Permaculture Weekend Workshop #1
Emphasis on Urban and Suburban Applications

Instructor: Larry Korn

Features:
•  Translator of the classic book, The One Straw Revolution (by M. Fukuoka)
    •  The Magic and Mystery of the Soil
        •  Fundamentals of Permaculture

Larry is a repeat guest lecturer at CSC, having given several presentations at the 15 Day Permaculture Design Certification Course we hosted last summer. He was trained and certified in 1983 at the very first course offered in the U.S. by Bill Mollison (originator of Permaculture concept) and is a regular instructor for the International Institute of Ecological Agriculture's educational courses.

Exploration of The One Straw Revolution
Larry spent 5 years in Japan, two of those with Masanobu Fukuoka on his farm in southern Japan. He lived in one of the mud walled huts in Fukuoka 's orchard and performed farm chores with the other students. Larry translated Fukuoka 's classic book The One-Straw Revolution into English which was then translated into twelve other languages including French, Dutch, Italian, Hindi and Spanish. Larry brings to us his experience and slides of his time studying with Fukuoka as well as some great stories about serving as a translator and guide for Fukuoka on his two trips to the United States. Larry was instrumental in introducing Fukuoka to Wes Jackson, Wendell Berry, Bill Mollison, Robert Rodale, Gary Snyder and many farmers and students interested in his philosophy and natural farming techniques.

The Magic and Mystery of the Soil (Natural Productivity)
Ever since his days working on communes in the Japanese countryside in the mid-1970's, Larry has had a passion for the soil. He returned to get a degree in Soil Science and Plant Nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley. Instead of seeing the earth simply as the physical support for crops as industrial agriculture does, Larry sees soil as a living, breathing “creature” with attributes that make it humanity's most useful and loyal friend. The soil, after all, has a breathing system, digestive system, circulatory system and skeletal system. Every major natural cycle passes through the soil and it is the place most of the earth's energy and water are stored.

In this workshop, Larry will discuss native soil, its layers and characteristics, its teeming flora and fauna, and the magical interrelationship of soil and plants.   He will describe methods of improving the soil, the reason permaculture and natural farming both emphasize no-tillage techniques, and much more. This workshop will also touch on the role the soil has played in the rise and fall of civilization throughout human history.

Guest Speaker Neris Gonzales
This weekend workshop will include a special guest - Neris Gonzales. Neris is a survivor of the El Salvador civil war (late 70's till early 90's), and came to Chicago to recover.  During the war, she was persecuted for teaching her fellow peasants literacy and how to feed themselves with the use of permaculture. She will talk on all this as well as explain why she establish the non-profit educational program called ‘Ecovida' in her community of Pilson (in Chicago).   It seems she felt that her new city neighbors need permaculture as much as her former country's citizenry did.

Local Field Tours
Nothing allows information to sink in more than seeing it applied first hand.  We will be visiting Jon and June Haeme's strawbale home where they will present slides and share their experience of the past 10 years working to create a sustainable lifestyle.  Jon and June bought 5 acres near Stelle 12 years ago, and in 1994 started construction on a strawbale home (the first in Illinois).  After much hard work and the help of many friends, they were able to move into their new home in the spring of 1996. The home features a passive solar design, energy efficient lighting and appliances, a solar PV electric system, a solar hot water system, and a rain water collection system.

Other improvements on their property include a passive solar strawbale workshop, organic garden, and a wind break created in part from living Christmas trees planted each year after the holidays. Jon states that “we use an electric garden tractor rebuilt from a 1974 GE Electrac.   We also use a 20% blend of biodiesel in our big tractor and our VW Jetta which gets 50 MPG on the highway. We continue to look for ways to improve our lifestyle in a way that is sustainable for us and the World.”

Also scheduled is a tour to Mark and Guia Hoffman's two acre Bed & Breakfast that will include a walking presentation through their permaculture oriented gardens and yard. Mark and Guia have experimented with a variety permaculture concepts and will share their experience and knowledge.

More on Larry Korn
Besides his experience in natural and organic agriculture, Larry has worked for the California Department of Forestry evaluating soil erosion on sensitive areas and has published many articles about farming, horticulture, and permaculture. He currently provides his livelihood as a landscape contractor in the San Francisco Bay Area.  

More on Fukuoka 's Farm
Fukuoka 's farm is probably the best example of applied permaculture in the world. Its concepcion originated from a flash of inspiration Fukuoka had when he was a young man. At the time he was working as a plant pathologist at an agricultural inspection station in Yokahama. In his moment of inspiration, he saw that nature is perfect just as it is. It is when people arrogantly insist on “improving” nature that problems arise. He returned to his family farm to demonstrate the usefulness of his understanding by applying it to agriculture.  He tried many experiments and closely observed nature's subtle clues. Today Fukuoka's farming methods, which he calls “natural agriculture”, require no machines, no chemicals and very little weeding. He does not plow the soil or use prepared compost. He does not hold water in his rice fields all season as farmers in Japan and around the word have done for centuries. And yet, his yields compare favorably with the most productive farms in Japan. Despite reaping a crop of rice and one of barley each year, the fertility of his soil increases with each cycle.

The underlying philosophy of natural farming revolves around the question of “What is an appropriate relationship between people and nature?” Fukuoka believes that natural farming proceeds from the spiritual health of the individual. He considers the healing of the land and the purification of the human spirit to be one process, and he proposes a way of life and a way of farming in which this process can take place. He states in the One-Straw Revolution, “The real meaning of natural farming is not simply growing crops, it is the cultivation  and perfection of human beings.”

Click here for more on Larry and his experience with Masanobu Fukuoka.