Friday 30 October 2015

Back on the road

We've been busy getting ready to leave, packing panniers, cleaning the house, planting out the garden for our tenants and for our return in three months' time. The two panniers that go on the front of Patrick's bike are our food and kitchen supplies. This is what's inside:


We've also been putting up little signs around the garden to aid the permaculture tour that is coming while we're away and also to help our tenants navigate the garden. Here's a selection:





It's a bit difficult to see how the swale works in the above picture so here's one from 2009 when it first went in. Water travels from our bath/shower along a spoon drain that has been plumbed level across the contour of the land. Water is distributed through 30 metres of food growing garden beds and 'passively' harvested deep into the ground. This is one way to help climate-change proof your garden. The whole system is gravity-fed.


We've also been harvesting our (unprecedentedly early) garlic,


bottling the last of our plum wine,


and much bike tuning.


Then we were off without the anxieties we felt on our first trip, heading east a gentle 22 kms with plenty of stops,


to our first hidey-hole camp in the wonderful Wombat Forest on the edge of Trentham.


We are not going to be blogging here as much over the next three months. We're going to be rather busy getting to 20 book events in 90 days. We will be micro-blogging however on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, so please join us there @artistasfamily.

Wherever you are Dear Reader, we hope you'll check in with us along the way and share your thoughts, reflections, advice and even botanical knowledge. Which reminds us, does anyone recognise this plant? We came across it on the road between Daylesford and Lyonville.


Tuesday 20 October 2015

Peddling and pedalling our book

We're taking off in 9 days on a pedal-fuelled book tour, traversing two states and a territory and many more countries than terra nullius would care to comment on.

Click for bigger

Here is our schedule:

Woodend — Friday 30th October 2015 4pm New Leaves Books
Kyneton — Saturday 31st October 3pm Aesop's Attic (2pm foraging walk)
Violet Town — Wednesday 4th Nov 6pm Murrnong Farm
Beechworth — Sunday 8th November 3pm Collins
Albury — Thursday 12th Nov 3pm Dymocks
Tumbarumba —Thursday 19th November 6pm Nest Cinema (5.30pm foraging walk)
Tumut — Saturday 21st November 3pm Night Owl Books
Yass — Wednesday 25th November 5.30pm Yass Library
Canberra — Saturday 28th Nov 3pm Paperchain Books (1.30pm foraging walk)
Bowral — Wednesday 2nd Dec 4.30pm The Moose Hub (as part of Green Drinks)
Sydney — Saturday 5th December 3pm Florilegium (intro by Kirsten Bradley)
Blackheath —Thursday 10 December 5.30pm Gleebooks Blue Mountains
Berry — Saturday 2nd Jan 2016 3pm Our Bookshop and Cafe
Nowra — Tuesday 5th January 3pm Dean Swift Books
Huskisson — Thursday 7th January 3pm Boobook on Owen
Moruya — TBC Moruya Books
Bega — Saturday 16th January 3pm Candelo Books (2pm foraging walk)
Bairnsdale — TBC (f)route + Collins

We look forward to seeing you on the road.

Thursday 1 October 2015

A day of release

We've been home 9 months and today our book hits the shelves,


as a book, e-book and audio book. 

We're launching The Art of Free Travel in both Daylesford and Melbourne so please come by and help us celebrate. David Holmgren (below left) is launching it in Daylesford and Adam Grubb (below right) is launching in Melbourne.


For a sneak peek, here is our book trailer made by our mate Anthony Petrucci:



We hope you enjoy reading or listening to The Art of Free Travel. Stay tuned for news about our forthcoming book tour.