Hey there, holidays! Whew, are we glad to see YOU this year. And now that we have a little more time – wondering what to make or brew, this end of year? Here’s a bunch of delicious permaculture holiday recipes for you to try – to make, bake and ferment – using found and foraged ingredients, seasonal goodness, and whatever you have at hand.

Now I know that this time of year can be anything but restful – it’s an emotional time for many, especially THIS year, after, well, the everything that 2020 involved. And I’m not sharing these recipes to give you more to do – but rather, maybe some ways to use this time as a pause… even for a small moment.

For us, this particular end of year is very (VERY very) much about slowing down for a little bit. 2020 has been so, so huge. We’ve learned so much. We’ve met so many beautiful new students, from all over the world. We moved house (twice), moved Milkwood HQ, juggled students and home-schooling, built a new team of Milkwooders, dreamed up a lot of covid-safe community plans for 2021, and held on tight.

So really, I’d be more than happy with a sandwich and some good company on a bank of the river, this holiday season. However, a bottle of foraged fruit soda would go down quite well, too. and so…

Here is a roundup of delicious DIY recipes that are all low-waste and high-joy, for you to try. Or to return to, if you’re a regular here (hello lovely!). This is us cheering you on to a simple holiday season – with bread from your hands, or fruit soda from your garden, or sprouts from your windowsill.

Do you have to make everything below, to be truly virtuous? No! Do what you can, and delight in that. Buy your bread, but try making some simple cheese to put on it. Buy your dip, and try making some of the gob-smackingly delicious olive oil crackers below. Source whatever you need from wherever you can, and add to that a little something made by you.

This is how we get there – to that change we all want to see – one little step, one little habit, one recipe at a time. You’re doing amazingly. We wish you well.

Wild Elderflower Soda (note – use ANY fruit you like for this recipe)

This is a spring recipe that we love. It’s family-friendly and entirely delicious as an afternoon treat. The fizz comes from whey and the copious yeasts in the elderflower pollen. If you make it with other fruits instead, that will work fine too! Here’s the recipe.

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Growing Sprouts and Microgreens on your Kitchen Bench

Growing your own nutritious sprouts and microgreens at home is super easy – you don’t even need a garden space. A kitchen bench will do just fine. Here’s the method.

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Wild Fermented Young Country Wine (it’s easy)

Young country wine is a simple ferment composed of fruit, sugar, water, air and time. With the help of the naturally occurring yeasts on the skins of the fruits, these simple ingredients can be transformed into a delicious good-time brew… Here’s the recipe.

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Olive Oil Crackers (so darn fine)

A super easy recipe that is easily adaptable. Change the seeds around, play with the tastes you like and never walk down the cracker aisle of the supermarket again. Here’s the recipe.

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Easy Kitchen Staples: Wholefood Vegetable Dips

A delicious vegetable dip (with home made crackers) is a hard snack to beat. Here’s three super easy and awesomely tasty recipes you can make right now: here’s the recipe.

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Frugal Feast: Making Fish Terrine from Scraps

In the spirit of no waste living, getting your hands on some of these fish heads and making something delicious with them is a great way to enjoy some free (or nearly free) local protein. Here’s the recipe.

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Apple Scrap Vinegar – come on, apple season!

You can drink it straight, use it as a household cleaner, drizzle it over your favourite salad and rinse your hair in it. Let’s talk about how seriously good this stuff is, as well as being crazy easy to make – here’s the method.

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Making: Simple Sauerkraut, from whatever Greens you’ve Got

The basic parameters are thus: if it’s vegetable, and squeezable, it’s suitable. Keep the slices thin, find a balance between vegetables that will stay crunchy and those that will go soft, and off you go. Here’s the recipe.

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DIY Fruit Leather Roll ups

What do you do when you’re short on time and the many boxes of home grown nectarines you’ve been gifted are all about to go mushy? DIY fruit leather roll ups to the rescue, that’s what. Here’s the method.

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Permaculture Kitchen Staples: easy sourdough, cheese tibicos + jun

Our household runs on a few key foods + drinks that we make from scratch each week with local ingredients and wild fermentation: tibicos, jun, no-knead sourdough, kefir cheese and kraut. Here’s how we make them!

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Making Wildwood Tea

Wildwood tea is, in its essence, as individual and as unique as each household that makes it. It’s an expression of place, in a teapot. A warm hug, from the woods where you live – and from all four of your seasons, too. Here’s the method.

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Pickled Fennel Agrodolche: Storing the Season

This Pickled Fennel Agrodolche is an excellent small-batch vinegar pickle recipe for whatever vegetables you’ve got a bit too much of. You know the kind of situation I’m talking about. Here’s the recipe.

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Make your own tomato Passata

Storing the season for year-round stews of organic tomatoey goodness – is there a better way to spend a Saturday? I think not. Here’s how to do it.

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Easy Summer Holiday Bread

What better way to celebrate your home grown (or locally sourced) summer herbs and produce than within a tasty home made baked thing? Super tasty and super easy – Summer Holiday Bread. Here’s the recipe.

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Whew! Well, hopefully there’s at least ONE thing in this list that will be perfect to tryat your place? Do let us know how you go, and as always, comment below if you have any questions and we can help you out…

All the best for these holidays! We’ll see y’all in the new year with a big bunch of new ideas and inspirations. Thanks for everything in 2020, we couldn’t do any of this without our network’s support, so thank you, truly. And may all beings be safe and well x.

We acknowledge that permaculture owes the roots of its theory and practice to traditional and Indigenous knowledges, from all over the world. We all stand on the shoulders of many ancestors – as we learn, and re-learn, these skills and concepts. We pay our deepest respects and give our heartfelt thanks to these knowledge-keepers, both past and present.⁠

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