Jacob Gelinas

Rob Lineberger wrote:

Jacob Gelinas wrote:Are there any types of maps (topographical, soil surveys, etc) that would be able to make the process more accurate for remote work?

Yes.  There is GoMaps.  It has parcels, zoning, elevation, satellite, topography, water table, flood zone 100 year history, soils, fire district, etc etc etc etc.  

I strongly encourage you not to do this.  I tried to do something similar for a few sites just ten minutes away as I was trying to plan a land purchase.  I walked the properties a few times, did soil samples to confirm (GoMaps was accurate), water sources (accurate), topography (accurate to within a few inches as far as I can tell.)  I took pictures.  Lots of pictures.  I made maps and planned locations for house, gardens, driveway, trails, water, etc.

I spent a month doing this.

As a last minute check I walked the land again with a friend of mine to talk over my plans.  He pointed out at least three things I hadn't thought of that would have cost me tens of thousands of dollars all totaled.  I found a few myself.  And I can only imagine what would have happened if I'd spent a night there, walked around a bit more.  I seriously would have almost doubled the cost of the lot just from driveway miscalculations I made, and also the impact of just a few feet of incline on the home foundation.

Ron,

Thanks so much for the reply. I had never heard of GoMaps before but it sounds like a great program! It's a good thing you were able to catch all of that before making any big miscalculations. It sounds like your situation was for a new build of a property though. This type of design would be for existing homes on existing properties. Do you think GoMaps would be a viable first step in the design process for these applications? Again, the designs wouldn't necessarily have to be perfect but would have to be a great starting point before getting onsite.

Hi Anne,

I have not taken a PDC yet, although I do plan to in the future. I have read Sepp Holzer's book on permaculture and have watched numerous videos and read numerous online sources about permaculture (including permies.com). I'm mainly looking to connect with others who have more permaculture experience than myself and may want to lend a hand and take part in something.

Thanks for the reply!

Are there any types of maps (topographical, soil surveys, etc) that would be able to make the process more accurate for remote work? I understand your concerns completely and those are the concerns I have with the idea as well. But I'm wondering if anyone has found a method to work around those issues with decent results. Would pictures of the property help enough to make a decent design? The intent would be to be able to implement permaculture designs on a broader scale. They wouldn't necessarily have to be perfect and they can always be improved. But could a good, solid, foundational permaculture design be implemented remotely?

Does anyone have any experience designing a permaculture landscape completely remotely? What I mean by that is, has anyone consulted for a client and designed their entire permaculture landscape without ever going to and seeing the property? Does anyone think this is possible? I would love to know. The only reason I have hopes that something like this could be possible is because it's essentially what I do for work but not for permaculture design. I work as a system designer and do most of my design work in AutoCAD from home. I do often have to go to the customer's sites to do a survey but the bulk of my work is done remotely. I'd love to hear if there are any designers out there who use a CAD software and have created permaculture designs completely remotely.

Hi all,

I'm looking to connect with some permaculture folks in my area. I live in Providence, RI and I am really interested in trying to create a business using permaculture principles. I'd really like to bounce my ideas off of some folks to see if they think the business is feasible or not. I would also love for any of you to help out if you're willing which is why I'm looking to connect more locally at this point. If you have taken any permaculture design courses, etc., I'd love to see if we can exercise your skills. Regardless I'd love to connect to some like-minded individuals and have good, constructive conversations. Always looking to learn more about growing food and of course teach as well if I can. I hope to hear from some locals!

Thank you very much,
Jake

Hi all,

This is my first post here and I hope I don't lose too much respect for that. I am very new to permaculture so please be easy on me, that is why I'm reaching out to this community. I do have a few years of experience gardening on my own which has lead my interest towards permaculture. Anyways, I have a business concept that I believe to be scalable and beneficial for communities, many other small businesses, as well as for the business that would be. I really think this idea could bring locally grown, healthy food at a large scale to many of those who do not have access to it or who don't have the time to do it themselves. I've already started running the business at a VERY small scale here in Rhode Island (I am located in Providence, RI). I think this is something that could scale through the US, possibly globally. The problem is, I work full time and do not have the capacity to implement all of my ideas by myself. So I've begun to shift my thinking a little and have realized I will need help. I am very much the type of person who THINKS I can do it all on my own but in reality I KNOW I will need help to get something like this going. If you are a hardcore permaculturist who only believes in using larger areas of land to grow on, I may not have the ideas you're looking for. However, if you think that permaculture is very much doable at the urban to suburban scale and you have any skills/background/network in this area, please reach out to me. I can't build a business like this on my own, so I'm reaching out in hopes that others will like this concept as well and we can build something amazing together. Also, I'm not some type of scammer, I genuinely believe in this model. I just really want to have engaging conversations with some motivated folks who think that this could really benefit our society.

Really looking forward to hearing from this community.

Thank you so much,
Jake