lou and Emmo's this week. We were at their place to see the mature permaculture orchard of Annalies and Jan (Lou and Emmo's parents/in-laws). And how impressive it was.

We wandered down and discussed the history of the design, plantings and the wonderful resource it provides. This season has been particularly good and we bagged up lots of lemons, oranges, mandarins and grapefruit. Then on the to the olives, where we picked buckets of black and green olives in a range of varieties. There was discussion of various olive preserving methods by the adults, while the children compared their tree-climbing skills. The billy cart (another Emmo masterpiece), which had proven highly entertaining for the kids on the way down, served as a handy way to transport the bags and buckets of spoils back to the house.

As is so often the case with Permi8 gatherings, we were treated to a fantastic spread of food and beverages on our return. Homemade venison sausages, Emmo's home brew, spinach and feta tarlets, home grown fruit and chocolate torte and pumpkin scones, to name but a few.