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This is a long ramble about my insufficiencies as a permaculture gardener. Mostly because I’m in SERIOUS PANIC MODE right now.
I have a ‘permabee’ – a ‘permaculture working bee’ happening at my place Saturday week (a week from Saturday). As of last night, there were five people registered for it and I don’t recognise any of the names. Which, last time there were 15 and we got a helluva lot done.
This time, I was hoping to do just three things.
One: move a giant water tank to another spot on the property.
Two: plant the start of a food forest along the front fence.
Three: plant a banana circle somewhere in the front yard.
The main issues are that I should have planned the food forest/banana circle better. I have no idea where everything is going and the whole point of permaculture is to work with nature, which means having a plan that works in concert with the advantages of your site and which counteracts the disadvantages of your site is absolutely necessary. Of course, that requires that you have a solid idea of the dis/advantages of your site which requires that you’ve actually noticed and noted down the details of your site.
I have a horrendous case of impostor syndrome right now, because I haven’t done ANY of the things that they usually recommend you do at a Permaculture Design Course (like mapping out your property, determining sun angles and wind angles, working out how to maximise water usage, shade angles, etc…) I mean, I never did a PDC, but I know you’re supposed to do more observation and notice than I’ve been doing and, frankly, I was kind of lazy, and now it’s coming to bite me in the butt. MUCH WOE.
So I’ve been trying to map out the property NOW (as in, less than two weeks before the permabee) so I can work out the best way to plant out the front yard which faces north (that’s the sunlight aspect here in the Southern Hemisphere) and west, with cooler gusty winds coming in from the street that faces very much south. There’s some protection from the south thanks to a couple of big trees (a jacaranda - Jacaranda mimosifolia - and an Illawarra flame tree - brachychiton acerifolius) but they’re very big and established, too. I can’t do anything with the Illawarra Flame Tree, because it’s protected, but the goal with the jacaranda is to use it as a protection to start with and then cut it back in pieces.
Crap, I need to order a bucketload of gravel to go under the water tank, and make sure they deliver it ON THE FRIDAY BEFORE THE BEE and not, you know, THE MONDAY AFTER. Although a quick google shows that you can get same-day delivery of a cubic metre, although I dread to think of the cost.
And now someone wants me to pick up a couple of self-watering garden beds on Saturday, and I have to arrange to find someone to help me at least load it into the truck. I wonder if I could ask for local gardener assistance. There’s gotta be a few nearby who’d be happy to be paid in a jar of marmalade…
And even once I’ve worked out the pros-cons of my site, I still have to work out how to maximise the plants I’ve got with undergrowth and everything and UGH WHYYY.
So: the plan for this week is to get a rough site plan drawn up, contemplate it for a bit, and then maybe discuss it with the people coming on the weekend to the permabee.
I have a ‘permabee’ – a ‘permaculture working bee’ happening at my place Saturday week (a week from Saturday). As of last night, there were five people registered for it and I don’t recognise any of the names. Which, last time there were 15 and we got a helluva lot done.
This time, I was hoping to do just three things.
One: move a giant water tank to another spot on the property.
Two: plant the start of a food forest along the front fence.
Three: plant a banana circle somewhere in the front yard.
The main issues are that I should have planned the food forest/banana circle better. I have no idea where everything is going and the whole point of permaculture is to work with nature, which means having a plan that works in concert with the advantages of your site and which counteracts the disadvantages of your site is absolutely necessary. Of course, that requires that you have a solid idea of the dis/advantages of your site which requires that you’ve actually noticed and noted down the details of your site.
I have a horrendous case of impostor syndrome right now, because I haven’t done ANY of the things that they usually recommend you do at a Permaculture Design Course (like mapping out your property, determining sun angles and wind angles, working out how to maximise water usage, shade angles, etc…) I mean, I never did a PDC, but I know you’re supposed to do more observation and notice than I’ve been doing and, frankly, I was kind of lazy, and now it’s coming to bite me in the butt. MUCH WOE.
So I’ve been trying to map out the property NOW (as in, less than two weeks before the permabee) so I can work out the best way to plant out the front yard which faces north (that’s the sunlight aspect here in the Southern Hemisphere) and west, with cooler gusty winds coming in from the street that faces very much south. There’s some protection from the south thanks to a couple of big trees (a jacaranda - Jacaranda mimosifolia - and an Illawarra flame tree - brachychiton acerifolius) but they’re very big and established, too. I can’t do anything with the Illawarra Flame Tree, because it’s protected, but the goal with the jacaranda is to use it as a protection to start with and then cut it back in pieces.
Crap, I need to order a bucketload of gravel to go under the water tank, and make sure they deliver it ON THE FRIDAY BEFORE THE BEE and not, you know, THE MONDAY AFTER. Although a quick google shows that you can get same-day delivery of a cubic metre, although I dread to think of the cost.
And now someone wants me to pick up a couple of self-watering garden beds on Saturday, and I have to arrange to find someone to help me at least load it into the truck. I wonder if I could ask for local gardener assistance. There’s gotta be a few nearby who’d be happy to be paid in a jar of marmalade…
And even once I’ve worked out the pros-cons of my site, I still have to work out how to maximise the plants I’ve got with undergrowth and everything and UGH WHYYY.
So: the plan for this week is to get a rough site plan drawn up, contemplate it for a bit, and then maybe discuss it with the people coming on the weekend to the permabee.
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