*Welcome Maddy Harland, author of The Biotime Log

Please join me in welcoming Maddy Harland, author of The Biotime Log



Read the book review here!

Maddy will be hanging out in the forums until October 26th, 2018 answering questions and sharing her experiences with you all.

At the end of the week, we'll make a draw for 4 lucky winners to win a copy of her book! From now until Friday, all new posts in the Permaculture forum are eligible to win.

To win, you must use a name that follows our naming policy and you must have your email set up to receive the Daily-ish email.

The winners will be notified by Personal Moosage and must respond within 24 hours. Only the winners who respond within that timeframe will receive their book. Watch for a PM, and a notice in this thread announcing the winners!


Please remember that we favour perennial discussion.  The threads you start will last beyond the event.  You don't need to use Maddy's name get her attention. We like these threads to be accessible to everyone, and some people may not post their experiences if the thread is directed to the author alone.

Posts in this thread won't count as an entry to win the book, but please say "Hi!" to Maddy and make her feel welcome!

Welcome Maddy!

I have been working my way through the back catalog of Paul Wheaton's Permaculture Podcasts, and I was listening -- just this very morning -- to these episodes:

Podcast 332 - Maddy Harland on Most Recent Issue of Permaculture Magazine Part 1

Podcast 333 - Maddy Harland on Most Recent Issue of Permaculture Magazine Part 2

Morning everyone. Thank you for inviting me to this forum. I first heard about biotime or biological time and the idea of keeping a record or log in 1992 when I did my PDC with Lea Harrison, one of Bill Mollison's first batch of teachers ifrom Australia. The idea interested me and TIm and I began keeping records based on events around our garden. Over the years we have recorded late and early frosts (useful to see patterns when planting tender crops or protecting them late in the season), volunteer species - like new wildflowers in the meadow or visiting birds - extreme weather events (again observation of patterns is useful), and astronomical phenomena like eclipses and unusual planetary alignments. We started doing this to help our observational skills and make us better gardeners. What I didn't expect was the evolving patterns I observed over many years and the deeper entanglement I experienced in my ecosystem. It has been a powerful immersion tool that has connected me with nature in my locality. This is not only useful on a practical, ecological level, it has physiological effects. Scientists have evidence that it calms the mind, lowers blood pressure, and makes us happier and healthier. So biotime logging is a kind of permaculture mindfulness. Just five minutes a day of sitting and observing is a great tonic.

My latest project is a Bee Biotime log. I have 2 hives in the garden and every time I work with them or visit them and observe something significant I note it in my log. This can be how many frames of brood and honey they have, the health of the colony, the colour of the incoming pollen, wasp or hornet attacks or their temperament that day. Year on year I will build a record in my bees and be able to quickly compare.

If any of you are unfamiliar with Biotime and its importance, I recently interviewed Jon Young from the 8 Shields Institute here:  

Hau and Welcome Maddy, great to have you here.

Redhawk

Hi Maddy, welcome to Permies.  :-)

Hi, Maddy, and welcome! 😁

Welcome, Maddy. I'm sorry to say I haven't had time to dig into Biotime logs and won't for a while. But one thing I really need to do that might be in such a log is figure out how to track the sun throughout the year to know how much sun any particular space receives. Is how to do that in there?

Hello maddy! Welcome and thank you for your time and efforts!

Hello Maddy and welcome back!  I love your book - it's so useful to track things in the fourth dimension (time).

Gail Gardner wrote:Welcome, Maddy. I'm sorry to say I haven't had time to dig into Biotime logs and won't for a while. But one thing I really need to do that might be in such a log is figure out how to track the sun throughout the year to know how much sun any particular space receives. Is how to do that in there?

Hi Gail.  I am totally new to Maddy, Biotiming and her book but here is a thought.  Perhaps you could choose one outstanding feature of your yard such as a favorite bush or tree and note whether or not it has sunlight during the course of your days...just whenever you notice it.  Maybe keep a calendar by the window to jot on?

And Hi Maddy!  I'm looking forward to gleaning lots of wisdom and insight from your podcasts and book.  Blessings!

Gail Gardner wrote:Welcome, Maddy. I'm sorry to say I haven't had time to dig into Biotime logs and won't for a while. But one thing I really need to do that might be in such a log is figure out how to track the sun throughout the year to know how much sun any particular space receives. Is how to do that in there?

Hi Gail, the Biotime Log explains what biological time is and the kind of subjects or phenomena you can record and how to do that. It doesn't specifically tell you how to record sun hours in a specific location. You could check this article out: https://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/blogs/how-make-sun-map-your-garden

Like a ship’s log, this is not a journal or diary. It is especially designed to be a portable yet robust, a place where you can record your observations. Each half page is dated without a year or day of the week. You simply fill in the year and beside your entry / observation. Year on year this enables you to refer back and begin to see patterns in the biotime events occurring around you or to identify the unusual phenomena like an early flowering of a plant weeks before it usually blooms. I have also added some beautiful illustrations by Jane Bottomley to help inspire observational practice.

Maddy, Welcome!  I am looking forward to everyone's questions and the answers.  This is a topic that I will enjoy.

Welcome Maddy! I've listened to you on several different podcasts across the interwebs. Welcome to Permies!

Hi Maddy. Sounds like a good idea, to keep such a Log. I started immediately making my own version (using my computer for now, but maybe I'll make a paper version).

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Hi Maddy. Sounds like a good idea, to keep such a Log. I started immediately making my own version (using my computer for now, but maybe I'll make a paper version).

Hi, it is simple to make your own version with a plain notebook. Put in the date and month but no days or years. Add the year when you make an entry. It helps if it is hardbound. The advantage to a physical book is that you compare year on year as you make entries. That helps you develop an eye for patterns and unusual events. On a computer it is not so easy to immediately see what happened 2, 5 even 10 years ago. (Having said that The Biotime Log is available from Chelsea Green and it as a full explanation and some great artwork if you are tempted!)

Welcome, Maddy, wonderful idea for a book. I have been using a book given to me for the last 2 years. It was a family calendar book turned into my garden book. I was looking for a new book for next year. Now I know what I want.

Hi Maddy, and welcome. Love the magazines and love love love your podcasts with Paul. Off to buy the book now

Amanda Launchbury-Rainey wrote:Hi Maddy, and welcome. Love the magazines and love love love your podcasts with Paul. Off to buy the book now

Thanks so much. I hope you enjoy keeping your own records as much as I do.

Hello Maddy, it's great to see you in here - a really comprehensive forum full of great people.

Congratulations on the new book. I loved your last book, Fertile Edges and it's still lying on my bedside table to be dipped into when I feel like a bit of inspiration!

We have some winners!!!


Blythe Barbo
Pamela Smith
Chris Kott
Gail Gardener


I'll be sending out PMs right now. Please respond within 48 hours to claim your prize!!!

This is awesome news and I am so excited to get your book Maddy. It will be put to very good use and it will help me with all my recordings, weather, planting and so much more. Thank you so much. <3 <3

Nicole Alderman wrote:We have some winners!!!


Blythe Barbo
Pamela Smith
Chris Kott
Gail Gardener


I'll be sending out PMs right now. Please respond within 48 hours to claim your prize!!!

Great news. Congratulations. I hope you find the format for notes useful and enjoy the practice.

Hello Maddy welcome
What a fascinating technique, one which I really need to practice. I have tried to log information in the past for my aquaponics, but after a few months I always seem to drift away. I'm studying in chapter three of Mollison's Designers manual and was a little worried I'd fail again to create and keep a log for my observations.
Brian

Brian Rodgers wrote:Hello Maddy welcome
What a fascinating technique, one which I really need to practice. I have tried to log information in the past for my aquaponics, but after a few months I always seem to drift away. I'm studying in chapter three of Mollison's Designers manual and was a little worried I'd fail again to create and keep a log for my observations.
Brian

We keep 2 logs - one for bees and one for nature observations inc weather. The secret is to be brief. Don't try and log everything every day. Just identify what you want to record and just add a sentence as and when you have need. That way it doesn't become yet another big task. I add to my bee log every few days - and a line at a time. The nature one is only for unusual events like a new volunteer species and weather patterns, specifically if they help me with sowing and harvesting in the garden. I do not log daily temperatures, just hard frosts or big snowfall. That way, it is not a chore. I also go outside and sit every day - just for a few minutes - and tune in to what the birds are doing. They are a good way of engaging with what is happening in the garden. It is also good for my nervous system - slows me down!

Perfect. This is what I need; slow down take time for observation, jot something down. Cool.
Brian