Desired foods and other useful products:

Edible foods

Perennials (long term) and Annuals

Wildlife forage/habitat (ex. Flowers for pollinators, forage for birds, wildlife viewing areas, plants for hummingbirds, etc)

Incorporate native plants

Herbs and medicinal plants

Flowers

Other essential needs the garden fills:

Places to observe nature

Storage and necessary infrastructure (ex. shed, water access, etc)

Education and demonstration site

Wildlife restoration

Areas of accessibility for a range of needs (ex. tactile garden)

Vehicle access (parking and unloading/loading)

Integration of concepts

Desired successional stages and vegetation architecture or patterns:

Using natural patterns and shapes to layout garden/paths

Different spaces with different “feels” (ex. some wilder, some more managed and manicured, some sunny and open, some shady, some secluded, some for groups, etc)

Example of successions throughout

How the garden relates to the larger ecosystem and neighborhood context:

Our garden serves as a refuge, attracting a diversity of beneficial wildlife, especially birds and pollinators.

Public Access (trails, free library, seed library, hub)

Edible food first to volunteers, and then to the community

Example for turning waste into a resource

Education/training

Maintenance and establishment efforts and approximate budget:

We work with the natural environment and factors, to create the gardens

Volunteer (work parties and individually)

Maintaining a calendar of task and a way to track needs

Establish ease of communication

Operates through initial seed money and donation (never spending more than we have)

Basic approach to key issues:

Incorporate Native and Naturalized plants

Heritage seeds/plants

Organic Practices

Being cautious with opportunistic species

Being cautious with large equipment

Experimenting with regenerative practices

What is Permaculture?

In 1978 a University Professor (Bill Mollison) and Student (David Holmgreen), compiled a wealth of knowledge and wrote a book called Permaculture 1, coining the term “permaculture.” Much of the information that was compiled stems from traditional cultures and practices with deep understanding of the natural world.

“Wealth is DEEP UNDERSTANDING of the natural world” ~ Bill Mollison

Definitions:

A Practical Approach to Imagining, Designing, and Implementing Solutions

“Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature” ~ Bill Mollison

“A system for consciously designing how we meet human needs” ~ Graham Bell

Ethics:

Earth Care (Our Biosphere)

People Care (Including Self Care)

Future Care (Fair Share)

Principles:

Observe and Interact

Catch and Store Energy

Obtain a Yield

Apply Regulation and Accept Feedback

Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services

Produce No Waste

Design From Pattern to Details

Integrate Rather than Segregate

Use Small and Slow Solutions

Use and Value Diversity

Use Edge and Value the Marginal

Creatively Use and Respond to Change

Economy

Economy is flow between forms of capital/wealth.

How does economy mimic relationships in ecosystems?

How can we increase our local economy?

Ideas

Start with change locally

Use local products

Set up economic alternatives

Invest in local entrepreneurs

Asses local business ecology

Build community

Encourage local investments

Start food web

Develop local experts

Encourage and support

Affordable access

Work with local social justice

Types of Wealth:

(There are many forms of wealth)

• Social

  • Influence and Connection

  • Networks

• Financial/Material

  • Nonliving physical objects

  • Raw and processed nonliving resources (ex. rocks, lumber, buildings, tools, fuel, etc.)

  • Stored up goods

  • Money

• Natural/Living

  • Animals, Plants, Water, Soil, etc

  • Collective properties of ecosystem (ex. purifying water, storing nutrients)

• Inner Peace/Motivation

  • Our capacity to live life to the fullest, most authentic expressions of ourselves

  • Connections to self and more

  • Personal and profound

  • Difficult to quantify

• Experiential

  • The understanding that comes from doing

  • Planning and implementing projects and gaining wisdom through direct experience

• Intellectual

  • Knowledge and understanding

  • The ability to solve problems and design solutions

  • What we know and have learned

  • Stored knowledge and ideas that are available to us

• Cultural

  • Shared art, music, myth, stories, ideas, and worldview of a community

  • Collectively held as a holistic sum of individual beliefs, thoughts, actions

• *Health/Physical/Mental Energy

• *Wisdom

• *Resiliency

• *Time

Tackling global issues one at a time.

One can think of a compost pile as a living system that takes in waste and produces a resource.

Decomposition works in a symbiotic relationship with the microbiology that eats and breathes and does the hard work for you.

Why Compost?

Waste is a big issue on our planet. We throw away valuable resources everyday. Food waste, yard waste, etc. How do we convert this waste into a resource and begin to change our ecological footprint. Composting is a simple solution that can be utilized anywhere and on any scale.

Benefits of Composting?

Composting turns waste into a valuable resource that feeds the soil and creates an abundance of nutrients for plants to uptake. We eat plant, or we eat things that eat plants, so this also benefits us. Healthy soil, healthy plants; healthy planet, healthy people.

THe Basics

Nature does the work.

Anyone can do it, it is easy.

Keep the pile covered with "brown" ingredients (ex. leaves, straw, shredded paper, wood chips)

Ingredients of a Compost Pile?

Fruit and veggie scraps, egg shells, leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, shredded paper/cardboard

DO NOT ADD THESE INGREDIENTS

Animal Products

Fats/Oils

Soil is a living, dynamic ecosystem