It does not matter what the weather is like 99.9 percent of the time. The other bit can destroy roads, homes, lives and cities. Extreme weather events have been on the rise for over three decades and seem to be picking up in force and frequency in the last five years. The news provides a steady stream of such catastrophes. Climate scientists often call this, “an increased incidence of extreme weather events.”

Two months ago we had a strong wind event that brought down lots of branches on our farm.

It only takes a few hours of high winds to do the damage.

In April we had two rain events that caused a large slip – mostly due to a neighbour illegally dumping water onto our land.

A major challenge for permaculturists is to design for extreme weather events. It will be the greatest challenge of our time. We are developing a resilient farm that can best resist both droughts and floods by turning liabilities into assets and buffering shocks.

Our garlic is high and dry – by design. All of our growing beds are raised rows perpendicular to slope with drainage on the ends.

Meanwhile, this is how the Whanganui District Council responds – bulldozing wind- and wave-driven sand back into the Tasman Sea. Fighting climate change with diesel fuel! Good luck with that.

Peace, Estwing