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.
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)Book Review: Resilience Thinking – Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World
DVDs/Books — by Owen Hablutzel June 4, 2010
Book by Brian Walker and David Salt
Island Press – 2006
174 pages
Reviewed by Owen Hablutzel
When is the last time you were surprised? It might have been a brand new volunteer plant in the garden, bizarre and beautiful fungi in the pasture, an incredible storm on the horizon, or a blessed windfall on the balance sheets! Given the inherent unpredictable nature of wholes – complex adaptive systems from cells, to bodies, to farms, societies and all of nature – we can be sure that surprise and unexpected change will happen quite frequently. If this is true at the home, farm or business scale it is all the more so at the regional, national, and global scales in today’s always changing and increasingly interconnected world.
Comments (0)Pathways to Re-Localisation with Joel Salatin
Courses/Workshops — by Owen Hablutzel February 10, 2010
December 9-11, 2009
Orella Ranch, California
“May your children rise up and call you blessed!”
We begin where an exuberant Joel Salatin ended his two-day Pathways to Re-localization intensive; by declaring a simple benediction with far-reaching implications. The environment both outside and inside the large tent housing this event has been highly dynamic, refreshing, and bold. Sweeping swells and pulses of much needed rainfall have been pattering the rooftop these past two days. Aromas of moist leaves, air, earth, wood, and clothing are rampant. But Nature’s sweet wet furies outside have been unable to drown out the warm deluge of Mr. Salatin’s charismatic speaking inside. And like the droughted California soils outside, finally filling their pore spaces with the delicious torrent, the minds of course participants are just as vigorously imbibing the information deluge inside, drinking in everything from practical farming techniques to food issues, farm-scale marketing, and the philosophy of re-localization. The rain event will produce a flush of strong growth in the Mediterranean climate here. And we can predict likewise that Mr. Salatin’s far-reaching ‘intensive’ will produce an abundant proliferation of essential and inspired re-localizing activities from coast to coast and beyond. It is in a world made local and resilient once more through such a strategy that children may indeed rise up and call us all blessed.
Comments (3)A Report on ZERI Training Course (Zero Emissions Research Initiative)
Consumerism, Courses/Workshops, Society — by Owen Hablutzel January 17, 2010
December 3-5, 2009
Orella Ranch, CA
Remember the Chicken?
The ‘Permaculture Chicken’ is a classic example used by Bill Mollison and many subsequent Permaculture teachers to illustrate an extremely useful analysis technique for use when designing systems. In the case of the classic chicken example, this ‘element’ of the system – the chicken – is analyzed for its needs (inputs) and its products (outputs). Using this information a designer can begin to make connections between each of the diverse components of the system, integrating all of these elements into a whole, functional system.
Sustainable Land Management Course
Courses/Workshops, Land — by Owen Hablutzel December 3, 2009
Holistic Management™, Keyline Design®, and Broad-acre Permaculture
with Kirk Gadzia and Darren Doherty
November 10-15, 2009
Orella Ranch, California
The winds of change are blowing extra brisk these days and gathering transformative momentum. Highlights and ground-truthed strategies for this agrarian revolution underway were served up and stacked high for six solid days at the Orella Ranch Sustainable Learning Pavilion, during this second module (of four) in the on-going and leading-edge Carbon Economy Course.
Comments (4)Soil Food Web Course with Dr. Elaine Ingham
Compost, Courses/Workshops, Fungi, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology — by Owen Hablutzel November 7, 2009
October 30 – November 1, 2009
Orella Ranch, Gaviota Coast, California.
A wise person once said that soil is not only more complex than we know, it is more complex than we can ever know! The good news is humans have lately achieved a level of practically applicable knowledge and experience in soil biology to be absolutely capable of massive, positive impacts on sustainable soil use world-wide! It is undoubtedly true that we’ll never know everything, but no matter – we already know enough to get very, very busy!
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