Final post of 5 part series on Permaculture design for Rawfair.com

The last of our lovely Mark's permaculture series has just gone live, this time on turning waste into wealth and how to close the loop for true sustainability:http://www.rawfair.com/blog/waste-management

Permaculture Design tips on http://www.rawfair.com/blog/permaculture-design

Hi
The second blog I have written for RAWFAIR was released yesterday on Permaculture Design and how to go about designing your own sustainable systems.

Enjoy and any questions I look forward to.
Kind Regards

Mark


Go to Below:

http://www.rawfair.com/blog/permaculture-design

What is Permaculture

The first blog on the RAWFAIR.com  site has been posted discussing "what is permaculture"?

Please have a look :)

http://www.rawfair.com/blog/what-permaculture

Kind regards

Mark

Member of the RawFair Team

Hi

Please go to.
http://www.rawfair.com/about/the-team
http://www.rawfair.com/team/mark-garrett

 I have been added to the team at Rawfair to discuss Permaculture Design. There will be a 5 part series of discussions on Permaculture design I have written 5 articles to further spread the word on Permanent Sustainable Agriculture "Permaculture" over the next 3 weeks

RawFair is an event I spoke at last year where all things good are covered on Natural Wine growing and production.  It is to be held again in May in London. If you are there please go as this is just another way to say no to unsustainable agricultural practices and the best part is you don't get a hang over :) 

Regards

Mark

Permaculture Life ... Bali to Barbados

  

I currently find myself in Holland freezing after spending 8 months working on various projects in Bali. 

The projects have ranged from the education of garden teams in sustainable gardening with Alila Villas Ulawatu to introducing Permaculture design principles and infrastructures to support sustainable organic food production at Bambu Indah boutique resort near Ubud.  While there I was also running permaculture workshops weekly and discussing permaculture as a way of life with yoga groups who used Bambu Indah for their courses. Thanks to Tara Judelle http://www.yogalila.net/

Garden teams from Green school, Green Village , Bamboo Indah

In the eight months I have designed and had installed two gardens for owners of Bamboo houses designed by Elora Hardy’s Ibuku Design www.ibuku.com in the Green Village http://greenvillagebali.com/.

Tropical food forest in infancy

Peter and Kinchem Barge next to their Herb Spiral
Bill Mollison designed their farm 20 years ago near Kiama Australia

Designs for permaculture outdoor education centres at the green school www.greenschool.org and Green Camp www.greencampbali.com have also been approved.

Green School front entrance concept drawing

Green Camp outdoor classroom design 

I am currently working on the stage 2 designs for a healing centre after the initial site analysis. The design includes a closed loop waste management centre “Organic Wealth Centre” to provide all the necessary organic fertilizers for the sustainable growing of herbs, fruits , spices and vegetables for up to 60 people.

Permaculture Students

The centre will also be a venue to educate and train people in Permaculture design and sustainable practices.

In this time there has also been an “Adams Retort “ built and operational at PT BambuPure www.ptbamboopure.com  where waste construction bamboo is pyrolysised to make charcoal and further processed with manures to become Bio Char. The initial trials have proved biochar works.

Adams Retort

There are other projects in the pipeline, which I hope to cover when I return to Bali in June.

In a week I will be working on a private garden in Barbados for clients I worked with last year in St Vincent and the Grenadines, again looking at how Permaculture design can grow healthy soil, save money and look good with what is locally available. 

Bali is Home

Bali is now where I call home.

While working in the Maldives I meet John Hardy at the SLOW LIFE Symposium where he spoke on his vision for the Green School in Bali and how it became a reality.  www.greenschool.org

Off to be blessed

 John saw what we were doing on Soneva Fushi … Growing vegetables on sand!!!

As John is a supporter for edible food scapes everywhere and sustainable bamboo construction we struck up a friendship. Which has now led me to Bali.

Garden to Table ..it gets better John

One cold summer day in London were I had just finished speaking at Rawfair.com John invited me to come to Bali. I was booked to return to London 3 weeks later as I thought I was heading to the States to install a garden I had previously designed.

After a week John and Cynthia made me an offer I could not refuse and at the same time the US garden was cancelled. I have now been here 3 months, I never returned to London and now have all I need to stay for much, much longer to do what I do, be a “PERMACULTURIST”

The opportunity to work with forward thinking people such as John, Elora and Orin Hardy who have committed themselves to making a real change is so inspiring and rewarding.

Orin Hardy and Komang first no dig garden at Bambu Indah

I have had the opportunity to further demonstrate how turning organic waste into wealth through growing soil for sustainable organic food production is possible again on impoverished soil.

What we have to start with Lifeless Paradise

During my Permaculture Design Course Bill Mollison was asked would he go to Bali and run a course? His comment was why try to create paradise in paradise.

I thought this was a fair answer but having spent the time looking into the agricultural practices here I wish Bill had come to Paradise, as it is not Paradise when it comes to soil health.  Every one I meet says it is so easy to grow here you just throw a seed into the ground and up it comes. For the untrained eye it looks like a plant but under closer inspection the reality is they are not healthy plants to grow healthy people.

Growing Soil and closing the loop of waste

Again abiding to the principles of Permaculture design has shown that the Ph is 8-10, no soil life in hard clay bare soil watered twice daily and only cow dung or some chicken poo applied before planting.

Ph not fit for vegetables

The mission I have chosen here in Bali is to demonstrate how through sticking to the ethics and principles of Permaculture by designing closed loop waste management systems to create wealth from what is considered waste we all can grow healthy soil to grow healthy plants to grow healthy People.

Recycle Centre

Organic Wealth Centre at Bambu Indah

We are already on the way to success, Orin and my self have teamed up to form a great team as Orin is a Permaculturist and studied at the Regenerative Design Institute plus has a Liberal Arts Degree in environmental sustainability. Orin spent the first half of his life in Bali which gives him an in-depth knowledge of Balinese and Indonesian culture plus both Languages.

Hot Composting

Banana Circle workshop

These skills are invaluable for the workshops we hold and for project management on site.  Bagus!!! We are all about education and for all. Currently we run a workshop every Wednesday afternoon where we have gardeners from the Green School, Green Village, and Bamboo Indah all Indonesian then we also have westerners living in Bali also attending.   

Worm Farm

Come along if you are in Ubud more the better.

I will write about the work we do as it is varied from private residences to being part of SLOW FOOD Bali meetings.

Chicken Tractor

Solid Gold .. Waste to Wealth 

“Deep ecology, permaculture and sustainability are concepts that planted the early seeds of green thinking” Gunter Pauli and a bottle of sustainably grown and produced natural wine !

“Deep Ecology, Permaculture and Sustainability are concepts that planted the early seeds of green thinking” Gunter Pauli

I can’t believe it has been nearly 3 months since my last Blog. Here I go at filling some of the spaces and having a little rant ?

Brick Lane home of Rawfair

Since leaving the Caribbean in May I went to the UK where I spoke at www.rawfair.com a conference dedicated to natural, organic, biodynamic wine production that had over 250 wine producers from all over the world. 

The response was amazing 

It was a joint speaking arrangement with Monty Waldin a Biodynamic, Organic wine writer and grower. The topic was Understanding how biodynamics and permaculture can help you be green-fingered. I gave an introduction to Permaculture presentation and Monty gave an overview on Biodynamic principles. We then farmed questions from the audience on sustainable agricultural principles.

Permac... nearly got it out !!

 I also attended various other talks on sustainable wine growing and the common thread was to grow Organically or Biodynamically… And I couldn’t agree more. Sadly the word Permaculture was never used by speakers or members of the audience… except me .. I had to !!!

Nicholas Joly

I raised the question to Nicolas Joly (Biodynamic wine expert) “where does Permaculture fit in the scheme of things” He explained how it was an important contribution to Organic and Biodynamic farming taking the whole system into consideration.

I still felt after speaking to various growers that Permaculture was not seen as a whole system design and not under stood.  Soil building systems are grouped as either Organic or Biodynamic practices… It seems Permaculture is not a word people commonly use outside the Permaculture sphere? Why?  When Permaculture is a science that has been proven time and time again in all climates.  

Slides from Nicholas Joly presentation  Soil Soil Soil !!!

 As a Permaculture designer working in remote locations  I include Biodynamic and Organic systems where possible though the main focus is to be sustainable using the local resources available to grow healthy soil to grow healthy plants to grow healthy people.  Are all organic farms or Biodynamic farms sustainable? During my talk the question of water harvesting was asked of the audience and only one person did it?

Soil life, Soil life, Soil life

Gunter Pauli writer of The Blue Economy says “Deep ecology, permaculture and sustainability are concepts that planted the early seeds of green thinking”. Such ideas taught us to appreciate the use of sustainable materials in our structures and products.”

I have had other Permaculturist say “it doesn’t matter what “it” is called as long as the principles are being used” Is this true? If people don’t know what Permaculture is will the principles be used to create“ Whole closed loop systems of waste to abundance” for food, wine, clean energy, clean air, clean water and sustainable housing for all?

Microbes,  Microbes, Microbes

Permaculture does this, organic and biodynamic farming are only a part of the Permaculture System Solution. In “Nature, the waste of one process is always a nutrient, a material or a source of energy for another” Gunter Pauli.  Closed loop systems of abundance created through ecosystem design is what we should be aiming for, minimal inputs for high outputs that do not pollute or exploit all living within the natural environment.

"Natural Farming, Eco Farming Cultural Practices"

If we can ask ourselves these 8 questions every time we make a decision we would all be living in a better place.

Permaculture Principles

1. Relative location of elements placed to assist each other.                                             (If I place A (house) here, will it help B (heat house), will B (heated house) support C (Lower energy bill?)
2. Each element performs many functions at least 3. (What are the 3 uses of this?)  
3. Efficient energy planning (zones and sectors)-     (is all I use and do designed for minimal effort for maxium output?)  
4. Emphasis on use of biological resources over fossil fuels                                               (Is this a renewable energy or a sustainable resource) 
5. Energy recycling on site (fuel and human)

     (Am I conserving my energy and natures?)

6. Using and accelerating natural plant succession to establish favourable sites and soils.              (Am I growing, improving soil?)
7. Polyculture and diversity to benefit species for productive, interactive systems                   (am I supporting the eco system)
8. Use of edge and natural patterns for best effect.    (Am I working with Nature or against it?)  

That Crazy French Woman - thank you for the opportunity to discuss "PERMACULTURE"
P