posted 12 years ago
Briggs, thanks for the reply. I do have those three books, and read them over and over. I think I have a fairly good grasp of the principles of permaculture. Where I am struggling now is to figure out how to design specific guilds and techniques that will work for my specific situation. I may be wrong, but based on what I have seen in online videos and descriptions of PDC courses, I don't think I would learn that from taking a course where the instructor spends most of the time talking about plants and techniques that are only appropriate in wetter &/or warmer climates.
That said, I have learned a lot from many of the forum discussions, especially those which provide links to other sources of info. For example, the advice to check with my state forest nursery, and some of the links about colorado, have helped me start formulating a list of plants to consider that can take the high elevation, the cold winters, the dryness, and the heat and intense sun of summer. So I am very grateful for all the info everyone has shared here.
But I still think the permies forums could be of even greater help, especially to newbies to either the forums or to permaculture, with a Starter section to help us figure out this maze of info. Some of the forums are so long it takes days to read through them. Even after several weeks of intensive reading and learning, I am still struggling to make sense of it all. For example, this morning I was reading one thread, and clicked on a link which led me to a part of the forum I didn't even know was there--with a discussion about keylines--a whole new topic to consider, that I find so confusing I don't know where to start exploring the idea.
Another point here, is that "my" library, or the ones I have access to, have very few books about permaculture. I would love to be able to read the whole list of books folks here have recommended, like all the books and videos by Sep and Geoff and other greats, but it is just not possible. One library has Intro to Permaculture, and Elliot's Four Season Harvest, which I have read over and over. The other has a couple more permaculture books, only because I requested them, and my son happens to be the librarian and put them on the order list. He gets to do that occasionally, but can't just buy books I might want to read. He has to consider what the other residents and patrons want too. Though I keep hoping others will pick up the books and decide to try some of the ideas for growing some of their own food, things that might work well in the UK or AU don't seem to do so well here. But I haven't seen any permaculture oriented books that really seem to deal with conditions in CO, especially in NW co which is very different from the eastern plains.
But, most of the books I have read seem to be either from Australia, a much warmer climate, or from the cool, humid temperate zones like the UK or the Pacific northwest, or places that are always cool, like Maine. I have lived in Maine, and in the NW, and I know for a fact that the climate and growing conditions are a great deal different from mine here, so I have to learn new ways of growing food. Contrary to what one county extension agent told me, gardening is not the same everywhere.
I do appreciate all the input from everyone on the forums, and have learned a great deal here. I hope to continue learning, as we go into a new gardening season, and hopefully be able to share what I am learning from my experiences this year, to help others who may also be trying to learn some of these things.
Permies-- together we can make a difference.
djn