Category: The Permaculture Pupil
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Whole Systems Design Permaculture Design Course Review
This summer I attended a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) at Whole Systems Design in Richmond, Vermont, from July 10, though July 19, 2015. The PDC was tought by a team of permaculture professionals including Ben Falk of Whole Systems Design, Mark Krawczyk of Keyline Vermont, Sean Dembrosky of Edible Acres, and Mark Angelini of Roots to Fruits. Upon…
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The “Weeds” in My Yard – A Response to Questions
A great benefit of transforming my suburban-type yard from an unsustainable lawn to a sustainable ecosystem is setting an example. I can use the process of transformation to inform neighbors, who undoubtedly have many opinions and questions. I’ve been getting a few general questions since I started the process, but yesterday I got some of the…
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Making Sustainability Cool
I tend go back and forth between wanting to fit in and wanting to not fit in. At first, it may sound odd that someone would want to be a misfit, but hear me out. You see, humans have always wanted to find a common bond with one another. We’re social creatures; it’s natural. But at some…
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A School Food Forest
I have a crazy idea. It would be a ton of work and require a ton of collaboration and generosity from others. It would be a lifetime commitment and beyond. It would also provide extensive benefits to thousands of local children and even help to save the planet. There is a piece of land next…
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Plant List for a Beautiful Apple Tree Guild
As stated in the post introducing the design of my front yard guilds, I had very specific requirements when choosing a plant list. If you haven’t read it yet, check it out here. So here’s my plant list along with the traits and uses that I personally found to be beneficial to our family. Purple…
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My Front Yard Apple Guilds
While I have been reading since my last post, the bulk of that passed time was spent researching and organizing plants and designing the apple guilds I’ll be planting this spring. Permaculture design requires a lot of forethought and planning. Designing my guilds involved only a small portion of what is required in the holistic…
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The One-Straw Revolution: Parts Four and Five
I could write a lengthy blog post on just about every sentence in The One-Straw Revolution. Unfortunately, my library loan has expired for this e-book and all the highlights I made, so I must write a quick final post on a couple of his points that currently stand out the most to me. Although I’ve…
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The One-Straw Revolution: Part Three
Part three of The One-Straw Revolution is wise, thoughtful, and philosophical. Much of it I’ve already read and begun to practice in my Buddhist studies, but there were quite a few gems that I had not encountered yet. The first gem that keeps coming back to mind is, “Each person should ponder seriously how much…
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The One-Straw Revolution: Part Two, The Four Principles
The Four Principles In part two, Masanobu Fukuoka discusses his four principles for successful natural farming. The four principles are simple and indeed seem to propose a less labor-intensive method of producing food. Here I’ll discuss each of the principles while adding my own elaboration. No Cultivation Throughout my life, I’ve only ever seen methods of…
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The One-Straw Revolution: Part One
I first decided to read a book by Masanobu Fukuoka, because I knew that he used natural farming to raise grains, and I am interested in growing some grains. But it turns out that Fukuoka is a good author with whom to start my The Permaculture Pupil writings, because he used permacultural techniques without knowing it,…