Permaculture Design 028A-D
Landscape Horticulture Department, Merritt College, Spring 2014
Instructor: Christopher Shein
Email: [email protected]
Class email group:
[email protected]
Note: This group is for course announcements and related events. Please respond
to students and instructors personally, not on the group email. (Don’t hit “Reply”.)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Welcome to the ninth year and 27th permaculture class at the LH department!
Class size is limited to 30. This is a hands-on class, so be prepared to get dirty
(Wear sturdy shoes; bring gloves, sunhats, raingear, etc…) Bikes, buses (#54 from
Fruitvale BART) and carpooling are encouraged. Bring snacks to share! This is a
course requirement for every student to bring a potluck dish THREE times for the
entire class and then again at the party at the end of class.
Permaculture, either permanent agriculture or permanent culture, is a set of
ecological design principles and ethical values that was set out in the late 1970s
by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in Australia. (But this concept has been
around with all indigenous cultures and practiced for tens of thousands of
years. A simpler way to understand Permaculture is applied ecology and that its
just good common sense.) Permaculture is an ethical design system with
earth care (land, water, air and all life), people care and fair share, (taking only
what you need and sharing the abundance as guiding ethics.)
In this course, you will become familiar with design concepts for systems that
mimic natural environments and are economically viable, learn the Permaculture
principles, and get some hands-on fieldwork experience. Class will include guest
speakers with an extraordinary array of gardeners, designers, local visionaries,
and activists. There will be labs to reinforce the readings and lectures. In addition
there will be a few field trips to nearby projects, where you'll be able to see and
participate in some Permaculture design systems. 60% of the class is hands-on, so
please participate in all of the labs. Bring all of your skills, information, resources
and enthusiasm to share and build a network of committed people. You are
welcome to take this class if you already have taken a Permaculture Design Course
(PDC) elsewhere, please let me know where you got your PDC from.
Please show your respect for all of our wonderful teachers, as well as the rest of the
class by arriving on time each week. Since we will often begin class with a group
exercise, it is extremely important that we all be gathered and undisturbed for the
first ten minutes of class. Please bring your own gloves and hand tools such as
pruners and hori hori’s.
BOOKS
028 A:
Required Text:
Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway, Chelsea Green Publishers
Required Text:
The Vegetable Gardener’s Guide to Permaculture by Christopher Shein, Timber Press 2013
028 B:
Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands Volume I by Brad Lancaster CGP
028 C:
Perennial Vegetables by Eric Toensmeier
028 D:
Seed to Seed Susan Ashworth
Working with Peralta Community College District at Merritt College:
You will receive a grade/credit based on these categories:
45% in-class participation
10% homework from reading
10% Neighborhood Assessments/Book report
5% Student Web Logs (Blogs)
15% Final
15% Student Presentations
Note: Students must drop the class themselves for a refund before February 2!
Homework:
Reading from the required text is assigned as one chapter each week. You will be
given credit for completing the readings by writing three paragraphs (no more than
one page) in response to it due at the beginning of each class. You can write about
questions that we provide or about anything of interest in the reading. It is advised
that you keep a collection of your writings since the thoughts developed could easily
inspire or compliment an article if you choose to write one for extra credit. This is the
difference between an A and a B if you choose to receive a letter grade. Do the homework,
you will get more out of the labs, lectures and the whole experience if you follow the
weekly readings.
Student presentations: you will be expected to prepare outside of class time for your
presentations. Remember for every three units, there should be 3 hours a week of
homework.
Course Outline
January 24th
Student Introductions, Course Overview, Teaching Style, What is Permaculture?,
Grounds and Tools Tour, WEBEBOP, Carpools, Snacks, Blogs
January 31st
PC Ethics and Principles, Student Groups, Planting Calendars, Story of Stuff
Don’t forget to drop the class is you are not taking it. Peralta will take your money!
Feb 7th
Students Present Ethics and Principles in Small Groups, Food Forests,
Fruit Tree Care, Mulching, Fukuoka **Last day to file for pass/no pass filing**
February 14th
Lincoln Birthday- No class
February 21th
Susan Ashley--Fruit Tree Grafting Lab, Fruit Day
February 28th
Soil, Compost, Redworms, Compost Tea
March 7th
Core Model, Patterns, Rainwater Harvesting, Student Designs
March 14th
A New Culture for Water with Christina Bertea, Student Designs
March 21st
Student Designs, Bioregional Quiz and Possible Lion Creek Walk
March 28th
Seed Saving, Seed Processing and Seed Swap (bring envelopes and seeds!)
Student Designs
April 4th
Earthworks, Ruth Stout Birthday, (S)hero of no-dig vegetable gardening method
April 11th
Food Justice Panel; Social Justice and Permaculture;
Students Present Designs
April 18th
Cesar Chavez Day No School/ Spring Recess
April 25th
Animals, Perennial Vegetables and Vertical Space
May 2nd
Mushrooms and Fermentation, Ken Litchfield
May 3rd and 4th
Plant Sale 9am-3pm please plan on attending as a volunteer or customer!
Music, food, tours, and really cool permaculture plants
May 9th
Edible Landscaping Panel, Building with Bamboo, Final Exam
May 16th
Malcolm X Holiday
May 23th
Presentations of Neighborhood Assessments (Written and Illustrated)
(For B Students: special projects and rainwater assessments due)
Wrap-up discussion, Evaluation, Potluck Party
May 26th
Memorial Day
Permaculture Design Principles/
David Holmgren, Co-Founder of Permaculture Concept
Observe and Interact;
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Catch and Store Energy;
Make hay while the sun shines
Obtain a Yield;
You can’t work on an empty stomach
Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback;
The sins of our fathers are visited on the children unto the seventh generation
The icon for this principle is a person as a tree, emphasizing ourselves in
nature and transformed by it. It can also be envisaged as the keyhole in
nature through which one sees the solution.
Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services;
Let nature take its course
The proverb “make hay while the sun shines” reminds us that we have limited
time to catch and store energy before seasonal or episodic abundance dissipates.
Produce No Waste;
A stitch in time saves nine,
Waste not, want not
Design from Patterns to Details;
Can’t see the forest for the trees
Integrate Rather than Segregate;
Many hands make light work!
Use Small and Slow Solutions;
The bigger they are the harder they fall
Slow and steady wins the race
Use and Value Diversity;
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
Uses Edges and Value and the Marginal;
Don’t think you are on the right track just because it’s a well-beaten
path
Creatively Use and Respond to Change;
Vision is not seeing things as they are but as they will be
Designing to make use of change in a deliberate and cooperative way and
creatively responding or adapting to large-scale system change that is
beyond our control or influence.
Design Principles/ Peter Bane
Location and Connection
•To properly manage our supply of energy and materials, we must place every
element of a productive system (a town, farm, household, or woodland) in
Permaculture beneficial functional relation to everything near it. To keep a house
warm in winter, for example, locate it halfway up a south-facing slope so that frost
and cold air drain away, winter winds are blocked, and free energy can fill the
dwelling. To avoid pumping water, hook roof gutters up to a storage tank. Put the
garden below the tank and irrigate by gravity.
Multiple Functions
•If everything in the system serves multiple functions, we can do more with less.
Permaculture means that you see your roof not only as shelter, but as both part of
the water supply and as a producer of energy (solar collectors). Houses that stack
functions to meet their own needs approach the elegance of living systems.
Redundancy
•Let every essential function be met by multiple elements. Have more than one
source of water, heat, and income. Parts always fail; larger systems are more
stable because their energy pathways are flexible.
Energy Cycling
•Capture, use and recycle energy many times before it leaves the system. Turn
sunlight into plants; plants into animals; and animals into manure, meat, compost,
heat and other animals. Catch water high and move it slowly through the landscape,
building fertility with every turn.
Zones, Sectors and Elevations
•Plan for energy efficiency by analyzing the influences from outside a system
(sectors), the intensity of activity within a system (zones) and the differences of
elevation on the landscape itself. Place elements requiring high levels of interaction
(such as children, a plant nursery, and small livestock) at the center of the system
autonomous elements toward the outer fringe. Scatter hostile energies (noise,
pollution, storms, cold wings) and focus on beneficial ones (winter sunlight, good
views, cooling summer breezes, customers, bird manure). Plan to move water, waste,
fuels and construction materials downhill.
Use Biological Resources
•Biological resources are cheaper and safer. Automobiles pollute the air, kill
innocents, and break down to junk. Horses run on grass, create food for
mushrooms, and replace themselves. Air conditioners cost kilowatts and destroy
the ozone layer; deciduous trees can cool just as effectively while making rain,
building soil, feeding animals, and growing money.
Appropriate Technology
•If you can’t afford it, repair it, fuel it, and recycle it locally, look for something else.
Make sure it meets the energy test: will it produce more energy and resources over
its lifetime than were required to make it? Don’t forget the cost of disposal. Atomic
science hasn’t leaned to put its toys away yet.
Succession and Stacking
•Use time in your favor. Anticipate natural succession and plan for your house,
garden, or neighborhood to change. As things naturally grow up, plan to use all the
layers and spaces in three dimensions. Harvest from the canopy as well as from
the ground. The forest does; why shouldn’t we?
Observe and Replicate Natural Patterns
•Organic life has
demonstrated what works cheaply and cleanly. If we pay more attention, we’ll get
along much better.
Incorporate Diversity and Edge
•Diverse ecosystems are more stable than simple ones. Variety is the name of life
itself. Edges are where the variety is greatest; that’s were the action is.
Attitude Matters
•Think positively. Turn problems into solutions. Work for the good of life itself
and remember to share your surpluses. The natural world is abundant and life begets
life. Our individual efforts can and do make a difference.
Start Small
•Build out from a controlled front. Bite off no more than you can chew, and meet your
own needs first; then you’ll be in a better position to help others.
SLO’s are:
student learning outcomes for LH 028 A-D
Students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate basic horticultural tool safety in all applications and perform lab
techniques correctly.
2. Function as a productive member of a group by cooperating in interactive
learning tasks.
3. Utilize permaculture ethics and principles for applied ecology in urban
environments.
4. Deliver a visual and verbal presentation on a permaculture garden design
5. Identify and develop strategies to further the growth of regenerating ecosystems
by becoming familiar with existing local efforts to practice ecosystem rehabilitation
and community improvement.
Landscape Horticulture Department, Merritt College, Spring 2014
Instructor: Christopher Shein
Email: [email protected]
Class email group:
[email protected]
Note: This group is for course announcements and related events. Please respond
to students and instructors personally, not on the group email. (Don’t hit “Reply”.)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Welcome to the ninth year and 27th permaculture class at the LH department!
Class size is limited to 30. This is a hands-on class, so be prepared to get dirty
(Wear sturdy shoes; bring gloves, sunhats, raingear, etc…) Bikes, buses (#54 from
Fruitvale BART) and carpooling are encouraged. Bring snacks to share! This is a
course requirement for every student to bring a potluck dish THREE times for the
entire class and then again at the party at the end of class.
Permaculture, either permanent agriculture or permanent culture, is a set of
ecological design principles and ethical values that was set out in the late 1970s
by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in Australia. (But this concept has been
around with all indigenous cultures and practiced for tens of thousands of
years. A simpler way to understand Permaculture is applied ecology and that its
just good common sense.) Permaculture is an ethical design system with
earth care (land, water, air and all life), people care and fair share, (taking only
what you need and sharing the abundance as guiding ethics.)
In this course, you will become familiar with design concepts for systems that
mimic natural environments and are economically viable, learn the Permaculture
principles, and get some hands-on fieldwork experience. Class will include guest
speakers with an extraordinary array of gardeners, designers, local visionaries,
and activists. There will be labs to reinforce the readings and lectures. In addition
there will be a few field trips to nearby projects, where you'll be able to see and
participate in some Permaculture design systems. 60% of the class is hands-on, so
please participate in all of the labs. Bring all of your skills, information, resources
and enthusiasm to share and build a network of committed people. You are
welcome to take this class if you already have taken a Permaculture Design Course
(PDC) elsewhere, please let me know where you got your PDC from.
Please show your respect for all of our wonderful teachers, as well as the rest of the
class by arriving on time each week. Since we will often begin class with a group
exercise, it is extremely important that we all be gathered and undisturbed for the
first ten minutes of class. Please bring your own gloves and hand tools such as
pruners and hori hori’s.
BOOKS
028 A:
Required Text:
Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway, Chelsea Green Publishers
Required Text:
The Vegetable Gardener’s Guide to Permaculture by Christopher Shein, Timber Press 2013
028 B:
Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands Volume I by Brad Lancaster CGP
028 C:
Perennial Vegetables by Eric Toensmeier
028 D:
Seed to Seed Susan Ashworth
Working with Peralta Community College District at Merritt College:
You will receive a grade/credit based on these categories:
45% in-class participation
10% homework from reading
10% Neighborhood Assessments/Book report
5% Student Web Logs (Blogs)
15% Final
15% Student Presentations
Note: Students must drop the class themselves for a refund before February 2!
Homework:
Reading from the required text is assigned as one chapter each week. You will be
given credit for completing the readings by writing three paragraphs (no more than
one page) in response to it due at the beginning of each class. You can write about
questions that we provide or about anything of interest in the reading. It is advised
that you keep a collection of your writings since the thoughts developed could easily
inspire or compliment an article if you choose to write one for extra credit. This is the
difference between an A and a B if you choose to receive a letter grade. Do the homework,
you will get more out of the labs, lectures and the whole experience if you follow the
weekly readings.
Student presentations: you will be expected to prepare outside of class time for your
presentations. Remember for every three units, there should be 3 hours a week of
homework.
Course Outline
January 24th
Student Introductions, Course Overview, Teaching Style, What is Permaculture?,
Grounds and Tools Tour, WEBEBOP, Carpools, Snacks, Blogs
January 31st
PC Ethics and Principles, Student Groups, Planting Calendars, Story of Stuff
Don’t forget to drop the class is you are not taking it. Peralta will take your money!
Feb 7th
Students Present Ethics and Principles in Small Groups, Food Forests,
Fruit Tree Care, Mulching, Fukuoka **Last day to file for pass/no pass filing**
February 14th
Lincoln Birthday- No class
February 21th
Susan Ashley--Fruit Tree Grafting Lab, Fruit Day
February 28th
Soil, Compost, Redworms, Compost Tea
March 7th
Core Model, Patterns, Rainwater Harvesting, Student Designs
March 14th
A New Culture for Water with Christina Bertea, Student Designs
March 21st
Student Designs, Bioregional Quiz and Possible Lion Creek Walk
March 28th
Seed Saving, Seed Processing and Seed Swap (bring envelopes and seeds!)
Student Designs
April 4th
Earthworks, Ruth Stout Birthday, (S)hero of no-dig vegetable gardening method
April 11th
Food Justice Panel; Social Justice and Permaculture;
Students Present Designs
April 18th
Cesar Chavez Day No School/ Spring Recess
April 25th
Animals, Perennial Vegetables and Vertical Space
May 2nd
Mushrooms and Fermentation, Ken Litchfield
May 3rd and 4th
Plant Sale 9am-3pm please plan on attending as a volunteer or customer!
Music, food, tours, and really cool permaculture plants
May 9th
Edible Landscaping Panel, Building with Bamboo, Final Exam
May 16th
Malcolm X Holiday
May 23th
Presentations of Neighborhood Assessments (Written and Illustrated)
(For B Students: special projects and rainwater assessments due)
Wrap-up discussion, Evaluation, Potluck Party
May 26th
Memorial Day
Permaculture Design Principles/
David Holmgren, Co-Founder of Permaculture Concept
Observe and Interact;
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Catch and Store Energy;
Make hay while the sun shines
Obtain a Yield;
You can’t work on an empty stomach
Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback;
The sins of our fathers are visited on the children unto the seventh generation
The icon for this principle is a person as a tree, emphasizing ourselves in
nature and transformed by it. It can also be envisaged as the keyhole in
nature through which one sees the solution.
Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services;
Let nature take its course
The proverb “make hay while the sun shines” reminds us that we have limited
time to catch and store energy before seasonal or episodic abundance dissipates.
Produce No Waste;
A stitch in time saves nine,
Waste not, want not
Design from Patterns to Details;
Can’t see the forest for the trees
Integrate Rather than Segregate;
Many hands make light work!
Use Small and Slow Solutions;
The bigger they are the harder they fall
Slow and steady wins the race
Use and Value Diversity;
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
Uses Edges and Value and the Marginal;
Don’t think you are on the right track just because it’s a well-beaten
path
Creatively Use and Respond to Change;
Vision is not seeing things as they are but as they will be
Designing to make use of change in a deliberate and cooperative way and
creatively responding or adapting to large-scale system change that is
beyond our control or influence.
Design Principles/ Peter Bane
Location and Connection
•To properly manage our supply of energy and materials, we must place every
element of a productive system (a town, farm, household, or woodland) in
Permaculture beneficial functional relation to everything near it. To keep a house
warm in winter, for example, locate it halfway up a south-facing slope so that frost
and cold air drain away, winter winds are blocked, and free energy can fill the
dwelling. To avoid pumping water, hook roof gutters up to a storage tank. Put the
garden below the tank and irrigate by gravity.
Multiple Functions
•If everything in the system serves multiple functions, we can do more with less.
Permaculture means that you see your roof not only as shelter, but as both part of
the water supply and as a producer of energy (solar collectors). Houses that stack
functions to meet their own needs approach the elegance of living systems.
Redundancy
•Let every essential function be met by multiple elements. Have more than one
source of water, heat, and income. Parts always fail; larger systems are more
stable because their energy pathways are flexible.
Energy Cycling
•Capture, use and recycle energy many times before it leaves the system. Turn
sunlight into plants; plants into animals; and animals into manure, meat, compost,
heat and other animals. Catch water high and move it slowly through the landscape,
building fertility with every turn.
Zones, Sectors and Elevations
•Plan for energy efficiency by analyzing the influences from outside a system
(sectors), the intensity of activity within a system (zones) and the differences of
elevation on the landscape itself. Place elements requiring high levels of interaction
(such as children, a plant nursery, and small livestock) at the center of the system
autonomous elements toward the outer fringe. Scatter hostile energies (noise,
pollution, storms, cold wings) and focus on beneficial ones (winter sunlight, good
views, cooling summer breezes, customers, bird manure). Plan to move water, waste,
fuels and construction materials downhill.
Use Biological Resources
•Biological resources are cheaper and safer. Automobiles pollute the air, kill
innocents, and break down to junk. Horses run on grass, create food for
mushrooms, and replace themselves. Air conditioners cost kilowatts and destroy
the ozone layer; deciduous trees can cool just as effectively while making rain,
building soil, feeding animals, and growing money.
Appropriate Technology
•If you can’t afford it, repair it, fuel it, and recycle it locally, look for something else.
Make sure it meets the energy test: will it produce more energy and resources over
its lifetime than were required to make it? Don’t forget the cost of disposal. Atomic
science hasn’t leaned to put its toys away yet.
Succession and Stacking
•Use time in your favor. Anticipate natural succession and plan for your house,
garden, or neighborhood to change. As things naturally grow up, plan to use all the
layers and spaces in three dimensions. Harvest from the canopy as well as from
the ground. The forest does; why shouldn’t we?
Observe and Replicate Natural Patterns
•Organic life has
demonstrated what works cheaply and cleanly. If we pay more attention, we’ll get
along much better.
Incorporate Diversity and Edge
•Diverse ecosystems are more stable than simple ones. Variety is the name of life
itself. Edges are where the variety is greatest; that’s were the action is.
Attitude Matters
•Think positively. Turn problems into solutions. Work for the good of life itself
and remember to share your surpluses. The natural world is abundant and life begets
life. Our individual efforts can and do make a difference.
Start Small
•Build out from a controlled front. Bite off no more than you can chew, and meet your
own needs first; then you’ll be in a better position to help others.
SLO’s are:
student learning outcomes for LH 028 A-D
Students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate basic horticultural tool safety in all applications and perform lab
techniques correctly.
2. Function as a productive member of a group by cooperating in interactive
learning tasks.
3. Utilize permaculture ethics and principles for applied ecology in urban
environments.
4. Deliver a visual and verbal presentation on a permaculture garden design
5. Identify and develop strategies to further the growth of regenerating ecosystems
by becoming familiar with existing local efforts to practice ecosystem rehabilitation
and community improvement.