Hal Schibel

Jeff Steez wrote:The only chance left is developing a 'Hail Mary' app, product, bit of nonsense, that goes viral and catches on. Modernity is a casino. The instability is brutal too, it's difficult to know what to study or focus on to predict whether it will be useless in a few years.

I feel you here with the frustration of going for a degree that seemed really important when you started but feels useless by the time you get done. I eventually gave up on getting a job in my field but used what I had learned to pivot into something else.

In my experience and also my husband's experience (he's a software engineer), we've both found better luck getting jobs when there is some sort of personal connection rather than applying to job listings. Like you have to know someone on the inside. And of course everyone has such a different experience it's hard to know whose advice to take. I would encourage you to not lose hope while at the same time be realistic about if you are getting anywhere with your degree.

This is something I feel it is way overdue that a wiki page get made for this. So, this is the MEGA LIST OF RESOURCES FOR LEARNING PERMACULTURE!
Anyone can edit this page, so please feel free to add to it. I keep hearing about people not knowing where to go for resources, so here's a good place to start finding information.

Permaculture in General


Websites and Online Resources
Permies.com
Permaculture Design with Delvin Solkinson & Grace Solkinson
Permaculture Design Course Handbook by TreeYoPermaculture
Permaculture Association Knowledge Base
Permaculture With Minimal Aspect Of It
Permaculture Magazine (not free)
Free Permaculture eBooks
Permaculture Principles
Permaculture Apprentice
EcoLonomics Institute
Tenth Acre Farm
Permablitz
Midwest Permaculture
David the Good's Permaculture Web site
Ecological Landscape Professional Design
Visionary Permaculture
Permaculture Commons

Videos
Video, DVD, and YouTube Channel Review Grid
72 Bricks of Permaculture Keynote Presentation by Paul Wheaton
Bill Mollison Lecture Series
Dr. Will Hooker's Permaculture Lecture Series
Jack Spirko YouTube Series
Permaculture 101 by Geoff Lawton
Permaculture Circle by Geoff Lawton
Introduction to Permaculture by VergePermaculture
Introduction to Permacultureby Midwest Permaculture
Sepp Holzer's Mountain Permaculture Farm
Sepp has written permaculture books and is known as the most inventive and creative practitioner

YouTube Channels
Video, DVD, and YouTube Channel Review Grid
Paul Wheaton's YouTube Channel
Diego Footer's YouTube Channel
Justin Rhodes's YouTube Channel
The Gardening Channel with James Prigioni
Pete Kanaris YouTube Channel
Edible Acres
J & J Acres
Permaculture Haven
PermaEthos

Films
Video, DVD, and YouTube Channel Review Grid
A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity
Inhabit: A Permaculture Perspective
Back to Eden

Podcasts
Homesteading and Permaculture by Paul Wheaton
Permaculture Voices by Deigo Footer
The Survival Podcast by Jack Spirko
The Permaculture Podcast
Good Life Revival
Abundant Edge

Books
Permies Book Review Grid
Permaculture: A Designer's Manual by Bill Mollison
Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway
Sepp Holzer's Permaculture by Sepp Holzer
The One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka
The Farmer's Handbook (free)
The Permaculture Student 1 by Matt Powers
Edible Forest Gardens by Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier
Restoration Agriculture by Mark Shephard
The Resilient Farm and Homestead by Ben Falk
Permaculture Design: A Step-by-Step Guide by Aranya
Introduction to Permaculture (online textbook) by Oregon State University
Retrosuburbia by David Holmgren
Regenerative Agriculture: A Practical Whole Systems Guide to Making Small Farms Work by Richard Perkins

Articles and Threads
Paul Wheaton's Articles
What is Permaculture?
Minimalistic Permaculture
Ethics Of Permaculture
Explaining Permaculture
Principles Of Permaculture
Permaculture Design
An Introduction to Permaculture

Periodicals and Magazines
Permaculture Design Magazine
PIP Permaculture Magazine
Open Permaculture Magazine (no link)
Ecology and Society Journal
Permaculture Magazine UK
Permaculture Magazine North America
Permaculture Activist
AcresUSA

Programs/Experiences
Permaculture Experiences according to Paul (PEP)
Experiences
Jobs Offered
Land Shares
Internships & Apprenticeships
Permaculture Design Internships
WWOOF Hosts
Zaytuna Farms Volunteer Program
Ridgedale Permaculture 10-Week Internship

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Homesteading

Websites
Mother Earth News
Wild Homesteading
Oak Meadows Homestead
Journey to Forever- Farm Library
Holistic Homestead- High Sierra Permaculture
Homestead Lady
Lovely Greens
Thrive Through
Lazy Mill Hill Farm

Videos
Urban Homestead on 1/10th of an Acre
Setup a Profitable Backyard Farm
Homestead and Farm Resiliency: Adaptive Land and Infrastructure Systems by Ben Falk

YouTube Channels
Hollis and Nancy's Homestead
Living Traditions Homestead
Dervaes Family Urban Homestead

Podcasts

Books
The Resilient Farm and Homestead by Ben Falk
The Independent Farmstead by Shawn and Beth Dougherty

Articles and Threads

Periodicals and Magazines
Backwoods Home Magazine
Countryside
Grit
Mother Earth News
Capper's Farmer

Getting Started
Homesteader's Co-op (place to sell handmade goods)

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Gardening

Websites
Canadian Organic Growers

Videos

YouTube Channels
Learn Organic Gardening at GrowingYourGreens

Podcasts

Books
Mother Earth News Guide to Vegetable Gardening by Mother Earth News
How to Grow Vegetables and Fruits by the Organic Method Rodale
Complete Book of Composting Rodale

Articles and Threads

Periodicals and Magazines
Heirloom Gardener

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Water

Websites

Videos
Water is Life by Sepp Holzer and Tamera
The Water Cycle by the National Science Foundation
Drought Proofing Farms with Permaculture by Oregon State University

Podcasts

Books

Articles and Threads

Periodicals and Magazines

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Soil

Websites
USDA Web Soil Survey

Videos

Podcasts

Books
Soil and Health Library
Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets
A Soil Owner's Manual by Jon Stika

Articles and Threads
Bryant Redhawk's Soil Series

Periodicals and Magazines

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Plants

Websites
Plants For a Future Database
Plant Buddies (website for making guilds and companion planting)
Herbs Are Special
Eat The Weeds
Wild Edibles

Videos
Wild Edibles Series by The Outsider

Podcasts

Books
Wild Edibles by Sergei Boutenko
Botany in a Day by Thomas J. Elpel

Articles and Threads

Getting Seeds
Permies Seed Company Review Grid
SeedSavers
Strictly Medicinal Seeds

Periodicals and Magazines
Stockman Grass Farmer

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Pollinators

Websites
HorizontalHives.com
Warre Beekeeping

Videos

Podcasts

Books
Pollinator Guides by Region

Articles and Threads

Periodicals and Magazines

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Land and Earthworks

Websites
US National Map Viewer
US Geological Survey Topographic Maps
A Good Road Lies Easy on the Land

Videos
Water Retention Landscapes by Zach Weiss
Earthworks Design Demonstration by Zach Weiss

Podcasts

Books

Articles and Threads
How to Find Contour on the Land

Periodicals and Magazines

Tools/Software
Contour Map Generator

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Solar

Websites
SunCalc
Solar Angle Calculator
Build it Solar

Videos
Introduction to Solar Energy
Designing an Off-Grid Solar System

Podcasts

Books
Do-It-Yourself 12 Volt Solar Power by Michael Daniek

Articles and Threads

Periodicals and Magazines

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Weather and Climate

Websites
WeatherSpark
WeatherUnderground
RSSWeather
Global Weather Patterns
Windy

Videos
Introduction to Earth Sciences by UC Irvine (compilation)

Podcasts

Books

Articles and Threads

Periodicals and Magazines

---

Housing and Zone 0

Websites
Natural Homes
Tiny House Talk
DIY House Building
Straw Bale
Cob Cottage Company
Directory of Natural Building Schools
Cob Workshops

Videos
Living Big in a Tiny House
How to Build a Strawbale Wall
Building Cob Walls
Wofati from Building a Better World in Your Backyard

YouTube Channels
This Cob House

Podcasts

Books
The Cob Builder's Handbook
Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins (free version 2)
Barefoot Architect

Articles and Threads
Wofati - Eco Building

Periodicals and Magazines

---

Energy

Websites

Videos

Podcasts

Books
Rocket Mass Heaters by Ianto Evans
The Art of Fire by Ernie and Erica Wisner
The Rocket Mass Heater Builder's Guide by Ernie and Erica Wisner

Articles and Threads
Rocket Mass Heaters by Paul Wheaton

Periodicals and Magazines

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Humid Regions

Websites

Videos

Podcasts

Books

Articles and Threads

Periodicals and Magazines

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Tropics

Websites

Videos
Zaytuna Farm Tour by Geoff Lawton
2 Acre Tropical Food Forest Build by Pete Kanaris
Small Scale Permaculture EcoFarm Tour
Costa Rice Permaculture Farm Tour with Pete Kanaris
Tropical Farm Tour in Ecuador

Films
Seeds of Permaculture

Podcasts

Books

Articles and Threads

Periodicals and Magazines

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Drylands

Websites
Quail Springs Permaculture
Transition Joshua Tree
Desert Harvesters
Bean Tree Farm

Videos
How to Green the Deserts TEDTalk by Allan Savory
Greening the Desert Tree Tour by Geoff Lawton

Films
Green Gold by Dr. John Liu

Podcasts

Books
Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster
Desert or Paradise by Sepp Holzer

Articles and Threads
Resources for Dryland Permaculture

Periodicals and Magazines

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Cool and Cold Climates

Websites
Permaculture Research Institute Cold Climates

Videos
1/4th of an Acre Cold Climate Food Forest
Cold Climate Permaculture and Design
Cold Climate Food Forest Tour

Podcasts

Books
The Earth Care Manual by Patrick Whitefield

Articles and Threads

Periodicals and Magazines

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Bushcraft and Wilderness Survival

Websites

Videos

YouTube Channels
The Native Survival School

Podcasts

Books

Articles and Threads
Northern Rockies Dry Cold Permaculture

Periodicals and Magazines

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Health, Fitness, Diet, and Cooking

Websites
The Primal Blueprint
Natural Movement
Weston A. Price Foundation
EatWild
USDA Local CSA Directory

Videos

Podcasts

Books
Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon

Articles and Threads
Mark's Daily Apple

Periodicals and Magazines

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Finance

Websites
Early Retirement Extreme
Mr.MoneyMustache

Videos

Articles and Threads
The Story of Bert and Gert

Books
Early Retirement Extreme

Articles and Threads

Periodicals and Magazines

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Alternative Strategies for Society

Websites
Transition Network
City Repair Project
Living Cities
World Urban Campaign
Fab City- Cities Making Everything They Consume
New Urbanism
Films For Action
AnarkEden
De-Google-ify Internet

Videos
Transition Towns
AnarkEden: the Conscious Human Uprising

Podcasts

Books
Community Resilience Reader
The Post Carbon Reader

Articles and Threads

Periodicals and Magazines
Low-tech Magazine
No-Tech Magazine

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General Education

Websites and Online Resources
Internet Archive
Autarky Library
Pole Shift Survival
Practical Action
OpenLibrary
Smithsonian Library
Instructables
Memory of the World
MITOpenCourseWare
ALISON
KhanAcademy

Videos
CrashCourse
Smarter Everyday
Veritasium

Podcasts
RadioLab
You're The Expert
StarTalk Radio
StoryCollider

Books
LibreVox
Project Gutenberg
LibreTexts
eBooks Directory of Free eBooks

Articles and Threads

Periodicals and Magazines

It sounds like you're well on your way now! Glad you got a ukulele and have been making progress.

Since I am coming in a little late to this thread, I'll just put some notes about how I learned guitar...

I learned guitar while working as a camp counselor so I could play at our campfire worship sessions. I found that having a reason to play an instrument was much more effective at getting me to pick it up than just telling myself I wanted to learn something. I know people who just love the sound of the guitar and they will sit and play with it and figure it out for hours and I appreciate the beauty in what they can create because of it. But for me personally the guitar is a means to an end and that end is in bringing people together so we can sing together. After I left summer camp I did not touch my guitar at all until I started volunteering at my church's youth group and offered to lead songs, which got me into it again. I call myself a "campfire guitarist" because the way I play is just chords and strumming with nothing too fancy. It is just enough to have fun with others. Even though I am a classically trained musician and I can read music, I haven't had the desire to learn guitar in that way. So if anyone else is struggling with getting themselves motivated to learn an instrument, I would suggest evaluating what your motivation is before starting and see if you can get some reason to play or perform or someone to hold you accountable to practicing.

In terms of whether the skills of learning one instrument translate to another, I would say absolutely. I found a ukulele at an antique store for about $20 (USD) and learned maybe three or four chords and was able to get a song together pretty quick. It was just like learning some extra chords for the guitar - the skill that made the transition easier was being able to strum. When I first picked up the guitar I had my friend Johnny teach me and he just showed me some basic chords (I would say some of the most common for the songs we were doing were G, C, D, Dm, A, Am, E, and Em) and then I would just follow along with him and try to hit the chord at the right time to get the fingering down. After I got that worked out and built up some callouses (it will hurt your fingers to hold the strings down if you have never done it before), I started strumming. The strumming hurt my brain at first but he gave me one or two basic patterns to follow and then I was able to actually play with him. After a while I was able to sing while I played. And now I am able to establish my own strumming patterns. I have all sorts of books on learning different instruments and I have found that they can be helpful at the very beginning of learning something, but at a certain point I always abandon the books and just go for it and figure things out myself.

Another secondary hobby that can come from playing a stringed instrument is crafting with the used strings after you replace them. I had a friend that made some pretty neat rings out of old guitar strings. It's also fun to get a guitar pick hole punch so you can make picks out of old credit cards (if you use a pick) so the old card doesn't go to waste.

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
 - set up a solar water pump (combo w plumbing badge)
        o no battery
        o direct solar panel to pump
        o minimum of 5 gallons per minute in full sun
        o air lift technique is acceptable/preferred

you must provide pictures or video showing:
  - the area where the pump and panel will be installed
  - the pump and panel before you install/assemble them
  - in-progress installation
  - the completed installation
  - water coming out of the pipe
  - description of the materials and process, including how 5gpm was measured

1 point for a temporary test - something that can be put away after the BB is complete

2.5 points for a permanent installation
  - at least 10 feet of head



This is a temporary test for a pond that I am building.

- the area where the pump and panel will be installed


- the pump and panel before you install/assemble them





- in-progress installation



- description of the materials and process, including how 5gpm was measured
I used a 25W submersible solar-powered pond pump (this one specifically). I pulled it out of the box, assembled it, and stuck it in the pond. I set the solar panel up on the ground facing south. I had the output hose going into a 5 gallon bucket and took a video of the water filling up the bucket and it took about 45 seconds to fill it (so under a minute).

- the completed installation and water coming out of the pipe (see video)

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
- Patch a hole in a fabric seat in a car.

To document your completion of the BB, provide proof of the following as pictures or a video (less than two minutes):
- The hole in the car seat needing repair.
- The materials you will use to make the repair.
- You making the repair.
- The completed repair on the car seat.

Here is the hole in the car seat.


I pinned my patch in place and stitched it up with a curved needle. The patch is a piece of old cotton T-shirt and the thread is cotton.


Mostly sewn.


The completed patch.

Madison Mills wrote:Hi!

I've been trying to make my own bread for sometime now, however I am gluten free which always offers its own unique perspective toward cooking food. I've been working on some GF sourdough, and have not yet been successful.

I like this approach and have hope it may allow me to cook a bit more from scratch without the issues of rising sourdough that hasn't any sticky glutenous proteins.

Do you think this recipe will still work if I were to use brown rice flour in place of regular flour??

-Madds:)

Hey Madds!
I've adjusted this recipe to work with brown rice flour and I believe I posted it earlier in this thread (let me know if you can't find it).

Some things I've realized since then:
1) I made my recipe with freahly milled brown rice flour. If you try to use it with store bought rice flour you don't need as much.
2) My recipe uses fine ground pink salt. Salt may need to be adjusted if it is coarser table or kosher salt.
3) I made the recipe when I lived closer to sea level and you may not need as much flour at higher elevations. Add a half a cup of flour at a time until you get a batter that is a little bit thicker than pancake batter.
4) I like to leave my gluten free polydough in the fridge and it will expand after a couple days so make sure the container is big enough to accommodate. You can keep this stuff in your fridge for a couple weeks but it's best after like 3-5 days or so.

I love keeping a container in my fridge at all times! It became the base of many meals. Hope this helps!

Minimum requirements for this BB:
- restart a cast iron skillet, griddle or dutch oven

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must provide proof of the following as pictures or video (<2 mins):
  - original cast iron skillet
  - progress of restarting the cast iron skillet
  - completed restart of cast iron skillet


I got these skillets at an antique store. They are actually in really good shape compared to some cast irons I've done. We spent a few years accumulating pans from antique stores and resetting them for gifts for friends and family. They make good wedding presents, Christmas presents, graduation gifts, etc.

The new-to-me cast iron skillets.


I put them in the oven on self-clean.


I then scrubbed them with vinegar and then cleaned with some soap.


Dried them on the stove. It's hard to see how much rust and gunk is left when it's wet so I went back and scrubbed again until I was happy with them.


After drying, I rubbed them all over with olive oil.


Nice and clean and ready to use.

Requirements to complete:
- Can be any metal shovel (not metal edged plastic snow shovels)
- Protecting oil can't be petroleum derived

To get certified for this BB, post the following:

 - pic of dull or rusty shovel
 - action pic
 - pic of clean, sharp shovel
 - describe the oil used to protect the metal


Dirty shovel


First I used a metal brush on the angle grinder. It did a pretty good job. I did not get a picture of the brush in use as that would be unsafe.


Then I used the sander to get a finer polish.


I used sandpaper for the tough spots. You can see some of the rust coming off.


I had to hammer a dent in the tip back into place.


I ended up buying a tool file (technically called a "bastard file") for tool maintenance. This will be nice to have on hand and was pretty cheap.


I oiled the shovel with linseed oil.


A nice, clean shovel. I used it right away and compared it to my other shovel and it is a major improvement!

Thanks, all! Excited to be here.

I first got interested in permaculture back in high school but put off doing anything about it until I got my own property about three years ago. Last spring I started doing the SkIP program and that has been great for helping me come up with projects to (slowly) help me set up some food systems. It's been a lot of fun and I've been able to enjoy the fruits of my labors almost immediately. I'm not great at gardening yet but I love to cook and take care of animals (and that's what most of my days consist of).