The things I remember and wrote down are:
- Permaculture is a process, not a set of practices.
- Look at the big patterns.
- Do precise planning so that you can do a small amount of work that has a huge impact and lasts a long time.
- Utilize the Keyline system of water management - find the natural flow of the water and then plan everything around that. This made so much sense to me after spending way too much money trying to keep our plants watered during the drought part of the summer. I am realizing that developing our water plan is one of the most important things we need to do for our garden to be sustainable. We put in about 10 rain barrels last fall, so it will be interesting to use that system, but the keyline water system using swales should also be very helpful because it works uses the water that lands all over the yard, not just in the rain barrels. The idea is to slow the water down and spread it out.
- Patterns are derived from the keyline of the water system.
- Use water as a resource instead of trying to get it to go "away."
- Permaculture is a verb - get plants in the ground.
Being at Radical Roots Farm and listening to Amy Batchman talk about her plans was really inspiring to me. What helped me the most is that even though Amy is a much more experienced farmer than I am, she still doesn't know exactly what she wants to do and there are still a lot of issues around the farm that she needs to solve. Her openness was very generous and it pulled me more into this larger process that we are all a part of. It also made me realize that all of this is an ongoing problem solving process and that I don't need to have everything solved or know everything to be part of it. That was refreshing to me. So, thanks Amy!!
Today I planted some tomatoes to put under the grow lights. I know I'm sort of late getting them started, but I wanted to get them planted anyway. I also transplanted some raspberries because I put them in the middle of the yard when I first planted them! Every time I look at that batch of raspberries in the middle of the yard I think, "What was I doing?" But it's OK. I'm transplanting the shoots to the side of the yard and am looking forward to a whole new raspberry patch in the future! In the meantime, the raspberries are really tasty and I'm just glad they are coming up and growing. It's so satisfying to have the perennial plants come up! I just love it.
It felt good to get out and work today - am getting hooked back into being in the garden and can't wait to get out again! Yay!
Here is a link that tells about Mark's farm:
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