permaculture

[Jason Gerhardt <jasongerhardt@gmail.com>]

Chris,
Great thoughts! You provide good examples of data not being that great at
convincing people of things. There are usually other factors that weigh
more heavily, namely economic forces.

I've been helping add content to the Apios Institute for a few years
(focusing on sharing information on food forest, polyculture, and species
trials in different climates), but there doesn't seem to be a lot of people
sharing. Perhaps it's the membership that is a preventative. Just so
everyone knows, you can get a free account if you agree to add content
regularly. I've found it very helpful. If you don't know of it, here it is:
http://apiosinstitute.org/

I think a challenge with data is replication. Just when I think I've
developed a good polyculture for my region, I try it repeatedly across
town, or in some cases across the street, and it fails. Plants in
particular can be so microclimate specific. This is why I think focusing on
design is paramount. Recipes only work out sometimes, or at least they need
to be tweaked to fit a place, which requires some design work.

Jason

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