Permaculture Ethics



3-9 Final Project and Student Assessment

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“There is an eternal landscape, a geography of the soul; we search for its outlines all our lives.” - Josephine Hart

“Design shapes culture” - Alan Enzo

“To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance.” - Buddha (Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)

Final Design and Student Assessment

Each student is required to submit as part of their Final Design Project:

1) A Final Site Design (map, drawing, etc.)

2) A Final Design Text (details about elements and connections, etc.).

Please include the following in your design:

1. You must base your design on a real property. It would be nice if you could design a site that can also be implemented (the systems and elements of your design actually get installed on the site), but this is not as important as just creating a Permaculture Design for a real site that actually exists and that you have access to everyday. This is the best way to get real world application of the Permaculture Principles you are learning.

2. Be sure to use the Permaculture Principles found in modules 1-1, 1-2, and throughout the course. The homework assignments make use of the Principles, and are designed to create a strong foundation leading you into the Final Design Project.

3. You must include the dimensions of your land and a sector analysis of the land. Discuss the energies moving through the land and discuss whether you are opening your site to those energies or blocking them out. The technical data on page 5 of this module is a good example.

4. You must include an element analysis that lists the major elements in your design, and that details each element’s inputs, outputs, and intrinsic factors/qualities. It is impossible to create a proper Permaculture Design without this step.

Please note that you do not have to detail every flower or plant in your design, unless you would like to include these details. We are interested in seeing the major functions and connections between the larger elements in your design. For example an element is: any structure, chickens or goats or cows, an orchard, a food forest, a garden bed, a swale, a pond, a clothes hanger, etc.

5. You do not have to use computer software, but if you decide to, please use software that will output a clean looking design and one that is easy to read. One recommended way to keep a clean looking design is to use numbers and shapes to represent elements on the landscape. The Final Design Text should show elements by number that correspond to your final design. It will also include your element analysis and the connections between the elements in your design.

6. Imagine you are being paid for this design. Before submitting your design, consider whether it is good enough to frame, and good enough to show to potential customers.

7. Is your design suitable to present as a good application of Permaculture Principles? These are your guides through your design process.

Drawing the plan is important to help you connect the complex ideas set out in this design course. Adhering to the plan allows you to assess it well later. It can be very difficult to redesign if you forget the objectives OR get set into a particular design. Imagine future difficulties you may encounter if you cannot remember the aims and details of the original plan.

For your final design, you can use a simple 8 ½’’ X 11’’ sheet of paper. This would be the best option for ease of grading because it can be scanned and emailed. Some students enjoy using colored pencils and/or crayons on white cardboard or large drafting paper. When their final design is complete, they take a digital picture of it (or several) and email it in for grading.

Staging

The maturity or stage of evolution of the plant system is a factor that decides the species in a polyculture. "Older systems provide more niches while younger systems provide more regular product" [Mollison, 1988]. In the early years, it may seem that more food can be produced for human consumption by annuals. But the full production of a Permaculture system is not just food for humans, it a lifestyle, a habitat for people and animals, improved micro-climate, cleaner water and air and greater diversity.

• Plan and complete all Earthworks first (swales, dams, ponds, etc.).

• Plan to use freshwater infiltration at the top first and work downstream as these plants become established.

• Plant windbreak trees upwind of the site first, using soil pitting for water penetration and harvesting. This windbreak will also serve to capture moisture.

• Start planting food species close the house and then radiate outwards. Use seed pellets/balls to stimulate natural timing and staging (succession) for larger areas without irrigation.

• Establish mulched gardens with some species to be mulched for new areas. (chop and drop technique).

• Establish shade and nurse trees.

• Extend successful species along favored niches.

• Identify and use various micro-climates.

• Prepare for seasonal changes: ready to store water in wet-season and mulch and irrigate during the dry season.

Use of Overlays for Designing:

Some people use overlays to express the different functions of the design. The base page has contours and existing structures and landscape features such as rivers. The 1st overlay has ideal water movement mapped out (ponds, swales and dams). 2nd overlay sectors (sun, wind), 3rd overlay stage 1 vegetation plans, 4th overlay: mature species and all the required elements such as animals, fencing, paths, storage structures etc.

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Using overlays

For ease in reviewing your designs in the online course, it is recommended that you submit 8 ½” X 11” designs scanned and sent via email. The other design methods (using overlays, etc.), are provided here for your information. You can use any method of design you choose when you are designing for others after the PDC. The design you submit for this course should show the site as a mature system (how you envision it will look in 3-5 years). Along with your design, include a text file detailing the progression of work on the site and the succession of plants used. See the examples in this module for guidance.

Summary of Design Methods:

Incremental Design

Incremental design in Permaculture would mean that one student studies another Permaculture site and develops the ideas based on that site. These course notes hopefully have given students ideas on which they can build and adapt. In the factory, they use incremental design (small changes), they measure (observe) the change and evaluate it.

In seed selection we use incremental design tools. We choose the strongest, most flavorful, pest resistant fruits for our next generation.

The 'Ultimate' Design

Why can't we mass-produce designs? Why is there not one Permaculture Design to fit all? Because cultural, ecological (species, topography and climate), and personal needs vary. For example: a lot of the subtropical ideas in simply aren't relevant to temperate designs and vice and versa. Sites size and orientation varies. Elements can be adapted and be used universally but it is the connections between them that ensure success.

Dynamic Design and Maintenance

Dynamic design looks at how the system will be able to adapt to changes. When we ride a horse or a bicycle, we are constantly adapting. We shift our weight, we bow to pass under obstacles, we steer away from potholes, and we adjust the speed according to the wind and the terrain and risks. Riding is a dynamic exercise. When our Permaculture system is affected by natural changes (hail, frost, storms, unwelcome predators, theft, vandalism, drought, etc.) we need to respond quickly, and make small changes that will have the best results.

Design Establishment Problems

Design to minimize losses in plant establishment, which are often the greatest cost to the client. Water management is a critical factor and should be a first priority. Wind shelter may be necessary in the case of citrus, avocado, etc. For nutrients (e.g., phosphate sources for young pines, nitrogen for young fruit and nut trees), use leguminous trees.

Soils: better to rehabilitate and loose a year than to persist in poor soils. Define species choice, especially in grassland competition. For example, pines and oaks can be more successful pioneers than cultivated fruits. Choose carefully so as not to make soil poor for other species (some plants such as pines have exudates that discourage competition from successive plants. Protection is needed from animals that may browse or trample plants (use thorny cover, fallen branches or prunings, electric fencing).

* Please note that once your Final Design is submitted and reviewed it may be sent back to you for modifications. Please don’t be discouraged or upset if you are asked to make some changes to your Final Design Project. This is part of the learning process and provides you with feedback that makes your design skills stronger and deepens your grasp of the Permaculture Principles.

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Important Note:

Feel free to use Auto CAD or other software programs to create your designs. However, with many computer programs, there is a steep learning curve. This may make the process of designing more frustrating than if you simply drew your design by hand using colored pencils or other materials. It may take a considerable amount of time to learn how to use these software programs effectively. With that point being made, please know that we do not favor using software programs over hand drawings, or vice versa. Different people like to design using different tools. A corporate client may be pleased by a clean-looking design like one created with CAD, but a neighbor or family friend may appreciate the artful expression of a handmade design that they can hang on the wall and enjoy.

Another popular option is to Google Earth or Google Maps, save the images, export it, then add features and elements with a graphics software package.

FREE LANDSCAPE DESIGN SOFTWARE PROGRAMS:

SketchUp: Create 3D models and upload them to Google Earth.

(You can import import Google Earth captures and Google Maps)

PROFESSIONAL DESIGN SOFTWARE PROGRAMS:

Adobe Illustrator: It takes a while to get the hang of, but once you learn the ropes it can be very quick and easy to work with.

More software for Permaculture and related disciplines are being developed all the time. For the latest, Google “Free Landscape Design Software”, or “Landscape Design Software”.

An Example Student Design with Overview:

Here is a good design example by William Ford, from North Carolina, USA:

Goal of William’s Project:

• To design a living environment capable of providing a family of two with most of its dietary requirements and income along with all its electrical power in a low-cost, labor-saving and sustainable manner.

• To serve as an example of applied Permaculture principles, techniques and low-impact living strategies.

Technical Data:

• Location: Foothills of the Appalachian mountains, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.A. 35.60 degrees North Latitude.

• Site Size: 3 acres (1.214 ha)

• Planned building sizes:

o Home and office: 1300 square feet.

o Workshop/Studio: 600 square feet.

o Greenhouse: 300 square feet.

• Elevations: 2134 feet at low point, 2190 at high point. Southern-facing gentle slope.

• Wind: Predominantly coming from West to East, and typically with low velocity.

• Solar Access: The site is relatively open and receives a healthy amount of sunlight in both summer and winter, making solar power a great choice for electricity generation.

Building Strategies:

• Structures will be built using natural materials as much as possible (earthbag, strawbale, earthen plasters, recycled wood), gathered from site or within a 20-mile radius.

• Home, Office and other structures will incorporate passive solar design, solar electricity, water harvesting, and natural cooling in summer.

William’s Initial Site Design:

(Number of element described 1, 2, etc. corresponds to physical features on the design - see map above)

1) House/Office:

60’X 25’ steel building will sit on a foundation of recovered concrete rubble and gravel with 12” concrete (greenest available) foundation pad. The concrete pad will include solar electric radiant flooring elements covering three areas of the house on three independent switches to conserve energy.

Home and Office structure will begin with a “Quonset hut” steel building shell (arch style). Recycled windows, doors and lighting fixtures will be used. South side of building will include large windows and exposure to the concrete floor inside as part of the passive solar design. 2 foot overhang will be built above southern-facing windows to allow winter sunlight in and to keep summer sun out.

Insulating the steel building will be accomplished using earthbags filled with earth taken from the excavation for the pond and swale. Earthbags are lined along the structure and stacked up until they meet at the top of the arch of the steel building. Natural earthen plasters are used over the earthbags to finish the structure. By incorporating the steel structure with earthbag insulation, the result is a solid, disaster-resistant house. Earthbag homes are known to be extremely strong (and in this case doubly-so because of the steel frame).

Power:

Solar panels and micro wind turbine to provide all electricity needs.

Heating:

Passive solar using direct and indirect gain with supplemental wood-fueled Rocket Stove in workshop/studio and a high-efficiency wood burning stove in the house.

Ventilation:

Passive ventilation is accomplished using windows, doors and solar chimney (cupola in workshop for ventilation).

Waste:

100% Recycled – Greywater to gardens outside, Black water to Living Machine in greenhouse. Food waste is composted.

Functions of this element:

• Shelter for humans and pets.

• Office.

• Electricity generation and hot water provision from solar panels.

2) Workshop/Studio:

Workshop will be used for property management tasks and for teaching classes as a source of income. Studio will house office space as well as dedicated spaces for meetings and lectures/gatherings.

Functions of this element:

• Space for working and teaching.

• Roof collects rainwater and electricity via solar panels.

• Provides bamboo processing area (workshop is next to bamboo groves).

3) Rainwater Collection:

Rainwater from the workshop/studio is directed to a 5000 gallon polyethelyne rainwater harvesting tank just outside. All tanks are surrounded with earthbags to prevent freezing, and are covered with the same earthen plaster as the house. Rainwater from the house is collected in a separate 5000 gallon tank.

Functions of this element:

• Fresh water storage for household and garden use.

• Thermal mass of water tanks creates micro-climate around the tanks, which makes the area good for growing cold-sensitive plants.

• Reduces or eliminates the need to purchase water.

4) Porches:

10 foot-deep porch on north, south and east sides of house. 2 foot overhang along glazing on south side allows winter sun in and keeps summer sun out.

Functions of this element:

• Keep summer sun out to assist in cooling.

• Allow winter sun in to assist in heating.

• Provide an observation and resting area for residents.

5) Swale and Pond:

A small swale on contour will be constructed uphill from the house just beyond the area reserved for the keyhole gardens. The swale overflow runs along a channel into a small pond on the south side of the house. The pond is strategically located to reflect winter sunlight into the south side windows of the house. The pond will be shaped to maximize edge. Fish will be grown in the pond as a source of income, to manage mosquito populations, and to attract other wildlife.

Functions of this element:

• Harvest water from the site’s natural slope for increasing plant productivity.

• Supply water to the pond.

• Pond reflects winter light into the south-side windows.

• Pond provides aquaculture income opportunities (fish, prawns, mollusks, algae).

6) Living Machine (biological wastewater treatment):

Designed to mimic the cleansing functions of wetlands, Living Machines take in human waste, black water, and greywater, and processes them into clean water through the use of multiple containers, wetland plants, bacteria, algae, protozoa, plankton, snails, clams, fish and other organisms. See Wikipedia entry:

The Living Machine will be located in part of the greenhouse (temperature control for the fish, tanks supply added moisture and thermal mass for heat release during nights). The fish will be bred and sold as a source of income.

Functions of this element:

• Wastewater purification.

• Safe human waste disposal.

• Provides fish and plants (hydroponic) that can be sold as additional sources of income.

• Eliminates the need for expensive municipal sewer hook-ups.

• Eliminates the need for installing expensive underground septic tanks.

7) Greenhouse:

The greenhouse will be located along the south side of the property near the house. The walls will be constructed using earthbags on a rubble/gravel foundation. The top three quarters of the structure will be constructed using recycled windows and glass. The greenhouse will serve as a nursery and space for winter and tropical food production. In addition, the Living Machine will be located in one corner of the greenhouse. The water tanks used as part of the Living Machine provide thermal mass to help regulate the temperature inside the greenhouse.

Functions of this element:

• Provides space for year-round food production.

• Provides an area for nursery and plant propagation.

• Heat from chickens and water tanks regulate temperature inside greenhouse.

8) Keyhole Vegetable Gardens:

The keyhole gardens provide intensive growing areas close to the home for easy monitoring, maintenance and harvesting. Crops to be grown: Potatoes, tomatoes, onions, turnips, carrots, beans, peas, beets, cucumbers, spinach, asparagus, peppers, cabbage, radish, broccoli and cauliflower.

Functions of this element:

• Provides an intensive growing space near the house.

• Keyhole area provides a central area for teaching/learning/relaxing and storing tools.

• Easy monitoring, maintenance and harvesting.

9) Herb Spiral:

The herb spiral is located near rear entrance to the house for easy access. Provides a low-maintenance method for accessing herbs most commonly used in the kitchen. Herbs to be grown: Garlic, basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, sage, lavender, spearmint, chamomile.

Functions of this element:

• Provides intensive growing space near the house.

• Provides easy access to commonly-used herbs for cooking.

• Eliminates the need to purchase herbs and herbal teas.

10) Fruit and Nut Orchard:

The fruit and nut orchard will have 2 species of apple, peach and pear and walnut trees, as well as inter-plantings of currants, strawberries and blackberries.

Functions of this element:

• Provides fruit and nuts.

• Provides yearly surplus that can be sold as an additional source of income.

• Provides food and cover for wildlife.

11) Native grasses and wildflowers:

Native grasses for this bioregion (Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia) include Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Indian Grass and Switchgrass. The entire Southeast area of the property will be planted with native grasses and wildflowers. Special clusters will be created in strategic areas around the pond and swales to encourage wildlife and to provide secure areas for duck and bird nesting.

Functions of this element:

• Keeps soil healthy, reduces erosion.

• Provides food and nesting areas for wildlife.

• Wild flowers provide pollen to bees.

12) Compost:

Two compost bins will be located on east side of greenhouse. One is used for active compost ready-to-use and the other for collecting “newer” materials thrown-in as food scraps and other compostable materials are generated.

Functions of this element:

• Reduces household waste.

• Increases health of soil.

• Increases health of plants by keeping weeds out and by holding moisture.

13) Solar dryer:

The solar dryer is located near back door of house in Zone 1, next to herb spiral. The solar dryer collector will be made from recycled glazing and recycled bricks painted black for thermal mass.

Functions of this element:

• Free drying (no electricity) of herbs and vegetables.

• Part of the household’s food storage system.

• Reduces food waste by having the option of drying and storing for later use.

14) Windbreak/Privacy Screen:

Along the access road to the property, a windbreak will be planted to reduce the effects of winds coming from the North. In addition, the windbreak will direct winds toward the micro wind turbine, which will help produce more electricity for the site. The species selected for the windbreak will include conifers (because they retain their leaves in the winter months) such as Eastern Red Cedar, Douglas fir, White spruce, and White pine. Since it is a good idea to include more than one species in a windbreak (windbreaks with a greater diversity of species are better for both wind reduction and wildlife habitat.), the design calls for interspersing deciduous trees and conifers along three rows – following the access road and ending near the wind turbine.

Functions of this element:

• Windbreak to reduce northern winds.

• Provides habitat for wildlife.

• Adds beauty to the property.

15) Woodlot:

Just north and uphill from the workshop/studio is a natural forested area that will be used as a resource for sustainably-harvested fuel and building materials.

Functions of this element:

• Provides wood for building and back-up home heating.

• Provides habitat for growing mushrooms (income source).

• Reduces water runoff on site.

• Provides habitat for wildlife.

16) Apiary:

Beekeeping operations will be located just East of the pond, near the area of the property that will be reserved for native grasses and wildflowers.

Functions of this element:

• Provides pollination services for garden and wild plants.

• Provides honey, wax and bee pollen for household use.

• Possible source of income in hiring-out the bees to help pollinate other areas.

17) Wind Turbine:

Wind turbine is located at the property entrance next to the access road. Two rows of trees on either side of the road channel the prevailing winds (West to East) toward the turbine.

Functions of this element:

• Reduces the need to purchase electricity from non-renewable sources.

• Provides renewable power to site.

• Provides power when sun is not shining.

18) Bamboo Groves:

Bamboo groves will include prominent species used for food, fuel and construction. By incorporating various species of bamboo, a sustainable supply of materials will be available for home maintenance use as well as surplus that could be used as an additional source of income. Wild grove areas will be protected and encouraged as wildlife habitat, windbreaks, and privacy screening.

Functions of this element:

• Provides bamboo for art, building needs and for sale.

• Provides bamboo shoots for food.

• Reduces erosion, filters some impurities out of water before running-off into swale.

19) Outdoor sitting and meditation areas:

One outdoor sitting and meditation area will be located between the bamboo groves and the swale. Another such area will be located just north of the pond.

Functions of this element:

• Provides an observation point for gardens.

• Provides quiet outdoor meditation area.

• Encourages occupants to spend more time outdoors.

20) Solar Panels for Electricity.

Functions of this element:

• Provide electricity to house and site.

• Provide hot water to house and site.

• Reduces or eliminates the need to purchase electricity from non-renewable sources.

William’s Mature Site Design (years 2-5):

In addition to the elements outlined above for the initial site design, several elements will be added over time. For this fictional property, the mature design is expected to evolve to include these additional integrated elements:

21) Chickens/Chicken coop:

Chickens will be added to the design after all earthworks and intensive beds have been established. Chickens will provide tractoring for intensive beds, feathers, meat, eggs, pest and weed control, and manure. The chicken coop will be multifunctional in that it will be located partly within the greenhouse (east end). Locating the chickens here will provide additional free heating to the greenhouse area. Also, water required by the chickens will be harvested from the roof of the chicken coop. A solar panel will be added to the roof of the chicken coop to provide additional electric power for the site.

Functions of this element:

• Provide eggs, feathers and meat.

• Provide manure, insect and weed control.

• Provide warmth for greenhouse.

22) Chicken tractor and additional intensive beds:

The chicken tractor is located directly outside the east end of the greenhouse. The tractor will service new intensive beds that will be planted on the east end of the property near the greenhouse. These new intensive beds will be used primarily for market gardening to provide a source of income. These beds will also be used to grow plants for the chickens and ducks.

Functions of this element:

• Provides additional space for intensive planting.

• Chicken tractor provides insect control and natural fertilizer to beds.

• Market gardening provides an additional source of income.

23) Ducks:

Ducks will be introduced and encouraged after the initial site design is established. Plantings specifically for ducks and frogs will be grown in the ponds. The choices include duck potato or wapato (Sagittaria latifolia), the arrow arum (Peltandra virginica), wild celery (Vallisneria Americana) and the Sago pondweed (Potomogeton pectinatus). All of these plants grow either directly in the water or along the shoreline of the water, and provide ample food supply for wild ducks. For nesting and shelter, thorny shrubs and bushes will be planted around the large pond. Some examples of good thorny nesting shrubs for ducks are hawthorn, silky dogwood and wax myrtle (). Ducks serve multiple functions - helping to control pests and snails, and protecting the chickens from predators such as dogs and foxes.

Functions of this element:

• Provide insect control for entire site.

• Provide meat, eggs and feathers.

• Provide security for chickens.

24) Apiary workshop:

After initial bee hives are established, an apiary workshop and new hives will be added. The bees will provide pollination services of indigenous and planted species; will produce honey for food and medicine and wax for candles, skin care and natural waterproofing paste for household use. Water will be harvested from the roof of the workshop and additional solar panels will be installed on the roof as finances permit.

Functions of this element:

• Provide space near the beehives for processing honey, pollen and wax.

• Provide a roof surface for placement of additional solar panels.

• Provide secure area for storage of tools and supplies.

25) Charcoal making operation from bamboo groves:

Bamboo will be grown, processed and sold. In addition, bamboo charcoal will be produced in an earthen oven unit located just south of the workshop/studio and next to the bamboo groves. The charcoal will be used on site for soil-building and will also be offered for sale.

Functions of this element:

• Charcoal used for soil-building and water purification.

• Earthen oven can be used for other purposes (outdoor cooking).

• Charcoal used as a source of additional income.

26) Future plantings:

As the initial fruit trees and berry bushes become established (just south of swale), additional fruit trees (apple, pear) and berry bushes (blackberry, raspberry) will be planted further downhill and encircling the keyhole garden areas. These plantings will provide an additional windbreak and moisture for the intensive gardens, as well as shelter for wildlife.

Functions of this element:

• Observation - After gauging the productivity of the system over the first year, plans can be made for additional plantings.

• Provide additional food for household use or for market.

• Provide additional wildlife habitat.

27) Future woodlot management:

The woodlot at the northern end of the site will be managed holistically for maximum health. It serves multiple purposes by providing hardwoods for future building and structural needs (oak, hickory, pine), acting as a northern windbreak for the house and property, and a natural location for mycology operations (mushroom growing and harvesting), and wild harvesting of other useful plants as needed (lichen, moss).

Functions of this element:

• Provide hardwoods for future building and art projects.

• Provide firewood for additional home heating as needed.

• Provide environment conducive to growing mushrooms.

28) Mycology operations area:

The area of the woodlot nearest to the house will be used in the future for mushroom growing and harvesting operations. Naturally-fallen trees will be used to host fungi colonies of specific species that can be sold for cooking and medicinal purposes.

Functions of this element:

• Provide mushrooms for cooking.

• Provide mushrooms for sale as an additional source of income.

• Provide medicinal mushrooms for health.

29) Aquaculture:

The areas in and surrounding the ponds will be planted with water-loving plants such as cattails (which can also be used for food and other uses), and thorny shrub species to protect the ducks and other wildlife. Other flood-tolerant species will be planted around the ponds, including persimmon, quince, pecan and fig trees. Tilapia, catfish, shrimp and water chestnuts will be grown and harvested for sale. Frogs and turtles will be introduced and encouraged to support other species and for general enjoyment. A small area of the large pond will be netted to protect frogs and their young from the ducks and other predators.

Functions of this element:

• Provide fish and other food species.

• Provide water storage.

• Provide water-loving food plants for household use or for market.

30) Additional water harvesting systems:

In the initial design, water is harvested from the house/office and greenhouse. In the future, cement and steel fiber tanks will be built to capture water coming from the workshop/studio and the apiary workshop. When the chickens are added to the system, the coop will include an independent water harvesting system on the roof to provide their water.

Functions of this element:

• Helps eliminate the need to purchase water from local utility.

• Provides additional water storage for occupants and animals.

• Tanks provide thermal mass and micro-climate for fragile plants.

31) Small pond:

After the apiary workshop is built and the new cement and steel fiber water storage tanks are built, a small pond will be constructed on the south east area of the property. The overflow water coming from the house and apiary workshop water harvesting will flow into the pond.

Functions of this element:

• Location for water overflow from other systems.

• Small pond has protected area for frogs and turtles.

• Provides reflected light to house in winter.

32) Additional solar panels:

In the initial design, solar panels provide heating and electricity for the house and office. In the future, additional solar panels will be installed on the house/office roof and workshop/studio roof to provide more electricity for the site. Solar panels will be also be added to the roofs of the apiary workshop, chicken coop and the covered outdoor learning area to provide additional electric power.

Functions of this element:

• Provides additional electricity for site.

• Reduces or eliminates the need to purchase electricity from the local utility.

• Provides lighting for apiary workshop and outdoor learning area.

33) Covered Outdoor Learning Area:

A covered outdoor learning area will be located in the middle of the Keyhole Vegetable Gardens (8). It will include a table and chairs, and storage for tools most commonly used.

Functions of this element:

• Provides area near cultivation for observation and learning.

• Provides an area for relaxation and enjoying the yard.

• Provides storage space for commonly-used garden tools.

___________________________END OF EXAMPLE ___________________________

*** We understand that your Final Design Project may not be as complicated as the example above.

Every design is different, and acceptable Final Designs can range widely depending on your goals and the site you have access to. From a small back yard to a homestead and farm to an urban container garden to a design that encompasses an entire university system (yes, one of our students actually designed their entire campus and surrounding land!).

The main objective of the Final Design Project is to show evidence that you have a firm grasp on the Ethics, the Permaculture Principles, and the 72-hour PDC Curriculum.

HOMEWORK: Final Project & Student Assessment 1

[pic] Final Project – Submit your final design. For ease of transmission, you may wish to use design software or keep your design to 8 ½” X 11” size, so that it can be easily scanned and emailed to us for grading. If you would like to submit your design in a larger format, you may consider taking several pictures of your design and emailing them.

Your instructors will likely respond to your first design draft with questions or suggested changes. After your Final Design Project has been graded and approved, we will issue the official Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) to you. A copy of your PDC Certificate and your Final Design will be kept on file with the Permaculture Education Center.

Professional Assessment of Permaculture Designs:

Holistic systems require observation and seasonal re-evaluation to meet all objectives.

The following questions are commonly used when professionals are assessing Permaculture sites and designs:

Is the site designed mainly for self-management or does it require a lot of human effort? Can the effort be managed on a regular basis or will it require lengthy periods of intervention?

Does the design suit the ethics and resources of the residents?

Are the natural systems (watercourses, wind, and solar access) properly identified, used and freely available to neighboring properties?

Are the access routes adequate and sustainable?

Is there optimum water flow throughout the system?

How much responsibility is taken for capturing and retaining the water required for the system by the system? Is at least 10-15% of the site dedicated to storing water (as suggested by Mollison)?

How clean is the water that leaves the system? Is there a filter process?

How clean is the air? Are there filter plants and appropriate food species that will not concentrate toxins?

How is solar access managed? Do any parts of the system suffer from too little or too much sun?

How solar passive are the home and work areas?

Is there a good use of natural light and heating?

Has there been a lasting reduction in imported energy (electricity, gas, water, fuel, mulch, fertilizers [including organic], plants and seedlings)?

How is wind controlled? Is it deflected from fragile areas? Is it used for reducing work?

How well is the site prepared for different types of catastrophes? Can catastrophes generated from outside the system be prepared for and how? What catastrophes could occur within the site? (e.g., Fire can be both internally generated by accident or externally by wildfire.)

Is there a plan for future needs including the next generation, aging of people and the system?

Is the system now self-reliant in terms of mulch, seed, feed, and fertilizing material?

How much of the family’s needs does the system provide (50% of food, 100% of honey and beeswax for candles, etc.)?

Has the family's lifestyle been enhanced by the Permaculture systems installed?

Were the species planted suited to the area? Is there maximum diversity and incorporation of rare breeds?

Are the animals in the system enjoyed, well positioned to harvest and clear, providing on site fertilizer and supplying eggs, meat or other useable materials?

Are pests managed by an integrated system? Have numbers of pests dropped?

Has there been an increase in wildlife species on the site? Has there been an observed increase in species diversity? (include insects, worms, birds, reptiles, mammals as well as larger species).

Does each major element of the design show opportunity for multiple functions?

Has the system used trees as condensation traps, frost, sunburn, erosion control and shelter for intensive garden beds?

Has the volume of waste material coming from the site decreased dramatically?

Are there opportunities to use of alternative banking systems, ethical investment, barter and sharing of surplus?

Are there sympathetic neighbors who can share ideas with others?

(April Kelly, 2009)

HOMEWORK: Final Project & Student Assessment 2

[pic] Assessing My Design: (Do this 6 months - 1 year after implementing your designs). Using the above assessment criteria, how does the design you created hold up? What changes would you make?

WHAT TO DO AT THE END OF YOUR PDC COURSE?

JUMP FOR JOY!

1) Go to and register yourself in the World Directory of Permaculture Designers. This site is the new community site for the global Permaculture movement. You can list your courses, workshops, events, farm produce for sale, advertise your services for teaching or consulting, network with other professionals, place classified ads, and more.

2) Keep active on the various Permaculture email lists, blogs, and forums online. Publish and brag about your work.

3) Join your local Permaculture Group or Start one. Support like-minded people and draw up a plan of action for not just yourself but your neighborhood - for empowering individuals to be more self-reliant while repairing the earth and rebuilding communities.

Your Resume or Curriculum Vitae:

Please remember to provide us with a copy of your resume or CV. Student privacy is respected by the Permaculture Education Center.

Include:

- Name, home address, email address, and phone numbers (please notify us if your address changes)

- Qualifications (Education)

- Job Experience

- Other Skills

- Affiliations (professional or social groups you belong to)

- Other Interests

- Ability to lecture

- Ability to travel

Also, be sure to share details of your future work and designs with us so that we can pass them along to others in the global network.

HOMEWORK: Final Project & Student Assessment 3

[pic] Student Assessment - Please submit your assessment of the PDC course. What parts of the course interested you the most and what activities will you actively pursue? We welcome your comments as they are used to improve the course. Please identify areas in which you feel the course needs to be developed further. Upload your response to the learning platform or send us an email.

Thank You!

[pic]

Lei Rainbow Plumeria

END OF PDC COURSE.

Resources

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Reading List

Readings in Permaculture and Ecological Design

General Permaculture Books

The Best of Permaculture: A Collection. Lindegger and Tap, ed. Nascimanere Nambour. Great stuff from the first 10 years or so of permaculture.

Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture. Morrow, Rosemary. Simon & Schuster, 2000. An informal introduction to permaculture by an experienced teacher.

Edible Forest Gardens. Jacke, David and Eric Toensmeier. Chelsea Green, 2006. Simply the best book on forest gardens, comprehensive and readable. A good all-round permaculture book for temperate climates.

The Future is Abundant: A guide to sustainable agriculture. Korn, Snyder and Musick, ed. Tilth, 1982. OP, needs to be re-done. The first bioregional (US PNW) permaculture handbook.

Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. Toby Hemenway. Chelsea Green, 2001. Easy to use and understand tour through the permaculture garden

Introduction to Permaculture. Slay, Reny, and Mollison, Bill. Tagari 91 Tyalgum. An intro from the founder, includes a concise listing of principles.

Living Community. Haggard, Ben. Center for the Study of Community, 4018 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe NM, 87505. The evolution of a premier permaculture site, written by a master designer.

Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual (alternate subtitle: A Practical Guide for a Sustainable Future) Mollison, Bill. Island Press Covelo, CA, 1990. A comprehensive study guide; the bible of permaculture

The Permaculture Garden. Bell, Graham. Thorson’s, 1994. A British-oriented introduction to permaculture gardening techniques.

The Permaculture Way. Graham Bell. Thorsons, London 1992. Simple explanation of permaculture in action. Good examples.

Travels In Dreams. Bill Mollison. Tagari 1996. Engaging memoir with stories, stories, stories by the man behind permaculture.

The Western (Australia) Permaculture Manual. Brown, David, ed. Cornucopia, Subiaco, West Australia 1989. From philosophy to nitty-gritty region specific, untidy early Pc from the trenches, OP

Ecology and Whole Systems

At Home in the Universe. Oxford, 1995. Kauffman shows how life inevitably will emerge when there is sufficient complexity.

Ecological Design. Van der Ryn, Sim, and Stuart Cowan. Island, 1996. The essential concepts of ecological design.

The Ecology of Urban Habitats. Wheater, C. Philip. Routledge, London, 1999. Though written for a British audience, this book contains a wealth of information about urban ecology: succession, soils, animals, microclimates, and more.

Fundamentals of Ecology. Odum, Eugene, P. W. B. Saunders, 1971. An early textbook on the basics of ecology, in depth.

A Hierarchical View of Ecosystems. O’Neill, R. V. Princeton, 1986. An advanced look at how ecosystems function.

Holistic Resource Management. Savory, Alan. Island, 1988. The central work of a school of sustainability developed in parallel with permaculture. Good biblio which includes personal growth.

Noah’s Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Back Yards. Stein, Sara. Houghton Mifflin, 1995. A well-written and compelling plea for allowing nature back into our yards, full of natural history.

The Origins of Order. Kauffman, Stuart. Oxford, 1994. A dense and scholarly treatment of the ideas expressed in At Home in the Universe.

Out of Control .Kelly, Kevin. Addison Wesley, 1994. How our new understanding of biology is transforming both ecology and economics.

The Web of Life. Capra, Fritjof. Doubleday, 1996. An engaging account of how the new sciences of complexity and self-organization are affecting our understanding of living systems.

Design Process

Design with Nature. McHarg, Ian. Wiley, 1992. Innovative techniques for appropriate landscape design using map overlays.

Landscape Graphics. Reid, Grant W. Whitney Library of Design, 1987. Excellent introduction to professional landscape drawing.

Patterns

By Nature’s Design. Neill, William, and Pat Murphy. Chronicle, 1993. Stunning photographs and clear explanations of nature’s patterns.

The Fractal Geometry of Nature. Mandelbrot, Benoit. W.H. Freeman & Co, 1983. Key insights into natural patterns by the developer of the fractal concept.

Metapatterns. Volk, Tyler.Columbia, 1995. Very compatible with Mollison’s pattern writings.

On Growth and Form. Thompson, D’arcy Wentworth. Dover, 1992. A magisterial text on how the shapes and patterns in nature are formed; a classic in the field.

A Pattern Language. Alexander, Christopher. Oxford NY 1977 Design for human building and settlements using patterns derived from successful designs.

Patterns in Nature. Stevens, Peter S. Little, Brown & Co., 1974. A review of the common classes of patterns found in nature.

Reading Landscape

Changes in the Land. Cronon, William. Hill and Wang (McGraw-Hill) NY, 1989 (Toronto) Indians, colonists, and the ecology of New England, a foundation work on the managed ecology of pre-Columbian N. America

The History of The Countryside. Rackham, Oliver. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1995. About Britain, and full of info about traditional land use.

What are People For? Berry, Wendell. Poet Berry is concerned equally with culture and agriculture.

The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World. Abram, David. Pantheon, 1996. Complex and careful thinking about how language shapes our senses.

Water, Ponds, Catchment, and Aquaculture

The Challenge of Landscape. P.A. Yeomans. . The development and practice of keyline land management.

Design and Construction of Small Earth Dams. Nelson, K.D. Inkata Melbourne. Best book on the subject.

Earth Ponds. Matson, Tim. Countryman. Very available, and there is also a workbook. Misses much that you’ll find in McClarney, Yeomans and Nelson, but will help you avoid many mistakes.

Farming in Ponds and Dams. Romanowski, Nick. Lothian, 1994. Real aquaculture stuff from an opinionated pro. Australian but current and useful nonetheless.

The Freshwater Aquaculture Book. McClarney, William. Hartley & Marks, 1984. Extensive!

Getting Food from Water: A Guide to Backyard Aquaculture. Gene Logsdon 1978 A good lay-persons guide. One of the best illustrated books on the subject.

Living Water. Olaf Alexandersson. Viktor Schauberger’s theories on water. Can be a bit out there for some folks but an interesting read.

Rainwater Harvesting. Pacey, Arnold, and Adrian Cullis. Intermediate Technology, 1996. Many techniques for using rainwater.

Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands, Vols, 1 & 2. Lancaster, Brad. Comprehensive, theory and practice, and not just for drylands. Highly recommended.

Sensitive Chaos. Theodore Schwenk. Combines the scientific and the esoteric for an excellent approach to how water interacts with life.

Water: A Primer. Leopold, Luna. Freeman, 1974. An intro to hydrology for designers working with streams and dams. By Aldo’s boy.

Water For Every Farm. P. A and Ken Yeomans. A revised guide to using the keyline system.

Soil

The Albrecht Papers. Albrecht, William A. Acres USA, 1996. Somewhat quirky collection of papers by a soil scientist with vision.

Dirt: the Ecstatic Skin of the Earth. William Bryant Logan (Riverhead, 1995). A literate excursion into the life of the soil and of those who work it.

Earthworms for Ecology and Profit. Gaddie, Ronald, and Donald Douglas. Bookworm, 1977. One of the best books on worm composting and worm beds.

Feed the Soil. Edwin McLeod. Organic Ag. Research Institute 1982. Resource to understand how natural ag. works and putting it into practice. Focus on green manure crops and nitrogen fixers.

The Gardener’s Guide to Better Soil. Logsden, Gene. Rodale, Emmaus, PA 1976. Soil fertility, composting, soil science.

The Nature and Properties of Soils. Brady, Nyle C. Prentice-Hall, 1996. This major textbook on soils covers the whole subject in depth.

Soil and Health: An Agricultural Testament. Howard, Sir Albert. Rodale, Emmaus, PA 1976. Written in the 1930s; 25 years of research by the man who coined the term “organic agriculture”

Soil Management. Dalzell, H.W., FAO, Rome, 1987. “Compost production and use in tropical and subtropical environments” My favorite compost book because it covers production ag systems in places w/o machinery, very applicable to those of us working small-scale in the US.

Start with the Soil. Gershuny, Grace. Rodale, 1993. A superb handbook on the how and why of creating great soil.

The Soul of the Soil: A Guide to Ecological Soil Management. Grace Gershuny and J. Smillie 1986.

Greywater and Waste Management

The Composting Toilet System Book. Del Porto, David and Steinfeld, Carol, CEPP, ’99. Excellent reference on the subject by leaders in the field.

Create an Oasis With Greywater. Ludwig, Art. 5 San Marcos Trout Club Rd., Santa Barbara CA 93105 (805)967-3222. Art is a permaculturist who has developed household cleansers for greywater systems.

The Toilet Papers. Sim Van der Ryn. 1978. Capra Press, Santa Barbara. Excellent book on composting human manure

Gardening, Farming, and Plant Guides

American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. Brickell, Christopher. MacMillan, 1990. An illustrated guide to most common plants, with thousands of photos.

Bamboo in the U.S. R.A. Young. USDA Handbook #193 (OP) Wash. DC 1961. Description, culture and utilization, a foundation book.

The Beautiful Food Garden Encyclopedia of Attractive Food Plants. Gessert, Kate Rogers. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983. How to landscape with good-looking vegetables.

The Book of Bamboo. Farrelly, David. Sierra Club, 1984. A thoughtful and thorough investigation into the culture, varieties, and uses of bamboo.

Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties. Deppe, Carol. Little, Brown, ’93. Good plant breeding book. How to stabilize patented hybrids and similar tricks.

Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden. Wilson, Gilbert Minnesota Hist.Soc. St. Paul’87. Traditional Hidatsa agricultural methods; a look at the first farmers of N.Am.

City Food. Wade, Isabel. Urban Resource Systems, 1986. “Crop selection in 3rd World Cities” Has a great biblio.

Colour Schemes for the Flower Garden. Jekyll, Gertrude. Ayer, 1983. One of several classic books by Jekyll on garden design.

The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping. Creasy, Rosalind. Sierra Club, 1982. The foundation book that brought vegetables into the front yard.

Complete Book of Herbs and Spices. Sarah Garland. 1979. A Studio Book. Viking Press N.Y. A definitive guide to herbs and spices with great illustrations, stories, and recipes

Common Weeds of the United States. United States Department of Agriculture. Dover, 1971. A good technical guide to 224 species of weeds, with clear drawings. Organized by plant family, so it requires a little botanical knowledge.

Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants. Facciola, Stephen. Kampong, 1998. A comprehensive list and description of edible flora.

Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape. Kourik, Robert. Metamorphic Press. Zone 1 design and implementation. Wonderful! OP, maybe available still from Dan Hemenway, Barking Frogs Pc.

Farmers of Forty Centuries. King, F.H. Rodale Emmaus, PA. Traditional Chinese agriculture by an early agro-tourist.

Ferment and Human Nutrition. Bill Mollison Tagari Publications, Tyalgum, Australia, 1993.

Fertility Pastures. Turner, Newman. Bargyla Rateaver. Pauma Valley CA, 1974. polyculture pastures for restoring soil.

The Food Lover’s Garden. Pellegrini, Angelo. Knopf N.Y. 1970. A much-loved English professor from Seattle, born an Italian peasant. He understood microclimate well.

Four-Season Harvest. Coleman, Eliot. Chelsea Green, 1999. How to extend the growing season to the whole year, even in northern climates.

Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory. Whealy, Kent, ed. Seed savers Exchange, RR3, Box 239 Decorah, Iowa 52101. a listing of all varieties available by mail in the US

The Ghosts Of Evolution: Nonsensical Fruit, Missing Partners, And Other Ecological Anachronisms. Connie Barlow. How surviving plants are clues to vanished ecological relationships. For designing systems for humans and animals.

The Grafter’s Handbook. Robert Garner 1979. One of the best books on grafting; a classic.

Greening the Garden. Jason, Dan New Society, 1991 A gardening book by the owner of Saltspring Seeds. A good emphasis on grains and legumes for the W. Coast Maritime climate.

Herbs of the Pacific Northwest. Ross H Penhallen. OSU Extension Bulletin #LC406. 65 page comprehensive guide to the growing of herbs.

High-Yield Gardening. Hunt, Marjorie. Rodale, 1986. A superb guide to extending the growing season, high-density planting, and getting more from the garden.

How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine. Jeavons, John. Ten Speed, 1991. Bio-intensive (and labor-intensive) techniques that boost production; useful but the claimed yields are hard to match.

Lost Crops of the Incas. National Academy Press Wash. DC 1989. Little-known plants of the Andes with promise for worldwide cultivation.

Master Gardener’s Handbook. Oregon State Extension Service 1993 EM 8442. Basic book that covers many aspects of gardening, plant care and botany.

The Mulch Book: A Complete Guide for Gardeners. Campbell, Stu, and Donna Moore. Storey Books, 1991. A good introduction to mulching.

The Natural Habitat Garden. Druse, Ken. Potter, 1994. How to create prairie, meadow, woodland, and wetland gardens using native plants.

The Natural Way of Farming. Masanobu Fukuoka. Rodale Press. Fukuoka-san’s insights into applying nature’s knowledge to agriculture. A classic, hard to find.

North American Fruit Explorers Handbook. (NAFEX)

The One-Straw Revolution. Fukuoka, Masanobu. Rodale. Hard to find, but a crucial foundation text for Pc.

The Orchard Almanac. Steve Page and Joe Smillie. A seasonal guide to healthy fruit trees. Excellent reference on planting, pruning, fertilization, organic control of pests, restoring old fruit trees, IPM, resistant varieties, harvest and storage.

Organic Gardener’s Edible Plants. Creasy, Rosalind. Van Patten, 1993. Descriptions of over 130 edible ornamental plants.

Organic Plant Protection. Rodale Press,1976. A how-to guide to organic gardening. Readily found in used bookstores

Organic Tree Fruit Management . Linda Evans. Text book quality.

Plants for a Future: Edible and Useful Plants for a Healthier World. Fern, Ken. Permanent Publications, 1997. Distributed in the United States by Chelsea Green Publishing. A British book covering a wide range of multifunctional plants.

Pruning and Training. Brickell & Joyce, DK, 1996 From the Am. Hort. Society. The current best, “fully illustrated plant-by-plant manual.”

The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book. Stout, Ruth Rodale also, How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back. OP foundation texts of Pc gardening, deep mulching.

The Scythe Book. Tressemer, David. By Hand and Foot, Ltd. Available now only from the Marug Co., Tracy City, TN; how to use and maintain a scythe.

Sea Weed Vegetables: Harvesting Guide and Cookbook. Evelyn Mc Connaughey. A guide to foraging and preparing of free nutritious sea vegetables.

The Self-Sufficient Gardener. John Seymour. Dolphin Book,s, Doubleday and Company, Garden City, N.Y. 1980. One of my favorite general garden books. Excellent colored line drawings, Soil care, propagation, controlling insects and diseases, harvesting and storage, etc.

Small Scale Grain Raising. Logsdon, Gene. Rodale 1977. Emmaus, PA. Well-written small-farm info. His latest is The Contrary Farmer.

Stalking the Wild Asparagus. Gibbons, Euell McKay N.Y. 1971 all his books are useful; Euell was managing his local wild ecologies long ago.

Stocking Up. Carol Hupping Stoner. Rodale Press 1977. Food preservation techniques: fruits, vegies, dairy products, meat and fish, nuts seeds and grains. Favorite all-around food prep. book

Subsistence Agriculture Improvement. Goeltenboth, Friedhelm, ed. Margraf, Weikersheim, 1990. “A manual for the humid Tropics”, it has an aid worker’s viewpoint, and thereby applicable to other climates as well.

Successful Small-Scale Farming: an organic approach. by Karl Schwenke, Storey, 1991. Good for some of the best of traditional and more modern field techniques, incl. using old equipment and good directions on contour terracing. Lots of illustrations.

Underexploited Tropical Plants with Promising Economic Value. National Academy of Sciences Wash. DC 1975.

Weeds and What They Tell. Pfeiffer, Ehrenfried. Bio-Dynamic Farming & Garden Association, 1981. How to use weeds to assess the type and fertility of the local soil.

Weeds: Guardians of the Soil. Cocannouer, Joseph. Devin-Adair, 1950. Describes the role of weeds useful crops and as indicators of fertility, with much historical lore.

Western Fruit, Berries and Nuts. Lance Walheim & Robert Stebbins.

Wetland Plants of Oregon and Washington. Guard, Jennifer. Lone Pine, 1995. A very useful new-wave field guide, includes an illustrated glossary.

Winter Gardening in the Maritime Northwest. Binda Colebrook. A guide to growing vegetables between October and May. Site selection, variety choices, when to plant and harvest. Explanation of common winter crop pests and diseases. Excellent resource!

Seeds

Biopiracy. Vandana Shiva. Biotech and what it is doing to seed savers.

The New Seed-Starters Handbook. by Nancy Bubel. 1988. Excellent guide to starting a variety of vegies, fruits, trees, grains, herbs, etc. Also on seed-saving.

Seed to Seed. Ashworth, Suzanne. Seed Saver’s Exchange, Rt. 3 Box 239 Decorah, Iowa 52101. Seed saving techniques for the vegetable grower.

Return To Resistance. Raoul Robinson. AgAccess. One of the most permaculturally correct books on plant breeding, entry-level in complexity.

Gardening to Attract Wildlife

America’s Neighborhood Bats. Tuttle, Merlin. An entry level eco-action text.

American Wildlife and Plants A Guide to Wildlife Food Habitats. Alexander Martin, Herbert S. Zim, Arnold Nelson Dover Press 1951. Food and feeding habits of more than 1000 migratory birds and mammals and the relationship to each other; Plants for wildlife food; huge and comprehensive.

A Guide To Bird Homes. Scott Shalaway. PO Box 110 Marietta, Ohio 45750. Rich in descriptions of what birds like what type of nesting and roosting space. Adequate plans for nesting boxes and predator baffles. The basics of who, what, where, when, and how.

How to Attract Birds. McKinley, Ortho Books, 1999. Instructions for attracting specific birds with plants and The National Wildlife Federation’s Guide to Gardening for Wildlife. Craig Tufts Craig and Peter Loewer. Rodale, 1995. How to provide garden habitat for birds, insects, and nocturnal animals.

The Hummingbird Garden. Tekulsky, Mathew. Crown, 1986. A guide to cultivating plants that attract these flying jewels; one of the best on the subject.

National Audubon Society Bird Garden. Kress, Stephen M. DK, 1995. Designs and plants for gardens that provide food, water, cover, and nesting sites for birds.

The National Wildlife Federation’s Guide to Gardening for Wildlife. Tufts, Craig and Peter Loewer. Rodale, 1995. How to provide garden habitat for birds, insects, and nocturnal animals.

The Wildlife Garden. Seidenberg, Charlotte. University of Mississippi, 1995. An introduction to wildlife habitat gardening with examples of garden designs.

The Wildlife Gardener. Dennis, John V. Knopf, 1985. A good introduction to creating gardens for wildlife habitat.

Native Plants (Northwest USA)

Gardening With Natives of the Pacific Northwest. Arthur Kruckenberg. Good descriptions NW plants, how to propagate and their landscape uses.

Handbook of Northwestern Plants. Gilkey. Complete book of plants native to the area from the summit of the Cascade Range to the coastline of Washington and Oregon, to the south line of Lane County.

Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Pojar and Mackinnon. One of the best books for native plant ID, great color photos.

Plants and Animals of the Pacific Northwest: An illustrated Guide to the Natural History of Western Washington, Oregon, and B.C.. Eugene Kozloff. Good info on our native fauna and flora.

Propagation of Pacific Northwest Native Plants. Robin Rose. Very easy to understand book on propagation. Highly recommended.

Plant Association and Management Guide–Willamette National Forest. Hemstrom, 1987. US Department of Agriculture. Excellent reference for guide of guilds utilized in the Willamette National forest.

Wetland Plants of Oregon and Washington. B. Jennifer Guard. Lone Pine 1998. A field guide with photos good glossary and lots of interesting info.

Forests, Hedgerows, and Tree Crops

Bioengineering for Land Stabilization and Conservation. Hugo Schiechtl U. of Alberta Press Edmonton, 1980 The foundation text for using live plants in engineering.

Firewood Crops. National Academy of Sciences Wash. DC 1980. Shrub and tree species for energy production.

The Forest Farmer’s Handbook: A Guide to Natural Selection Forestry, Orville Camp. Sky River Press, Ashland, Oregon 1984

Forest Farming. Douglas, J. Sholto, and Robert Hart. Rodale, 1985. A strong argument for growing trees for food and fodder, with descriptions of many species; a basic Pc book.

Forest Gardening: Cultivating an Edible Landscape.Hart, Robert. Chelsea Green, 1996. A personal account of forest garden design by one of the originators of the field.

Forest Primeval. Maser, Chris. The forest of the PNW, by a clear-thinking eco-forester.

The Handbook for Fruit Explorers. Fishman, Ram. North American Fruit Explorers, Rt. 1 box 94, Chapin, I1. 62628 (1986) free to new members- OP but may be re done.

Hedging: A Practical Handbook. BTCV British Trust For Conservation Volunteers 1988 Wallingford, Oxfordshire. Excellent–tools, species and techniques. Best material on coppice, management and tree planting I have seen in one book.

How to Make a Forest Garden. Whitefield, Patrick. Permanent Publications, 1997. Distributed in the United States by Chelsea Green. Instructions and ideas for forest gardens, with a British focus but usable in North America.

A Natural History of Western Trees. Peattie, Donald Culross. Houghton Mifflin Boston, 1953 Stories and illustrations, a bit of ecology; the N. H. of Eastern Trees volume is equally good but he died before completing N. H. of Southern Trees

The Redesigned Forest. Maser, Chris R & E Miles. San Pedro,’88. Forestry, old and new, in the Northwest.

Restoration Forestry: An International Guide to Sustainable Forestry Practices. Michael Pilarski,ed.

Saving Our Ancient Forests. Zuckerman, Seth Living Planet Press L.A. 1991. Written to a high school level, fresh style.

Seeing the Forest Among the Trees. Hammond, Herb, Polestar, Vancouver, 1991. Herb is the holistic forestry consultant in BC and this is his book for the public at large. Good “invisible structure” social info.

Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture. Smith, J. Russell. Harper. A foundation, visionary text for Pc.

Trees on The Treeless Plains. Holmgren, David. 1994. Recommended for designers doing broadscale work, this book is about Victoria and so the climate is not inappropriate for PNW conditions. I recommend any of Holmgren’s writings.

Wildwood: A Forest Farm for the Future. Ruth Loomis. Pacific Certified Ecological Forest Products Institute for Sustainable forestry PO Box 1580 Redway, Ca. 95560

Insects

Biological Control of Insects and Mites. N.C.R.481. University of Wisconsin. Coop./ Ext. Publication. 30 Murray St. Rm. 345 Madison, WI. 53715-2609 $9.00 An Introduction to beneficial natural enemies

The Bug Book. Olkowski. Easy to understand book on bugs- lifecycles, beneficials. Excellent, often found used.

The Butterflies of North America. James A. Scott (1986). The definitive b-fly text of the moment.

Handbook for Butterfly Watchers. Robert Michael Pyle, Houghton Mifflin, Boston ’84. Butterflies as indicator species

Natural Enemies Handbook: The Illustrated Guide to Biological Pest Control. Mary Louise Flint and Steve Dreistadt. “Best ever” practical guide to insect control. This book will help you find, identify, and use natural enemies to control pests in almost any agricultural setting.

Encyclopedia of Natural Insect and Disease Control. Yepson, Roger, ed. Rodale,1984. Natural pest

The Orchard Mason Bee. Brian Griffin Knox Cellars 1607 Knox Ave. Bellingham, WA 98225 (306) 733-3283 Good little book on Mason Bees. Also, provider of Adult blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria) along with nesting material and educational products.

Rodale’s Color Handbook of Garden Insects. Anna Carr Rodale Press, Emmaus, Pa 1979. Readily available used. Photographs illustrating insect (beneficial and 19pest’) life cycles.

Animals

ABC of Poultry Raising: A Complete Guide for the Beginner or Expert. Florea, J, H. Dover, 1977. A standard work on small-scale poultry care.

The American Minor Breeds Notebook. Heise &Christman. The American Minor Breeds Conservancy POB 477, Pittsboro, NC 27312 rare livestock with unique characteristics

Chicken Tractor. Lee, Andy Good Earth, 1994 “The Gardener’s guide to Happy Hens and Healthy Soil.” A second-generation Pc book that goes beyond Mollison; using animals multifunctinally.

Chickens in Your Backyard: A Beginner’s Guide.Luttmann, Rick, and Gail Luttmann. Rodale, 1976. A good book on small-scale chicken raising for the homeowner.

The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable. de Bairacli Levy, Juliette Faber and Faber Boston, 1990. A look at traditional knowledge and the importance of plant diversity to animals.

The Family Cow. van Loon, Dirk. Garden Way

The Forgotten Pollinators. Buchman, Steve, and Nabhan. Island, 1996. Stories about ecology through the window of pollination, a crucial link. I recommend any of Gary Nabhan’s books, which mostly center on the Sonoran desert; this one is of world-wide urgent importance.

Grass Productivity Voisin, Andre. A primary text for rotational grazing.

The Home Duck Flock. Holderread, Dave The Hen House Corvallis, OR 1978 a local expert on waterfowl.

Keepers of the Game. Calvin Luther

The Last Ranch. Bingham, Sam. A year in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, centering on a few ranchers applying Holistic Resource Management methods. Well-written by the author of the HRM Workbook, it begins with a quote from Permaculturist Michael Crowfoot: “Not only are ecologies more complex than we imagine, they are more complex than we can imagine” Very highly recommended.

Microlivestock. N A P 1991 “Little-known small animals with a promising economic future”

A Natural History of Domesticated Animals. by Juliet Clutton-Brock. All you could want to know about the wild ancestors of all the domesticated animals of the world. With extensive references, this book is very useful if you are designing low-input systems with animals.

Pastured Poultry Profits. Joel Salatin. Production model describes how to produce an income from small acreage raising poultry. He tells how anyone can earn $25,000 in 6 months on 20 acres.

The Power of Duck: Integrated Rice and Duck Farming. by Takao Furuno 2001, 94 pp. + 4 color plates.

Raising Rabbits the Modern Way.Bennett, Bob. Garden Way, 1980. Good introduction to rabbits in the backyard.

Salad Bar Beef. Joel Salatin This proven system can yield a superb profit from a small cow herd regardless of the commodity price of calves.

The Tender Carnivore and the Sacred Game. Paul Shepard. Deep thinking and poetic writing about our need for relationships with animals; good for countering anti-meat food dogma.

The Third Chimpanzee. Diamond, Jared. I recommend all of Diamond’s books because of his wide range of knowledge, which includes genetics, birds, language and owes much to his long involvement in research in New Guinea, the area with the greatest human cultural diversity.

Shelter

A Better Place to Live. Corbet, Michael. Rodale, 1981; “New Designs for Tomorrows Communities,” the planning behind Village Homes, lots of ties to Ebenezer Howard’s Garden Cities movement from earlier in this century.

Bioshelters, Ocean Arks, and City Farming. Jack and Nancy Todd

Build It With Bales. Myhrman & Mac Donald Out on Bale,1997

The Cob Builders Handbook. Becky Bee Groundworks PO Box 14194, Portland, Or. 97293

Earth Building & The Cob Revival, and The Cobbler’s Companion. Ianto Evans, Michael Smith. PO Box 123 Cottage Grove, Or 97424

Handbook: Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Building. John Reynolds

The Hand-Sculpted House. Ianto Evans, Linda Smiley, Michael Smith. Philosophy and practice of building with cob; highly recommended

The Natural House Book. David Pearson Fireside Books Simon and Schuster,1989

The Owner-Built Home. Ken Kern. Scribner’s, 1972.A classic on innovative design and techniques for building your own house. Any of Kern’s books (Owner-Built Homestead, Pole-Frame House) is well worth finding.

A Straw Bale Primer. S.O. MacDonald How to Build w/ great illustrations

Appropriate Technology

Appropriate Technology Sourcebook. Ken and Mike Saxenian. 1986. PO Box 4543 Stanford, CA 94305. Exc. ref. reviews hundreds of publications on AT from agriculture to disaster preparedness.

The Composting Toilet System Book. Carol Steinfeld. The most complete book on the subject’s state of the art that I’ve seen.

The Humanure Handbook. Joseph Jenkins, Chelsea Green, 1999. Excellent guide to composting humane manure.

Landscape Design That Saves Energy. A. Moffat Morrow 1981.

The Integral Urban House: Self-Reliant Living in the City. Helga and Bill Olkowski 1979 Guide to 19integral’ home design, focusing on energy conservation.

Teaching/Children and Nature

Composting Across the Curriculum: A Teacher’s Guide to Composting. Kathy Ezratty 1993. Marin County Office of Waste Management 10 North San Pedro Rd. Suite 1022, San Rafael, CA 94903 (415)499-6647 Great workbook for people of all ages.

The Evolution Book. Sara Stein. Workman Publishing, NY, 1986. The story of 4,000 million years of life on Earth revealed through observations, experiments, projects, and investigations.

Exploring the Secrets of the Meadow-Thicket. JoAnne Dennee and Julia Hand. A Common Roots Guidebook 1994. Observing plants, birds, insects, and animals and how they interact in the meadow thicket. Songs, activities, and stories.

Kid’s Nature. Susan Milord. Williams Publishing. Charlette,VT. 365 Indoor and outdoor nature experiences for kids. Springo Tyron Creek State Park 11321 SW Terwilliger Blvd. Portland, Or 97219 (503)636-4550

Life Lab, Growing Adventure. Life Lab Science Program 1156 High St. Santa Cruz, Ca. 95064 (408)459-2001 In and outdoor science activities

The Long Haul. Horton, Miles, Anchor, NY, 1990 Autobiography of a union and civil right organizer who founded the Highlander School. As he retired the school was becoming involved in bioregional land control and ecology issues. Good for teachers-aren’t we all?

Sharing Nature With Children. Cornell, Joseph. Ananda, 1979. Teaching tactics, a classic.

Squirmy Wormy Composters. Bobbie Kalman Crabtree Publ.Co. 1992. My favorite pix in this book is the kid w/ a worm on his tongue. Really gets the attention of children to read this! For elementary school age.

The Usborne Complete First Book of Nature. Michael Chinery et.al. Usborne Ltd. Belgium Publishing Ltd. 1990. Beautifully detailed illustrations of plants and animals. A serious nature study for the young and old. I had to special order this but found it one of the best children’s nature books available.

333 Science Tricks and Experiments. Robert Brown Tab Books, INC. Blue Ridge Summit, PA 1984. Inexpensive, readily available materials- unique and unusual experiments

Community

CoHousing. McCamant and Durrent. Habitat/Ten Speed, 1992. The book that brought the Scandinavian movement to popularity in the US. Lots of interviews and good design stories.

Intentional Communities. Communities Publication Cooperative 105 Sun Street Steele Illinois, 60919. This book explains what communities are, how to choose a community, social action, personal growth through community, ideas for decision making, community economics, land trusts, and networking.

Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow an Ecovillage or Intentional Community. New Society, 2003.Diana Leafe Christian.

Stories form the front lines; a toolkit for designing a functional community.

Economics

Ecology of Commerce. Paul Hawken Harper Collins 1993. Ecological analysis of Business. Practical suggestions

Finding and Buying Your Place In the Country. Dearborn Financial Publishing 1992. Classic land buying guide; includes useful property evaluation lists

Nine Steps to Financial Freedom. Suze Orman Random House 1997. Easy to understand and practical. Basic tips for getting your personal finances in order.

Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. F. Schumacker Harper Collins. The author recommends decentralized localized life styles. He outlines a series of proposals intended to save the planet from economic and environmental collapse.

Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence. Joe Dominguez Penguin, USA 1993. The focus is on finding satisfaction with your life-Recommends how to save money on all aspects of living.

Inspirational

The Greening of the Revolution: Cuba’s Experiment with Organic Agriculture. Peter Rosset and Medea Benjamin. Ocean Press, 2017 Mission Street S.F. Ca. 94110. 1994. Cuba has lost its sources for conventional farming, empty city lots and other available land is being converted to organic gardens

Radical Agriculture. Ed. Richard Merrill. Harper Colophon Books 1976. 20 Essays that summarize the ecological, physical, and, social characteristics of a radical agriculture.

The Unsettling of America, and The Gift of the Land, and What Are People for?. Wendell Berry. Just a few of the books by this prolific poet, visionary, and humanistic author.

Women , Ecology, and Development. Zed Books, 1989. Vandana Shiva. Shiva examines women’s relationship to nature and defines the links between the ecological crisis, colonialism, and the oppression of women.

Income Production

Rebirth of the Small Family Farm. Bob and Bonnie Gregson. IMF Associates, PO Box 2542, Vashon Island, Wa. 98070. A handbook for starting a successful organic farm based on the Community Supported Agriculture concept.

Marketing Without Advertising. Creative strategies for small Business Success Phillips and Rasberry Nolo Press, Berkeley. 1986. Great resource on how to promote your self and business.

You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting and Succeeding in a Farming Enterprise. Joel Salatin. 1998 Chelsea Green Publishing. This book targets wannabe farmers- offering specific details on how to succeed in farming.

General and Miscellaneous

The Ages of Gaia. Lovelock, James. Bantam NY/Toronto 1990. 2nd book on the Gaia hypothesis by the originator, answers the questions raised by the Gaia Hypothesis.

Before The Wilderness. Blackburn and Anderson, eds. Ballena, 1993. Environmental Management by Native Californians.

The Earth Manual. Margolin, Malcom. Heyday Books, Berkeley, 1985. good except the out-of-date tree surgery stuff; largely about working with public land.

Ecodefense. Foreman, Dave, and Haywood, ed. Ned Ludd. Tucson, AZ, 1987. A field guide to monkeywrenching; may be hard to find! Realistic and cautionary about consequences, and recommended for those feeling eco-angered.

Five Kingdoms. Margulis, Lynn. Current wisdom on Gaia’s lifeforms.

The Future Eaters. Flannery, Tim, “An ecological History of Austronesia” which means Oz, NZ, New Guinea and New Caledonia. Hard, real eco-reality with examples quite exotic to us northerners. This book gives me ideas about why Pc began in Oz.

The Klamath Knot. Wallace, David Rains. Sierra Club 1983 S.F. “Explorations of Myth and Evolution” and centered on a region of the PNW.

The Ohlone Way. Margolin, Malcolm. Heyday Books Berkeley, 1978. Indian Life in the S.F.- Monterey Bay area

One Acre & Security: How to Live Off the Earth Without Ruining It. Angier, Bradford. Willow Creek, 2000. A useful and broad-ranging resource for homesteading and small animal care.

The Songlines. Chatwin, Bruce. Ruminations from Australia about humans as essentially nomadic.

Wintergreen. Pyle, R. M. Houghten-Mifflin, 1986. A natural history of the Willapa Hills by a local lepidopterist and writer. Also try his Handbookfor Butterfly Watchers, for indicator species!

Video

In Grave Danger of Falling Food (1989) 56 min. “A whacky romp through Mollison’s life as an outlaw. Cartoon cutaways and bizarre sound effects seem stranger than Bill loping along the street in front of Aussie suburban sleaze, guerrilla planting hazelnuts. A campy period piece, this film tells the permaculture story with verve and imagination.”

The Global Gardener (1991) 120 min. Bill Mollison’s review of permaculture accomplishments around the world. Made for Australain Broadcasting Corp. and aired to national acclaim. Four 1/2 hour segments highlight, subtropical, drylands, temperate, and urban systems with footage from developed sites in India, South Africa, Australia, The U.S., U.K. and Europe.

The Man Who Planted Trees (1985). Cartoon rendition of the book by Jean Giono. This timeless and inspiring tale of one of man’s dedicated efforts to reverse desolation is beautifully illustrated. Inspiring message where there were no trees there now are many just by one person’s effort.

Crystal Waters (1989). This poor quality tape gives a brief look at the rural development of the first permaculture village in Australia. Offers a cross section of ages and professions.

Periodicals

Permaculture Magazine (UK) – Green-Shopping.co.uk

Acres USA, P.O. Box 91299, Austin, TX 78709

Countryside and Small Stock Journal W11 564 Hwy. 64, Withee, WI 54498

Pomona. North American Fruit Explorers Magazine 1716 Apples Rd., Chapin, IL 62628

The Herbal Companion 201 East Fourth St. Loveland, CO. 80537

The Herb Quarterly PO Box 689 San Anselmo, CA 94979

The Last Straw, PO Bo 42000, Tucson, AZ 85733-2000

Ocean Arks International 10 Shanks Pond Rd. Falmouth, Ma. 02540 (outgrowth of the New Alchemy Institute)

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