Permaculture/permaculture-like resources?

[Matt23]

Hey.  Anyone have any good resources, courses, books, people, etc., relating to permaculture, sustainable agriculture, or anything similar?  

[MuadDib]

Permaculture: A Designers' Manual - Bill Mollison (the bible/ standard text)

An introduction to permaculture- Bill Mollison

Smart permaculture design - Jenny Allen

The permaculture home garden - Linda Woodrow

Permaculture design certificate - Jeff Lawton

Udemy Course by Bill Mollison and Jeff Lawton

good film with lots of referenced resources:

another one I watched ages ago that I remember being quite good:

David Holmgren is also a big name in permaculture and good systemic thinker, but I'm not too familiar with his stuff:

 

Edited July 4, 2021 by MuadDib

[Matt23]

Cheers.

@MuadDib Have you looked into syntropic agroforestry at all, or done any of your own experiments with permaculture?

[MuadDib]

I've heard about it and seen some short videos on YouTube about it, but I haven't looked into it in any depth. This was quite cool:
 

I haven't tried anything myself, but my parents, grandparents and extended family on both sides have all been in agriculture for generations now, so I know how messed up it is and have been looking into alternatives. My parents did try some small scale garden permaculture when I was a kid at one of the places we lived at, I helped them with that, but we moved ...

Edited July 5, 2021 by MuadDib

[MuadDib]

@Matt23 I have more of an interest in sustainable energy and getting a grasp on the energy sources that power humanity.

It's a very deep root that determines most of what we are capable of accomplishing as a species, as David Holmgren discussed really well in that interview from about 6:15-16:00. It's a point that is overlooked even more than food by the average person today and it's NOT good. The base of Maslow's hierarchy of needs should be an energy source, then food/water/shelter should be on top of that because the cost of those things is determined by the energy that powers their production.

Current global contractions in the economy like the 2008 gfc can largely be traced back to increases in energy prices. We could even say that COVID is a somewhat natural 'contraction response' given the increasing overpopulation and over-extraction of resources.

I enjoyed the Netflix series 'inside bills brain' which I believe was a marketing campaign to improve public perception of nuclear power. He's come up with a new type of reactor - travelling wave reactor, that can run on nuclear waste and is touted to be safer than reactors designed with 1960's technology. That will be interesting to keep track of as the next decade unfolds. I view permaculture as being the current cutting edge of solar energy harvesting technology that humans have come up with. Plants have been practising for hundreds of millions of years to harvest solar energy. It's going to be hard to beat them.
 

Given the emerging energy crisis and also how closely we're edging the 4th industrial revolution, I'm going to be on the edge of my seat sweating for the next 20 years or so.
 

 

[MuadDib]

Vandana Shiva is a clear-headed environmentalist who specializes in the intersection between ecology, energy and agriculture. She has written over 20 books on the subjects, I've only read 'soil, not oil' which I thought was quite good. She's appeared in a few of the references I've given, but also in Michael Moore's documentary 'planet of the humans' - which does a great job of exposing some of the collective delusions we have about energy and agriculture.

 

 

[Everyday]

On 04/07/2021 at 5:04 AM, Matt23 said:

Hey.  Anyone have any good resources, courses, books, people, etc., relating to permaculture, sustainable agriculture, or anything similar?  

Hey

I recommend you Permaculture by Sepp Holzer.

 

Also, volunteer at a permaculture farm through WWOOF. I have done this and is very interesting and met cool people. You receive shelter and food in exchange of working at various farms.

[Matt23]

Thanks a bunch guys.  I'll keep these resources in the back pocket.  

On 7/15/2021 at 7:29 AM, Everyday said:

Also, volunteer at a permaculture farm through WWOOF

Totally.  I was thinking of doing it after I finish school this semester.  Are there any strategies you'd recommend in finding places to WWOOF at?  Like red flags n' such?  Have you had any bad experiences?  I'm in BC Canada, so I suspect many stage "Greenies" (  ) will be involved in WWOOFing here.