Austin Permaculture Group
Austin, Texas USA

Permaculture Basics Weekend Class
June 2-32007

Learn the basics of Permaculture over 1 weekend
in Austin, Texas USA

Instructor: Dick Pierce

Saturday June 2-Sunday June 3, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
This class covers the same material as the first two days of the full PDC course.
Tuition: $120 ($20 deposit payable to Jennifer Nazak; $100 balance payable to Dick Pierce on first day of class)
Contact Jenny Nazak at jnazak @ yahoo. com or 512-619-5363. Please sign up soon.

Field Trip to Betsy Ross Ranch in Granger TX
Sat Sep 15, 2007

Learn the to raise cattle sustainably & organically

Field Trip to Betsy Ross Ranch (Granger, TX) Saturday September 15
Healthy soil --> healthy plants --> healthy cattle and healthy people! This award-winning practical intensive grazing operation is an outstanding example of land resource management.
Tuition: $60 ($10 deposit payable to Jennifer Nazak; $50 balance payable to Dick Pierce on day of field trip) Please sign up soon.

Permaculture Design Course Sep-Nov 2007
Weekends & Saturdays

You choose - 1, 2 or all 10 days
in Austin, Texas USA

Includes classroom training, field trips, and hands-on projects. Graduates earn a Permaculture Design Certificate, recognized worldwide.Tuition: $500.00 for all 10 days or you can sign up just for the days you are interested in for $60 per day. Past students and Permaculture Graduates pay half price to retake classes. Additional discounts for families and couples available. Contact Jenny Nazak at jnazak @ yahoo. com or 512-619-5363. Please sign up soon. Classes are limited to 25 students. Full course enrollees will receive preference.

Who: Professionals and amateurs: Homeowners, apartment dwellers, farmers, foresters, land developers, city planners, architects, teachers, and many others

What: 10-day course led by Dick Pierce, Selwyn Polit, and other Austin area instructors/designers, offering practical training and skills in sustainable living. We will cover design principles and technologies that you can easily apply to your home, workplace, and community to help you live well in the city or the country.

Why: To learn techniques, tools & design ideas to…

• Mimic nature to design solutions to problems unique to our Central Texas climate, water, soil, vegetation, gardening etc.
• Capture and effectively use and re-use water
• Build an herb spiral
• Install a pond
• Use natural & green building techniques
• Read a landscape to determine optimum placement of design elements
• Maximize food output - compact growing areas
• Encourage natural cycles - plants, animals, etc.
• Design homes and landscapes that serve people, attract wildlife, and create restorative habitat.
• Implement landscapes that take care of themselves
• Considerations & designs for rural land, farms, ranch, animals, orchards

Additional topics: Ecosystems, Ecology, Microclimate, Edible landscape, Waste, Wastewater, Trees & Forests, Soil, Erosion Control, Water harvesting, Aquaculture, Animals, Gardening, Urban strategies, Wild land rehabilitation, Chickens, Design, Creating a culture of cooperation, Building design, Maps and mapping

Sponsored by Habitat Suites Hotel – A Permaculture designed hotel www.HabitatSuites.com , Wheatsville co-op(www.wheatsville.com) and Treefolks at www.treefolks.org

Organic Gardening Class Aug-Sep 2007
This class meets 4 times

Learn the basics of organic gardening with a hands on approach
in Austin, Texas USA

Instructor: Dick Pierce

Dates/times:
Class meets four times: two Saturday mornings and two Monday evenings.
Morning workshops 9:00-12:30 (prep at 8:30) Saturday Aug. 25 and Sept. 8
Evening sessions 7:00-8:30 pm Monday Aug. 27 and Sept. 10

Tuition: $100 ($20 deposit payable to Jennifer Nazak; $80 balance payable to Dick Pierce on first day of class)
Contact Jenny Nazak at jnazak @ yahoo. com or 512-619-5363. Please sign up soon.

Who should attend?

• It is Basics for Beginners - If you are new to gardening or new to Austin and its unique growing seasons, climate, soils, plants, and water resources.
• If you've tried and been baffled - try again with a small-scale, simple, easy approach.
• If you are among those who are concerned about our environment; want to raise safe, nutritious food for your family; want your children to know and enjoy gardening.
• If you don't have a lot of time, money, patience, or space … but want food and want it to work.

What's it all about?

• Basics: Bare ground or Bermuda grass lawn to installed/planted raised-garden beds - in the right place, with the right soil, small enough to manage, big enough to provide real food.
• Techniques: Raised beds - soil & mulch; biointensive/square foot gardening; varieties for central TX; soils/compost; mulch; water management; starts, seed, propagation, good/bad bugs.
• Unique "Do It / Learn It" schedule: Learn first by doing it at the Saturday workshops: fun outdoor activities with small groups. Take it home and try it. Then come to discussion/talk the following Monday. That's three times and three ways to learn and do gardening.
  

Permaculture Design Course Jan-Mar 2007
Weekends & Saturdays

You choose - 1, 2 or all 10 days
in Austin, Texas USA

Cost: $500.00 for all 10 days or you can sign up just for the days you are interested in for $60 per day. Past students and Permaculture Graduates pay half price to retake classes. Additional discounts for families and couples available. Click here to view a one-page flyer in Adobe Acrobat pdf format Contact Jenny Nazak at jnazak@ yahoo. com or 512-619-5363. Please sign up soon. Classes are limited to 25 students. Full course enrollees will receive preference. Click here for registration form

Intro to Permaculture

There will be a series of free introductions to Permaculture.Practical principles and tools for living in alignment with nature by Dick Pierce Jenny Nazak and Selwyn Polit. For more info contact Jenny Nazak at jnazak@ yahoo. com or 512-619-5363.

Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable and ecologically sound ways to live our lives in harmony with nature. It covers a wide range of topics including edible landscapes, integrating animals, organic growing, herb spirals, ponds, natural and green-building, maximizing food production with small scale intensive growing and designing self-maintaining landscapes.

Join us to learn more about Permaculture's practical principles and tools for living in alignment with nature and making a difference. This free class will be at 7-8:30pm (plus discussion afterwards) at Habitat Suites Hotel Meeting room. 500 East Highland Mall Boulevard. Austin, Texas 78752 (512) 467-6000. On the web at www.HabitatSuites.com. Near Highland Mall.

This short course will be repeated on the following dates:

2006

• Wed Nov 15 Habitat Suites Hotel, Austin 7-8:30pm
• Wed Nov 22 Habitat Suites Hotel, Austin 7-8:30pm
• Wed Nov 29 Habitat Suites Hotel, Austin 7-8:30pm
  
• Wed Dec 6 Habitat Suites Hotel, Austin 7-8:30pm
• Wed Dec 20 Habitat Suites Hotel, Austin 7-8:30pm

2007

• Wed Jan 3 Habitat Suites Hotel, Austin 7-8:30pm
• Wed Jan 10 Habitat Suites Hotel, Austin 7-8:30pm
• Wed Jan 17 Habitat Suites Hotel, Austin 7-8:30pm

Spring Organic Gardening Class

January is Spring?? You’re Kidding!
The Texas Institute for Practical Sustainability Presents…

“ The Spring Garden…..”
Organic Gardening Class
Sat. AM – Jan. 6 & 13
in Austin, TX USA

Who should attend?

• It is Basics for Beginners
• If you are new to Gardening or new to Austin and its unique growing season(s), climate, soils, plants, and water resources.
• Teachers are encouraged.
• If you’ve tried and been baffled – try again with a small-scale, simple, easy approach.
• If you are among the thousands who are concerned about our environment, want to raise safe, nutritious food for your family, or want your children to know and enjoy gardening.
• If you don’t have a lot of time, money, patience, or space…but want food and want it to work.
  

What’s it all about?

• Basics: Bare ground or Bermuda grass lawn to installed/planted raised-garden beds – in the right place, with the right soil, small enough to manage, big enough to provide real food.
• Techniques: Raised beds – soil & mulch; bio-intensive/square-foot gardening; varieties for Cent. TX; soils/compost, mulch, water management; starts, seeds, propagation; good/bad bugs.
• Unique “Do it/Learn it” Schedule: Learn first by doing it – at the Saturday workshops – fun outdoor activities with small groups. Take it home and try it.
• Then, come to discussion/talk the next Mon.
• That’s three times/ways to learn and do it.
• Schedule is right on with Austin’s Fall growing season.

A Fall Garden?

• Only in Austin! Isn’t that Weird?? – late Aug./early-Sept. is the planting time for most vegetables.
• Grow/harvest until late Nov./early Dec.(and beyond); great weather to be active and outdoors.
• Shhhhh! It’s a secret. The bugs don’t know about it!
  

And, about the Basics…

• To enroll: email – dpierce@ail.org; US-mail – Dick Pierce, TIPS, 801 E. 32nd St., Austin, 78705;
• Phone – 512-695-3425, pls. leave message. Pls. Write/call for more information.
• Fees: $80. for 2 classes and 2 evenings; $60 for Teachers/Students; ½ for 2nd family member
• Times
  • Sat. Workshops: 9:00 – 12:30 (prep at 8:30)
  • Monday sessions – 7:00 – 8:30 pm
• Directions: detailed directions will be sent with confirmation.
  

Click here for detailed flyer

Permaculture Weekend Intro Course
September 30 - October 1, 2006
Saturday & Sunday

in Austin, Texas USA

Here is a great opportunity to get a taste of Permaculture. Learn to build a herb spiral and build soil through compost. This class may be applied to your full 10-day Permaculture Design Certificate course which will be held in Jan 2007. Cost: $120.00 for both days. Past students and Permaculture Graduates pay half price to retake classes. Additional discounts for families and couples available. Click here to view the flyer in Adobe Acrobat pdf format Contact Selwyn Polit at selwyn @ austintx . com or 512-926-7876. Please sign up soon. Classes are limited to 25 students. Click here for registration form in MS Word format Click here for Adobe Acrobat version of registration form

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Permaculture Weekend Intro Course
April 29-30, 2006
Saturday & Sunday

in Austin, Texas USA

Here is a great opportunity to get a taste of Permaculture. Learn to build a herb spiral and build soil through compost. This class may be applied to your full 10-day Permaculture Design Certificate course which will be held in Jan 2007. Cost: $120.00 for both days. Past students and Permaculture Graduates pay half price to retake classes. Additional discounts for families and couples available. Contact Selwyn Polit at selwyn @ austintx . com or 512-926-7876. Please sign up soon. Classes are limited to 25 students. Click here for registration form

Click on these pictures to zoom closer

Free Winter 2007 Talks/Movies at Habitat Suites

Permaculture teacher Dick Pierce has set up a Wednesday night series of presentations as supplemental material for the students of the Permaculture Design Certificate class currently in progress. These talks and videos are free and open to the public, so please tell/bring friends! (And enemies too - if we can get our enemies into Permaculture we won't have much to fight about anymore.) The presentations are Wednesday nights from 7:00-9:00 at the Habitat Suites Hotel, 500 E. Highland Dr. (north of Mall near the Sail Boat Center).

All the topics relate directly to sustainable designs, systems, and living. And, all of them focus on solutions and positive actions we can take locally, using local resources. With local resolve and commitment (yours and mine), there is a whole lot we can do. Please join us and become a helper.

The schedule is firm, but all topics/speakers are tentative; please check with www.austinprogressivecalendar.com to confirm individual topics and speakers there may be some shifting around.

• Jan 24, 2007: The Global Gardener ­ Permaculture Around the World - Video (a trip around the world with Bill Mollison to view 8 or so Permaculture projects)
• Jan 31,2007 Texology Austin, TX? Know This/Your Place by Dick Pierce (where Austin has been, how it got here; info on our unusual soil, water, climate)
• Feb. 7,2007 The Next Industrial Revolution with Bill McDonough Video far from greed and waste see major companies profit from sustainable thinking)
• Feb. 14,2007 Happy Valentines Day
• Feb. 21,2007 Other Thoughts to Be In & Hints from Other Times, Cultures by Dick Pierce (what can other times, traditions, and cultures tell us about different ways to be?)
• Feb. 28,2007 Food for Thought - Local, Smaller, Organic Agriculture. Videos (a collection of video excerpts - Polyface Farms, Organic Agric., French Gardener)
• Mar. 7,2007 Local Food Production Local Farms, Gardens, Markets (What is Austin doing to increase nutritious, safe, local food and small businesses?)
• Mar. 14,2007 Restoring Soil, Managing Water, Helping Nature (a soil/water /plant professional talks about how we can help Nature bring us abundance)
• Mar. 21,2007 Eco-Villages, Intentional Communities, Co-Housing. Slides/Video (video of eco-villages in US & around world; talk on Austin Co-Housing)
• Mar 28,2007 Alternate Business & Finance (Green, Sustainable, Energy Effic., Smaller, More Local Bus., Worker-Owned, etc.)
• April 4,2007 Spirituality, Ethics, Philosophy, Science/Technology - One View (Can Spirituality and Science be brought together? Religion, too? Ethics to science? Modern/scientific world view to Religion(s)?)

Permaculture Events

February 2, 2006: Tree planting class and orchard kit distribution.

Mid-February: Bio-Intensive gardening classes. March 3rd ­11th: 8-day intensive course “Tools and Techniques for Sustainable Self-Reliance” Sponsored by the Red Rock Farmer’s Co-Op, the Texas Organic Gardeners and Farmers Assoc. Call Marjory at 830 839 4077 for more information.

January 2006 : Free talk

“How To Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Imagined In Less Space Than You Ever Thought Possible”. Call Marjory at 830 839 4077 for more information.Sponsored by the Red Rock Farmer’s Co-Op, the Texas Organic Gardeners and Farmers Assoc. Call Marjory at 830 839 4077 for more information.

December 2005: Permie potluck and winter holiday party - PARTY!

• Saturday, December 17th 6pm-12pm. 3401 Hancock Drive at the home of Dave Sanford. Permies, AustinEcoNetworkers, Green Builders, Progressive Potluckers, TreeFolks, Green Girls, Chicas Verdes, other related groups and anyone else who wishes they were a part of these great collections people and/or wants to at least meet them.
• Potluck food and beverage: please bring a dish to serve 8, a label describing your food and its ingredients, and your own plates, utensils and cups
• Door prizes: $500 value coupon for upcoming 10-day Permaculture class as well as 2 1 day $60 coupons.
• Videos: Shown on the hour in a cozy setting : These include gems like: Polyface farms, Malcolm Beck and the Gardenville story, Global Gardener, The Synergistic Garden, Cohousing, The Private Life of Plants
• Green Elephant gift swap: We’ll have a fun exchange of gifts – if you want to participate bring something you grew, made, or think represents permaculture or sustainability
• Camp Fire and Acoustic Music Jam: Bring your instruments, voices and spirits to make beautiful music

  Directions to Dave’s:

map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=3401+Hancock+Drive,+Austin,+tx&spn=0.021886,0.083007&iwloc=A&hl=en

Going west on 2222, from MOPAC, then take an immediate left onto Balcones. Follow Balcones to where it merges with Parkcrest, this will appear as a left just past the Randall's, but you will still be on Balcones.

3401 Hancock is on the Southwest corner of Hancock & Balcones, Russell's Bakery and Coffee Bar is on the Southeast corner. Turn right onto Hancock and park on the street. If you prefer park across the street at Russell's coffee shop, they will be closed by about 2pm. Alternately from town head west on Hancock until that corner.Second alternative - go West on 45th from MOPAC, this will turn into Perry Lane, turn Right on Balcones, Left on Hancock. Third alternative call Dave 206-0112. Questions about the party other than directions? Contact Selwyn Polit selwyn @ austintx . com (512)926-7876

December 2005: Basics of PV (Photovoltaic) Systems

Friday December 2, 2005 6:30pm-8:30pm Generate electricity from the sun and reduce or eliminate your electric bill. This introductory talk will describe some typical system designs, AC versus DC systems, components, costs, and typical Central Texas sunlight patterns. Chip Wolfe of Meridian Solar will present.

November 2005: The Solution Side of Ishmael, Other Thoughts to Be In

Please join Dick Pierce at the First Unitarian/Universalist Church's Public Affairs Forum, Sunday November 27, at 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. The talk will be in Howson Hall. The Church is at 4700 Grover, just north of 45th St. and the School for the Blind, and just west of Lamar, behind the Sunshine Community Gardens. Going north on Lamar, turn left (west) on Sunshine Drive, then left on Grover; building entrance is on the south side of buildings.

You can access this announcement on the calendar page of http://www.austinuu.org.
Faced with mounting debt, pollution, diminishing resources, disease, despair, war, violence, and devastating natural disasters, author Daniel Quinn suggests in Beyond Civilization that we as individuals and as Western culture think about "Other Thoughts to Be In." This means other/alternate/possible life styles, life ways, attitudes, norms, practices, and even philosophies and views of ourselves and the world. His point is that our current "Thoughts" are bringing us closer to misery and environmental disaster at an ever accelerating pace. This talk will describe practices and ways from other times and other cultures and ask the audience to think about incorporating a few "Other Thoughts" in their lives, families, and community.

Speaker: Dick Pierce - A native of New England, Dick is a 7-year resident of Austin. After 30 years in corporate America he spent 5 years in Colorado with an American Indian organization and has visited with Native populations in Guatemala, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. He works with "at promise" young people at American YouthWorks and teaches Permaculture and sustainable living in the Austin community. The Public Affairs Forum is held most Sundays at 11:30 am in Howson Hall.

November 2005: Free Talk - Sustainable Family Farming

Saturday November 12, 2005 6:30pm-8:30pm At the Red Rock Community Center 114 Red Rock Road. Red Rock, Texas 78662

Have you thought of supplementing your income on your small farm by raising crops or animals, naturally and organically? Would you like to grow more than enough food for your family, and have surplus to share with friends? All of this, and more, is possible on less than an acre of land. If you are interested in re-establishing the small family farm, and local food sources, then please come to this free introductory talk given by Dick Pierce of the Texas Institute for Practical Sustainability.Sponsored by the Red Rock Farmer’s Co-Op, the Texas Organic Gardeners and Farmers Assoc. Call Marjory at 830 839 4077 for more information.

Permaculture Design Course Jan-Mar 2006
Weekends & Saturdays

You choose - 1 day or all 10 days
in Austin, Texas USA

Cost: $500.00 for all 10 days or you can sign up just for the days you are interested in for $60 per day. Past students and Permaculture Graduates pay half price to retake classes. Additional discounts for families and couples available. Click here to view a one-page flyer in Adobe Acrobat pdf format Contact Selwyn Polit at selwyn @ austintx . c o m or 512-926-7876. Please sign up soon. Classes are limited to 25 students. Full course enrollees will receive preference. Click here for registration form

Patricia Allison Permaculture Course March 2006

Sustainable Family Farming
An 8-day Permaculture Design Intensive
March 3-11, 2006: Right here in Red Rock, Texas.

This practical hands-on course teaches the basic tools and techniques for self-reliant, organic, family farming. Learn how to design systems working with nature, and most importantly, come to deepen or develop friendships with like-minded neighbors in the Red Rock community.

Many teachers with different expertise will present with a combination of hands-on projects and lecture. There will also be field trips to local working farms that are using these techniques. The course will be guided by Patricia Allison, a Texan who has been teaching Permaculture since 1994, and Consensus Decision Making since 1998. Patricia has been studying and practicing sustainability for over 25 years and has been a member of Earthaven Ecovillage in Asheville, NC for 9 years.

Topics:
Rain water collection systems
Fruit and nut orchards / food forests
Vegetable gardens
Food storage
Composting and waste management
Integrating poultry and small animals
Ponds and aquaculture
Pasture and range management
Woodlot care for fuel and lumber
Bee-keeping
Olive orchards
First-aid using local plants
Natural building methods
Raw & living foods
Alternative energy; solar, wind, bio-diesel, etc.

Contact Allan Kugler at 512581 2631, or joallakug@hotmail.com to register!

Sustainable Family Farming
Red Rock, Texas
March 3 ­ 11, 2006

Course Schedule:

Friday March 3rd: 4 pm: Tour of the host site and camp-site setup.
6:30 pm Dinner
7:30 pm Opening Circle
Saturday March 4th ­ Friday March 10th:
7- 8:00 am Breakfast
8:30 am ­ 12:30 pm Morning session
12:30 ­ 2:30 pm Lunch break
2:30 pm ­ 6:30 pm Afternoon session
6:30 ­ 8 pm Dinner
8 ­ 9:00 pm Fire Circle Session
Saturday March 11th:
7- 8:00 am Breakfast
8:30 am ­12:30 pm; Closing Circle

There is no afternoon session, lunch or dinner, on Tuesday March 7th. Dinner on Friday March 10th is a potluck. Meals and primitive on-site camping is included in the tuition. The meals are primarily vegetarian, with as much organic and/or local produce as possible.

Patricia Michael Permaculture Design Workshop

March 10 - 19 2006

**Moved to Scarlet Circle in austin ** Take a real Spring Break in Mexico at Pacifica, a 3,700 acre cattle ranch on the Rio Grande River 3 1/2 hours drive from Austin. Relax and learn to design gardens, farms, landscapes and more.

Award-winning permaculture teacher and consultant Patricia Michael will lead instruction on developing site plans that conform with nature and repair soil and surface water problems, while increasing plantings. Other leading edge teachers will share their expertise on pertinent topics such as surface water, renewable energy, aquaculture and personal health.

The cost is $850 and includes all food, lodging, workshop materials and permaculture certification. Scholarships are available. http://www.patriciamichaeldesign.com

**This class is full - please check back here later for more info.. Patricia will be scheduling a class in Austin in the winter.**

Dallas Permaculture Design Certification Course

Now Available in North Dallas!
12 Day Permaculture Design Certification Course
Registered Instructor: Wayne Weisman
March 18-29, 2006 (9am-3pm daily)
Class Size is limited to 15 students, so Sign Up Soon!

Permaculture is hands on learning and application for ….
Systems Thinking
Ecological Design
Sustainable Development

“By developing local and regional agriculturally productive ecosystems with the same diversity, stability, and resilience as our natural eco-systems, and by utilizing appropriate technologies that create balance, we fulfill our spiritual responsibility to restore and sustain the intended living environment for all of creation”.
Wayne Weisman Director of the Permaculture Project www.permacultureproject.com

“Permaculture is about creating systems that are ecologically sound and economically viable, which provide for their own needs, do not exploit, or pollute and are therefore sustainable in the long term”. Bill Mollison, Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual

Who Should Attend?
Those interested in exploring, understanding, constructing, teaching, or promoting Sustainable Development practices. Homeowners, Professionals, Students and Educators can all benefit from this learning event!

Learn to implement sustainable practices and design within your field….

Community gardens or agriculture, Conservation developers, Land managers, Environmental & Sustainability educators or students, City/ urban ecologists and planners, Horticulturists, Naturalists, Eco-designers & engineers, Landscape architects, Employees & Volunteers for preserves, sanctuaries, state parks and other protected open spaces, Environmental consultants, Eco-village designers, Environmental stewards, guides, mentors and hobbyists, Social Entrepreneurs for sustainable development.

For More Information and Registration Visit: http://www.centerforlivingethics.org/htmlfiles/Ecology/

Sponsored By: North Texas Society for Sustainability
Contact: Rachel Lueke, M.Ed
rlueke@sbcglobal.net
972-569-9010

Host Location:
Robert Muller Center for Living Ethics, McKinney Texas
www.centerforlivingethics.org

KERRMACULTURE

A 72-hour intensive Permaculture Design Certification Course to be held at Quiet Valley Ranch, home of the Kerrville Folk Festival in the heart of the Texas Hill Country.

The organizers of the course, Ted Norris, Kirby Fry, Rick Wright, and, in memorium, Tom Smith, have again asked Scott Pittman to be the primary teacher in the next course of a Kerrmaculture Series. Long associated with Permaculture in the Southwestern United States and with Bill Mollison's world travels, consultations, and teachings, Scott is considered the premier expert on drylands Permaculture on this planet. He will be joined by several well-known local Permaculture designers, instructors and consultants.

When: October 22nd - November 4th 2005

What Else: The course is intended to finalize a master plan for the Ranch, addressing edible landscapes, green building, erosion control, water catchment and waste management. It has the ability and the intention to elevate the presence and availability of Permaculture world-wide, and to develop an on-going resource center and model of sustainability. With a core of certified Permaculturists to work on continuing and periodic projects, more principles of sustainable design and thought will pass on through the volunteers who make it all happen.

This intensive training course offers an excellent Permaculture faculty and is really affordable. It Includes a field trip to several existing Pc sites. - Musicians and Kerrstaff are especially welcome. - Meals will include vegetarian options. - Dry floorspace for bedrolls or cots is included in the cost. Camping or RV hookups are available and hotel arrangements can be especially arranged in Kerrville 9 miles away. Kerrville is on the Guadalupe River and Interstate 10, north of San Antonio.

Cost : $900, $800 by October 10th. Pro-rated partial attendance and some partial scholarships will be considered.

Contacts: Kirby Fry 512-663-9538 (Austin-area) Rick Wright 830-377-3253 (on site at the Ranch) kerrmaculture@yahoo.com , Ted Norris 512/288-6335 (Austin-local) www.kerrmaculture.org

Projects we want to do

Selwyn Polit, Dick Pierce & Martha Stevens posing next to the hoophouse they built. (Jan 2003)

and another shot of it without it's cover.

Here are a list of the projects. Please let me know if you are interested in taking the lead on any of these. They are all fun and educational and in most cases free.

• Texas School for the Blind has a greenhouse and some plants. They need some help with plants and propagation.
• Austin Java House needs a Herb Spiral built. This will involve a free meal. They will provide all the materials
• Visit to Laura De La Garza - maybe do some cob building on her house, walk around her permaculture-designed land, swim in the Blanco river.
• Visit to the Bamberger ranch
• Herb walk with Ginger Webb or Nikki from Rhizome
• Tour Hornsby Bend Waste Treatment facility tour - Jody Schlagle, the father of Dillo-dirt presiding perhaps.
• Promotion on the upcoming Permaculture Fundamentals Class led by Patricia Allison. The class will be Mar 26-Apr 4,2004. Lots of preparation work needs to happen for this one.
• "Electronify" the Earthaven/Culture's Edge playbook. We have a huge document from the Permaculture Fundamentals course that needs to be scanned and transcribed into electronic form to make it more widely available. Some of this is already on-line.
• Of course a visit to Selwyn and his chickens, maybe a potluck or two, general pleasantries and swales.
  

Coming soon
Gary Freeborg on ponds, aquaculture, specific details on how to create and maintain a pond the permaculture way.

Permaculture Designers and Practitioners
in Central Texas

Contacts for more information about the Austin Permaculture Community.

Dick Pierce dpierce @ ail . org 512-695-3425

Jenny Nazak - jnazak @ yahoo .com 512-619-5363

Selwyn Polit selwyn @ austintx . com 512-926-7876

Links:

Series of photos from past permie events

	Herb Spiral at Selwyn's home
	Photos of Rocki, Buffi & Precious

Is this a hippie or a yuppie?

This is certainly a throne fit for a queen or a king!
is this really just a bunch of %$#&^%$?

What is permaculture?

There are many different definitions of Permaculture.How do you define something as broad as Permaculture in our sound-byte society. Here are a few examples:

From David Holmgren http://www.holmgren.com.au/html/Writings/essence.htm

The word permaculture was coined by Bill Mollison and myself in the mid-1970's to describe an integrated, evolving system of perennial or self-perpetuating plant and animal species useful to humans.

A more current definition of permaculture, which reflects the expansion of focus implicit in Permaculture One, is 'Consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fibre and energy for provision of local needs. People, their buildings and the ways in which they organise themselves are central to permaculture. Thus the permaculture vision of permanent or sustainable agriculture has evolved to one of permanent or sustainable culture.

From Geoff Lawton's web site http://www.permaculture.org.au
Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. It is also the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems.

From Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia's Garden http://www.patternliteracy.com/
Permaculture is a whole-systems method of design that organizes ideas, strategies, and techniques from agriculture, appropriate technology, natural building, economics, and other disciplines into a pattern of mutually supportive relationships. By using principles from nature to thoughtfully integrate land, water, plants, people, animals, shelter, technologies, and community, Permaculture lets us design sustainable places to live.

From Permaculture International.org

Permaculture ...

• ... is a practical concept applicable from a balcony to the farm, from the city to the wilderness, enabling us to establish productive environments providing our food, energy, shelter, material and non-material needs, as well as the social and economic infrastructures that will support them.
• ... is a synthesis of ecology, geography, observation & design.
  Permaculture encompasses all aspects of human environments and culture,
  urban and rural, and their local and global impact. It involves ethics of earth care because the sustainable use of land cannot be separated from lifestyle and philosophical issues.
• ... encourages the restoration of balance to our environments through the practical application of ecological principles.
  In the broadest sense, Permaculture refers to land-use systems and lifestyle options which utilise resources in a sustainable way.
  

And a few others from a Permaculture Teacher Training in 2002:

• Permaculture is the ethical design of sustainable human habitat that is beautiful, ecologically beneficial, and financially profitable. It moves us from "Something must be done" to "Something we can do . . ." From Claude William Genest www.greenmountainpermaculture.com
• Permaculture is a design system. It works toward individual and planetary growth and regeneration through using well-designed management systems. Permaculture promotes Earth and Human awareness.
• Permaculture is a lifestyle process which engages the individual to recognize and take responsible action for the human role as steward in the home, community and globally. Bruce Pahl
• Permaculture is a design system that utilizes a cultivated ecology for creating abundant sustainable human settlements that integrates with all non-human elements of the earth. - Gene Monaco
• Permaculture is a way to use Nature's patterns to create abundance in our lives. It merges earth, social, and people skills to build positive solutions. - David O'Neill
• Walk softly on this Earth and leave the buckets fun for others. Ricardo Pierce.
• Practical Sustainability - Selwyn Polit
• Small-scale intensive soul opening experience - Claudine
• Permaculture is the process of people making conscious decisions about how and where to interfere with the natural world in order to manifest pleasant & sustainable communities. Dano Gorsich
• Permaculture is the science of living sustainably and ethically, and having fun doing it. -Martha Stevens
• Permaculture is a design system based on working with nature and emulating its ways, in order to restore earth's fertility and create a regenerative culture. -Cathy Holt
• Permaculture is a discipline and design process of creating resilient and vital human habitats incorporating creative problem solving, on site resources, and an ethical approach to people and ecology. - Kevin Ward
• Permaculture is the integration of people and nature, of traditional and cutting-edge planting and building techniques.
• Permaculture!-Active Earth Stewardship, creating harmony, balance, and abundance. - Heather Savage

Permies at Marha's in Fredericksburg April 2002