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A Look at Hawaiian Aquaculture – and How You Can Learn More About It at the Keawanui Fish Pond, Molokai
Aquaculture, Courses/Workshops, Fish, Land — by Nichole Ross October 5, 2011
It was a typical October day on Molokai — 82 degrees, sunny and breezy. I had just arrived at my favorite tiny airport on a nine-passenger Cessna turbo prop-plane from Honolulu. I came from the Big Island to help my Permaculture Research Institute (PRI) USA colleagues facilitate a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) already in progress. The PDC was part of a four-course series we were doing to train a local group made up of key players working to promote sustainability on the Island.
When my ride told me that the class would be starting the day at the Keawanui fish pond, I was both excited and nervous. Much like the time I had gotten an All-Access V.I.P. Guest Pass to the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert, I would soon be in the presence of celebrities I admired. I was not only about to meet the Rittes, but they were students in our PDC.
Comments (0)Let the Water Do the Work: Induced Meandering, an Evolving Method for Restoring Incised Channels
Conservation, DVDs/Books, Dams, Earth Banks, Gabions, Irrigation, Land, Limonia, Material, Natural Swimming, Potable Water, Regional Water Cycle, Rehabilitation, Roads, Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Storm Water, Surveying, Swales, Terraces, Water Contamination, Water Harvesting — by Owen Hablutzel July 13, 2011
The volume reviewed below comes highly recommended for all Permaculturists working in or around any water channels, and particularly on the broad-acre. While the methods happen to apply most immediately in drylands, they will apply directly anywhere that erosion, down-cutting, rapid gully formation, and other forms of channel incision occur. Keep in mind that these techniques will also apply in ephemeral channels that only carry water during rare rain storms, and are otherwise ‘dry.’
Importantly, even if you are working more within mesic environments and do not see a lot of actively incising channels, just the knowledge you will gain about stream dynamics and working with various stream powers and flood-regimes will be applicable and invaluable to your work. These factors, such as the ‘bankfull’ flood, and the specific inter-relations and ratios of multiple stream variables remain the same as basic physics of water flow no matter what the environment. These physics will dictate exactly where and where not to place any kind of built structure within an active water channel, and enable you to predict results of your efforts with much greater precision. How many of us doing this kind of work have lost stream structures to a “gully-washer”? The knowledge and approach in this book could have saved many a headache, cash outlay, and enabled construction of more durable, persistent, and ultimately useful work.
In Two Months One of the Most Amazing Courses Will Begin – Don’t Miss the Pre-IPC PDC!!
Courses/Workshops — by Craig Mackintosh June 24, 2011
When: 3rd – 15th September 2011
Where: Amman, Jordan
What: One of the Most Dynamic Permaculture Design Certificate Courses You’ll Ever Have the Chance to Attend!
Photo copyright © Craig Mackintosh
In two short months, one of the most dynamic PDCs you will likely ever have the opportunity to attend will begin, in the lead-up to the Tenth International Permaculture Conference & Convergence (IPC10).
Presenters of the course include Bill Mollison, Geoff & Nadia Lawton, Brad Lancaster, Warren Brush and Paul Taylor. Between them they have a wealth of people- and planet-saving knowledge to share.
I’m looking forward to it myself!
Please see more details on the teachers below, and I hope to see you there!!
Comments (0)Chop-N-Drop – Mulching Permaculture Style
Animal Forage, Food Forests, Land, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Swales — by Nichole Ross June 14, 2011
Chop-N-Drop is a Permaculture term used to describe a simple, yet highly-efficient system of creating mulch. Plants that make good mulch are pruned frequently and the cuttings are dropped directly on the ground below. This creates a beneficial layer of organic material that helps conserve water, reduce weeds and create food for nearby plants through decomposition.
Comments (1)Building Systems for the Developing World – Perspective and Opportunity
Aid Projects, Building, Energy Systems, Land, Retrofitting, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Doug Weatherbee May 20, 2011
Note by Owen Hablutzel: This article from Doug Weatherbee speaks to why the skills and approach of Permaculture are becoming increasingly recognized among international development communities as being necessary and often more useful on-the-ground than conventional ‘development’ approaches for achieving often complex and practical goals in the difficult circumstances often encountered where people, livelihoods, basic needs, and struggling economies intersect. The Permaculture approach can broaden the scope and greatly increase the ‘toolbox’ available, while keeping these elements related and connected through attention to the context and larger whole. Now, more than ever, the world is ready for more Permaculture! What can you do to further prepare to meet this expanding need?
by Doug Weatherbee, Center for Appropriate Technology and Indigenous Sustainability
To a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail.
In many development aid projects around the world, not-for-profits (NFPs) are doing valuable work solving problems for communities and regions. Many of us who have done some sort of development aid work come to these communities with the NFP’s focus area (for example, clean drinking water, sanitation, or agricultural projects) and a set of NFP aid workers who are trained in the NFP focus area. However, when we land on the ground, in real communities and regions, the problems don’t necessarily stay contained within the narrow box of the NFP’s focus or the expertise of its workers. "The real world of people living, eating and growing food, having shelters, dealing with sanitation, having clean drinking water, staying warm or cool, creating families and communities, all of this is a rich mixture, and its problems and solutions don’t often fit into tiny neat boxes," says Jim Hallock, of Tierra Y Cal, who has experience building sustainable shelters in Haiti, South and Central America, and Africa. "When I show up in Haiti to help build a school or a clinic I’m asked about how to grow a food garden or deal with drinking water contamination."
The conundrum so often experienced is that NFP workers are unprepared to deal with aspects of the larger community or regional problems outside the scope of their skills or the not-for-profit’s focus. Sometimes aid workers need a screwdriver, and all they have is a hammer.
Comments (1)Permaculture Taking Off in Hawaii
Biodiversity, Community Projects, Deforestation, Land, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Swales, Village Development, Water Contamination — by Craig Mackintosh March 28, 2011
The Permaculture Research Institute USA has partnered with Sust`ainable Molokai to embark on the bold mission of permeating the Hawaiian Islands with permaculture goodness. Traditional Hawaiian agricultural systems, before the arrival of Europeans, were ingenious and sustainable. Indeed, their ahupua`a systems, known as high island ‘Ohana’ systems to permaculturists, are one of the few truly sustainable agricultural systems ever known — an awesome legacy that should instill pride and purpose in modern-day islanders. Unfortunately, the last century, in particular, is seeing multiple major threats to the island state’s unique ecology — soil erosion, biodiversity loss, and Hawaii has become Big Biotech’s GMO test capital of the world (see video at very bottom of post).
But permaculturists are fighting back, as you’ll see:
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Wa`a Moloka`i: Island-Sized Food Security Through a 21st Century Living Canoe
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Nurseries & Propogation, Plant Systems, Seeds, Swales, Trees — by Nichole Ross March 8, 2011
Original Atrwork by Anthony Dohanos of Pahoa, Hawaii
Food security and canoes go hand-in-hand in Hawaii. When the Hawaiian Islands were first settled around 750 A.D., and for many generations after that, Polynesian voyagers stocked their massive double-hauled canoes with specific crops necessary for colonization. While a wide variety of plants and trees were already growing when early settlers arrived, the food plants that we have come to know as “traditional” were not. Vine cuttings, root stock, crowns, sprouts, slips, shoots and seeds all had to be carefully prepared, packed and loaded into canoes for long journeys across the unforgiving Pacific Ocean if settlers were to be able to survive on the new land.
Comments (0)Army of Permaculturists – Ready for Battle
Community, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Earthworks & Earth Resources, Education Centers, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Swales, Village Development — by Nichole Ross January 9, 2011
These are the people of Molokai, a 300 square mile island in the center of the main chain of the Hawaiian Islands. It is rural, beautiful, slow-paced and the only place you’ll find almost as many people wearing camouflage as the armed forces.
If you can show respect for the aina (land) and local-style culture, the people of Molokai are hands-down the most friendly in Hawaii. And, they will treat you like one of their own ohana (family). But, don’t be fooled. Underneath their easy-going nature and humorous story telling are a group of warriors, ready to defend their island and way of life at a moments notice. From large-scale commercial development and GMO’s to toxic dumping and water rights, they have fought and won many times.
Comments (2)Food Swaps
Community, Food & Food Support Systems, People Systems, Village Development — by Nichole Ross December 20, 2010
Like a typical pregnant woman, I woke up this morning with food on my mind. However, it wasn’t the stereotypical indulgences and strange combinations like bon bons or peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. Instead, I was thinking about the idea of small-scale food swaps, something I believe could become the future of how people might obtain the majority of their food needs.
Comments (5)Space Available For Earthworks Class with Geoff Lawton in Hawaii
Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Earthworks & Earth Resources, Education Centers, Gabions, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Surveying, Swales, Terraces, Water, Water Contamination, Water Harvesting — by Nichole Ross November 12, 2010
Permaculture Earthworks with Geoff Lawton
December 6-10, 2010
By Nichole Ross
You don’t want to miss this. The Permaculture Research Institute USA is offering a rare opportunity to take a Permaculture Earthworks course on the Island of Molokai, Hawaii with Geoff Lawton. Learn from the Master how to beat drought and reduce water usage through passive water-harvesting earthworks strategies.
We will be working on a site on the dry side of Molokai in Ho’olehua. This course is part of a new 4-course series being offered by PRI USA. Over the past month, 15-plus local residents have already completed a Permaculture Design Certificate Course, a Practicum on Incorporating Traditional Hawaiian Plants into a Permaculture Design and a Teacher Training Course. Students have created a Permaculture design for this site, implemented part of the Zone 1 design and taught Intro to Permaculture to local high school and middle school students. This Earthworks course will be the final course of the series at this site.
Comments (4)Molokai Permaculture Initiative: 72-Hour Permaculture Design Course
Aid Projects, Aquaculture, Community, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Design, Education Centers, Medicinal Plants, Permaculture Projects, Rehabilitation, Soil, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Village Development, Water, Why Permaculture? — by Jill Ross November 4, 2010
This is a follow-up to the 1st course of the Molokai Permaculture Initiative: 72-Hour Permaculture Design Course.
Jill Ross
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I catch my breath for the first time in 3 weeks as I settle into my return flight to Hilo. It’s hard to leave Molokai. The aerial impressions of the red quilted landscape of Hoolehua to the cradling white spoon of Papohaku beach fill me with hope. As I look down, I see the healing that’s coming for the ‘aina and her people. It’s only been an hour and I already miss my Molokai ‘ohana.
They are the ones that Permaculture has been waiting for.
Gardens of Gratitude – LA’s Westside Permies Roll Out Gardens Across the City
Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, People Systems, Social Gatherings, Society, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Sean Jennings October 18, 2010
by Sean Jennings, Los Angeles
Can you imagine cruising the streets of your neighborhood planting edible gardens with your friends? How about planting edible gardens in yards across your entire local community with hundreds of friends? Neighbors in the streets of Los Angeles have done just that.
Comments (6)PRI USA Launches 4-Course Permaculture Series
Aid Projects, Animal Forage, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Design, Education Centers, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Medicinal Plants, Permaculture Projects, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Swales, Uncategorized, Water Harvesting — by Nichole Ross October 12, 2010
Starting October 10, 2010 the Permaculture Research Institute USA launched a new 4-Course Permaculture Series in Hawaii. This series is part of the “Molokai Permaculture Education Initiative”, a project held in partnership with local group “Sust’aina-ble Molokai” to provide training to the Island’s residents to help the community realize the goals of it’s long-term Sustainability Plan.
The four courses, held consecutively, include the 72-hour Permaculture Design Certificate Course (PDC), a hands-on Practicum: “Incorporating Traditional Hawaiian Plants, Foods and Fuels into a Permaculture Design”, a PDC Teacher Training Course and Water-Harvesting Earthworks. Andrew Jones will teach the first three courses. Geoff Lawton will teach Earthworks.
Fun-tastic Permasphere, L.A. Arboretum PDC
Community, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centers, Networking Sites, Presentations/Demonstrations, Uncategorized — by Owen Hablutzel August 27, 2010
The Los Angeles Arboretum:
is a unique 127 acre botanical garden and historical site jointly operated by the Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation and the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation and located in the city of Arcadia [just outside of Los Angeles]. Home to plant collections from all over the world, including many rare and endangered species… (from the LA Arboretum website)
This respected Los Angeles institution has now broken new ground by being home to a Permaculture “first,” as detailed in the article that follows…
Fun-tastic Permasphere, L.A. Arboretum
by: Erin Marteal | July 25, 2010
This article was originally posted at: http://pcnpg.wordpress.com/
The planting methods in the Permaculture Sphere follow two basic Permaculture principles: 1. Make use of the resources you have, and 2. Mimic nature. When you eat a tomato, simply smoodge the seeds out on the ground and let nature take it from there. Look to the fruits of the market to provide your seeds rather than those little expensive packets. The squirrels might make off with some, but they’re bound to leave a few behind to take root in your garden.
Comments (1)Sustainable Hawaii Coming this October
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Developments, Education Centers, Urban Projects — by Nichole Ross August 11, 2010
PRI-USA Offers a Unique Series of Permaculture Courses on Isle of Molokai
In partnership with Sust`aina ble Molokai and the Ho`ala Hou Program, the Permaculture Research Institute USA is proud to announce an upcoming series of key Permaculture courses on the Island of Molokai, Hawaii.
We are offering the following four foundational courses between October and December this year:
- Permaculture Design Certificate Course with Andrew Jones and Shenaqua Sookhoo-Jones, Oct 10-22
- Practicum: Incorporating Traditional Hawaiian Plants, Foods and Fuels into a Permaculture Design with Andrew Jones and Hunter Heaivilin, Oct 25-29
- PDC Teacher Training Course with Andrew Jones and Shenaqua Sookhoo-Jones, Nov 1-6
- Earthworks with Geoff and Nadia Lawton, Dec 6-10
These courses will be held in conjunction with the Ho`ala Hou Program, a substance abuse and prevention program that works with youth and families to set up up community garden plots. Courses will take place on Ho`ala Hou’s 20-acre site.
This series is also part of an island-wide initiative with local nonprofit Sust`aina ble Molokai to work toward the goals of the Molokai Sustainability Plan, a plan created by the people of Molokai that honors Hawaiian traditional and cultural pathways alongside modern strategies for a sustainable future.
For more information and to register for these courses, please visit the Permaculture Research USA website at www.permacultureusa.org.
Aloha and A hui hou!
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