Permaculture Internship Program – Update 1, 2013

Posted on by Bill Wilson
Hayden and Mary-Kate

Hayden and Mary-Kate moving the chicken tractors along.  Wherever this goes, a rich layer of chicken ‘compost’ is left in its wake for any young trees or shrubs to be planted behind it.

We have a few seats remaining in our upcoming Internship Sessions

During their first 8-days, our interns immersed themselves in:

Spring Rains Fill Our Earthworks Multiple Times

Posted on by Bill Wilson

While the city of Chicago was shutting down due to too much rain last week just 60 miles north of us, the swales, ponds, berms and rain we have put in around our home and in Stelle did their job of filling up and holding water back from the creeks.  Over several days they will slowly release that water into the water table rather than let it run down into our creeks and rivers all at once.  

In this hugelkultured swale, both the ditch and the wood in the berm are holding rain water.

In this hugelkultured , both the ditch and the wood in the berm are holding rain water.

The water we are holding back will eventually make it to our creeks and rivers anyway, but it will do so slowly… and over a long period of time… thus trickle-feeding our creeks and rivers all year round.  This is the way a normal hydrological cycle works. Continue reading →

Plant Guilds

Posted on by Milton Dixon

Free Plant Guilds eBooklet

Plant Guilds eBooklet

Bryce Ruddock - Midwest Permaculture's Official Plant Guy

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Plant Guilds eBooklet

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Join Bryce for an
All Day Workshop on Plant Guilds

August 17, 2013
At Midwest – Stelle, IL

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Plant Guild Workshop

Posted on by Bill Wilson

A Full Day with
Author of the Plant Guilds e-Booklet

Next Scheduled Workshop   —  Saturday, August 17th  –  9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 
Price:  $95.00  Includes Lunch and printed copy of the Plant Guilds eBooklet  ($20 value)
At Midwest Permaculture in Stelle, IL  (Limit 24 Students)

Register Online  -or-  Call 815-256-2215 (Voice Message or Text 815-782-2216)

Bryce will Cover the Essentials:

  1. What is a Plant Guild
  2. What are the Key Elements
  3. What are the Functions we are Designing For
  4. What, Where & When Should we Plant
  5. How Plant Guilds make up a Food Forest
  6. Locating Key Plant Databases and How to Access Them online
  7. Sources for Good Plant Stock

Students Will Also:

  1. On Walk — Identity Naturally Formed Plant Guilds
  2. See Plant Guilds Created by Midwest
  3. Help Design and Actually Plant a Guild with Bryce
                            Bring Your Gloves…!!!  

Private Consultations with Bryce… If you have a specific project and would like Bryce’s undivided attention and recommendations, we will set a few private, 1-hour appointments on Saturday evening and Sunday Morning.  Call ahead to reserve… or… seek out Bryce following the should you feel you still need additional assistance. Price: $95.00/hr.

 Bryce Ruddock - Plant Guilds eBooklet

Continue reading →

Rocket Stove Workshop

Posted on by Milton Dixon

Learn to Make A Thermal Mass Rocket Stove

Students will Build and Fire-up a Thermal Mass Rocket Stove in a Single Day -

See our current  list of Rocket Stove Workshops for additional

Price – $95 - Includes Workshop and Lunch. At Midwest in Stelle, IL
(Limit 24 Students per Workshop) Next Workshop: June 9, 2013

Standard wood stoves waste much of the heat and wood energy when they burn, with much of it going up the chimney as hot smoke. A burns more efficiently – converting nearly all of the fuel into CO2 and water, including the smoke. It also stores it’s thermal energy in a “battery”,  a bench that stores the heat from the fire and releases it slowly over the course of the day.  The stove can burn both logs and scrap wood and the best part is, it can heat the same space as a regular wood stove with 1/4 of the wood! Continue reading →

Rocket Stove Workshop

Posted on by Milton Dixon

Learn to Make A Thermal Mass Rocket Stove

Students will Build and Fire-up a Thermal Mass Rocket Stove in a Single Day -

See our current  list of Rocket Stove Workshops for additional

Price – $95 - Includes Workshop and Lunch. At Midwest in Stelle, IL
(Limit 24 Students per Workshop) April 14, 2013 

Standard wood stoves waste much of the heat and wood energy when they burn, with much of it going up the chimney as hot smoke. A burns more efficiently – converting nearly all of the fuel into CO2 and water, including the smoke. It also stores it’s thermal energy in a “battery”,  a bench that stores the heat from the fire and releases it slowly over the course of the day.  The stove can burn both logs and scrap wood and the best part is, it can heat the same space as a regular wood stove with 1/4 of the wood! Continue reading →

Cal-Earth and Permaculture in the Bahamas

Posted on by Bill Wilson
Bill in Bahamas
At the same time as the 36-inch snow storm hit the East Coast of the US in early February (2013), I found myself standing on an island in the .  With no way to ‘escape’ I decided to accept my situation and make the best of it.  I had been invited to speak at a Peace Symposium hosted by the Sivananda Yoga Retreat located on Paradise Island just north of Nassau.  
 
 Eleuthera Island School - Bahamas (1)
When the symposium had finished, I make my way to the island of Eleuthera (map) where I had learned about a school and research institute that had incorporated permaculture into their campus.  As long as I was in the area I wanted to be sure to visit. With my good friend Swami Omkaranada, we arrived at the Cape Eleuthera Institute and found almost a dozen vaulted arches that are exactly like the ones we stay in when we teach our annual Permaculture & Earth Building Course at Cal-Earth in Hesperia, CA.
  Continue reading →

Essential Permaculture Weekend in Nebraska

Posted on by Becky Wilson

We are excited and can’t wait to return to the Omaha area coming up soon, the weekend of February 23-24. Transition Omaha, and Knowles Mercy Center are hosting us for our Essential Weekend. This is our third time at this location and it’s always good to revisit friendships that we’ve made in the area.

Home of Midwest Permaculture

Our Suburban Front Yard with Rain Gardens and 50 Edible/Useful Species of Plants

Last night a group of our local permie family drove to Chicago to hear inspiring storyteller Warren Brush from Quail Springs Permaculture. The local Amma Center invited him. He mentioned that Amma said that since we have an uncertain and ever changing future ahead of us, the best assurance we have for a stable resilient future is to have a garden and grow food.

And that’s just what our Essential Permaculture weekend is about. Growing food, capturing energy and water, getting started in looking at your world from a Permaculture perspective while transforming your relationships and community. And it all starts with simple steps.

Join us if you can in Omaha.  

 

Here’s the info:  http://midwestpermaculture.com/courses-training/about-2-day-essential/

 

 

Our Cal-Earth Permaculture Course 2012 – Picture Summary

Posted on by Bill Wilson

Pictures and Text by Bill Wilson

For a second year we co-delivered with the teaching staff a combined Superadobe Earth Building and Design Certificate Course.  At the close of our training we were pleased to host Geoff and of PRI-Australia who shared their work in desert environments with us while they were in the USA for a brief visit.  This was also opened to the general public seen here at the end of a really great day of learning.  

Our 2012 Cal-Earth on Guest Day with Geoff and Nadia Lawton – Picture taken on one of the Cal-Earth buildings.

  Continue reading →

Chinampas Gardens

Posted on by Brianna

Why Chinampas Gardens are part of This Design

Chinampas Gardens are artificial islands or peninsulas created by scooping nutrient-rich lake, swamp or pond muck into a woven cage so that crops can be grown above the waterline in a wet environment. Within this simple design, several unique functions are accomplished at once: a micro-climate that prevents early frost damage; an extremely productive soil that is mostly self-sustaining; a self-watering system created by water wicking in from the sides as moisture evaporates from the surface of the beds; and the growing of plants and fish within the same area.

In Particular we want to: 

  • Test the efficacy of Chinampas in our northerly-temperate climate
  • Assess their productivity and labor requirements compared to regular garden beds
  • Try something very different and creative.

 

  

Continue reading →