Permaculture Design Course

Fall 2009

We know the problems, get the tools  to design the solutions.

 

Join us for an Urban PDC in Potrero Hill.

MORE INFO...

Mosquito Fish

Posted by: ductape

Tagged in: Ponds , mosquito , fish

The 'mosquito fish' or Gambusia does get a lot of bad publicity because it is eating tadpole and threatened larvae. I feel it is important to realize that it is OUR environmental impacts on the waterways that has pushed on these populations, not really the Gambusia.

Trout will eat anything that moves and wiggles without discrimination. All bugs, tadpoles, worms, larvae, etc. And they eat a lot, every day. Trout are often raised in farms and released into rivers for anglers to catch on weekends. Trout is of course native.

So who do we blame? Probably not the fish.


These were the slides used in our design presentaion.

Some of the strategies not fully discussed in the slides include:


An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth

Posted by: ductape

Tagged in: Untagged 

I am reproducing this from http://www.brucemaudesign.com/incomplete_manifesto.html just because it is SO COOL!

BE SURE TO READ MORE AT THE BOTTOM, THERE ARE 43 ITEMS IN THE LIST.

Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements exemplifying Bruce Mau’s beliefs, strategies and motivations. Collectively, they are how we approach every project.


This is totally just a test, whatcha tawkin' 'bout Willis?

Dinner Palette

Posted by: jay

GrilledRainbowChard

RainbowChardFava

A bit of a twisted tale in discovering this tasty dish.  Here's how it went down

Here beautiful Swiss or rainbow chard stems are blanched to remove toughness, then grilled. Charred chard. Har har. We love grilled vegetables, but this is one we never considered grilling. Tossed with sauteéd fava beans, garlic, and a little oregano and lemon juice we can only imagine how good it tastes.
(courtesy of thekitchn.com)
  • And one of the comments in the recipe offers this tidbit of wisdom.
Grilling favas in their pods is traditional in the Mediterranean, so this entire dish could have been grilled. From my understanding you just pop the pods onto the grill, cook them until they're charred then pop them open and eat the beans or, if the pods are small and tender, you can eat them too. Of courses people with favism can't do this, but a lot of people can!
I wonder how they well this would cook up on the rocket stove.  Where is that thing anyway?

AFG's First Garden!

Posted by: doublei

Tagged in: Untagged 

Nothing says "Food, Not Lawns" like putting up a garden in the Presidio.  There they are, future purple veges set against a sea of green.  Well, they are contained, since a part of urban ag is maintaining tenancy.  Still, I wake up in the morning thinking about how the plants are doing.

We did it.  I(Ei Ei, otherwise known as, "the client") am personally full of gratitude for the hard work my team members and volunteers put in to making the place feel more like home.  There was serious elbow grease from everybody who was at the AFG installation on Sunday.  There was also quinoa, salad, lentils, samosas, lemon cakes.....wish you would've come through, don't you? =)

 


I like pasta...with cheese

Posted by: admin

Tagged in: Untagged 

What?!?!

Class Project: "PermaBlitz" is having their first workday!

Posted by: doublei

Tagged in: Untagged 

Can it really be next wk end already?  It seems like when we set the date, we had all this time in btwn.  Time must have shrunk when we were in class making all the Aves jokes.

Our day of design implementation will be on Sunday May 3rd at 758B Portola Street, SF starting at 10am and probably going until 3 or 4pm.  It is accessible by car, bike, and bus.  Parking is plenty for all wheels.  Bus 43, 28, 29, 30 get you pretty close to the place.

The Garden Party will serve 2 main functions: testing out the macro, perma-blitz resource systems and micro, installing garden components.  The macro includes volunteer management, tool and materials acquisition, process with client, and community involvement.  The micro includes the actual design, which has food and flower boxes, a worm compost bin, an herb spiral, a bee box, a potato tower, and maybe a shroom log.


A Forest . . . A Forest of Food.

Posted by: nolan

Tagged in: Untagged 

Hello fellow Permaculture students, teachers, enthusiasts, and travellers of the world wide interwebs.  The McLaren Food Forest project is pleased to announce that we are, indeed, doing stuff: researching sensitive species and local plant varietals, cold-calling bureaucrats, making a number of visits to the site, etc.  But, most importantly, we are unanimously in favor of one place and are a few short steps away from a base map. 
And most most importantly: We have a vision, click below to read more about it.  Oohhhhh, suspense.

Overall, we see this project as a unique opportunity to build community.  We realized early in the process that this was going to have to be a site that merged the ideals of permaculture with those of our friends, the native plant restorers.  To that end, we have been researching a number of native plants we can use through all parts of the process, to help maintain local wildlife habitats (and shake the reputaion that we’re all about invasives).  It is our desire that the final design be a cornucopia of cooperation between native and non-native species, a well-balanced ecosystem that provides ample food, community work, education, and wildlife habitat.  It is our hope that by including as much of the community as possible in the final design and implementation of the project, we can use the process as a community-sharing and teaching tool.  We would like to see the local schools use the space as a means to experientally learn natural history, ecosystem development, and environmental stewardship.  

Stay tuned for fabulous site photos/drawings and some great dialogue regarding our plans,

Over and out.


What is an EcoVillage? What is an Urban EcoVillage?

Posted by: David Glober

Tagged in: Untagged 

An EcoVillage can be defined in several ways. Let's say it's an intentional community - a community that doesn't just happen because certain neighbors move in next to you - but a community you and others design, plan, think about and co-create. Let's say it's also the physical location and surroundings. Let's say it's also the interactions with other communities or individuals. And let's say for sure that it's the natural neighbors, elements and surroundings in terms of plants, animals, wildlife, climate, microclimate, water, food, energy, etc.

In the EcoVillage design team, we're thinking of ways to address all of these issues, including sustainable economics that underly such a community, within the few weeks we have in the Urban Permaculture Design Course. Do we address as a template? Do we focus on a specific site? Do we start with a template and apply to a specific site? Do we imagine an ideal site or choose one that exists in San Francisco now?

These and other questions we are addressing as we begin our co-design process together.


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