July 2006 Open House with afternoon seminar on:

Introduction to Permaculture

Sunday, July 9, 2006

10:00 Overview of CSC and community of Stelle
11:15 Tour of community (Solar & wind applications, gardens, etc…)
12:15 Lunch (Made with garden produce – vegetarian option)
 1:30 Seminar (see below)

Join Mark Hoffman during the afternoon seminar for an experience of Permaculture. This popular presentation starts with a short introduction followed by an outdoor tour of permaculture applications in the gardens at the Greenhouse Bed and Breakfast.

A guild of oregano and eggplant underneath a persimmon tree. This guild maximizes harvest of sunlight to simultaneously produce three crops.

Permaculture is a method of ecosystem design and management that serves to consciously maximize the system's abundance. Using Permaculture principles, the designer first observes, then utilizes (and in some cases modifies) the inherent patterns of land, weather, and water flow to optimize their relationship. In such a design any surplus produced is used either for the benefit of the people managing the system or it is returned to the ecosystem to further its enrichment.

Permaculture provides sensible methods to rehabilitate degraded and damaged ecosystems, and in their place establish healthy, productive ecosystems that improve over time. In Permaculture design, everything is a resource, nothing is wasted. There is no need for synthetic chemical or fertilizer inputs because the balanced ecosystem eliminates their need. Permaculture integrates appropriate technologies into healthy ecosystems, thus accommodating human needs without negatively affecting nature.

A gourd vine using a small maple tree as a trellise.

In a higher sense, Permaculture can be viewed as conscious manipulation of an ecosystem to produce a balanced, harmonious relationship between human needs and the needs of nature.

This presentation describes some of the principles of permaculture design and illustrates living examples of these principles in use.

At the heart of the presentation, Mark gives a tour of his yard where he and his wife Guia have built permaculture principles into their organic gardening system. Click here to see some examples of permaculture application in the yard at their Bed and Breakfast.