Permaculture Haven

Permaculture Life – Design – Education – Plants – Seeds

We are a permaculture homestead and education site in Pacific Haven on the Fraser Coast in Australia’s beautiful subtropical coastal area. For more info about us, please check this page here.

Our main goal is to inspire, and share our knowledge and experience about the self-reliant way of life, demonstrate and teach how to grow food naturally all year round, and prepare, preserve, and eat homegrown food.

To support my work, click this link for more information.

I also sell plants and seeds, on our dedicated Food Forest Seeds page. All the plants and most seeds come from our food forest, naturally grown with lots of love and no chemicals.

Gardening

Does the Moon Really Affect Plant Growth? Science, and My Garden, Say It Doesn’t Work

ByEwa 17/06/202517/06/2025

The Myth of Lunar Gardening For centuries, farmers and gardeners have sworn by the moon’s influence on plant growth. Moon phase gardening—the practice of timing planting, pruning, and harvesting with lunar cycles—claims that crops grow better when sown during specific moon phases. Proponents argue that the moon’s gravitational pull affects soil moisture (like ocean tides) and… Read More »Does the Moon Really Affect Plant Growth? Science, and My Garden, Say It Doesn’t Work

I recently had the pleasure of working with Ewa from Permaculture Haven on the Halcro St project, and I couldn’t be happier! Ewa created an easy-to-follow design that was both welcoming and functional. She listened carefully to everyone involved and came up with a plan that saved many of the existing trees. Now, we have a beautiful food forest that everyone loves.
Ewa’s work was amazing from start to finish. She made sure to include all our ideas and needs, and the result is a fantastic space that’s perfect for our community. If you need a creative and thoughtful designer who cares about nature, Ewa from Permaculture Haven is the best choice!

Adam Hughes
Community Development Officer

Fraser Coast Regional Council

I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Ewa in my previous role with local government. I engaged her to review and develop an updated permaculture redesign for one of our long-term community garden spaces as well as present a series of educational community workshops on a range of permaculture topics. Ewa’s design demonstrated excellent knowledge of permaculture design and our local conditions. Her workshops were well-prepared and well-presented making them engaging and very informative. Feedback by all attendees was positive, with many people signing up for more than one workshop.
I was especially impressed with the respect Ewa showed to the hard-working volunteers. She incorporated their ideas and wishes into the design which meant that they were part of the process. The outcomes were extremely positive and I would absolutely recommend Ewa and Permaculture Haven for permaculture design and educational workshops.

Tina Raveneau

It was such a great experience having Ewa visit and tour our property. Having someone with her vast expertise in permaculture for our area and climate is amazing.
Being able to ask all the questions we had and getting simple easy to understand solutions and suggestions, gave us the confidence to move forward with our plans.
To have such an abundance of knowledge at hand is a godsend. Thank you so much!
The Laurie’s

Adam and Bree

This was a fabulous one-day course. The course is taught by Ewa, who has extensive qualifications and experience in permaculture and nutrition. The course was highly educational, starting with sustainability and the meaning of permaculture, and running through the basics of permaculture from soil and nutrition to water, swales and composting. The theory was backed up by lots of practical examples and recommendations from her own food forest. We were also supplied with a list of plants suitable for SE QLD, and lots of notes on the information in the presentation. Even though I have studied some permaculture, I still learned a lot. But the highlight of the day was a tour through her own food forest. This was the opportunity to see how all the theory was put into practice, and we received a detailed explanation on each plant, outlining both how to grow it and its benefits as a food or a medication. The information that she taught can be applied to all sizes of gardens and is suitable for gardeners at any stage of their development. In addition, we were able sample some of her tonics/teas and some home cooked goodies. We also sampled lots of leaves and berries as we toured the garden, and everyone got to take home a plant. It was a fabulous day, and I’ve already started to implement many of the things I learned on the course.
I can’t recommend this course highly enough.

Leo O’Reilly

This course was exactly what I was looking for as a backyard beginner gardener. Ewa offers a course packed full with both conceptual and practical information. She is highly qualified with vast experience, and delivers the content with wisdom and passion, along with a down-to-earth practical approach.
The garden tour was fascinating, showing us the extraordinary diversity of Ewa’s food forest and demonstrating transferable gardening practices suitable for gardens large and small, like the three bin compost system.
I came away feeling like I had a solid foundation to approach my project with. And I have been pleasantly surprised by the progress so far!
Highly recommend this course.

Sophia Cecilia