Andy Cook

Hi Chris,

I've enjoyed your writing on PRI over the years. Looking forward to reading your comments here. I completed Geoff's online course earlier this year. Our place is in SE Alaska, off the road system, on a south facing slope with a shellfish flat out front. Lots of fruit trees, hazels, chestnuts, berries, sea buckthorn etc. . .

Russell Olson wrote:

Andy Cook wrote:This is the fence I put up at our place in SE Alaska where deer are walking by us all the time: http://www.permacultureactivist.net/articles/Better%20Deer%20Fence%2081.pdf

I modified it by using 5' welded wire instead of chicken wire, a run of 3/8" yellow poly rope on the outside of the fence as well as the the two strands on the inside, and a run of electric fence on the outside to keep bears out. No deer inside the fence for two years and counting.

We are in the process of planting thorny plants along the inside of the fence to eventually become a protective hedge around the property.

I was in the process of writing a post on deer when I saw this thread.
This design looks great, does it need the electric fence if I'm only keeping deer out?
I was considering fencing an area I will be starting a food forest from this spring, the deer eat anything outside of a fence.
I'm going to revamp my post, I have some cool observations I'd like to share.

I don't think the electric would be needed. The key for the deer is walking up to the fence and seeing the strands over their head.

Good one Richard, I forgot to mention the aluminum foil with peanut butter to train the critters to stay away. It works.

This is the fence I put up at our place in SE Alaska where deer are walking by us all the time: http://www.permacultureactivist.net/articles/Better%20Deer%20Fence%2081.pdf

I modified it by using 5' welded wire instead of chicken wire, a run of 3/8" yellow poly rope on the outside of the fence as well as the the two strands on the inside, and a run of electric fence on the outside to keep bears out. No deer inside the fence for two years and counting.

We are in the process of planting thorny plants along the inside of the fence to eventually become a protective hedge around the property.

Hello All,

I am the Biology teacher and Head of the Science Department at the Stonehill International School in Bangalore, India. During the summer my wife and I work on our place in Southeast implementing Permaculture principles and building a home which will operate fossil fuel free.

At Stonehill I have been working with students to create a Permaculture demonstration site, as well as creating Science units that are based on Permaculture. Other teachers are beginning to take notice and I have been talking to them about integrating permaculture units into their curriculum. I also run a beekeeping project with students. There students designing investigations about mycoremediation of horse stable runoff, differences in biomass accumulation between a monoculture and a multi-story polyculture and more.

Stonehill is one of thousands of International Baccalaureate schools, and as such is part of a ready-made network of educators, conferences and workshops worldwide. Not to mention the thousands and thousands of other schools.

My issue is I'm an Ecology/wilderness guy, not a tech guy, and do not know how to build an appropriate website/forum. Is there a tech-savvy person or two who would feel moved to help with the site build?

Either send me a purple mooseage or email me at anthony dot cook at stonehill dot in.

Thanks for reading.

Second landwatch, unitedcountry.com and craigslist. My wife found our property on craigslist. Let me add that a good local attorney is a plus. Go visit a few in the town(s) near the property and interview them. They know that you are a prospective future client for more than the transfer of the property. Plus, they have local knowledge from handling many, many real estate transactions. You should get a feel for who you are comfortable with and who you are not. They may know of property that isn't listed, while a real estate agent isn't going to tell you about those, for the obvious reason of no commission.

Hello All,

Nothing against the effort to do what these people are attempting to do. That being said, if you are looking for a dog with the stated traits you will have a far better chance to get a decent dog from an established breed from breeders who are serious about maintaining the traits. Maintaining traits is hard enough, much less starting a new "breed".

The traits in the dogs of this project are far from established. Coat, for one is notoriously difficult to stabilize in a breed that should have a rough coat. If the outer harsh layer of hair is missing then you have a dog that gets soaked to the skin in wet grass and far more prone to injury from brambles etc. ..

Additionally, a dog that is actually capable of being an effective deterrent against bears and cougars will not be suitable for people with little or no experience truly training dogs ie: regional or national competition, protection etc. . .

The cost to care for a good dog and a lousy dog are the same. Buy from a reputable breeder who has a track record of producing what you are looking for from an established breed. Very few people in the dog breeding business are willing to cull the inferior individuals. Even fewer people are willing to get rid of a dog they buy as a pup, lavish with care and affection only to have it turn out to be mediocre or useless when it comes to their intended role.

My WAG is that most people tempted to buy one of these have never been more than average pet owners, and are attracted to not much more than the "newness factor" of the project. If your expectations are nothing greater than a pet then you likely won't be disappointed. And finally, most people do not have the time or expertise to train a working dog. You have to love the process of creating the partnership between you and the dog, not find it one more chore that is easily put off. . . . which results in a pet which has been "trained" to be poorly behaved and a nuisance.

The Germans (who breed some of the best) have a saying: A good dog adapts to the family, not the family to the dog.

My apologies if my comments upset some people. However, the comments are founded on 40 years of experience not only training dogs to national status, but training people to train dogs in both the US and Canada.


My .02

Hi Jennifer,

Thanks for the assistance. I was not aware that the online course was currently running.

Hi All,

I am looking for an Intro to Permaculture course in India for 12-15 high school students and 3-4 teachers the week of February 10-14. The school is in Bangalore, India area. We have a day for travel on either side of those dates. PM me or send an email to anthony.cook(at)stonehill.in

Thanks

Isn''t it generally 2-3 years from planting to harvest?