Wayne (and ecolog): There are a couple starting references that might be of interest to you regarding foundations and specific techniques of permaculture.
Mollison, Bill. 1988. Permaculture: A Designer's Manual. Australia: Tagari Publications. Hemenway, Toby. 2000. Gaia's garden: A guide to home-scale permaculture. Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing. Many more are available here: http://www.permaculture-media-download.com/2011/11/best-permaculture-homesteading-books.html These books go into great detail about the foundations of permaculture, which uses patterning principles from systems ecology, and concepts like niches, succession and nutrient cycling from ecology. They also describe most of the commonly used techniques in permaculture, including things like rainwater harvesting and water retention on the landscape, guild polyculture planting, and earthworks to retain moisture and soil fertility. These techniques are by no means secret, trademarked, or costly; many of the techniques can be found for free online, in places like www.permies.com<http://www.permies.com>, www.oasisdesign.net<http://www.oasisdesign.net> (see this section on greywater: http://www.oasisdesign.net/greywater/misinfo/index.htm), permaculture.org.au<http://permaculture.org.au> (see this section on swales as a water-retention technique: http://permaculture.org.au/2010/12/15/a-guide-to-back-flood-swales/), or www.appropedia.org<http://www.appropedia.org>, which has a wealth of information on a huge array of topics. A quick note on permaculture: there seems to be some confusion about permaculture being a branch of ecology. It is not, nor has it claimed to be. Permaculture is an applied discipline focusing on sustainable food production and site design by using ecological principles, using theory (but not creating it) from ecology, evolution, hydrology, physics, and conventional agricultural science. To want permaculture to be a theoretical discipline is to ask for something it can't deliver, nor is it supposed to. Finally, a note on monetary value: I can appreciate skepticism regarding paying random people to tell you things you could find in a book, or that might even be misguided or untrue. However, asking for payment for a week-long class that provides food and lodging is hardly suspicous. Nor is it commonplace for 'real,' academic information to be given away for free. I don't necessarily need to list examples, but I will: --academic textbooks (this great pollination ecology book is cheap at $50: http://www.amazon.com/Pollination-Floral-Ecology-Pat-Willmer/dp/0691128618/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1357842276&sr=8-7&keywords=pollinator+ecology) --academic seminars (the amazing Summer Institute in Statistical Genetics at U. of Washington is certainly not free: http://www.biostat.washington.edu/node/967) --academic classes (I get to pay $600 a semester simply to finish my Ph.D. using 'dissertation credits') --academic journals (Wiley-Blackwell only recently starting giving any of their articles for free, but try getting this great article on plant breeding systems if you aren't lucky enough to have an institution password: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2012.01730.x/pdf) --and academic research (our University has an F&A cost for grants of 42% currently). The academic framework we have in place does assure us some quality for the money we pay, but this does not bear on the appropriateness of paying for a product. To claim that academics is less than any other business, requiring money in exchange for products and services, and to thus require all other areas of research give away everything for free, is an unfair burden. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of every permaculture flyer that comes across ecolog any more than I can vouch for the greatness of research of any scientist that happens to send a blog post, but to claim that permaculture has no specifics or that none of it is 'free' is untrue and has the potential to mislead people new to the terms and ideas. Kevin Burls On Jan 9, 2013, at 7:41 PM, Wayne Tyson wrote: Ecolog: These are the same old generalizations and appeals for money based on sentiment that I heard from Mollison in the 1970's. The Permaculture folks never seem to get even close to specifics, and that bothers me. Mollison did get into specifics back then, in a personal conversation we had at the break, and he did seem to have some good ideas that revealed that he had some knowledge of "practical" applications, such as burying old carpet in certain ways, and I have tried that particular "method" with variable results in other ways. While I might share some of the sentiments, in the absence of specific examples I can't suppress my suspicion that this might fall into the category of "eco" exploitation, more than substantive progress in the realm of ecosystem management. I have never had the chutzpa to advertise my seminars on Ecolog (except for the free one), I would, were I so inclined, now feel free to write up an advertisement for my own quirky approach to ecosystem observation, management, and restoration. Unfortunately I have had a bs-ectomy. But perhaps I can arrange for a transplant of that evil gene if I can find a qualified donor? I have been laboring under the presumption that the main function of Ecolog was to exchange ideas in an open forum rather than to advertise for customers. I would welcome postings from "permaculture" folks that are more in the realm of specific contributions to ecology. Surely their theoretical foundations could be revealed without threatening their trade secrets, could they not? WT "Absolute faith corrupts absolutely" --Eric Hoffer ----- Original Message ----- From: "Feral Mycelium" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> To: <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2013 4:20 PM Subject: [ECOLOG-L] [Be the Change] Sustainability, Permaculture and Leadership Hello friends, Many people think of permaculture as gardening, but that's a lot like thinking of math as being only good for building bridges. Permaculture is a sustainable design science rooted in observation of nature and providing solutions to some of our most pressing problems. 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We hope you will be able to join us for this incredible, life-changing experiential course! -- Regenerative Leadership Institute The Nation's Sustainable Living and Permaculture Design School A+ Rated by the Better Business Bureau 1-800-376-3775 // www.permaculturedesigntraining.com<http://www.permaculturedesigntraining.com> 14525 SW Millikan Way, Suite 17760, Beaverton, OR 97005 Love us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/regenerativeleader ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com<http://www.avg.com> Version: 10.0.1430 / Virus Database: 2637/5521 - Release Date: 01/09/13 Kevin Burls Ph.D. candidate EECB Program University of Nevada, Reno [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://wolfweb.unr.edu/~kburls
