The Permasphere
Olives already are already coming along in the food forest, just like the ones you buy at the store, and if you're lucky, the ones you see in front of peoples' homes whilst riding bicycles. We'll be sure to cure them in the fall with salt, olive oil, and rosemary.
Our Permasphere baby getting bigger and more beautiful all the time, stretching it's canna and sunflower fingers out to the sky, plunging it's roots deep in the earth
Dozens of peafowl peruse and feed in the Permasphere on a daily basis, though notice the unscathed Swiss chard... Viva the power of permaculture!
A voluptious volunteer squash snuggling in with pollinator attracting buddleja, as well as concord grape
Peacock families have made their way to the Permasphere ecosystem! Hooray!
A mere 3 months from the opening date, our food forest is thriving and producing 4 varieties of the best-ever figs!
Visual status update: Things are greening-up and filling-in
Notice the comfrey, grapes, surinam cherry, bamboo, and and rosemary getting cozier
Nasturtium seed collected to make a tasty substitute for capers
Adding some Real Salt, we'll next allow the cleaned-up nasturtium seeds to soak in their own little ocean in a jar for a couple of days
A winner! Fertile poppies that have resowed themselves on a dry, eastern slope.
Collecting seeds to swap, toss in the garden, press into seedballs, and bake.
The Permasphere taking shape: A pic according to the many birds, bees, and butterflies who come and visit often
We didn't feel that we quite had enough mulch, you see. Every single shaving of mulch had to be strategically placed. No. READ: This is permaculture. We just absolutely had to sweep up for a tour.
Viola! And-- Sweet Violet!
April 30, 2010
Saythis! Sweet-sour loquats, spit seeds out so you soon see sweet saplings
Kira prepping the dried cob oven for a coat of linseed oil. In a couple of hundred years, those burnished straw pieces will be so polished, they'll look like gold flakes! (Check out Japanese cob to fast-forward through time)
April 2, 2010
Cob coming along! Both keyhole bench and pizza oven. Ready to launch in 26 days and counting!
Week 12
March 27, 2010
Asclepias tuberosa, Mother Milkweed, the other dairy-free milk for monarch butterflies only
Keki Ali, our youngest permaculturist at The Permasphere, is creating a butterfly habitat with wet sand and bright flowers
Week 11
March 20, 2010
Fun times in The Permasphere: Laughs, aplified recorder tunes, upon cob and healthy earth
Week 10
March 13, 2010
Ray, Leigh, Kira, Jody, and the gang laugh a lot, throw around globs of clay, sand, and straw, and produce a goregous, durable, sustainable, eco bench by the end of the day.
Week 9
March 6, 2010
Gathering cuttings and seeds to homegrow The Permasphere
Week 8
February 27, 2010
Percolating under ground: Catching and storing free abundance from nature.
Week 7
February 20, 2010
Placing out the edible hedgerow: Bananas, figs, pomegranates... What else is in there?
Week 6
February 12, 2010
Like clockwork, again this week was one of rapid change. Our crew of about 15 volunteers came in and dug yet another swale. All together, about 50′ long, it was completed in about an hour. Because of the torrential rain the previous week that resulted in our swales becoming full in less than an hour, we knew the next step was to add as many water collection features as possible.
After all, our number one motivating factor in this garden is to store water. We want to show the public that we have abundance of water here in Southern California. And it doesn’t mean turning on the faucet to municipal water. With these latest couple of days of rain, had we been prepared, we could have stored enough water to supply the garden for the whole year.
Is rain better in the garden or left to flow out to the ocean? You decide.
This time we were to create a snaking swale, which joined two other swales, which then joined two raingardens. The whole network came out beautifully.
That sledge hammer has a really mind of its own. At least it manages to make beautiful notches in the curb to allow rain in the garden
We had completed the new swale, again, just in the nick of time for the next massive rain event, which would be upon us within the hour. The rain came. It poured hard! It haled in some parts. It was so strong to beat a woman’s umbrella to a nonfunctioning heap.
The swales filled up almost instantly. Even with the additional swales, they were all full and then some in an hour or so. We had put sandbags near the curb entrances to divert as much water as possible in to the garden.
But in no long time we were getting too much rain, water flowed out of the raingardens, which were not yet completed. We noticed that in all the hustle, we hadn’t gotten the new swale completely level. So in some parts the water was overflowing and in others, the water level was relatively low.
The river of runoff from the slope nearby was running into the garden in just a few minutes of rain. A lot of the water was trapped. We moved a few of the sandbags, noticing the need to implement speed bumps and possibly a dry well before the water enters into the garden.
After about 10 minutes of rain
To see rain like that, a free resource that most people consider a danger to their shoes and homes, we truly saw it’s weighty advantages. Observe what’s happening in your own space. Do a couple of small things in the garden to catch it instead of letting it pool up all over the place and flood, and look at the abundance you’ll have when your neighbor is stuck paying expensive water bills.
Even after the rain, a small flow being diverted into the three outer swales
Week 5
February 5, 2010
As we tour more and more friends, visitors, volunteers, and staff through the beginning stages of the permaculture demo garden, our work here is drawing considerable amounts of participation and long-term interest. When we explain the reason for this type of garden in this particular place, the problems that this garden is solving, we see lightbulbs going off and sparks of amazement.
“Why aren’t we doing this everywhere?” “This makes so much sense!” ”Where else will you be doing this?” “I want something like this in my garden!” These are the most common remarks we get. It makes this work enchanting. Not only are we solving a real problem of figuring out where to get water for the garden, we’re making a huge impact on the growing numbers of those connected with the garden.
With an eye closely on the calendar, we quickly get back to advancing the garden. After all, we’ve got just under three months to get it assembled reasonably enough to present it to the masses during the annual LA Garden Show.
Guys, I think we're going to need a few more swales...
The impending rains signal the need quickly map and install a proper place for our swales. And in perfect time! We carve out the final touches and crack the curb to allow water flow within minutes of the first downpour.
The sweet nectar of rain feeding the garden
So, did they work?
Our answer calls out a massive “YES!” The 2.5′ wide x 1.5′ deep swales filled up in just about an hour. We used sandbags to divert as much flow as possible into the swales. And we danced and filled up our cameras’ memories with photos of that great sight.
Soggy swale that had absorbed all the rain from the storm in just 24 hrs
Week 4
January 29, 2010
There's nothing like rusty chicken wire, rotten wood, and galvanized frames early in the morning
Early Monday morning, when we rolled in to take an assessment of what needed to get done in time for the Lasagna Mulching Workshop on Saturday, we almost rolled right on out. But– by that same Monday afternoon, every single one of the hoop houses were collapsed, wood and metal frames were harvested, other resources were stored, and the space seemed to stretch its arms out and open.
By Tuesday we had mounded up about 4″ of pea gravel that had been covering the bottom of the hoop houses. Who knows what we’ll do with it yet, but it’s a must to keep. Why? Because it was at the site. Because pea gravel has a wide range of applications, from greywater filtration systems, to covering the bottom of raised beds, to creating a focal point in the garden as mulch, and even making nice little pathways.
...about an hour later
As soon as we had everything cleaned up, the propulsion of the garden, what it would be and when, was switched up to high gear! The space had previously been an ignored blip of land with those hoop houses. Now… well now everyone and their mom were noticing what was happening behind our entrance: The Portal of Possibilities. We saw visitors stopping and staring, pointing, “Honey, what’s going on in there?”
The unleashing of the permaculture garden space
Quite certainly every person, and nearly every animal that strolled by did a double and a third take. “What are you guys doing in here? I never noticed this was so big… Wow, a permaculture garden to harvest rain, grow food, and welcome the community? Where else are you going to be doing this? We need this kind of garden everywhere.”
In a few short days we would come to host the Sheet Mulching Workshop, all in order just as planned. In line with what is seeming to become standard in the galloping world of permaculture, our demo garden underwent another huge transformation during the event, in more ways than one.
"My word, Winston. What on earth are those people up to beyond this Portal of Possiblities? I must say I have the strong feeling that it all will turn out quite enchanting. We must come back and visit them soon."
Check out SayPermaculture! Projects for all the juicy details and pics!
Week 3
January 22, 2010
This week was immensely valuable to see the new permaculture site under rain and loads of it. We all got together and huddled under the overhang to watch the excitement. We found a spot where the rain on the roof of the building spills down into a deep pool. Problem: thrashing down water in one area of the garden. Solution: create a spot for a seasonal waterfall.
Brown, nutrient-rich fertilizer for the year washing away, just inches from the garden
We all pitied the sight of thousands of gallons just being washed down to the boulevard, inches from the swale to be built a couple of weeks from now. Like a river, we watched it all week long and shook our heads, barely being able to look at the thing as days slipped by. Though, we laughed too and took joy in each other’s company, allowing the rain to inspire useful, water-storing ideas for the garden.
Constucting tables out of old pallets and good ole' cinder blocks
In quieter times, we saw the need to create new rituals in the garden, noting that a rain water harvesting soiree should be held during the first big rains of the year.
Soon-to-be-gone obstructions in the garden. Soon-to-be-had collection of good wood and cinder blocks.
Much progress was made to load up the new shade structure with plants, despite the wet weather. And many gathered to help. Be sure to check back next week as the site will be transformed! Our fingers are zipped till then!
Week 2
January 15, 2010
We’ve had a huge success this week! We have completed the shade structure. Thank you to everyone who helped. It had been an ongoing project spanning the course of about 3 months. It looks great, but to see it doesn’t give justice to the amount of planning and fun work well spent.
Installing grommets Fitting the shade cloth
From the three of us baring down on the auger to drill holes for the sleeves, to brainstorming a series of crazy ideas involving 1.5″ galvenized pipe dangling loosely inside 2″ thick plumbers’ fittings (anything to avoid threading), to using the wood soldering iron to burn holes in a 110′ long shade cloth we found for grommets (actually, this works exceedingly well).
Hooray!
What in the world does this have anything to do with permaculture? I will tell you.
Stretching the shade cloth over pipes and fittings
Viola! The Shangri-La of shade houses
Now that we have this thing up, we can take those three old things out (see in week 1). When we have the three old things out, we can put the garden in.
Yum! Found a beautiful, fruity kumquat for a front and center spot in our demo garden
And in order to put the garden in we’ve got to have an enclosure around its perimeter. To that end, we collected a huge heap of 8″ bamboo from our forest. And we’ve secured fruit trees for a hedgerow.
One of our goals is to get visitors to consider the benefits (aesthetic and otherwise) of using sustainable bamboo versus lumber
Next is the fun design part. Tune back in next week as we excavate water lines to plan our perfect swale and see what synchronistic twists and turns the universe leads us into.
With the little bit of rain we had this week a small stream is gathering momentum. We're going to send it right into our swale instead of the ocean.
Week 1
Saskia and Leigh in the bamboo forest, gathering for our fence (a.k.a. having a good 'ole time doing permaculture!)
Frank, our expert builder, sawing another piece of galvanized 1.5"
Mature mushrooms decaying on a stand of bananas
Preliminaries
A gorgeous Loquat sitting in our plant nursery, yearning to be planted into the NEW FoodForest!
Check back by the end of this week for our first formal entry for The Year We Built a NEW Permaculture Garden! (Although we’re going to have it open and fully going by May Day, so check back and we may just have a revamped name for this blogproject too!)
