Resources and information
for Permaculture folks in Austin, Texas

What is Permaculture?

Grassroots Movement towards practical sustainability as well as an ethics based design system for effective landscaping and ultimately living well on our planet.

Permaculture originated through the brilliance of Bill Mollison and David Holmgren and was published in their book Permaculture One in 1978.

Bill Mollison	David Holmgren

What is permaculture? 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 Permaculture Research Institute: at http://www.permaculture.org.au/about.php)

Purchasing Permaculture books

If you need to get some permaculture books, check out permacultureactivist.net and also www.powells.com.

Some interesting links about local sustainable energy programs from Jeff Campbell (June 2003) JeffCampbell@austin.rr.com

Cielo Wind, also known as The Wind Company (http://www.cielowind.com) is a fairly large developer of wind farms, mostly in Texas and the southwest.

Meridian Solar (http://www.meridiansolar.com) is one of the 2 or 3 remaining Solar PhotoVoltaic design, sales and installation companies in Austin today. There had been others but they died out in the 90's. Although Meridian's website is lame, they're a going concern, they're busy with installations and they'll probably do well over the long haul. The majority of their business is residential installations, and even though these are growing in quantity, PV systems are still an expensive luxury which don't yet pay for themselves. But as the cost of the PV panels comes down over time (manufacturing improvements, economies of scale, etc) and the cost of fossil-fuel generated electricity rises, the costs of a PV installation will become more easily justified.

Watts On Schools (http://www.wattsonschools.com) is a program sponsored by a regional electric utility company to promote solar in schools. They've had a big impact: they've installed PV systems in 19 public schools in their coverage area. Along with the solar installations they also provide solar energy educational materials. Pretty nifty.

Here are two of the best links for rainwater collection systems from Marjory Glowka. (June 2003 )

"Texas Guide to Rainwater Harvesting"
This guide was excellent and appropriate for all of Texas. I am still reading - but great so far.

http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/assistance/conservation/Cons-image/Downloads/RainHarv.pdf

This is the site to the weather service in New Braunfels that keeps records for precip in the Central Texas area. Has monthly / yearly averages going back to the 1880's.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ewx/html/climate.htm

I got this off the central texas gardener web site at www.klru.com/ctg/john_pest.asp (June 2003)

John's Tips for Fighting Fire Ants and Other Pests

• Dried molasses is a good energy source for the soil, improving microbial action. Recently it's been discovered to be a fire ant deterrent -- it doesn't kill them, but it chases them off.
• Beneficial nematodes are powerful predators against fire ants, fleas, grub worms, and other pests. They must be purchased fresh and alive, and applied with water to the garden. Call your local nurseries for availability.
• Fertilome has a new product, a fermented microorganism, that fights fire ants, borers, tent caterpillars, and army worms.
• Orange oil extract is a powerful insecticide. It's also marketed in a compost tea which works very well as a fire ant mound drench.
• Diatomaceous earth is an effective pest control, especially when mixed with pyrethrum. Must be reapplied after a rain.
• There is a new bait on the market, Ascend, made from mushrooms and soy oil that has been found to be effective on fire ants.

With any pesticide, please be cautious and careful. You don't want to destroy your beneficial insects while combating a few pests that may be soon to depart anyway.

During the Permaculture Fundamentals of April 2003, we compiled a reading list - Click here to check out the additional resources

Permaculture Courses in Houston - check out Urban Harvest at http://www.urbanharvest.org/classes/classesevents.html

Permaculture Links:

Permaculture Magazine

The Permaculture Activist

Permaculture.net

Patricia Michael MFA - Landscape Designer and Permaculture Consultant

Permaculture Research Institute in Australia

PINC - Permaculture Institute of Northern California

Gaia's Garden - a Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture