Permaculture

WORKING WISELY WITH WEEDS JULY 15, 2016 BY JONATHON ENGELS & FILED UNDER PLANTS Weeds are the fighters of the plant world. They are the pioneers, setting off in uncharted territories and cutting new pathways into lands bare and scorched. Then again, they, too, are sometimes the most firmly rooted, digging themselves deep into the fabric of the soil or spreading out far and wide. Perhaps that is why they are also the most misunderstood, the wild and wily, regularly showing up where they are not wanted then simply refusing to leave. Ultimately, though, the term “weed” is a [[read more]]

WORKING WISELY WITH WEEDS

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by Bill Pfeiffer Our times, the Age of Separation could also be called the Age of Forgetting. Modern humans have severe amnesia; we have forgotten who we are in relation to everything else. Martin Prechtel, the maverick cultural historian and artist, calls it “the amnesia of modernity” and says our task is a “Holy Remembrance [which has been] forced to survive homeless under bridges.” In truth, each one of us is vertically connected to everything through the present moment, and horizontally connected through time to all of our ancestors (and descendants). And what a lineage that is! Not only [[read more]]

There Is Power in Remembering Ancestral Wisdom

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This is a deep and thought-provoking article about plant intelligence, written by Michael Pollan, author of “Omnivore’s Delimma”, and others. I think it elegantly exposes some of the limitations of science (without actually coming out against anything), yet also some of the benefits of genuinely rigorous scientific research. My question is: Michael, how about including a segment about the indigenous perspective on plant intelligence? The perspective that does not question, even for a second, that of course plants are intelligent, and can also provide guidance for our adolescent and sometimes reckless species. The article brings to mind this quote [[read more]]

Article on Plant Intelligence by Michael Pollan, plus Zia’s comments

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We have designed a Water Retention Landscape Plan for a 17 hectare property on the San Jose burn area, and are now implementing it. We are including the project report here, if you are curious to learn more. Mirador Design [pdf] On this degree of slope, our swales are very narrow, and have a .4-.6% slope within the swale.

San Jose Fire : Our Response

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Looking for a land-based community? Yupaichani (“gracias Pachamama” in the Quechua language) has 3-4 more memberships available for a intensive gardening eco/arts school cooperative. 20 minute walk to vilcabamba Grow our own nutrition-packed organic produce. Come together to create a producing farm. Beautiful healthy bioconstruction homes. Be a member of a sustainable education center that is a share-holder business. For more information. If interested, speak to Zia & Roshni. Directions at www.vidaverde.info/ Clic contacts.    

Yupaichani Organic Community

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Water and a Forest
Rehydrate< >Reforest Vilcabamba & Beyond is our replicable project in innovative water conservation. It is coupled with reforestation to help heal the water cycle in Vilcabamba valley and beyond. With deforestation, rainwater cannot penetrate the soil. These simple methods mimic forest conditions, helping the land retain water, giving them a chance to recover. Have a look at our video to see how this method could be relevant for you. Go to vidaverde.info/agua-arboles for Spanish version. Our ideas: Once the retreat place for Incan royalty, our home in Vilcabamba is much-loved throughout Ecuador and is world renoun for longevity. It [[read more]]

Rehydrate<<>>Reforest Vilcabamba and Beyond

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Here is some information about our experience in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, for those considering moving here. We are asked these things alot, so here are some basics. For more information, I suggest becoming a member of the Cuenca based website, Gringo Tree.You can ask questions on that site, and get answers.  If you are curious about the Vilcabamba counter-culture, become a member of the FaceBook page, Vilcabamba Boletin. 1.Owning land and gaining legal status. It is possible to own land outright. We bought land when we came down on our first vacation trip. Investing in land (currently $25,000.minimum investment per [[read more]]

EC move? Q & A

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The course fee and what it takes to run a course: Offering a PDC requires many months of planning and logistics. We run the best course we can and the kind we would like to take. This means we are out there getting our hands dirty, hearing from lots of different people, visiting the best sites, constantly revising and improving the course, making sure we are up to date with the latest thinking and techniques. All of this takes time to organize. Teaching each segment requires many hours of planning. In the Vilcabamba course, providing the website and communication [[read more]]

What it takes to run a PDC course/ Ejecutando ...

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Permaculture is a design method to help create the optimal level of sustainable balance with nature for any given place–urban or rural, desert or jungle, business or home. Zia Parker Permacultura es un método de diseño para llegar a un nivel óptimo de equilibrio sostenible con la naturaleza, en un lugar determinado de zonas urbanas o rurales, desierto o selva, granja, empresarial o del hogar. -Zia Parker Permaculture is the science, ethics and practice of how human beings can live in cooperation with nature, as nature. –Bill Pfeiffer Wild Soul, Wild Earth Permacultura es la ciencia, la ética y [[read more]]

What is Permacultura? Que es Permacultura?

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(ESPANOL ES ABAJO) This post is in response to the question, should we be bringing in drought-tolerant seed to Vilcabamba, such as drought-tolerant Hopi corn, since the dry season has been getting longer? What is the local annual rainfall? and soil conditions? I’m aiming at keeping this post updated with new info on this topic, Growing in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. This is quite an involved topic, and many people in Vilcabamba valley are well equipped to respond. I’ll add my two cents on the part of our little corner of the community–Wilco Way Farm. We are working to establish a [[read more]]

Growing in Vilca

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Robert David Mceldowney 1970 BA degree in Religion and Philosophy, Maryville College, Maryville Tenn. 1971 US Peace Corps training in sub-tropical agriculture and animal husbandry in India 1972 Crew labor worker on a large commercial landscaping company, Duncan Landscape,          Youngstown, Ohio 1973 Counselor at a large innovative state-run school for the specially challenged in Enumclaw, Wa.          my ward was with the most mentally and emotionally challenged. 1974 Began studying sub-tropical organic agriculture full time on the Big Island,Hawaii 1975-1985 Created and managed several small farms and gardens in Hawaii 1986 Completed the foundation year training for Waldorf teachers [[read more]]

Resume, Roshni Mceldowney

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