Permaculture Photo Challenge - October-November 2019

I love photo challenges so much that I made my own!



The goal is to take a photo of each of the following items. It doesn't have to be in order or with a fancy camera.  In fact, I'll probably use a very un-fancy camera. The idea is to inspire you to get out and observe permaculture in the world around you.

1  compost
2  apple
3  preservation
4  food as medicine
5  taproot
6  cast iron
7  green (luxuriant)
8  bugs, weeds, funguses &/or microorganisms
9  wildcrafting
10 berry
11 friendly weeds
12 seeds
13 pollinator
14 edible cleaning
15 clothesline
16 repair
17 polyculture
18 stinging nettles
19 greywater
20 guardian animal
21 chicken
22 joker
23 textured landscape
24 microclimate
25 observation
26 weather
27 decay
28 overalls
29 comfort
30 building a better world

Bonus
31 spooky

Please post your photos in this thread and say which item you captured.



The challenge is open to anyone, and there is no official time limit.  You can take one a day, or more, or less.  It's very casual.  But I request that the photos be taken on or after October 1st, 2019.

The items on the list are deliberately vague and open to interpretation.  Have fun!

The list is heavily inspired by The Permaculture Playing Cards

In other news, if you would like to help design next month's challenge, please pop some ideas into this thread.  

Thanks for doing this! Had been looking on at y'all doing your other challenge and the year long class. This challenge seems easier to accomplish as most of these are in or around the house of a permie.

It's October first here, so I guess I get to be the first. Closest we have to guardian animals at the moment.
Nephila clavata with some spoils in her web.

I'll do my best.
Today this small toad (bufo bufo) was walking in my hallway. Probably because I had been busy with rainbarrels close to the front door. I quickly made some photos and put it back in the garden again, hoping the rain will wash the poor little creature clean again.
I don't know which 'prompt' this will be. Is it a  'bug'? No, I don't think so. Is it a 'guardian animal'? Might be. Or it could be the 'joker' ...

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:I'll do my best.
Today this small toad (bufo bufo) was walking in my hallway. Probably because I had been busy with rainbarrels close to the front door. I quickly made some photos and put it back in the garden again, hoping the rain will wash the poor little creature clean again.
I don't know which 'prompt' this will be. Is it a  'bug'? No, I don't think so. Is it a 'guardian animal'? Might be. Or it could be the 'joker' ...

Love this guy.
joker works well.  

Amy Arnett wrote:Thanks for doing this! Had been looking on at y'all doing your other challenge and the year long class. This challenge seems easier to accomplish as most of these are in or around the house of a permie.

It's October first here, so I guess I get to be the first. Closest we have to guardian animals at the moment.
Nephila clavata with some spoils in her web.

That is a really big spider.  I'm so glad she's on your side.

20 guardian animal

Here we have Ferd (the grey) and Gert (the calico), our garden guardians. Ferd showed up recently and it seems that he and Gert get along better than Worf (the black cat) and Gert. Currently, Ferd instigates fights with Worf, and then Gert slaps him for it; but she also slaps Worf, so I think she's establishing herself as the "Queen" of the pride.

Worf follows folks around the property like a dog, and this second picture is when he followed me up to the top of the volcano (where we saw a one-eyed Groot!).

Both Worf and Ferd have at times grabbed my ankles in an attempt to keep me from walking too far away from the house and library (where the cat kibble is kept and served), and Gert meowed at me incessantly when I climbed high on one of our giant hugelkulturs. Their idea of "protection" is some times a bit different. (Heh.)

(Er, I might be becoming a crazy cat lady in my old age...)

Because it's October, I added a bonus picture for those who want to take 31.

Compost. Nothing artistic.

5. Taproot

It's still hot as a firecracker here, but wool weather is just around the corner. I love my clothesline!

Carol Denton wrote:It's still hot as a firecracker here, but wool weather is just around the corner. I love my clothesline!

Heating season started here today! I have been putting it off, but I started a fire to take the chill out of the air.

Heating season started here today! I have been putting it off, but I started a fire to take the chill out of the air.


According to the weather app, we'll finally be out of the 90s on Friday. Woot! My blankets and I will be all aired out and ready to smell wood smoke.

Carol Denton wrote:

Heating season started here today! I have been putting it off, but I started a fire to take the chill out of the air.

According to the weather app, we'll finally be out of the 90s on Friday. Woot! My blankets and I will be all aired out and ready to smell wood smoke.


We had a killing frost two weeks ago! :-) I am not sure if we hot 90 degrees this summer or not. I usually just take my long johns off on July3rd and put them back on around July 5th! (LOL)

Travis Johnson wrote: We had a killing frost two weeks ago! :-) I am not sure if we hot 90 degrees this summer or not. I usually just take my long johns off on July3rd and put them back on around July 5th! (LOL)

No frosts yet down here in the tropical part of Maine Travis :)!  My wife informs me that we will go through October without any heating....I like her thought, but I'm expecting to be doing a touch of wood burning before that.

10. Berry
I had to Google to see if grapes were berries...

Hi all,
I was trying to capture a close up of a stink bug this morning, not so sure it is much good as a number 8., but the #26 Observation has potential. Check out the water droplets clinging to the side of my truck door.
Bug flew away so I tried to capture the rain droplets again. Nothing award winning, but interesting.

13) pollinator.
Hoverfly (phytomia zonata) on our sunchokes. check out it's eye!

Smart phone and the bat would not standstill. Got the moon and a bat. Lousy and out of focus,  but proud i got them both in the shot.

8. Bugs (cause the bat is eating them)

Man, that moon was really trucking along! :)

Pollinator and preservation

I managed to sneak in a few minutes today to get some pictures! Inspired by Raven's blipphoto album, where every picture features Henny Penny, I used my mini-me figure that I made for my daughter for my pictures!

(Sorry they're not in order!)

A bug on a Dandelion
Taken with my new Olympus tg5

While the chickens free-range, their run fills up with wonderful things. The tree with the fungus is a honey locust.

I don't think I'll do all prompts. But of course I can't wait with #30: Building a Better World (book). It even arrived here in Meppel (the Netherlands)!

Building a Better World book has arrived!
Signed by the authors, I am so proud of it (but still I'll let others read this book too):

"Food = medicine"
Elderberry syrop