După Gard

09/09/2026

Today is the last day of our Permaculture Eurotrip
-21 days travelling by train
-5 countries with 5 young people

Plus many experiences difficult to put in numbers - tasting foreign food, feeling the heat of a cement-packed city in summer, missing the fresh air of home, and getting to know new ideas and concepts.

Yesterday, during our last stop Budapest, we had the pleasure of being welcomed by Tracey. Instead of just telling us simply about the fascinating Wekerle neighbourhood (if you are interested in seeing a great example of the garden movement manifested, check it out!), she treated us with some home made delicacies and then opened the floor for QUESTIONS.

What actually brought us here? What are we interested in? What followed was a fascinating 2hrs together, and our group of young people had the chance to explore many concepts that were new to them, as well as discover connections between Traceys work and their home; for instance the Rosia Montana protests that took place in our mountains in 2013, which both Tracey and our president Ioana took part in - and resulted in saving our valley from a huge gold mining operation that would have polluted our valley and its main river for generations.

Traceys experience and passion left a lasting impression on our group, and its exactly this what we set out looking for: positive examples, and pathways for us and the coming generations to follow. Because one thing also became clear during our journey: this current way of living is serving neither us humans, nor the nature around us. Light pollution, noisy cities, bad air, political unrest, expensive housing, water scarcity, rising costs of living...

So, we hope something that will stick from this trip is the following quote by Bill Mollison, the co-founder of the Permaculture movement: "Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple." We just have to start doing SOMETHING

We will continue with our series of reels on each of the stops we made, PLUS there will be one big one as a resume of the groups experience. Stay tuned 🤓

06/09/2026

⚡ Permaculture Euro-Trip PART 3: Salzburg, You Alpine Beauty! 🇦🇹🏔️

We left the urban energy of Berlin behind and headed straight into the breathtaking Austrian Alps! Coming into Salzburg felt like stepping right into a postcard.

Even though we got hit with a bit of rainy weather, it couldn't damp our spirits. We used the indoor time to cozy up, reflect, and most importantly dive a bit deeper into the crisis humanity is facing AND focusing on solutions offered by Permaculture and other regenerative approaches.

We also walked through the stunning Mirabell Palace Gardens and took the cablecar up to the Fortress Hohensalzburg for some unbelievable mountain views. 🏰🎻

During our city walks, we checked out Salzburg's community-led ESS-BAHN-Garten. We learned how locals overcame a massive physical barrier: they weren't legally allowed to dig into the S-Bahn station's concrete gravel, so they got creative and built 54 mobile wooden-pallet beds instead 🛠️📦Thank you Nikolaus for giving us the tour to this little edible city-paradise.

Something all of us noticed: although Berlin tries being green, it is still a huge city - and being the countryisde-mountain kids we are, our lungs did notice a difference in air quality. Salzburg however, surrounded by forested mountains as green lungs, boasted a great air AND super deliciouse mountain water provided at free fountains all over the city.

Well done Austria, after Vienna another true highlight of the trip! Thanks to David-Emanuel for this and the two previouse videos - the upcoming ones will be created by his collegues 🤓 Next stop: Ljubljana, let’s go! 🚂🇸🇮

05/09/2026

Super happy to partner in this FREE permaculture training opportunity - a full PDC - co-taught by Misho (who is also co-facilitating our upcoming Youth Exchange SABER) at the Hives Project ⚓️🛟

More info on the PDC in Greece below 👇

Check out this A4 designed by Monad Mind.

04/09/2026

This week went by in both a flash but also very slow because of tedious work. 16 hours of cutting many apples and another 2 days for squeezing the juices out. Which was not the worst task to do with a few movies to watch while working. In the end I am left with 18 liters of apple juice with wild yeast in it that naturally lives on the apple skins.
sadly the juice stained my hands yellow so they now look permanently dirty… (until it wears off of course)

Also I have been working on trying to make a table out of an old wooden wheel. No plan at all just a few loose pieces of wood to (hopefully) make a structurally sound table for next to the lovely bench Tom made as part of his final design. And with an old mattress from one of the yurtas and some pillows it is a nice spot to write this weekly report! There will be some outdoor pillows at some point so it will only become more comfortable 😊

Also this Saturday is my birthday so I am very curious what Dhalia has planned for me. I am sure it will be lovely :))

Anyway enjoy your weekend everyone 🌱

31/08/2026

⚡Perma-Eurotrip PART 2: Berlin, You Absolute Legend! 🇩🇪🐻

We traded the relaxed Vienna streets for the raw, pulsing energy of Germany’s capital, and wow… Berlin completely blew us away! 🏙️

Even though it’s a massive, sprawling city, there is a surprisingly green feel to it with over 2,500 public parks and spaces scattered around. Let’s be real - the big-city air isn't exactly mountain-fresh 😷, but having so many leafy pockets made walking around so much cooler! Plus, a major win for our sustainable travel budget: free drinking water fountains are all over the place, keeping our travel bottles filled! 💧🎒

🌳 The Urban Jungle & Forest Gardens
We spent a lot of time green-space-hopping, but the absolute standout was Urbane Waldgärten ()! 🌲 Community-led forest gardening in the middle of a massive city is next-level permaculture. Seeing how they design these multi-layered, edible ecosystems up close was so inspiring! 🌿Big thanks to Stefan for the tour!

🌀 A Giant Piece of History
We only saw the massive wheels of a historic, still-working windmill from the outside, but we ended up hanging out at the restaurant right there under it, devouring some classic, delicious Currywurst with a view of the fantastic Britzer Garten

🥙 The Street Food is Next-Level
Aside from the windmill currywurst, we also had the BEST lamb döner of our entire lives (seriously, life-changing! 🥙). The street food culture here is an absolute 10/10.

🏛️ Heavy History & Moving Memorials
Berlin’s history is deep and incredibly moving. We stood before the iconic Reichstag, walked through the towering, solemn concrete blocks of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and paid our respects at the quiet, reflective Memorial to the Sinti and Roma. It was a powerful reminder of why connection and unity matter so much. 🕊️🇪🇺

🏡 Our Charlottenburg Sanctuary
After walking miles and miles, coming back to our hotel directly in Charlottenburg was the best feeling. Our absolute favorite spot was the hotel's secret, lush green backyard garden where we could sit in the shade, talk, laugh, and recharge. 🌸☕

Berlin, you were wild, historic, and delicious. 🫶

30/08/2026

Last-minute call for our youth exchange on the topic of SOIL! Please SHARE if you know someone interested, it is a unique, FULLY FUNDED opportunity 🤩🤯🙃

We are looking for our final participants and potential team leaders from Spain and Serbia to join us for SABER: Soilpunk Arena - Becoming Earthstrong Rebels.

Project details:
- When: September 15 to 25, 2026.
- Where: Posaga de Jos and Salciua, Transylvania, Romania.
- Accommodation: Comfortable rooms at Popas Salciua.
- Costs: Fully covered by the Erasmus+ program. Accommodation, program, and organic vegetarian meals are provided at no cost.
- Travel reimbursement limits: Up to 395 EUR per person for Spain and 285 EUR per person for Serbia.
- Who: Young people aged 18 to 30 living in Spain or Serbia. We are also looking for one team leader per country; older ages are possible if you are a great fit for facilitating and guiding a crew.

What we will do:
You will join a 20-person crew from Romania, Serbia, Greece, and Spain. Together, we will master zero-budget soil restoration hacks, build seed bombs, explore hot composting, make creative zines, and plan local home projects using Dragon Dreaming.

This is an URGENT call as we didnt receive the needed amount of suitable candidates from these two countries ONLY Spanish and Serbian applications are being considered for this last-minute call.

Apply here NOW: linktr.ee/dupagard

29/08/2026

Apples apples and more apples. They are finally ripe! and during this week I have been collecting them to make a big batch of apple cider.

After apple gathering i have been continuing work on the cob floor by adding a smooth layer on top to make it more level. This took a bit longer then when Tom and Clemont where still here but it's still very fun!

I have also continued transplanting the mint plants from the syntropic system to the food forest.

I have also been experimenting on how to make bread in a pan since i really wanted my own bread. luckily in this process Maria (Ioana's mother) said that i could use her oven. Which made the burger buns much better!

Today I continued my hiking adventures to find the best spot to make a photo series of all 4 seasons of posaga. And coming home to have some amazing burgers with produce from the garden and my home made burger buns.

28/08/2026

🎬 Perma-Eurotrip PART 1: Cluj to Vienna – Let the Adventure Begin! 🌍🚂

OMG, what a wild start to our 21-day eco-rail journey! 💨 Day one was a true test of stamina, but honestly, we wouldn’t trade these memories for anything!

We kicked off our trip in Cluj, boarding a classic, retro, and yes... very uncooled train to Budapest. 🥵 It was slow, it was sweaty, but the group vibe was unmatched! From Budapest, we hopped onto a much speedier train to Vienna. All in all? A massive 13-hour travel marathon! ⏱️ Safe to say, we arrived super late, completely exhausted, but so incredibly hyped to finally be here! 😴✨

🌿 Day 1: Eco-Art & Urban Green Spaces After sleeping off our travel fatigue, we jumped straight into exploring Vienna's green side! First stop: the legendary Kunstmuseum Hundertwasser (KunstHausWien). 🎨 Courtyards full of ivy, wavy uneven floors, and living trees growing right out of the windows - Hundertwasser’s visionary eco-architecture completely blew our minds! 🌳🏢

Right after, we headed down to the Gemeinschaftsgarten Donaukanal - an amazing, citizen-run community garden right in the city center, nestled directly on the canal promenade. Seeing how local people grow their own organic veggies in the middle of a paved metropolis and chilling on upcycled pallet furniture was the absolute perfect inspiration for our permaculture focus! 🥬🌱

☄️ Day 2: From the Big Bang to Sparkling Crystals Our second day was dedicated to the world-famous Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum) - and wow, it is easily one of the best in Europe! 🏛️🦖 We went on a literal cosmic journey starting from the Big Bang (Urknall) all the way to the present day. But the absolute highlight? The crystal collection! 💎 It spanned across several massive rooms, and we were totally mesmerized by the glowing mineral giants and ancient meteorites. 🌌✨

In between all the museum hopping, we’ve been making some incredible culinary and cultural discoveries that went way beyond what we ever expected from Austria’s beautiful, relaxed capital. 🥨☕

Vienna, you have been absolutely magical! 🇦🇹💚 Next stop: Berlin! 🇩🇪 Let's go! 🚀

**aGard

23/08/2026

Hello everyone,

my name is Clement. It's now been a month and a half since I arrived here in Romania.

This internship at D**a Gard has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of permaculture and the Romanian landscape. I also discovered that it's possible to transpose certain permaculture principles from D**a Gard to other projects... That's why I decided to base my final project around permaculture back home, in France.

For now, the project hasn't started yet since I'm still in Posaga de Jos, but when I return in early September, the idea would be to set up a small permaculture system at my family home in France.

The scale of this initiative obviously won't be as large as the one at D**a Gard, since I won't be able to dedicate as much time to it. The goal is to combine the practical benefits of nature (a hedge) with the production of fruits and vegetables. Having a vegetable garden, a water reservoir, and vegetation that blocks out the noise and sight of a nearby road are, in my view, essential to feeling truly at home.

The plan will unfold in several stages, with plants introduced according to the seasons, allowing the scheme to develop gradually while correcting any issues along the way. The first step will be to plant a hedge featuring a wide variety of species and trees (1). The second stage will focus on planting fruit trees such as apple and pear trees (2). These plantings will be accompanied by the installation of a water reservoir (2), so that this resource can be drawn on when it's scarce. The third phase aims to establish a vegetable garden (3), so as to harvest homegrown produce and eat food we know and trust. It's a kind of celebration.

I'd like to thank Andreas and D**a Gard, as well as the various people I've met here in Posaga de Jos, for their support and the moments we've shared.