Abraham Palma

There are the Permaculture Design Principles, and then, the personal principles we apply into our lives, some of them extracted from permaculture, some others not.
These are mine:

- Only buy stuff that solves a necessity.
- When shopping, I go for durable, non toxic, plastic free product, if I can afford it.
- Before throwing away, check if it can be repaired or given a second life.
- Consider the cost of transport and end of cycle in everything: trips, commute, errands, groceries, sfsf.
- Critical services must have a reliable manual option by default, and keep a buffer.
- Avoid non-renewable inputs for maintenance tasks.
- Space and time are limited resources.


These have many implications in my daily life, but that'd make this post too long to explain.
Then, what are yours?

I'd say my final product is 80% mature compost, 15% unfinished compost and 5% raw material. Sometimes it's a little bit more mature. Plants don't seem to mind anyways.

After almost two years of working it this way, I'd call it a complete success: no need for irrigation, no need for worms, no failures, no foul smells, no extra space for piles, it's cold compost but it turns black quickly, just some extra work and mosquitoes. (oh my, how they bite!)

Nikolaj Vinicoff wrote:Thanks for sharing this. I checked out the website, and judging by the photos (yes, I shouldn't judge), it looks like a hippie community more so than one of permaculture. Bill would always joke about being wary of hippies, ha ha... Anyhow, I'll keep up to date on their website for future events or gatherings.

Well, it's a diverse group, but you are right: the group most interested in seasonal meetings is of the hippie kind! But rural hippies that know how to grow things.

Nikolaj Vinicoff wrote:

Hugo Morvan wrote:Hard to not get political about it. So just some snippets as i do get the sentiment. Happy to see Senegale are friendly. i've heard in Southern Italy they pay people in some villages to go and live there if that's hot enough for you. The southern Spain region around Malaga is very dry and has quite a lot of international Permaculture minded folk. Also in the mountains there. So you could check that out on your way to Africa.

This is where I am currently. Sadly I was not aware that there is a strong permaculture movement here! Any way you could put me in touch?

Hello there!

In Málaga you may contact the Permaculture Network of Málaga. There's an active Telegram group, and a webpage.
https://redpermaculturamalaga.org/

Send me a PM if you wish to contact the telegram group.

Tess Misch wrote:The only time I can get my grandson to enjoy writing is by having him write in cursive!! I tell him it is a code - it is today, as so many cannot read it b/c they are not learning it.  So I turn it into a mystery or treasure code that only he and a few others will actually understand.  He loves it. But to be fully honest, getting him to write anything at all is nearly impossible. I have no idea why. He loves building and creating, using tools, so it isn't fine motor issues. But I tell him, knowing how to write with your hands is an absolute skill he has to learn & practice at.  We have this saying: "The more you practice, the better you get."  If I can get him to write just TWO sentences, I am blessed!  LOL --Tess

Hi, I get my son to write some sentences, sometimes from one of his children books, sometimes it is a famous rhyme. He wanted to practice since his teacher told him she couldn't understand anything he writes at school. Now he has improved; we are working with the same typography they use in class, fluid but not very legible.
We take around 30 minutes for this workout: he is already ten years old so it is not too much.

Neat idea.
Potential problems : the water doesn't go the way you want.
It can go too deep or not deep enough, it can go sideways, it may have a side that requires more water than the other because of plants, winds or isolation.

How do you see a spiral infiltration ditch?

Oh, yes, the misterious patterns.

I remember I tried to put a pattern into work early in my design. For the beds, I was looking at forming a grid for maximizing the use of the surface. I went for equilateral triangles. On the paper it looked like it could really work, less area lost in transitions. However, building equiliateral triangled beds was a real challenge. What I have now is more or less a grid too, but it is made of long rectangles which are easier to build.

For the paths, I kept in mind the 'brach' pattern. A main path with branches is the most efficient way to move stuff between the entrance and the whole garden. Also the path for the wheelbarrow has to be flat, for reducing resistance.

The wave pattern is great for making energy flow, without really moving. The practical application is following cycles. We go to the garden roughly at the same hour the same days of the week, forming a wave. This helps us to create a habit of going to the garden at the appointed time. Also, pruning in winter, sowing in spring, harvesting in summer, this is, going with the seasons, is another wave.

For my wind protection I use two patterns. One is rough surfaces, or lobes, which help to slow down any fluid, wind in this case. The other is the semisphere, meant for making cool air to stay inside the hedges (hot air moves upwards, cool air goes downwards, and if has nowhere to go, it stays in the bed). This helps lowering the temperature of the beds during the night, reducing evaporation.

For watering new sapplings, I dig a bowl around the plant (another semisphere), this is the fastest way to pour 30 litres of water in seconds to the plant, and be sure that it will go to the roots.


Surely there must be other examples.

Hugo Morvan wrote:I did a tour this winter (feb/march) in Spain and people were very happy with all the rain. I am wondering if it's still as bad as last year by now. Did it have a lasting effect? Maybe not so for plants that root close to the surface, but are the trees with deep roots profitting?
Insect hotels attract a lot of insects, but also concentrate the egglaying in one place, it's easy for predators of the mason bees for instance then to lay eggs. When nature was wilder,with lots of stalks and plant debris left in place it was a better environment for insects. Here in France an organisation emerged contracting farmers not to cut the trees they plant in their hedges, 90 different species they offer, miles of insects refuges bringing down insect pressure on crops because they harbor predator insects as well...

Hi, Hugo.
Dams have recharged a little. So for farmers who use dam water it's still fine.

I got a few crops surviving on the spring rains: lettuce, mustard, favas, but starting June most things have withered. Fruit trees are doing well, as expected, and the same is true for the climbing grapes. The hardy ornamentals weren't so hardy for the most part. Lavender, lentisk, and some brooms are doing well, the others not so much.

At least I could get some mustard grains for trying the sauce recipe...

Hi, Joseph.

I'm trying to get a few gardener friends interested to this practice, but it's always received with mistrust.

The most common objection is lack of space, since my friends have urban gardens with not so much space. It's hard to justify growing ten different gourds when you barely have space for two. The second most common objection is the fear of losing the already adapted heirloom variety they are already using. They don't want to mix it with foreign varieties and spoil it. Do you know how rural people is afraid of change? The same can be applied to most growers.
And this is from urban gardeners that grow from seed, because most of the gardeners I know, just buy the seedlings. They don't have proper nurseries or space in their appartments for growing from seed. I know how difficult it is without a proper space because I try to grow from seed in my (excessively exposed) terrace and, man, it's really hard.

In my personal case, I have no objection at all, but I simply can't irrigate crops. This is a big issue in a semi-arid warm mediterranean climate which feels like a desert from May to September. Seeds that claim to be apt for dryland farming in southern France, just can't make it in this heat. If I get no survivors, I can't make any selection.

I guess what I'd like to see in this book is a clear reference to:
1. What good I am getting by adopting Adaptation Gardening in my garden.
2. What is the bare minimum that I need for making it happen.
3. What I am giving up when I choose this technique instead of others.

(pss, pss, and maybe have it translated into spanish!)

Sounds interesting!

Before you embark in such a huge project, I would recommend to check another impactful organisation that is already doing wonders in Andalousia. It's called Asociacion Alvelal, they do many things, education, regenerative practices, help with bounds, and have developed a local network that connects local producers with local restaurants.
In short, they have created value for the local products increasing tourism, these products have been created following regenerative practices, and the association conducts periodically research that is published in major journals of agriculture. The researchers get their papers, the farmers get their local clients and education, and the restaurants get more tourists too, win-win-win. They also promote their activity by granting prizes.

Even if your project differ in its methods and objectives, it could be informative to talk with them. This is their webpage: https://alvelal.es/