Learning permaculture from a book, or even many books, and videos, didn't prepare me for the power of permaculture design. For eight years I looked at my plot of land and tried, but knew I wasn't getting it. I installed rain barrels, tried keyhole gardens for my annuals, interplanted garlic, onions, chives and such with my perennial bee and bird garden, planted an abundance of natives, and so on, but that is not permaculture.
Most of what I did was in isolation, without regard to how it all functions together, and after the drought last year, I knew my water management strategy was seriously flawed. Two rain barrels positioned on the other side of the house from the gardens, not only made hauling water labor intensive, but two rain barrels only hold about 100 gallons of water. Not much when there are weeks with no rain.
So, after taking a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) and really delving into Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests, I really got permaculture. Now the only limits have been manpower, time, and resources. All of which can be solved with community.
Community is a vital element of permaculture and with it you can achieve your permaculture goals. Community is there to help you dig, plant, design, eat, laugh, relax, support, and give. Permaculturists are generous people. They share what they have with joy. No project is too big or difficult when you have a community.
Jodi and I have been fortunate to discover many wonderfully supportive people who make up our community and have helped us get The Resiliency Institute started. Each person has supported our efforts in a myriad of ways and introduced us to another who has done the same.
We want to share this abundance with you and include you in our community. We all have something to offer and receive from others. So, we invite you to come to our first Permaculture Community meeting, Thursday, May 9th (7-9pm). Let's meet each other, share our ideas and create a permaculture community.