nicholas – Page 23 – School of Permaculture

Permaculture Tip of the Day – Temperate Climate Soil

By nicholas
July 9, 2014
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The richest soils in the world are in cool and cold temperate forests. It was once said that a squirrel could travel from Washington state to Maine without ever touching the ground. In the northern part of the United States there still can be found rare pockets of top soil that go to depths of […]

Permaculture Tip of the Day – How Much Dedicated Water Storage?

By nicholas
July 7, 2014
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Water is an exceptionally important design feature when designing permaculture sites. Where it comes from? how to store it? how to distribute it? and how will it exit a property? are just a few questions that arise in the design stage. Another question that arises frequently, especially on rural sites, is how much of the landscape should […]

Permaculture Tip of the Day – Root Spreading Stone

By nicholas
July 3, 2014
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Given enough time and planning we can add a large stone underneath the root layer of a freshly planted tree (usually best for sapling trees that do not already have a large root foundation). This particular method can be utilized greatly in arid climates and underneath dwarf trees that are used in the urban and suburban environments. The […]

Permaculture Tip of the Day – Light Albedo

By nicholas
June 30, 2014
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There are only a few things in nature that are constants. When designing landscapes and structures such as houses it is very important to design not only to solar aspect, but to light itself. Depending on climate region we may want to design “to absorb the light” or design “to reflect the light”. Both reflection […]

Permaculture Tip of the Day – Uninspired Design

By nicholas
June 27, 2014
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At the end of a permaculture design course, students are asked to create their first permaculture design, usually for a real location. Often times students say, “I cannot draw” or “I am not creative”. Contrary to their beliefs anyone can draw well enough and be creative enough in permaculture. When uninspired or not confident on […]

Permaculture Tip of the Day – Keypoints

By nicholas
June 25, 2014
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After a permaculture design course, many permaculture practitioner and designer feel as they though their understanding of key points in landscape is rather blurred. I have come up with a list of tips that make keypoints easier to understand, easier to find, and some of the ways they can be utilized. There is not just one keypoint per hillside or mountain […]

Permaculture Tip of the Day – Wind Breaks as Nutrient Traps

By nicholas
June 24, 2014
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Photo: Ian Scanlan www.igivetrees.com When two environments come together we usually can prepare to see the edge effect in full effect. When a prairie meets a forest, a rain of nutrient in the form of pollen and insect parts and feces falls on the inside edge of the forest. To capture that nutrient we can utilize […]

Permaculture Tip of the Day – Soil Building Ecosystems

By nicholas
June 23, 2014
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In permaculture we look to nature as a teacher to show us how to biomimic it’s design to create life rich systems. There is a hierarchy of soil creation in nature. The richest regions of life on earth can be found in the shallow marines. These are brakish in characteristic meaning they have a mixture […]

Permaculture Tip of the Day – Condensation as Irrigation

By nicholas
June 20, 2014
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In dry land climates or places where summers are very hot and dry it is beneficial to add water condensing surfaces for long term irrigation strategies. We can feed trees and vegetation up to 80% more of the average rainfall of the region by setting up appropriate condensation traps in the areas where we are […]

Permaculture Tip of the Day – Pest Traps for Protein

By nicholas
June 19, 2014
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In permaculture we have a principle that states: The problem is the solution. I could write the next week’s worth of tips just on that topic alone. However today’s tip will use this principle with pest management, specifically to invertebrates such as termites, grasshoppers, ants, and cockroaches. These guys are more than likely going to […]

Author: nicholas