The PermaDesign Weblog, with Nate Downey and Melissa McDonald!
SLIDE 45: Trenchant Trenching
It’s always good to get your trenching done in one day, so you can return the rented machine quickly and save dollars. This incisive plan can be hazardous, though, for workers and others, so don’t forget your caution tape. You need to prevent any and all wanderers from serious harm as soon as the smallest of trenches (and any hole for that matter) is dug!
07/14/2017 | (0) Comments
Seed Savers 37th Annual Conference & Campout!
This weekend July 14-16, the 37th Annual Conference and Campout will take place in Decorah, IA. Three days of events are planned for the organization that was founded over 40 years ago. Their mission is to preserve and share heirloom varieties of seeds. 13,000 members and some 20,000 plant varieties make up the organization that is headquartered at Heritage Farm in Iowa.
07/13/2017 | (0) Comments
SLIDE 44: Trencher Time
The most important tool for building a porous-aggregate wick is a trencher. Here the trenches for the wicks are being dug with great efficiency, while the mainline trench for the greywater pipe cuts across this image from the orange cone to the bottom-left corner of the slide, and the storm-drain line cuts off the bottom-right corner of this slide. A keen eye will also pick up a trench (perpendicular to house), between evergreen tree at left and Carlos 9with trencher). This trench is part of the trench needed for the subsurface gopher-prevention fencing to protect the veggie garden from Eldorado’s voracious gophers). You can also vaguely see part of the trench for the wick that’s already been dug (cuts slightly off contour through middle of slide from right and down to left).
07/12/2017 | (0) Comments
Zia Permaculture Classes & Events
Our friends at Zia Permaculture have a summer filled with events and classes. There’s something for everyone at the Permaculture Playground. On July 15th there will be a day-long intensive on Permaculture design. Be sure to reserve your spot soon before classes fill up!
07/11/2017 | (0) Comments
Slow Food Nations Festival Denver
Next weekend for our friends in the Denver area there is a wide range of events planned July 14th – 16th. The Slow Foods Nations Festival has some 20 events, some of them free, so check out times and locations to see if you can attend!
07/07/2017 | (0) Comments
Give Weeds a Chance
From my latest Permaculture in Practice Column:
When I was a boy, Doctor Spear, the family dentist, would try to count my freckles. As a red-haired, fish-belly-white kid, it was clear my good doctor was embarking on a job he’d never finish. I hated the Novocaine shots, the drilling, and the lectures about candy, but I also didn’t appreciate Spear’s emotionally piercing ritual.
07/05/2017 | (2) Comments
The 31 flavors of landscape design
Our client questionnaire has always been invaluable over the years. Here’s my latest column on the subject.
Full-blown permaculture design requires long and protracted observation. Unfortunately, few people want to pay some eco-freak to wander around their property at all hours of the day and night, through every season of the year. I’ve been designing and installing landscapes professionally for 24 years, and no one has ever had that much patience — or cash.
05/15/2017 | (0) Comments
River Talk & Workshop
Water is flowing in the Santa Fe River. Enjoy it while you can! Tomorrow at 9am, you'll also be able to see and learn how green-infrastructure projects are evolving along the banks of the Santa Fe. Hands-on activities for an hour, too, so don't dawdle. Get out there!
When and where:
Tomorrow at 9 AM - 11 AM
River Road (off W. Alameda at the Calle Don Jose & River Road intersection)
05/12/2017 | (0) Comments
The Arroyo Chamiso
It’s great to see this project coming together. The old arroyo, often simply used as a drain, is coming to life as a member of the community again. With the Interior Department's plans to sell public lands to polluters, it's nice to know the opposite is occurring at the local level thanks to Erin English, Neil Williams, Melissa McDonald, and the Santa Fe Watershed Association. See the article here.
05/05/2017 | (0) Comments
Black Mesa Water Coalition
From 2001 Black Mesa Water Coalition out of Arizona has been at the forefront of environmental issues concerning the Navajo and Hopi communities. Their goals include the transition away from an extractive economy to a restorative one that is culturally rooted within indigenous teachings. BMWC strives to empower young people and encourage collaboration among communities to protect and preserve Mother Earth. More information can be found here.
04/13/2017 | (0) Comments
