Who Needs Grass?
Compost, Conservation, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Irrigation, Rehabilitation, Urban Projects, Village Development, Water Harvesting — by Leigh Glenn January 19, 2012
The Kniskerns’ yard is a sustainable smorgasbord
 Over a period of less than 10 years, James and Mary Kniskern transformed their sod-based lawn into a vibrant, blooming habitat that not only reduces their impact on the land but also rewards them with a bounty of edible plants as well as honey-producing bees. |
The fifth of an acre where James and Mary Kniskern live in Arnold [Maryland, USA] was about what you’d expect for a suburban dwelling: grass, azaleas, daffodils in the spring, pachysandras year-round. As you’d expect, it required the drone of a mower and sweat non-equity to keep it in shape.
“I didn’t like to mow,” says James.
But what was the alternative?
Less than a decade later, the Kniskerns are living the alternative. Their yard is like none other on their block. It’s the eco-gardener’s version of The Limbo Song. The how low can you go? part involves occasional weeding, plenty of harvesting… and no mowing.
Before the Kniskerns headed down the wood-chipped path to zero grass, they considered buying into an eco-village, so they visited several throughout the Mid-Atlantic. Each had its quirks, but what they really didn’t care for was the landscaping, which was not as tidy as what they were used to.
“It looked ugly,” James says.
But their desire to reduce their impact on the land propelled them.
Comments (2)Gold Coast Permaculture Prepares for Another Great Year Ahead
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Land, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Permaculture Gold Coast
by Vanessa Fernandes
Dani, Mel, Judy, Kristy and Pond in the house garden
2011 has been seminal in the development of permaculture on the Gold Coast, NSW, Australia. The incorporation of Gold Coast Permaculture (GCP) early in the year has seen the organisation and the concept become very much integrated into the Gold Coast community sector. Some of the sector we have cooperation with are:
- Employment Plus, the employment arm of the Salvation Army
- The Smith Family provides contact with schools and organisations that wish to create gardens
- The Department of Corrective Services
- Federation House who are working with individuals who have become very marginalised
- We work with local government and other not-for-profit groups.
We are also blessed to have many individual volunteers who have embraced the project.
Comments (3)Permaculture Urban Landscape Design Course
Courses/Workshops, Urban Projects — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor January 16, 2012
Photo © Craig Mackintosh
I’d love to take this course myself, but alas, I’m unable to make it. Those of you who’re itching to get started, or to do better, with your urban patch (or with someone else’s urban patch!), should seriously consider jumping on this course.
During this intensive 5-day Permaculture Urban Landscape Design course, students will learn the fundamentals of running a professional permaculture design and consultancy business. This is a hands-on learning experience, from the ground up. You will be able to manage contractor bidding and installation of the design on behalf of the client, able to produce concepts and plans for urban, rural and aid projects, learn about proper selection of plants, softscaping, hardscaping, costing and estimation, and have the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of design, implementation and execution in several real life environments.
The course will be run at the PRI’s Zaytuna Farm, under the expert hands of Nick Huggins. See Nick’s author profile here, and his WPN profile here.
Comments (2)Rental Permaculture: How to Fill the Void
Community Projects, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Nurseries & Propogation, Plant Systems, Seeds, Society, Trees, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Bob Nekrasov January 6, 2012
by Bob Nekrasov
I hear you comrade. ‘I want those acres and to start my food forest and have a permaculture demonstration Eden – but alas, I am a humble renter with big bloody dreams and typically uncreative landlords’.
As us ‘renters’ forlornly scan open fields and acres — seeing real estate listings of eroded soils sitting below beautiful key points — we are designing lush, abundant landscape in our minds and whinging about the price and how we could easily ‘turn this place into a self-sustaining paradise’. Well, at least I am! But, we can get caught in the dream trap — thinking we will start the big permaculture project when we get that dream plot of land. But it is really a void that needs to be filled. When you know how much good you can do you do feel a little crippled by renting a place where you feel you cannot do much. Having this deluded mindset a few years back I set out to figure out what I can do. Hooray!
Comments (19)Orlando Permaculture Documentary
Community Projects, Consumerism, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development, peak oil — by Troy Ansley January 2, 2012
Comments (5)The heroes and heroines of history’s past are so well-known they need not be mentioned. Lesser known and perhaps more integral, however, are the countless individuals whose stories remain untold and hidden by history. “Orlando Permaculture” is a documentary of the latter modern-day individuals. It is a story of a community of people who have read cover to cover the “story of pattern recognition in a sea of apparent chaos” of which Troy Ansley, speaks. They have also repeatedly heard the story modern culture sells them on how the world operates, and decided they would like to write a new, yet somehow ancient story of their own. A story of community, integrity, true sustainability and new beginnings. A story of belonging.
The film, “Orlando Permaculture,” poignantly reveals that great movements are birthed in the dreams of those who desire more, and molded between the hands of those who reach out to one another and to the land. Through visiting a variety of different people within the city of Orlando, the film and portrayals serve to inspire, enlighten and engage your heart & mind to dream of a more colorful and living world in which all are welcome. This is a world of possibilities, togetherness, and balance. Indicative of the subject matter, Ansley weaves a beautiful fabric of sound and image to ornately clothe this emerging community whose story otherwise might remain hidden by history. Listen to this story, dear viewer, so that you might share it and likewise reach out your hand and mold it with us. — Richard G. Powell December 20th, 2011 Orlando, FL
Update on the Byron Bay Shire Permaculture Challenge
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Social Gatherings, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Phoebe Lines December 8, 2011
by Phoebe Lines, BOS (Being Of Service) Team for the Permaculture Challenge
The Byron Permaculture Challenge gang creates a No-Dig
garden for the young people at the Byron Youth House
Our apparently disaffected Byron Shire youth, it would seem, are in fact a hotbed of movers and shakers, changing the world one Permablitz at a time!
This November the Mullumbimby Community Garden launched The Permaculture Challenge, a program designed to inspire and empower a new generation of young people to reconnect with the power of nature and the shared vision of our sustainable future.
Over the past few weeks two teams of brilliant young leaders from Mullumbimby High, Shearwater and Byron High have been getting their hands deep in the earth and putting their heads and hearts together to shake up some world changing ideas and practices.
Comments (1)Growing Fish and Soil on Pool Algae
Animal Forage, Aquaculture, Compost, Natural Swimming, Plant Systems, Urban Projects — by Ecofilms December 7, 2011
Here is Geoff Lawton explaining how this particular swimming pool is growing fish and soil on algae. This is a clip from the recently released Urban Permaculture DVD, which has over 90 minutes of sustainable solutions you can try at home.
Comments (0)Greening the Desert Video – now also with French Subtitles
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Compost, Conservation, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Food Forests, Fungi, Irrigation, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Salination, Soil Biology, Soil Conservation, Swales, Urban Projects, Village Development, Water Harvesting — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor December 2, 2011
Many thanks to Jeremy, Christina, Erik, Lamia and Kristen for all the work that went into creating the French translation subtitle file for both Parts I & II of the Greening the Desert video below. As a result, I’ve been able to upload a version suitable for your French-speaking friends and family, should you have some.
After clicking play, click on the ‘CC’ button at bottom
of the video to enable the French subtitles
And, a big thanks must also go to Frank Gapinski for the Greening the Desert Part I video that has turned so many on to permaculture concepts. It’s amazing the impact a few minutes of video can have on the world!
P.S. Because of the hard-coded English subtitles in the original version of the video embedded above, English speakers would be better to watch it instead.
Comments (1)How a Single Women Transformed Her Urban Garden into a Productive, Organic, Tropical Paradise
For Sale, Urban Projects — by Nicola Chatham November 30, 2011
You don’t have to know her street number to find Rosina Buckman’s place. All you need is the street name. Winner of the Edible Landscape Award from Australia’s Sunshine Coast Council in 2009, her garden spills out into the nature strip, bursting with plants.
Her driveway, once a barren front lawn, is now edged with strawberry runners, passionfruit vines, chilies and edible greens.
“Before we get started, I want to show you something that saved my life!” exclaims Rosina.
Comments (2)Update from Finlaysons After Intern-Blitz
Urban Projects — by Danae Rice-Finlayson November 29, 2011
Editor’s Note: Remember the cool little time-lapse video of the PRI’s recent Intern-Blitz of an urban property a few week’s back? Well, below is an update from the lucky and excited recipients of the perma-garden install, written to the designers/installers themselves. I thought I’d share the enthusiasm with all our readers also, to brighten your day. After all, enthusiasm, when on an appropriate trajectory, is the most positive of contagions.
The garden is growing absolutely brilliantly! It has certainly been keeping us busy over the last 3 weeks. I have included a couple of pics so you can see the abundant growth for yourself, although photos can’t really do it justice.
Comments (0)Guerilla Gardening with Rob Avis
Community Projects, Food Forests, Food Plants - Perennial, Nurseries & Propogation, Trees, Urban Projects — by Luke Kimmel November 19, 2011
In this video Rob Avis from Verge Permaculture discusses his philosophy and main reasons for guerilla gardening, then dives into techniques, and strategies, and finally lets us watch him guerilla-plant an apple tree in the park near his home, despite a quick pass-over by a police helicopter.
Comments (8)Letters from Slovakia – a Photo Update on the Homeless Camp
Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Land, Urban Projects — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor November 17, 2011
Daniel Diškanec checks out his new edible friends
Photos © Craig Mackintosh
I should have shared these pictures back in August, when the pictures were taken, but was too tied up with preparations for the Tenth International Permaculture Conference (IPC10) in Jordan. Though late, I trust you’ll appreciate them anyway.
If you didn’t catch them already, be sure to read the previous two posts on this homeless camp in the mountainous north-central part of Slovakia (here and here). It’ll help you appreciate my personal satisfaction from seeing the magic of developing abundance with this project — one that can truly use the additional health-giving produce pictured and the increased economic resiliency it brings.
Comments (1)FRESH – World’s Wildest Supermarket
Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Fungi, Markets & Outlets, Medicinal Plants, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Composition, Structure, Trees, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Kenneth Gronbjerg
A holistic and most outrageous concept being turned into reality in Denmark.
From: Sepp Holzer’s Permakultur, Leopold Stocker Verlag, 2008
Fresh is the concept for an organic, living supermarket in cities and villages, where instead of taking the items off the shelf, the customer harvests the produce directly from raised beds!
It is a system that works with nature rather than against it.
By harvesting, the customer contributes to the work of producing to such a large extent that the produce can be offered at a never before seen quality and price. It’s almost for free. This is what you may call a win win win situation!
Comments (5)Imagine the Abundance – Your Urban Landscape
Courses/Workshops, Land, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Theron Beaudreau November 16, 2011
The Urban Consultancy and Design Course experience at the Permaculture Research Institute.
Imagine, you’re perusing the Sunday paper, thumbing through various articles, world news, sports, opinion pieces… yea, we’ve all been there. What feelings arise for you as the images pass by your eyes? Article after article, world news and local… everything seems so dismal.
In disgust and with a freshly drained world view, you fold the paper up and drop it back down on the table. Just before looking away and try to forget the morning sorrow a small advertisement catches your eye.
FREE GARDEN
DESIGN & INSTALL
Free garden? Sounds too good to be true. But it’s about the only positive thing you’ve seen this morning. What have you got to lose?
What you don’t know is that, behind the scenes, there are 20 knowledge-hungry permaculture students waiting to get out of the classroom and get their hands dirty in your very own backyard!
Comments (15)Mulberry Gardens Food Forest
Community Projects, Urban Projects — by Elspeth Brock
Original asphalt
It began with a large area of asphalt and a dream of expanding our community garden. Mulberry Gardens is in Glenroy, Melbourne, Australia and operates entirely as a communal space. All members share in the upkeep and harvest the produce — which is mostly shared amongst attendees at the Saturday morning communal sessions. The number of fast food and alcohol shops vastly outweighs fresh food outlets in the area so a community garden was established to help give locals access to fresh organic produce and share the skills of growing produce.
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