Tag Archives: permaculture

The Mountains Are Calling

Think about what it would be like to spend a week in the mountains, learning from modern practitioners of ancient earth skills. Think about taking that knowledge home and using it to ground your diet to the earth in the same ways that your ancestors did. If you’ve been wanting to actually learn about living with the land, this spring in Asheville, N.C. might be the time to do it.

 practictioners

Local practitioners and teachers of permaculture, such as Wild Abundance, hold weekend gatherings and week long intensives like Ancestral Foods Cooking Class at their homesteads, where hands-on skills are shared by true teachers of the ancient crafts.

 

Botanists, herbalists, foragers, and homesteaders flock to these mountains, as they are the oldest on Earth and make up one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. Being able to explore these beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains with someone who is passionate and knowledgeable about the forest and its secrets is one of the most profound experiences you’ll find. It connects you with more than just your food, it connects you with the spirit of these mountains and the life to be found in them.

 

The permaculture and homesteading movement offers a chance to break out of the dependent consumer cycle that is killing our planet and our spirit. We owe it to ourselves to learn how to unplug from that. Taking back the food you eat is a great place to start.

 garden veggies

There are those that say switching to a diet of simple, raw, wild ancient foods and foraged foods have miraculous health benefits, including relief from common illnesses to more advanced diseases such as diabetes and even cancer. But the fact of the matter is that eating off the land just tastes good and feels good. You will soak it up and enjoy it in your every cell. You’ll feel happy and healthy and juicy and nourished and you will love it.

 

The permaculture movement also offers hope of a world that marries 21st-century technology with the ancient skills of cultivation and stewardship over ourselves and our land. Our ancestors developed these skills from a loving, nurturing, reciprocal relationship with the earth.

 

Here in Asheville and the surrounding areas, you will find a celebration of these values and the sacred lands that it occupies. Join us this spring as we celebrate the ancient ways with the gifts and wisdom of these mountains.

 

 

Save the soil, save the world.

Howdy Howdy!   Today we’re going to talk about soil and why it’s so important, along with some ways you can improve it.  Soil can make or break not only a garden but entire civilizations.  Please understand I’m not just talking about dirt, but dirt that contains life, microbes, bugs, worms, water, organic matter, that’s soil and it needs our help.  

Soil erosion is a huge environmental challenge in many places and it is often exacerbated by modern agricultural farming practices.  Luckily for us, permaculture can help. With permaculture, we can reverse the damage we’ve done to the planet, as well as grow our food in a way that is actually smarter and regenerative (instead of just sustainable).
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Permaculture and Observation

If you read my last post, or are familiar with the subject, you’ll know that observation is crucial in permaculture; because of its great importance, that’s where we’re going to start today.

The designer is the recliner.   Finding a good sit-spot.

lightThe first thing you should do is get your mind right…  To do that, you should find a good sit-spot.  It might sound simple but the sit-spot is crucial for a couple different reasons.

First, you get the obvious benefit of relaxation; being in nature is a meditative and healing experience.  Second, nature can teach you a lot of things about your environment, even yourself.

My sit-spot is right outside my back door.  I make it a point to go outside every day and become absorbed by the natural world around me.  It has been cool to implement some of the stuff I’m learning in my permaculture class and see nature doing the things my teachers described, there is something truly magical about the process.
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Permaculture Can Save the Planet.

With our modern world full of rampant consumerism, pollution, and the destruction of the environment  happening at a dangerously rapid pace, it’s becoming painfully clear we need to start doing something different.  I could go on and on all day listing the stuff that’s messed up with this planet right now, but this post isn’t meant to bring you down sooo…   Let’s focus on the positives!

What we can do about these problems we face today?  What are the solutions?

wemeThat’s where permaculture comes in.   The word Permaculture comes from the words “Permanant” and “Culture”, it means what it sounds like; creating a permanent culture.   I hope to share with you the same feelings of hope, inspiration and determination that studying permaculture gives me.

Permaculture is based on the ideas that we are all connected, that we can look to nature to find solutions to the problems we’re facing today and we can conduct our lives in a better way that is not only sustainable, but regenerative; healing the planet and promoting abundance and health.

I started my permaculture journey after stumbling upon a really great website (openpermaculture.com)  dedicated to the subject.  I started watching the free videos they offered and fell so hopelessly in love with the ideas presented that I enrolled in the Permaculture Certification class they offered, deciding this was the direction I wanted to take with my life.
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