Red Moon Sanctuary produces small-scale organic beef, honey and heirloom vegetables for sale, and has a 50 hectare on-farm fauna and flora conservation reserve bursting with wildflowers, including the Hammer Orchid made famous on Attenborough and Sexual Encounters of the Floral Kind. Biodiversity is further encouraged by an ongoing programme of planting shelter belts and fodder hedges that function as wildlife habitat, as well as benefiting livestock. Over 4,000 native tree and understorey seedlings have so far been planted, with wonderful results.
The owner-built strawbale farmhouse at Red Moon Sanctuary is completely off-grid and features passive solar and bushfire resistant design. The house is naturally cool in summer and warm in winter. Waterless composting toilets return all nutrients to fruit trees. Recycled materials feature heavily in the fittings and furnishings of the house.
Farmstay rooms are available to stay with the family, who are keen bushwalkers and happy to do guided tours of the magnificent coastal and mountain walk trails of the South Coast. For enquiries please contact us.
The Strawbale House Build album below is made available as a technical resource to other owner builders. To access the detailed captions, click on any of the tiled photographs to enter slide show mode. We always welcome questions and comments, either on email or on the contact form below.>
Sue has some articles on establishing a rural lifestyle, straw bale building, sustainable farm management, and good food in various publications including Grass Roots, Australia's most popular self-sufficiency magazine and The Owner Builder magazine, real stories about real owner builders.
Coulstock, Sue."Big Things and Little Things"; "A Place Called Home"The Owner Builder No 222 June-August 2021.
Coulstock, Sue."Harness the Winter Sun"The Owner Builder No 218 June-August 2020.
Coulstock, Sue."Owner Building Without the Divorce"The Owner Builder No 216 December 2019-February 2020.
Coulstock, Sue."Embodied Energy Revisited";"Coloured Glass Designs"The Owner Builder No 215 October/November 2019.
Coulstock, Sue."Roadside Rehabilitation"Grass Roots No 255 October/November 2019.
Coulstock, Sue."Successful Downshifting"The Owner Builder No 214 August/September 2019.
Coulstock, Sue."Low Waste Building Site"The Owner Builder No 213 June/July 2019.
Coulstock, Sue."Podcast Pandemonium"Grass Roots No 253 June/July 2019.
Coulstock, Sue."Landscaping for Bushfire Safety and Biodiversity"The Owner Builder No 212 April/May 2019.
Coulstock, Sue."Real Honey Cluster Muesli"; "Grass Roots Computing Pt 2" by BrettGrass Roots No 252 April/May 2019.
Coulstock, Sue."Low Toxicity Homes 101"The Owner Builder No 211 February/March 2019.
Coulstock, Sue."Caravan Days"Grass Roots No 251 February/March 2019.
Coulstock, Sue."Compost Toilets"The Owner Builder No 210 December/January 2018/2019.
Coulstock, Sue."Delicious Pocket Meals"; "Grass Roots Computing" by BrettGrass Roots No 250 December/January 2018/2019.
Coulstock, Sue."Living Off Grid in Rural WA"The Owner Builder No 209 October/November 2018.
Coulstock, Sue."Prodigious Pumpkins"Grass Roots No 249 October/November 2018.