Workshop: The Secrets of Eden

Short video excerpts:

For more than 40 years now, Sepp Holzer, the agricultural rebel has been transforming his family farm in the Lungau district in the Austrian Alps into an eco-paradise of fishing ponds, ten thousands of fruit trees, shrubs, vines and highly productive vegetables and herbs. Here, at an altitude of 1500 meters (~5000 feet) in the "Siberia of Austria", he has created a self-sustaining landscape in which he produces many varieties of the best quality fish, fruits, nuts, vegetables, mushrooms, pork, poultry and even citrus without irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides or weeding.

By observing nature and experimenting with his own garden from childhood on, he developed his own form of Permaculture, which is already the subject of scientific research. He cleverly uses ecological relationships and cycles, letting nature do the work for him with minimal labor input while providing optimum living conditions for his plants and animals. In this way he creates an eco-paradise which also achieves maximized economic success from his farming activities.

He has become famous far beyond the German-speaking world. His farm, the "Krameterhof" has become a symbol for a new kind of farming with hundreds of busses of visitors touring it every year. Sepp also acts as a consultant to a large number of projects all over Europe and the world, including Scotland, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, and Thailand, creating new croplands from depleted soils in harsh and difficult conditions. The principles of Sepp Holzer's Permaculture are simple and can be applied in any climate, by anyone, on any scale. These principles can empower anyone to develop a more sustainable life style and create their own highly productive eco-paradise, from the balcony garden to the family farm.