permaculture

["GlobalCirclenet" <webmaster@globalcircle.net>]

You're in the northeast I take it?  So encouraging to hear details of
someone's current journey toward sustainable living. I'm also encouraged to
hear of a workshop of that nature. I too picked up on many of those
practicing authors long before I had any chance to start pulling things
together on my own place. Know of Quinn but haven't read him. What I have
learned is you can't just follow someone's book or imitate someone else in
a different situation, different soil, different climate.  It's eclectic;
we draw on anything and everything that we can use to get where we want to
be. I've had to adapt to the high desert of western NM, under 10" precip,
wide diurnal swings, 3 month growing season where nobody farms and land is
unsuited to anything but cattle and elk. And at 7,000 elev. There's almost
nothing out there to research on our unique growing conditions. For me,
there is no single source of good advice and techniques. BD, organic,
permaculture - We have to use what works here within the limits of the
devas and natural growing.  Try my site at http://herbfarmer.net/#HERBAL
esp http://herbfarmer.net/herbgrowing.htm  and let me know if you find
something helpful. I'm always adding and revising, so any good stuff we
don't have please send along, privately if you like. 

paul@largocreekfarms.com

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 9/17/2004 at 7:42 PM Paul Park wrote:

>>I find it very odd that these workshop people don't stress learning
>permaculture by actually practicing it. PDCs, books, study groups,
mentors,
>internships, but forgetting learning by doing, by working with the garden
>and the animals. You see, actually getting out and doing it just doesn't
>come to mind, does it. <
>
>On the course I went on, it was abundantly clear that working the land and
>observation over time was key.
>
> >I suspect those who are sooo impressed by workshops
>have never been introduced to the work of Elliot Coleman, the Nearings,
>Ruth Stout, Joel Sallatin, Fukuoka, the Rodales, Jeavons, Steiner, and
>many, many others. <
>
>I'm not sure if you're including me in this group, but I was familiar with
>all of these authors and many many others before going on the design
>course.
>During the course, we discussed Fukuoka many times, we visited a farm
>intensively grazing poultry a la Sallatin, we visited homesteaders who
>built
>their own stone home, using forms like the Nearings, we discussed
>Biodynamics, we double dug some beds, we sheet mulched, we discussed the
>work of Emilia Hazelip, a personal friend of the instructor...  One or
more
>of the students in the group had experience with all of these
>writers/teachers and was able to add insight and personal experience to
the
>teaching.
>
>>Permaculture as envisioned by Mollison and Holmgren is a complete system.
>It is an ecological system to LIVE IN, to nourish and be nourished by it.
>It is not meant for the "supermarket shelf" approach, like I'll try some
of
>this and a little of that. If workshops don't even intend for participants
>to set up and live in complete systems, then they are simply untrue to the
>core permaculture vision. I ask those questions for a reason. I'm NOT
>arguing that every workshop has to turn out 100% practicing
>permaculturalists. I AM saying that if almost nobody comes out practicing
>real permaculture, then it's frankly nothing but talk. Literally. All this
>"ooooh it changed my life", when it changed absolutely nothing, is really
>lame.<
>
> Not to be trite, but Rome wasn't built in a day.  When I took the course
a
>little over a year ago, I was living in a big city, with a tiny yard, no
>vegetable garden and one lovely crab apple tree.  Today, I live on a small
>farm, I have a beautiful no-till vegetable and flower garden, steps from
my
>kitchen door, my first pullets are debugging the garden and feasting on
the
>fallen fruit around the trees; they should start laying in a few weeks.
>Once a week, we eat a chicken, we raised in a Sallatin style pen.  We're
>drying cherries and prunes and waiting for the pears to ripen. My wife is
>studying with a local herbalist, learning to use locally-grown plants to
>keep us all healthy and happy.  Physically, my life has changed.....where
I
>live....where I get the majority of my food....how I spend my recreational
>time......  My life has changed in other ways too.  While on the course, I
>was reading a couple of books by Daniel Quinn, many others on the course
>had
>read him too and we spent evenings sharing our thoughts and feelings on
>that.  I'm much more conscious of how my choices affect the earth, others
>around me, my children....
>
>The Permaculture Design Course didn't create all this change.  I was on
the
>journey long before I took the course.  The course was a nice stop along
>the
>road, and  for me, it was well worth the small cost .
>
>>I want to hear about people doing permaculture and how they go about
>it. <
>
>Like I said in my earlier post, I'm still mainly observing.  The things we
>have done this first year are beginnings....steps in our learning about
>permaculture and sustainable living.  My next step is to fence my land so
I
>can add some cattle to my grazing system (following the work of Sallatin).
>Does anyone have suggestions for fence posts options that won't poison the
>earth?  I'm trying to restore some of the old buildings here and salvaging
>as much as I can from those too far gone to restore.  I'm learning about
>fruit trees and hope to incorporate the existing trees into a self
>regenerating forest garden.  I have been observing the flow of runoff on
>the
>land and I want to use swales or keyline plowing to keep more water on the
>land and perhaps create a pond for water, ducks, fish, reeds.....
>
>I was away from my computer for much of the summer, so maybe I missed some
>of your questions.  Where there specific things you wanted to discuss?  I
>don't have tons of practical experience, but I have done a few things and
>I've read a ton.  I looked at your websites and I see you have amassed a
>great deal of knowledge there.  I look forward to more browsing there.
>
>Please share some of your experieces with us.
>
>Peace,
>
>Paul
>
>
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