Susan Hutson

I appreciate all you have said Loxley. However, I did some checking up for my own clarity. Bill's initial 3 week course was all class room based as were his courses at Melbourne Uni. Apparently, the reason he switched to the 72 hours was that the timing became perfect for a semester at Uni and that was always his intent, to have it in the formal education system. To this date, here in Australia, they are still trying to achieve that. Other forms have emerged at TAFE, and participants are issued Certification on various levels from level 1 through to 4.  
Permaculture is becoming an in thing to be a part of, at the moment. My original comments were meant for the everyday person. The ones with mortgages, kids, time constraints and backyards maybe even hobby farms. The ones with money commitments or life style commitments. Not young people who can do it whilst doing other studies or the older person who does it after the kids have left home or they have retired. Amazing how many older people are on PDC’s.
It would appear that David Holmgren's new book is more focused on these people when he talks garden farming & having a zone 3 on the nature strip. It would appear to me we have a long way to go to realise that a PDC is a degustation menu for what Permaculture is, and that participants come away from one (PDC) without a rounded education in any of the  topic within the curriculum. While there is an outline of what should be taught in a PDC, it is not set in stone and is left to the individual delivering the session. So, do we focus more on Garden Farming as a way to educate people and run courses which also contain the ethics and principles, which educates and broadens the participants knowledge of a topic which is not fully understood by anyone, due to the vastness of the topic.
Cheers
Susan

Hi William,
Something which may help you. Have a look at Keyline dams, and follow Bryant's advice about deepest at top. Then connect the dams up as you move down and on keyline.
Regards
Susan

I read how the replies have shifted in focus from Permaculture being an agricultural element to it's impact on any environment. No one has mentioned that it started out as a PhD thesis that was written by David Holmgren and he failed to understand why anyone would be impacted by it, let alone have it published as a book, Permaculture 1 was born. That originally it did start out as Permanent Agriculture but has been transformed, when, I am not sure, into Permanent Culture.

I am so puzzled how Bill Mollison's 72 hour original PDC is being transformed into a course which is becoming bigger than the production of Ben Hur, and with a price tag to match. Originally it was a Permaculture Design Certificate, but now that is mentioned in small type and has been replaced by Permaculture Design Course. 72 hours is now running at anything upto 120 to 160 hours and I wonder if people are turning away because of the cost.

People talk of the fourth ethic of Permaculture the one of spirituality and how that must feature more in this course.

Courses are popping up with topics in them like The social landscape, Strategies for building social capital, Economic systems and communities, Economic regeneration strategies,. This is a huge expansion on finances and money as in the original 72 hour PDC. I shake my head as to where this is expansion is going and do subjects like this belong in a PDC. Surely a PDC is about design. Yes, it could be argued that this is about designing community, is designing an economic community, to this extent, what a student is expecting on a PDC which started out in the realm of Permanent Agriculture and growing things and designing landscapes?

To me something has to give. I write because I am becoming disillusioned and confused, I have trodden the permaculture path for a long time and yes I do hold some permaculture quals, all the way up to  a diploma. Every section so very different from the Design Course. The advanced was all hands on .. the diploma was more tertiary based but really in the end it was project managment.

Thanks for listening to my frustrated demented ramblings.  

Thanks for that Robert. The reason I asked was I belong to a Landcare group here in Australia and National Tree Planting day is coming up. Of cos we are planting trees and grasses but they want, and are going to use,glyphosate pre-planting to get rid of the weeds. I spoke about using a mushroom slurry and that the soils are bacterial dominated and the question was asked about how I expected them to colonise and make mycorrhizal fungi, this was by a PhD in Environmental Studies. Her post name letters out weighed mine and I got laughed at, made me ask.
regards
Susan  

Question about the mushrooms to use. Is it better to use mushrooms native to the area OR as per my simple understanding you can use any mushroom. If the mushroom is not native to the area I am having trouble understanding how it will colonise it and make hypae?

Kindest regards
Susan  

Thanks to yáll I am now crystal clear on this issue )
Kindest regards
Susan

Tim thank you  for answering me

I have always believed 1) Yes it was an over reliance on potatoes as a crop and
                                 2) that a disease, now I know which microorganism Phytophthora infestans, causing crop failure led to the origins of crop rotation.

In my head it was recognition that mono cropping lead to this organism being able to get a hold and decimate the potatoes. This was recognised at the time, and from that time crop rotation was encouraged.

After your post I now find out that crop rotation goes wayyy back. Teach me to research before I post. 😳

Kindest regards and many thanks
Susan

 

Good Morning Bryant,
In this article you state:

The main reason we want to do this is so that we don't have to concern ourselves with rotating what we plant in any particular spot.  

If I read this correctly you are saying, and you imply it in other areas that crop rotation for the home garden is a thing of the past. But, because there is always a but, crop rotation is advocated because of the Great Irish Potato Famine ad failure of the people not using crop rotation.

Kindest regards
Susan

Hello Bryant,

quick question....  you often mention a slurry of mushrooms. How thick is this slurry to be ? My understanding is it can be anything from virtually a coloured water with some particles of solid matter in it (as in vitamised sized particles) to a thick, cement like consistency.

and where does mushroom compost fit into this equation  or doesn't it?

Thank You
Kindest Regards
Susan

Morning Tian,

The information that Bryant supplied about compost is not to be taken lightly and as Marco pointed out it will be expensive.

My question would have to be if this compost is purchased turns out to be NBG or even as a precaution would it be an option to spray it with a GOOD compost tea.

Kind regards
Susan