In her third and latest book, Meredith Freeman takes us for a walk along her life's trail exploring questions of everyday living, connection and community, both plant and animal, in this time of climate and ecological crisis.

Doing for Ourselves - From Self Sufficiency to Resilience
Once upon a time the idea of self sufficiency seemed pretty straightforward. You relied on other people as little as possible, did as much as you could for yourself.

Nowadays, we know much more about how we each contribute to what has become a climate crisis. But we've come to rely so much on everything we want coming to us from somewhere else, whenever we want it, that it's hard to decide what our day-to-day lives should look like.

How will I manage water use during the summer? Should I grow my own vegetables? Should I use air conditioning? Who should I ask about solar panels for my house? Is it worth getting my washing machine fixed? What about plastic? Is knitting just a useless old-lady thing? Should I feed wild birds? Is it okay to travel overseas? Where does everything I use come from? How much can I do without? How much should I actually do for myself?

In this book, stories and reflections from one long life are used to explore questions like these. You'll find plenty of suggestions, though no clear answers—because, of course, each of us has to find our own.

However, there's no doubt about the overriding importance for us humans, in this period of the world's history, of community—and of communities, both plant and animal, and the urgency of exploring our role in them.

Format: Paperback, 332 pages
Published: 16 September 2025

More about Doing for Ourselves
In her third book, Meredith Freeman takes us for a walk along her life's trail sharing over 60 years of how she and husband Gil have met their family's basic needs for food, clothing, shelter and energy in the kindest possible way for the Earth and in the most satisfying way for themselves and their community.

Drawing from public sources and her own history Meredith charts the change from our self-sufficient selves of a hundred and two hundred years ago to our current lives of interdependence, boundless knowledge yet far fewer skills.

Broken into sections Sun, Soil, Water and Air, Meredith explores with curiosity and gentle humour her engagement with bees, chooks and feral animals, the embodied energy in her washing machine, approaches to house building, getting from A to B, heating and cooling, lawn mowing and other ways to "discipline vegetation".

Doing for Ourselves is a social and environmental autobiography of a life lived deeply over eight decades, spanning Mem’s frugal post-World War II childhood, reading of Silent Spring in the 60's as a young woman, embracing the 70’s back-to-land movement, the birth of Permaculture (Bill Mollison wrote chapters of Permaculture II while sleeping on the Freeman’s couch), being at CERES’ first working bee, selling organic produce at Victoria’s first farmers market, helping revive Bush Food farming in South-Eastern Australia, leading various local food collectives, authoring books and transforming a 9 acre cow paddock in South Gippsland into one of Australia's most joyously productive permaculture properties.

With her son Rhys, Meredith authored a book on growing Australian native food plants in South Gippsland. This was followed by A Garden of Useful Plants: Seasons in the Gippsland Hills.

Meredith Freeman OAM has a PhD in education, and a Diploma in Permaculture.