Samantha Lewis

This is Paul Wheaton's 16th Kickstarter!

When you’re bonkers about permaculture, you might seem a bit crazy to your friends and family.

Twelve years ago, we came out with a deck of Permaculture Playing Cards.
The idea was simple: give these decks to people as gifts so you seem a little less crazy.

And it worked.

People loved them so much that they kept asking for another deck.
So we started a long list of ideas, over a hundred in total, and chose the best ones to bring you something new:
the Purple Deck.


Why It Works

Here’s the magic: You hand someone a deck, maybe that cousin who thinks you’ve lost it because of your bizarre gardening techniques. They open it up, pull out two random cards, and spend about seven seconds looking at each.

That’s all it takes. Two cards. Fourteen seconds. And suddenly, they’re hooked on permaculture.

Each card is designed to spark curiosity and share one fascinating slice of the gardening, homesteading and permaculture world, from rocket cooktops to willow feeders, from forage gardening to cleaners you can eat.

What’s Inside the Purple Deck




Kickstarter kickback program!

You can get paid to share this project!

https://permies.com/w/kickback

In the deck of playing cards, you will get the Solar Food Dehydrator card




Here is a video with a lot more detail on this concept.  Enjoy!

I just checked in with the kickstarter page and it looks like we only have 9 days left to go!

When we started this as a 60 day kickstarter I thought that sounded so long but the days have flown by and now it is almost over.    

I think it is so great that enough people want to see this project succeed to really make it happen.  

These cards will be a powerful tool to share skills and inspiration for gardening, natural building, ultra clean wood burning and other homesteading skills.  


We all learn quicker through games and fun.
If you have kids and family members who you are eager to share this stuff with,  these cards are a great way to speed up the learning process.

Hello Mihail!

Thank you for sharing your beautiful place!

Welcome to permies!

John F Dean wrote:Hi Samantha,

I can see where an old small sweater could be put to good use.

Hello John!
Old sweater or an old sock!  I was inspired to make these when I found them on the Skills to Inherit Property (S.K.I.P.) textiles project list.

Here is the link:
https://permies.com/wiki/153534/pep-textiles/Knit-crochet-pair-fingerless-gloves

I made these just for this bb.  I needed a small easy project that I could keep in my purse to work on while I was out.  I like to have something to do.  I feel so unproductive if don't have a project I can work on.   It turns out these are my favorite gloves now.   I want to make a few more pairs.  They were so easy and quick!

Here is some hand spun from my sheep.


I also gathered up a bunch of small balls of naturals from my wool collection.


Small circular knitting needle too.

Getting started



Adding the thumb hole.  


Finished gloves.


This might look a little long on my fingers but I measured them this way.   I wanted to have plenty of thick wool over my hand so I can carry a bucket or hold a rope and have them protect my hand.

These are my favorite gloves!




I used to take my gloves off to do work, set them down somewhere and then not have gloves when I wanted them.  Now with these, I can just push them up my sleeve if they are in the way.


They were so easy to make.
I knitted them in the round and only made a thumb hole.  My hands stay really warm and my fingers are free to do stuff.

We are getting so close to this stretch goal with Ben Falk!


Here is a quick over view of the program:

The consultation opens with an overview of the site's geographic context and the intention to focus on Zone 1.

Ben highlights the importance of starting the design process by identifying permanent features and understanding the overall land shape.

The session underscores the need for optimizing solar gain for the placement of new structures and gardens.

Mapping tools and software are recommended for a thorough analysis of the site's topography, wind patterns, and vegetation.

Discussion on the placement of the new house, emphasizing the benefits of situating it to maximize solar gain and considering the existing road for access.

The potential locations for gardens and other key elements like greenhouses and workshops are considered relative to the new house.

The consultation addresses the challenges and opportunities presented by existing structures and the site's natural features.

Ben advises on the strategic location of gardens to ensure they receive ample sunlight, which is critical for productivity.

The importance of thoughtful access planning to minimize impact on the site's high-value areas is discussed.

The session concludes with a call to iterative design, suggesting that plans may evolve based on further observations and changing needs.

Becoming a member of WWOOF USA means you adhere to the values of the WWOOF Charter. It also allows you to contact the hosts of the network and organize your stay with them online.

Being a host allows you to stay open to the world by hosting WWOOFers from all walks of life. It's also an opportunity for you to receive physical and moral support for your agricultural project, to exchange ideas, values and knowledge.

To find out more, go to: https://wwoofusa.org




Become a member today and gain full access to the WWOOF network of organic farms. To join, visit WWOOF USA

Starting March 1st 2026 You can come out to Wheaton Labs as a WWOOFer!

Wheaton Labs is also a host at WWOOF-USA - if you're interested in coming out sooner and learning about permaculture, you could try our bootcamp: https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp/

We are live!


Come join us on the youtube live!  





We are going over a bunch of the cards and talking about all the fun stuff.