On a course in permaculture design, we do actually have to submit a design. And designs mean maps and maps mean numbers. Ever since school, where, the relentlessly uninspiring Miss Nash put me off mathematics for ever, I have experienced a sort of cartoon eye spin when figures, numbers and calculations are mentioned.
As you can imagine, I was not looking forward to having to make a scale map of a 500 plus acre farm as part of my team permaculture project.
Handy Body Measurements
As we sat down to a session on map making given by Dylan, another of the dedicated assistant trainers on this amazing 2 week permaculture course, my automatic psychological ‘numbers escape mechanism’ was activated and my eyes started to close. But not for long. It’s amazing how learning just meanders in when you’re having fun.
Instead of being confounded by trigonometry and calculations I found myself learning how to measure using my bodies. I discovered that the space between the top and second knuckle on my pinkie finger measures roughly 1 inch. My arm span is 5’7 and when I stand up straight and raise my right hand, it measures 7’2″. Wow, I’m a living ruler.
One of the ‘design principles’ of permaculture is ‘use appropriate technologies’. This means finding tools and technologies that liberate us from dependency. It doesn’t mean that we have to throw away our tractor or computer and build a road with a shovel and a pen and paper.
Modern technological tools can be really useful and whilst we still have the electricity and fuel to power them and they are utilized for the greater purpose we should. A chainsaw can help us build a log home quickly, and when the fuel runs out, we can learn to use a cross saw just like the participants in Frontier House did.
If we’re creating a food forest garden that will eventually feed hundreds of people, it’s perfectly ethical to do what it takes to set it in motion, using big and techie tools in the beginning and then moving onto more ecological innovative, simpler methods.
And what could be more ecological and simpler than using our bodies as measuring instruments? If you don’t have your tape measure or one of those digital laser things that need batteries and are liable to break down [as was my experience years ago when the realtor reduced the size of my living room by 6ft because his fancy digital measure was on the blink] relax, because as long as you’ve got all your limbs, and a willing friend, you can still take pretty accurate measurements.
In that spirit, we step outside into the crisp sunny afternoon to watch the intrepid Dylan demonstrate how to measure 100 ft using our paces.
He marks out a 100ft path and places two flags at either end. Starting at the first flag, we walk to the furthest one and back again at a regular leisurely pace counting up each time we put the same foot on the ground again. Average out the two and I now know that twenty of my leisurely paces are equal to 100ft. It’s so simple I want to cry!
A few minutes later, Patricia prances onto the grass waving a round protractor with a string dangling from it with a pen attached to the end of the string. She shows us how we can measure the angle of rise of a distant object by holding the protractor to our eyeline and tilting it to meet the top of the object we’re measuring. The string moves round the protractor to reveal the angle. Doh!
And if you’re going to build a road, you’ve got to know the angle of elevation so that you can calculate how to wind the road round so that the rise is not too steep. Yes, I did say ‘build a road’.
Little Old Lady Road Building
After Patricia’s presentation on road building yesterday, as someone whose home improvement skills were limited to what I could do with a hammer and a box of nails, I had a big grin on my face as I thought to myself ‘ohmygosh, I actually know how to build a road’
Patricia remarked to me on the way out of her road building presentation, with a twinkle in her sparkly green eyes, ’If a little old lady can build a road, anyone can’.
Back out on the lawn, Dylan took us through our paces again. This time we were learning how to measure the distance across a creek by using nothing more than our hand, eyeline and the foot of a friendly partner. This is of course vital if we want to know how long a tree we must cut down to make a bridge across the water. I am beginning to feel more than a little empowered!
This course is peppered with all kinds of fascinating tricks and tips for doing things simply and innovatively and in particular gardening.
Make-do Gardening Tips
Chuck Marsh’s gardening tips are unmissable. This man has 35 years experience of permaculture and he must have tried every trick in the book.
If you are thinking of throwing away that old mattress forget it. You can turn it into a garden by placing it on top of a piece of old plastic sandwiched between two layers of old carpet and a bit of straw. Poke a few holes in the top, shove in some seeds, water it and hey presto.. you’ve got a raised garden bed.
And instead of forking out $9.99 for one of those fancy tomato hangers [as we did in our ignorance] you can make one out of a couple of plastic store bags and some old chicken wire with a bit of scrap material scraps wrapped around it to stop light degradation [Bob added in that bit].
Old tires, which generally end up being burned are an amazing re-purposing resource. Slice off the top, shove in some soil and a bit of manure and you’ve got an urban container planter. Short of space? Plant some tall growing field corn and a little later, shove in some beans which with a little bit of encouragement from you will grow quite happily up the stem of the corn.
Chuck advised urban gardeners to carry a poking stick around with them… and each time they see a bit of earth, poke a hole in the ground and shove in some seeds. He told us how he got his landlord to plant a couple of apple trees in his garden which fed the homeless with nutritous organic snacks. The trees were conveniently located along the route from the homeless shelter to the liqor store!!!
If you’ve got some old windows [and there's plentiful discard of old windows as more and more of those who can afford it sling out their old ones in favor of energy saving sealed units] and a bale of straw you’ve got the makings of a greenhouse.
Stick the bale of straw on its side, stuff in some manure or mulch on top, pour water into the bale until it’s saturated, shove in some seeds and lean a window up against it. On top you can raise the hardier green leafy stuff while using the space between the angle of the window and the straw bale as a kind of make do hothouse.
If you think you can’t because you don’t have any space, we heard today from one participant about the abundant gardens being raised by New Yorkers in tiny apartments using a 3′ by 4′ window and vertical spacing. ANYONE can grow food. There are even portable plastic sprouters that provide high quality, portable nutrition that can be grown in two or three days in the back of your rucksack.
If you want to find out more, there are oodles of books appearing on the market on the topic of guerrila gardening, dumpster diving and repurposing
Map Making Triumph
And as for mapping, my design team consisting of a retired lawyer, a refugee worker, a farmer and myself actually managed to draw out our map tonight using google earth and a calculator. After hours of debate, hair tearing out and sleepless nights we finally did it.
Next comes the good stuff.. planning out how to make an income yielding resource out of an intentional community farm that will not only feed the members of the community but also provide plenty of excess to share with friends and neighbors and be regenerative and self-sustaining for many years to come.
I can’t wait to get back home and put all this into action.. and already we’re thinking about how our newfound knowledge can really and truly help to put nutritious food in the mouths of the hungry and set up a food forest for the future.
I’m hooked and I bow down to the wonderful people who’ve made it their life mission to take permaculture from a little known esoteric activity to being the potential answer to saving and healing this planet.
Incidental Mushroom Foraging
And a special hurrah to Bob’s design team who found a huge clump of Lions Mane wild mushroom in a hole in a tree. Looks like we’ll be eating exotic wild mushroom soup tomorrow alongside all the other amazing goodies our chefs are cooking up each day.
More Permaculture Info
There’s another of these courses planned in Atlanta this year… and I suspect it’ll sell out quickly. For more information check www.georgiapermaculture.com and check Patricia Allison’s site for more permaculture events round the country. http://www.patriciaallison.net/schedule.php. Chuck Marsh teaches permaculture and also runs a medicinal plant nursery in NC. http://www.usefulplants.org/
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