I definitely appreciated the accountability. One chapter a week, with a "mid-term" break, was about right.
One take-away is that the book seems to contain more solutions than it does analysis of problems.
That means I may be looking outside
permaculture, or to more experienced folks in my climate, for cogent analysis of the problems / limiting factors in a particular situation. Knowing how to evaluate limiting factors is a skill I was hoping to build with this read-through, but I guess practise is the only way to really develop it.
The book does offer a summary of plant-behavior indicators for nutrient imbalance, but I need a lot more dirt-time to be able to parse out what particular form of neglect has caused stress, and what factors can be added to alleviate that stress without constant care.
Another is that systems are complex. There are dozens of factors to be balanced.
I already had a bias toward looking to known/proven solutions, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. The range of solutions in the book reinforces my bias: although they may be more 'proven' than some other methods, some appear to be novel and not well tested. So I may be interested in trying any method suggested in the book,
and practised successfully by someone in a comparable climate. Yay for the forums!
Inventing/designing my own methods seems likely to be more labor than fruit. (and yet ....
huglacier....)
I guess this is kind of like the difference between
- traditional artisan design (elegant solutions to known problems; and variations of decoration or material using known cuts and styles of clothing)
vs.
- runway fashion design (it's a cape! it's a skirt! It's a muppet! It's a political statement couched in absurdist orange fur!)
or
I would be much prouder to 'invent' a new tool, or an easier way to make an elegant basket, or a beautiful and relatively conventional-looking garden that waters itself, than a wearable Muppet. Although a grafted 'tree of many fruits' is certainly attractive.
(Although this absurd fashion example combines conventional tailoring with a creative costume approach... sometimes jazzing up the familiar keeps one's creative interest alive. This is roughly like that mandala garden to me: the elaboration is not necessary for function, but may produce creative wonder or satisfaction that supports the original function.)
Recognizing my biases has been a big one.
I definitely favor wildlife habitat systems, not livestock or fenced range. And self-regulating systems that require minimal care. And work in big sporadic bursts, not constant daily attention.
- I like being able to go visiting, and come back to food. I don't like being stuck feeding and watering. The modern era of easy transport is definitely a factor in my upbringing and habits.
I wonder if I will eventually settle down, for example if we have kids? Or if I've picked the right direction in working toward being a journeyman natural builder and eventually living on a sailboat. Still trying to figure how sailboat +
land stewardship fit together.
- I would love to
fence less, yet I would also love to establish
perennial gardens and fruiting
trees, and shade over the
pond. And I don't particularly want to achieve this by completely excluding
deer, for example by keeping a dog trained to run them off. Dilemmas.
It's also been interesting recognizing what elements are straight out of "the book," and what elements seem to have been developed over cycles of teaching and on-the-ground practise in different regions. I've sat in on parts of several good teachers' PDCs, and my impression is that the courses are definitely more cogent and easily assimilated into practical knowledge. Practical design projects and hands-on projects accompany most lessons, which seems like an important way to read the material. I've definitely enjoyed the chapters more that were pertinent to immediate plans, rather than abstract or climate-irrelevant.
And flipping back through, I remember really appreciating the analysis of wind-patterns, currents, erosion and depositional flows, fire patterns and
home defense, etc.
from
http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ - Science Focus: Von Karman vortices
Eckman spirals.
While I don't think it's necessary to compress every pattern into a single, "master" pattern, I do think the practical statistics on height-length relationships in eddies, or blocking radiant heat whether from sun or fire, are very useful. I may have been dismissive of some of the other chapters because they're things I had already studied, or have entrenched opinions about. Every little bit of additional ability to predict consequences is a big help when it comes to making effective improvements with limited time and resources.
A lot of the plants mentioned are either not suitable for our climate, or potentially invasive (is there any plant that isn't one or the other? I guess that leaves the marginal-for-climate, or slow-growing species).
Yet I very much enjoyed looking up some of the wide variety of plants and livestock species mentioned, learning some of their tricks, and looking for analogues.
-Erica W
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