Advanced Permaculture Design Course Instructors: Dave Boehnlein, co-author of Practical Permaculture & David Shaw, Santa Cruz Permaculture
Dates: August 29 to September 5, 2020
Where: Santa Cruz, CA
Course Description: Do you want to gain more permaculture design experience? This 8-day Advanced Design Course is an excellent follow-up to a Permaculture Design Course. Join Dave Boehnlein of Terra Phoenix Design and the Bullock’s Permaculture Homestead and David Shaw of Santa Cruz Permaculture while we practice together and share what we’ve learned over the years.
If you’ve taken a Permaculture Design Course, you know that this skill set has the potential to change the world. However, for most of us one 72-hour class isn’t enough to really deeply embed this knowledge into all our practices. So, who is this Advanced PDC for? We’re looking for people who took a PDC and got fired up. We’re also hoping you went out into the world and tried to use what you learned. However it went, so long as you did something with the knowledge you got a yield of feedback. Whether your first permaculture design went well or had some hiccups, this class is a perfect next step as we will go beyond what usually gets covered in the standard 72-hour curriculum. It’s also a great course for people who have, or want to have, a career in permaculture. This is an opportunity to be with other dedicated permaculturists and experienced instructors to help guide you to the next steps you need to sharpen your design skills to a fine point.
This advanced course will jump in assuming you are familiar with the basic permaculture concepts and ideas. We will not be rehashing the permaculture design course basics, therefore, you may want to brush up on the foundational concepts and vocabulary etc. before you come.
Advanced Permaculture Design Course Orcas Island, WA
Dates: August 10 – 17, 2019
Location: Bullock’s Permaculture Homestead
Description: This course is an excellent follow-up to a Permaculture Design Course. Join the team of Terra Phoenix Design and the Bullock's Permaculture Homestead for this excellent follow-up to your Permaculture Design Course. During this course you can expect to run through the design process several times to build competence and confidence. We will also have "choose-your-own-adventure" sessions where you select an educational pathway that matches your specific interests. Examples of sessions include: software for design, the business end of running a design consultancy, plant species deep-dive, a landscape graphics primer, etc. Topic specific design sessions will go deep on water systems, shops and work areas, and nurseries. There will also be open studio time for you to get feedback on your own designs. Finally, real-world design project walkthroughs from the Terra Phoenix portfolio will allow you to see what finished designs look like and how to assemble a quality package of deliverables for your client.
Instructors: Douglas Bullock, Samuel Bullock, Dave Boehnlein & Paul Kearsley
Prerequisite: You must have completed a 72-hour Permaculture Design Certificate Course (or equivalent). We won't spend much time rehashing the basics.
Cost: $1200 ($1100 paid-in-full by May 1st).
Dates: July 13 – 27, 2019
Location: Bullock’s Permaculture Homestead
Instructors: Douglas Bullock, Sam Bullock, Dave Boehnlein, & John Valenzuela
Description: A two-week certificate design course on the Bullock’s 30+ year-old permaculture homestead. Over 72 hours of classroom and hands-on education including design methodologies, observation skill-building, whole systems design, annual and perennial foods, water/energy/waste management, appropriate construction, plant propagation and culture, outdoor mushroom cultivation, herbs, and natural fiber use.
Instructors: Douglas & Samuel Bullock, John Valenzuela, Dave Boehnlein & more.
Cost: $1535 ($1435 paid-in-full by May 1st). Includes a copy of Practical Permaculture by Boehnlein & Bloom.
When: May 24 - 26 2019
Where: At the Bullock's 30 year old Permaculture Homestead, Orcas Island, WA
Instructors: Douglas Bullock, Sam Bullock & Dave Boehnlein
Includes:
Tour, lecture, hand-on projects, presentations, group discussion, and networking. We will cover Permaculture design theory & practice, forest gardening, perennial food systems, plant propagation, efficient water & energy systems, fertility management - beneficial plants/healthy soils, and ecological systems as a model for human communities.
Course Tuition: $200; includes delicious, mostly organic meals & materials. Camping space is provided. Payment is due upon course registration. Course is limited to 50 participants.
Advanced Permaculture Design Course Orcas Island, WA
Dates: August 18 – 25, 2018
Location: Bullock’s Permaculture Homestead
Description: This course is an excellent follow-up to a Permaculture Design Course. Join the team of Terra Phoenix Design and the Bullock's Permaculture Homestead for this excellent follow-up to your Permaculture Design Course. During this course you can expect to run through the design process several times to build competence and confidence. We will also have "choose-your-own-adventure" sessions where you select an educational pathway that matches your specific interests. Examples of sessions include: software for design, the business end of running a design consultancy, plant species deep-dive, a landscape graphics primer, etc. Topic specific design sessions will go deep on water systems, shops and work areas, and nurseries. There will also be open studio time for you to get feedback on your own designs. Finally, real-world design project walkthroughs from the Terra Phoenix portfolio will allow you to see what finished designs look like and how to assemble a quality package of deliverables for your client.
Instructors: Douglas Bullock, Samuel Bullock, Dave Boehnlein & Paul Kearsley
Prerequisite: You must have completed a 72-hour Permaculture Design Certificate Course (or equivalent). We won't spend much time rehashing the basics.
Cost: $1200 ($1100 paid-in-full by May 1st).
Contact: Dave Boehnlein
360-840-8483
info@permacultureportal.com Register online at http://permacultureportal.com/courses_current.php#advanced
Dates: July 14 – 28, 2018
Location: Bullock’s Permaculture Homestead
Description: A two-week certificate design course on the Bullock’s 30+ year-old permaculture homestead. Over 72 hours of classroom and hands-on education including design methodologies, observation skill-building, whole systems design, annual and perennial foods, water/energy/waste management, appropriate construction, plant propagation and culture, outdoor mushroom cultivation, herbs, and natural fiber use.
Instructors: Douglas & Samuel Bullock, John Valenzuela, Dave Boehnlein & more.
Cost: $1535 ($1435 paid-in-full by May 1st). Includes a copy of Practical Permaculture by Boehnlein & Bloom.
Contact: Dave Boehnlein
360-840-8483
info@permacultureportal.com Register online at http://permacultureportal.com/courses_current.php#workshop_pdc
Dates: July 16 – 30, 2016
Location: Bullock’s Permaculture Homestead
Description: A two-week certificate design course on the Bullock’s 30+ year-old permaculture homestead. Over 72 hours of classroom and hands-on education including design methodologies, observation skill-building, whole systems design, annual and perennial foods, water/energy/waste management, appropriate construction, plant propagation and culture, outdoor mushroom cultivation, herbs, and natural fiber use.
Instructors: Douglas & Samuel Bullock, John Valenzuela, Dave Boehnlein & more.
Cost: $1500 ($1400 paid-in-full by May 1st). A $250 non-refundable deposit is
required for registration
Contact: Dave Boehnlein
360-840-8483
info@permacultureportal.com http://permacultureportal.com
When: May 22 - 24 2015
Where: At the Bullock's 30 year old Permaculture Homestead, Orcas Island, WA
Instructors: Douglas Bullock, Sam Bullock & Dave Boehnlein
Includes:
Tour, lecture, hand-on projects, presentations, group discussion, and networking. We will cover Permaculture design theory & practice, forest gardening, perennial food systems, plant propagation, efficient water & energy systems, fertility management - beneficial plants/healthy soils, and ecological systems as a model for human communities.
Course Tuition: $200; includes delicious, mostly organic meals & materials. Camping space is provided. Payment is due upon course registration. Course is limited to 50 participants.
For more info or to register contact: Dave Boehnlein
360-840-8483
info@permacultureportal.com http://permacultureportal.com/courses_current.php
Where: the Bullock's 30 year old Permaculture Homestead, Orcas Island, WA
Instructors: Douglas Bullock, Sam Bullock & Dave Boehnlein
Includes:
Tour, lecture, hand-on projects, presentations, group discussion, and networking. We will cover Permaculture design theory & practice, forest gardening, perennial food systems, plant propagation, efficient water & energy systems, fertility management - beneficial plants/healthy soils, and ecological systems as a model for human communities.
Course Tuition: $200; includes delicious, mostly organic meals & materials. Camping space is provided. Payment is due upon course registration. Course is limited to 50 participants.
For more information:http://permacultureportal.com/courses_current.html#workshop_intro
Permaculture Design Course Where: Bullock's Permaculture Homestead, Orcas Island, WA
When: July 13 - August 2, 2014
Instructors: Doug Bullock, Sam Bullock, John Valenzuela, Dave Boehnlein, & a host of guests
Approximately 144 hours of classroom and hands-on education. Including: design methodologies, observation skill building, whole system design, annual and perennial foods, water/energy/waste techniques, appropriate construction, plant propagation and culture, outdoor mushroom cultivation, herbs and fiber use, and animals. Agricultural strategies for drylands, wetlands, and everything in between will be observed, discussed, and implemented at our ever-evolving homestead.
Please note that this course is intensive! If you're looking for a dawn to dusk, information-loaded Design Course, this is the one for you!
When: May 24 - 26 2013
Where: At the Bullock's 30 year old Permaculture Homestead, Orcas Island, WA
Instructors: Douglas Bullock, Sam Bullock & Dave Boehnlein
Includes:
Tour, lecture, hand-on projects, presentations, group discussion, and networking. We will cover Permaculture design theory & practice, forest gardening, perennial food systems, plant propagation, efficient water & energy systems, fertility management - beneficial plants/healthy soils, and ecological systems as a model for human communities.
Course Tuition: $200; includes delicious, mostly organic meals & materials. Camping space is provided. Payment is due upon course registration. Course is limited to 50 participants.
Yes! Keep an eye on our website (http://permacultureportal.com)! I imagine our bare root sale will be sometime in March & there may even be a late spring sale as well!
SATURDAY 9/15 @ NOON Introduction to Horticultural Witchcraft and Wizardry: Come and see the Magic in Action: A walking talking tour of holistic orchard management, wildlife habitat enhancement, water catchment, exotic botanical treasures, Permaculture design in action, and much more!
SUNDAY 9/16 @ NOON Teaming with Microbes: Hands on demonstration of cutting edge technology for making sure everyone is invited to your soil food web party with compost tea brewing, arboreal biological enhancement, and mycorrhizal fungi inoculation! Love your plants with ebullient enthusiasm!
Where: Bullock's Permaculture Nursery, Orcas Island, WA
DATES: Sat. June 2 & Sun. June 3
TIME: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
FREE WORKSHOPS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY (details below)
Late Spring is the perfect time to plant! Come celebrate perennial abundance with hundreds of varieties of rock star plants dialed in for the PNW climate!
Including: Outrageous Ornamentals!
Nitrogen Fixing Fruiting Shrubs!
50+ Varieties of Apples!
Deer no-likey Plants!
Northwest Natives!
Hardy Rubber Trees!
Lost Crops of the Inca!
Pine Nut Pines!
Mulberries AND Figs!
Caffeine Producing Plants!
Perfect Plums and Peaches!
Screaming Deals!
Perennial Vegetables!
Thornless Blackberries!
Monkey Puzzles!
AND MUCH MUCH MORE!
FREE WORKSHOPS:
Permaculture Plant Walk: Come and see how to utilize a vast array of rock star perennial plants to improve the fertility of your landscape and secure an abundant future for our garden island.
SATURDAY 6/2 AT NOON
Soil Food Web 101: The secret to success is in the soil! Come and learn simple strategies for feeding your soil food web utilizing compost extracts, mycorrhizal inoculation, guild planting, and more!
SUNDAY 6/3 AT NOON
Where: At the Bullock's 30 year old Permaculture Homestead, Orcas Island, WA
Instructors: Douglas Bullock, Sam Bullock & Dave Boehnlein
Includes:
Tour, lecture, hand-on projects, presentations, group discussion, and networking. We will cover Permaculture design theory & practice, forest gardening, perennial food systems, plant propagation, efficient water & energy systems, fertility management - beneficial plants/healthy soils, and ecological systems as a model for human communities.
Course Tuition: $200; includes delicious, mostly organic meals & materials. Camping space is provided. Payment is due upon course registration. Course is limited to 50 participants.
It seems to me there are a couple big questions for you:
1) What products/uses do you want to bamboo to provide?
All of the best construction timbers are running bamboos (for temperate climates). Most of the best eaters are also runners. In fact I think there are actually very few clumpers for temperate climates that are worth eating (feel free to educate me further, bamboo experts). Therefore, if you really want to build things (other than small gauge garden stakes) and/or eat bamboo shoots you'll want to consider the runners.
2) What are you willing to put into maintenance?
The reason so many people have problems with running bamboos is that they don't USE them. If you're willing to manage your stand and you're on 10 acres, runners may be a great choice. Toby is right that you can just break off shoots that are coming up where you don't want them. However, if you want that particular rhizome to stop running you'll need to sever it from the main clump during the first year as well (or it will keep running past where it sent up it's last shoot). Either way, don't plant it near a house, foundation, driveway, etc.
Personally, I think having a big stand of running bamboo would be awesome and I imagine it would grow like hell in Arkansas. Once you have a good stand with a couple different species you can use it for shoot production, pole production, and/or nursery stock depending on what the market looks like.
A couple words of caution: Voles love bamboo. I've heard about folks here in the Pacific Northwest putting in plantations and having them completely eliminated. Bamboos also don't like to be inundated with water (with the exception of a few species that have air pockets in their roots). Don't put them in super wet soils. However, you could put them on an island in a pond to contain them easily (and without fail). Also, I highly recommend finding local bamboo growers and seeing which species/varieties work well in your area. Someone must be growing them so you should try to take advantage of lessons they've already learned.
Finally, a quick plug for the book "Farming Bamboo" by Daphne Lewis. This manual gives a ton of good information on growing bamboos in temperate climates and it has a species guide to the Phyllostachys genus.
Also, I've checked out St. Lawerence Nursery. They look great. However, be aware that their nut trees are all selected seedlings, not grafted. While you may get good quality nuts from them, you won't get the other benefits that go along with grafted trees (e.g. earlier production). In my post above I mentioned you could plant a mix of grafted trees and seedlings. You could get your seedlings from St. Lawerence, but you'll still want to find a source for grafted stock (or graft it yourself).
Mt. goat wrote:The size of the property comes into play as one can only manage a certain amount of acres intensivly.Nut trees planted in open space are often planted closer (up to 4x)to mimick competition and spur upward growth rather than outward.Eventually it is thinned and this places the larger branches up higher.So planting in open space can require more trees(planting at final spacing will create a wider tree at the base and will result in earlier food production but not more).Also logged land has just had large amounts of fertility removed which might require outside inputs.
When planting blocks of nut trees I often recommend planting at 4x density for just the reason you mentioned. To save money I also recommend planting mostly seedlings with every 4th tree being grafted. That way over time you will thin down to the grafted trees. In the meantime I find another benefit of planting wind pollinated nut trees at this density is that you will get better pollination earlier since there will just be more pollen around.
As to the fertility, that can depend largely on how the logging operation was done. If the trees were limbed and the slash was left on the site, fertility could still be pretty decent. If they burned the slash or did a whole tree harvest, you will likely need to amend it somehow to get optimal tree growth.
Ian Erickson wrote:To answer Mt. Goat, I am very interested in planting lots of nut trees. I did not know they grew well as an understory (besides Hazelnut). That is good news!
Hey Ian,
If nuts are your interest I have a couple other recommendations:
1) While they will grow in the understory, most nut trees are considered mid-successional. That means they grow slowly under a fairly light canopy. If you plant them in a forest of sugar maple (which are late successional) I suspect they will either succumb to the shade or grow so slowly that that it will hardly be measurable. We have buartnuts under red alder at the Bullock's place in the PNW and I've found that they grow very slowly even in those conditions. Every summer I'm removing a couple alders to both open up some light and make mushroom logs. Also, as with many "shade-tolerant" food plants, nut trees are likely to produce better if they get more sun. People talk a lot about various trees being able to handle denser, lower-light food forest conditions, but seldom talk about the production decreases I often notice. If you want serious nut production from an existing mature forest, I would consider clearing a block of space (1-5 acres) instead of plunking one here and one there in spots where you've girdled a maple.
2) I strongly suggest joining the Northern Nut Growers Association (http://nutgrowing.org). They have a quarterly publication called The Nutshell that is quite good. By becoming a member you will also gain contact with all the old time nut growers all over the country. This is a wealth of knowledge that is in danger of being lost. Tap into it while you can!
3) In terms of cost savings planting seedling nut trees makes sense (especially if you've got a lot to plant). However, if you choose grafted nut trees you will probably end up with better production and quality down the road. Nut trees have been bred for consistency (in other words avoiding the "mast year/barren year" trend), quality, high "crackout" rates (in other words, what percent of the nuts come out of the shell in whole halves), disease resistance, cold-hardiness, and more. Grafted trees also tend to come into production much sooner, which helps you to obtain a yield earlier. Unfortunately (for us in the US), the best nut tree sources I've found are both in Canada. Check out Grimo Nut Nursery (http://www.grimonut.com) & Rhora's Nut Farm & Nursery (http://www.nuttrees.com). Even if you can't pony up to have trees shipped to the US (which they can do for a price) their website have an incredible wealth of good info.
4) You may also want to look into the offerings from Badgersett Research Farms (www.badgersett.com) in Minnesota. They have been doing hybridization work with commercial hazelnut cultivars and the hardier native American Hazel. You may be able to grow these in your area. I believe they are also working with developing cold-hardy chestnuts.
Actually, I agree with pretty much everything you just said. A landscape can certainly look like a forest, but be unhealthy. "Degraded" describes a pretty wide spectrum of landscapes. In fact, I don't really consider your average Joe to be equipped to deal with the most degraded of sites (think superfund sites). However, there is a middle ground where the permaculturist can make a huge difference. That's where I'd like to see efforts concentrated. My prior response was spurred by your ending statement:
osker McCoy wrote: So my preference is definitely for healthy old forest, without any doubt.
From my perspective, if it's a healthy, old forest, it doesn't need us to do anything but protect and enjoy it (pick some mushrooms, watch the birds, do a controlled burn, if necessary, since we can't undo fire suppression). Permaculturists will get a lot more ecological bang for their buck by turning unhealthy forests or other degraded landscapes into food forests.
I have a different perspective. I believe permaculture is a design system intended to deal with degraded landscapes (that is landscapes that are disturbed and having a hard time recovering on their own). Therefore, working to convert a healthy forest to food production misses the point when we live in a time where we are surrounded by degraded landscapes (e.g. lawns, broadscale ag fields, eroded landscapes, etc.). Mollison himself said something to the effect of, "Stay out of the bush - it is already in good order."
From this perspective I'd say the most appropriate place for a food forest is a piece of land that has been logged (especially if it has been done poorly and/or repeatedly). Still within this context there are some places where trying to create a food forest will be inappropriate. For instance, here in the Pacific Northwest there are places where the land has a huge seed bank, as mentioned by Osker. Some of these places are trying to return to giant hemlock and doug fir forests. These are shade tolerant monsters. What's more there are areas here in the PNW where the entire logged area is surrounded by these mature giants. To try and grow a food forest, even with the largest food-producing species (walnuts, oaks, chestnuts, etc.) seems like signing up for an incredible amount of maintenance (non-stop attempts by the giant evergreens to grow and push through the canopy. We're better off letting these areas return to what they once were and finding a place that isn't bouncing back so vigorously.
I'm originally from the Wisconsin/Minnesota area so I don't necessarily think this is the case there. In that area there are food producing species in the native forest mix so you can attempt to steer the regeneration of a forested area by planting varieties of native species selected for food production (e.g. black walnut, hickories, butternut, hazels, berries, etc.). Of course you could always choose to create a food forest in an ag field instead of a logged forest as well.
You might want to check out a project in Bayfield, WI called The Draw (http://thedraw.org/). A couple friends of mine have been going to town on a little piece of land and creating an amazing project. They have a nursery, food forests, orchards, gardens, animals, ponds, and all the goodies you'd hope to see on a cold temperate permaculture site.
ivan. wrote:
Maybe goumi and cornelian cherry down the line. Anyone have experience with them?
Goumi and Cornelian Cherry are both winners for this climate. For the Cornelian Cherries I suggest getting the named varieties as they tend to be much better than the seedlings. Make sure you get two different types for pollination. Also, we've found that planting them close together will make that pollination happen much better than putting them on opposite ends of the yard. We had a bumper crops this year. one of our trees got dragged down to the ground under the weight!
Goumi is easy and good. A winner for sure. I think there is a new variety hitting the market through Raintree Nursery or One Green World in 2012. Might be worth checking out.
I just got back from a trip to Japan and it is definitely yuzu season there! What a wonderful fruit. I had yuzu rind as a flavoring in many soup broths, candied yuzu peels, and an excellent yuzu stuffed with canten for dessert! In Japan they even use it to add a delicious aroma to bath salts. From talking to other folks in Western Washington yuzu sounds like one of our most promising citrus in that they are quite hardy and actually taste wonderful (unlike Flying Dragon or Trifolate Orange).
Jodi Shaw wrote:I live in the Seattle area and was hoping someone would have advice on which variety does well in the PNW? Which have the best flavor for this area? I have heard that the tastiest is the Jiro (Fuyu) from Japan, but seeing as Seattle is lucky to even have a summer sometimes, that a Jiro wouldn't be ideal. Would love some input, thanks!
There are very few varieties for the PNW due to lack of heat (as mentioned above). First, plan on planting them in a hot spot that gets full sun. The most promising varieties of Asian persimmon for the PNW are:
Izu
Early Jiro
Coffee Cake (Nishimura Wase)
Chocolate (Tsurunoko)
Saijo
The best performing American persimmon I've seen is Meader.
I'm not sure which ones are the best tasting (some will be astringent types that need to ripen to the point of gelatinous-ness before being edible), but you can look them up. I believe you can purchase most of these from Burnt Ridge Nursery (http://burntridgenursery.com). Order a copy of their 2012 catalog when it comes out.
Monkeys are extremely difficult to keep out of a food forest scenario. You need to consider them from the very first design stages or they'll get in.
First, since monkeys spend the vast majority of their time in trees you need to break canopy cover between your food forest/orchard and the native surrounding vegetation. If the mature tree crowns in your orchard will be within jumping distance of the mature tree crowns of the surrounding forest all the dogs and spiny stuff in the world won't matter.
Second, you need to surround the entire orchard/food forest with TWO grazing strips (width dependent upon mature tree canopies...probably 25-50 meters) separated by a band of dense, spiny vegetation (peach palm, prickly pear, natal plum, rattan, etc.). You can run cattle or other livestock in the grazing strip, but make sure do do it rotationally for the health of the strip. By laying things out this way a monkey in the forest would have to come down to the ground (which they hate to do), cross a grazing strip (which is open and makes them vulnerable), bust through a spiny wall of vegetation, cross another grazing strip and then enter the orchard. Here's a bird's eye view:
That said, even this isn't guaranteed to keep monkeys out. It's the best I've learned, though. Remember the whole thing is contingent upon breaking canopy cover with the surrounding forest. That means you need to have a realistic understanding of the mature size of both the trees in your orchard and the trees in the surrounding forest.
I got a Piteba press this summer and I've been using it to press sesame oil. I'm super happy with it, although it doesn't do so well on windy days due to the little oil lamp used to heat the element. I'm just using the oil I press for eating. I'm not sure the Piteba would be serious enough to produce a large quantity of fuel oil. You can hook it up to a bicycle (check youtube), but it still seems kind of small for that to me.
For doing small quantities of oil for eating it is great. I've even thought how cool it would be to have a few stationary bikes hooked up to Piteba presses at a farmer's market. People could come down, ride a bike for 20 minutes and get their cooking oil for the next week or two. It would be fun!
Here are the Pietba extraction numbers for a bunch of different types of seeds -> http://www.piteba.com/eng/index_eng.htm so you can see how much oil/hour to expect from the Piteba.
If you want a persimmon that produces for poultry you might consider trying Lotus Persimmon (Diospyros lotus). They are often used as a rootstock for other persimmons. However, we are in an area that is extremely marginal for persimmons and the lotus persimmon we have crops every year like clockwork. The persimmons aren't much for human food, but I bet chickens would love them. I believe Lotus Persimmon is also self-fertile. Seasonwise, the lotus persimmon seems to be earlier than all the others we've tried.
In terms of human food, I think your freezing idea is great. They can either be frozen whole or made into persimmon pulp and frozen (which may be a perfect solution for damaged fruits). As I understand there is even a market for persimmon pulp here in the US.
The Book Ecological Aquaculture (http://amzn.to/rNUxix) has an appendix on how to cultivate water chestnuts. It also has appendices on freshwater shrimp and a variety of other aquaculture crops. I'm not sure what climate you're in, but you may find that you require a greenhouse to pull it off.
For a source of plant material I suggest just going to pick some up from a local Asian market when they have fresh ones. Straight from the produce department to the garden!
I'm not sure how to go about making cordage, but I know a guy who is growing Musa basjoo for the leaves. He sells them to high end SE Asian restaurants as plate liners. He also sells them to folks from Central America who have a tradition of using banana leaves instead of corn husks for making tamales.
We grow these at our place. They like full sun and moist, well-drained soil.
Since they can make a 3 foot long root that oozes slime when damaged we actually grow these is a 55 gallon, food-grade barrel. That way when harvest time comes around we can just kick the barrel over and pull the tubers out (a sandy soil mix helps) without damage. For this growing system it seems that they also like to receive liquid fertilizer (fish emulsion & soluble seaweed) during the summer. Sometimes it takes them two years in our climate to size up.
I prefer to refer to Brosmium alicastrum as "Mayan Breadnut" in English. That helps to distinguish it from the seeded form of Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), which also happens to have excellent nuts (often referred to as "Breadnut" or "Castaña"), but is by no means frost tolerant.
da_wanderer wrote: Moso, Bambusoides, Makinoi, Henon, and Rubro should produce good poles for you, as long as they get plenty of water and 80+ degree summer temperatures. These are all zone 7 or 6 reliable species.
These all look good. I chatted with some Bamboo Society guys a few years ago and asked them about their favorite crossover species between poles & shoots. They recommended Rubromarginata. That being said, Henon seems to grow really well at our place as a good timber species.
da_wanderer mentioned water & heat. I've also heard that applying liquid fertilizers (fish emulsion & soluble seaweed) during the months of July - September will help them to size up and reach their full potential.
I also want to recommend the book Bamboo Farming by Daphne Lewis (http://amzn.to/uKw82y). She is from Kirkland, Washington and the book is largely focused around growing in the Pacific Northwest. She includes good stand establishment and management info.
secondhandstardust wrote: Also i have read that biodigesters work according to temperature. I live in upstate New York where we get cold and freezing temperatures every season. Anyone have ideas on how to work with this issue?
For temperate climates it seems to me like you'd want the digestion chamber to be located indoors (basement or heated outbuilding, perhaps?). I've always thought it would be cool for multi-family housing units in the city to have biodigesters in the basement that process the human waste. Some of the new Living Building Challenge projects are addressing this with composting toilets, but I haven't seen any biodigesters yet.
For more information on biodigesters in the frozen north you might also make contact with the folks at Growing Power in Milwaukee, WI. I visited their urban farm a few years ago and they were installing a biodigester to process the animal manures & green waste generated on their site. They were hoping to generate enough methane to heat one of their greenhouses through the winter. http://GrowingPower.org
This workshop is geared toward those who would like to develop a basic understanding of the permaculture design system. We’ll get into permaculture definitions, ethics & principles as well as looking at some of the tools permaculturists use to create functional, integrated designs. We will also look at some examples of permaculture systems in action and showcase some “All-Star” permaculture plants for the Pacific Northwest. Finally, we’ll crack out the pens and paper and put some of this new information into practice with a design scenario.
This session is intended to pique your interest and get you excited to learn more about the permaculture design system and explore how it fits into your business and life. You will walk away with a better understanding of permaculture design and a variety of resources that you can use to kick start your permaculture education.
For more details or to sign up go to https://www.wsnla.org/cgi/cart.cgi?action=link&product=88&uid=11391.
Cost: $120
Note: This workshop may provide landscape designers, contractors, arborists, and nursery people with continuing education credits. Please see the link above for details.
We're having our third annual Fall Nursery Sale here at the Bullock's Permaculture Homestead on Orcas Island! We specialize in fruit & nut trees, berry bushes, herbs, unusual edibles, and other useful plants. The sale will be happening on Sept 24 & 25, 10 am - 4 pm. For full details or to ask questions please see http://permacultureportal.com/services_nursery.html.
[size=14pt]Permaculture Design Course [/size] Join us at Project Bona Fide on the amazing Isla Ometepe, Nicaragua this winter for a Permaculture Design Course! If you've been thinking about doing something to make the world a better place and having some fun in the tropics while you're at it, here's your chance! The course will cover a wide range of topics including:
[li]Principles and Ethics of Permaculture Design[/li] [li]Site analysis and design, from the tropics to temperate regions[/li] [li]Landscape master planning and microclimate design[/li] [li]Reading the landscape and pattern recognition[/li] [li]Resiliency building[/li] [li]Design for climate change[/li] [li]Water catchment, storage, filtration, and distribution[/li] [li]Natural building techniques and vernacular architecture[/li] [li]Plant propagation and grafting[/li] [li]Renewable energies and biofuels[/li] [li]Local and Regenerative economics[/li] [li]Urban and suburban permaculture strategies[/li] [li]Ecovillage design and community building strategies[/li] [li]Networking within the permaculture community and beyond[/li]
(For a full list see the weblink below)
The folks at Project Bona Fide have worked hard to create an excellent site where you can see living examples of many of the techniques we will address in the course. There will be a mix of classroom and hands-on components so you can pack away tons of information and have a chance to put some of it into practice. This is sure to be an incredibly valuable experience. If you're interested in sustainability, resiliency building, or grassroots world changing this is the course for you!
Location: Project Bona Fide, Isla Ometepe, Nicaragua
Dates: February 3-17, 2012
Instructors: Chris Shanks, Douglas Bullock, Dave Boehnlein & a cast of local instructors including Evelio Hernandez, Nevis Ortiz Mairena & Hector Ortiz.
Cost: US$1250 (A $400 non-refundable deposit is required for registration)
[size=12pt]Introduction to Permaculture Weekend Workshop[/size]
When: May 20 - 22, 2011
Where: At the Bullock's 30 year old Permaculture Homestead, Orcas Island, WA
Instructors: Douglas Bullock, Sam Bullock & Dave Boehnlein
Includes:
Tour, lecture, hand-on projects, presentations, group discussion, and networking. We will cover Permaculture design theory & practice, forest gardening, perennial food systems, plant propagation, efficient water & energy systems, fertility management - beneficial plants/healthy soils, and ecological systems as a model for human communities.
Course Tuition: $200; includes delicious, mostly organic meals & materials. Camping space is provided. Payment is due upon course registration. Course is limited to 50 participants.
