Permaculture at UMass Amherst

This is a blog entry from the UMass Amherst Permaculture Blog. I would strongly recommend following this blog, which takes you on a journey from the perspective of 9 individuals, whose job is to create one of the first student led permaculture gardens on a major university campus in the country. A link to the blog site can be found here: http://UMassPermaculture.wordpress.com

You'll like this, I promise!

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Dear Eco-Conscious Reader,

Welcome to the University of Massachusetts Amherst permaculture blog site. My name is Ryan Harb and I was recently hired as the Auxiliary Services Sustainabilty Specialist at UMass Amherst. In September, 2010, eight passionate and hard-working students were selected to serve on the UMass Permaculture Planning Committee. Together, the nine of us have quite the story to tell you.

Our job is considerable: to implement one of the first permaculture gardens on a public university campus in the country. UMass Amherst fully supports and funds this project as it is part of the campus-wide sustainability initiative to raise awareness about a more holistic and ecologically conscious way of growing food.

The Franklin Dining Common Permaculture Garden will supply UMass Amherst Auxiliary Services with fresh, local and organic produce to serve to its students. Please read on to learn how students, outside volunteers, and the campus community transform a conventional, unproductive grass lawn into a highly progressive, aesthetically pleasing, and socially responsible garden directly on campus.

What is Permaculture?

Permaculture is a merger of the words permanent and agriculture and was created to mitigate environmental degradation while helping to solve issues associated with modern agriculture. Its approach is simple: to restore ecosystem health by mimicking natural processes. Permaculture gardens are ecologically designed, require minimal maintenance, and provide an abundance of food and resources. The principles of permaculture include observing patterns in nature, catching and storing energy, using renewable resources, producing no waste, and valuing diversity. These principles can be applied to economic systems, land access strategies, and legal systems for businesses and communities. UMass Amherst, in its commitment to sustainability, has adopted permaculture strategies to provide food and education for the campus community.

Read more about permaculture here in a more recent blog entry.

Project History:

The Franklin Permaculture Garden was first conceived in the fall of 2009 by a group of students in Dr. John Gerber's Sustainable Agriculture class. The lawn adjacent to Franklin Dining Common was chosen with the intention of producing food for UMass Auxiliary Services. After much planning and numerous meetings with administrators, the project was given the green light.

Then something unfortunate happened. The project was halted when news arose of a proposed temporary parking lot on the exact site of the garden. Students voiced their concerns that this would delay the permaculture project for years and adversely affect the UMass Amherst Sustainability Initiative. The permaculture garden seemed defeated.

Fortunately, the administration listened to student concerns. The project regained some momentum during the Spring 2010 semester when the proposed parking lot fell through. Ken Toong, Director of Auxiliary Services, began talking with Ryan Harb, a certified permaculture designer and M.S. in Green Building, about overseeing the project that Dr. Gerber's students had proposed. Ryan had recently transformed his Amherst lawn into a yard-sized permaculture garden for his graduate thesis project. His "yarden" served as a model for what the Franklin Garden could be.

In the fall of 2010, Ryan was hired for the job and began interviewing for a committee of eight students with the determination and inspiration to assist him with the project. Thus began the UMass Permaculture Planning Committee and the Franklin Permaculture Garden.

What's Coming Next?

We, the UMass Permaculture Planning Committee, are responsible for transforming the ¼ acre grass landscape into a highly productive and low maintenance garden using no fossil fuels on-site. During October and November 2010, we will be moving over 100,000 pounds of organic matter by hand, with help from many other students and community volunteers.

We will hold educational permaculture workshops for the surrounding community throughout the year, and will partner with organizations such as Big Brother Big Sisters and G.A.A.P.E (Global Action Against Poverty Everywhere) to inspire future generations about the need for sustainability.

Subscribe to our blog! We will be posting twice weekly throughout the year with pictures, stories and video footage to document our progress.

Thanks for reading!
-The UMass Amherst Permaculture Planning Committee

Contact:

Ryan Harb
Auxiliary Services Sustainability Specialist
University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Email: UMassPermaculture@gmail.com
• Phone: (978) 314-1176

Facebook: http://groups.to/UMassPermaculture
Blog: http://UMassPermaculture.wordpress.com

Amherst Man turns Car into Permaculture Garden

Today, I opened my backseat and surprisingly saw something green. It looked like sprouts, but I had just vacuumed my car. Something must gotten attached to my bag earlier in the day, I thought. Upon closer examination, I noticed it had roots.

Background:

All summer I had been hauling 5 gallon buckets of wood chips, cardboard, and compost in my car, as I was in the midst of 4 separate permaculture garden projects. Needless to say, some of the compost and wood chips spilled on my floor, in my seats, etc.

About 4 weeks ago, I transported some buckwheat seeds in my car, to my garden at 3 Willow Lane in Amherst, Massachusetts. Can you guess where this is going?

Now:

Apparently some of the compost had found its way down in my backseat seat-belt-buckle. Apparently some of the buckwheat seed had also found its way down there. Some moisture, perhaps from the hot days and cool nights we've been experiencing lately, added to form the perfect storm.

I now have buckwheat growing out of my backseat seat belt buckle!




Thank you for reading,
Ryan

Amherst man turns yard into permaculture garden

I haven't posted in quite a while. Here is an article that came out today, Thursday, September 23, 2010 in the Daily Hampshire Gazette. The current project I'm working on is one of the first highly visible permaculture gardens being implemented on a mainstream college campus - The University of Massachusetts Amherst. It will be co-designed by students. The article below briefly mentions this project. Stay tuned for more updates!

-Ryan

Link to article here, but may not work without a login account: http://www.gazettenet.com/2010/09/23/amherst-man-turns-yard-permaculture-garden?SESS0078d2a1ada0ce5504905f43d3918cce=gnews

Amherst man turns yard into permaculture garden

By CHERYL B. WILSON
Gazette Contributing Writer

As with all organic gardening, permaculture starts with the soil. But it goes far beyond just eschewing pesticides and building a compost pile.

"Permaculture is an ecological design system that involves edible perennial landscaping," said Ryan Harb, the first green building graduate of the University of Massachusetts, who has transformed his Amherst front yard into a beautiful garden of edibles.

"There is no one definition of permaculture," he added. The concept is meant to minimize effort and concentrate on a low-maintenance system.

Harb taught a course in permaculture at UMass as part of his graduate program. He needed a master's thesis project in the green building program and decided that a garden in his front yard was his best bet.

"My project had to be something big. It had to be something that would get people talking," he said. "Most of all it had to be educational, something that people would actually want to learn about which would benefit both the individual and the planet as a whole."

A year ago Harb and his friends sheet mulched his front yard, about 6,000 square feet that was previously lawn.

"We mowed the grass very short and then took digging forks and aerated it," he said.

Next they amended the soil, following the dictates of a soil test from UMass, adding needed minerals. Finally they covered the area with good compost.

"It was grass, white powder, then black compost, 3 inches deep," he said. Cardboard then covered the entire area and was itself covered with wood chips.

Five months later, in the spring, there was incredibly deep soil ready to plant. However, Harb and his friends knew they couldn't quickly maintain a 6,000-square-foot garden, so they laid out garden beds edged with sapling logs accompanied by wood chip pathways. Half of the beds were seeded with white clover, a nitrogen-fixing legume that builds up the soil.

They kept costs down by applying for grants, begging for free compost and wood chips and bartering for perennial plants from Tripple Brook Farm in Southampton, Sirius Community in Shutesbury and Eric Toensmeier in Holyoke.

They planted several hazelnut bushes plus a pawpaw tree and beach plums along the street (because they tolerate salt), Nanking cherry and two very small peach trees. Some of these form focal points at the axis of the beds and paths in a simple landscape design.

They also planted perennial vegetables like arugula and kale and five kinds of alliums (onions): chives, Chinese chives, walking onion, wild leeks and regular onion. All of the perennials did well, Harb reported.

Among the annual vegetables that thrive were the heat-loving cucumbers and squash. They have a nice crop of pumpkins and cherry tomatoes that flourished. Fava beans, an unusual crop suggested by Llani Davidson of the Sirius Community, were great, Harb said. They ate them cooked and raw. The only vegetable that didn't do well was potatoes, he admitted. The dread potato beetles just couldn't be controlled with the compost tea with which he drenched them.

Harb was away much of the summer, but his tenant, Alex Kermond, kept the garden going, watering frequently during the drought. When Harb taught a permaculture course at the Sirius Community early in the summer the class made a field trip to his garden and spent an hour weeding.

Harb bought his seeds from Fedco, an organic company in Maine. "We spent $100. It was like a Christmas present," Harb said with a laugh.

Soon they will be pulling up the annual plants and composting them. Then they will put down a cover crop, either winter rye or buckwheat. Each year they will add more compost. They have applied for an innovation grant from the Timothy Harkness Innovation Program at Hampshire College.

"We call our project Yardening, replacing a yard with a garden," Harb said. Next spring they will plant more fruit trees and bushes and continue to build up the soil.

Harb is renting his house to four UMass students, most of the them in the university's plant, soil and insect science department and one in the landscape architecture program. All of the students took his permaculture course last year.

Meanwhile, Harb is working on a new project at UMass - a permaculture vegetable garden outside Franklin Dining Commons, which will feed some of the UMass students.

"It's in the very, very, very beginning stages," he cautioned.

In October Harb and his friends plan to sheet mulch a 10,000-square-foot area on the west side of the dining commons. In the spring they will plant crops, salad items and herbs close to the building so the chefs can step outside and harvest them for cooking.

"The whole idea is opening eyes up to having a designed landscape to be useful as well as ornamental," Harb explained.

"Someday I envision people walking down a street and reaching up to pick an apple or a peach right off the tree," he said.

Cheryl Wilson can be reached at valleygardens@comcast.net

JERREY ROBERTS

Harb inspects the squash in his permaculture garden in Amherst.

JERREY ROBERTS

Ryan Harb in his garden at 3 Willow Lane.

JERREY ROBERTS

Clover growing in Harb's garden. Harb said he likes using clover as a ground cover because it helps improve the soil.

Summer Updates

Greetings all,

The garden is in full-swing and I am now officially moved out of 3 Willow Lane. The goal of the project was to create an ideal living situation for environmentally conscious college students in Amherst, MA. The house is now on it's way to being the model sustainable and educational residence that I envision. Lot's of side projects are going on including energy efficient measures (tightening the building envelope), and permaculture activities like shiitake mushroom log inoculation, backyard composting and indoor vermicomposting, rainwater catchment, and the highlight of it all - an entire yard edible forest garden (yarden).

Currently I am at Sirius Community in Shutesbury, Massachusetts. For the next 3 weeks I will be finishing co-teaching a course called Sustainable Design and Construction. 16 students from around the country have traveled to western Massachusetts to learn about green and natural building and participate in hands-on activities related to building environmentally beneficial structures. We are thinking beyond sustainability in this course and focusing our efforts on regenerating the global ecosystem that we are all a part of.

The planet is dealing with a lot of abuse right now - and a lot of it is directly related to how humans are living (but not all - mostly it stems from the lifestyles that people in "developed" countries are living). We are having some incredible discussions in this SDC course, which is set up by Living Routes - a non-profit organization that focuses on sending students abroad to ecovillages to learn about sustainability.

If you want to follow our time here at Sirius and get a glimpse of what we are doing each day, there is a course blog set up which has the following description:


"USA 2010 - Sustainable Design and Construction Course Blog

A thoughtful account of student and faculty experiences at the USA 2010 Sustainable Design and Construction course at Sirius Community located in Shutesbury, Massachusetts. One student is asked to start blogging on Day 1 (June 20, 2010) and his/her experience is read on day 2 by another student - who will pick up the story where the previous student left off. This continues throughout the course and each student and faculty member will post at least once during the course (approximately 19 entries will be written between June 21 - July 11, 2010). Get ready to take a journey with the USA 2010 SDC Group - a story told by 19 individuals who will share experiences together for 3 weeks and live in community at the beautiful Sirius Ecovillage in scenic western Massachusetts."

Today's entry by Joe features pictures from a primitive shelter building exercise. Check it out if you get a chance http://bit.ly/d6IVCj

I might not be posting much again this summer due to a very busy schedule. I'm here at Sirius until July 11 then immediately head to Holmes, New York to begin working with teens and raising awareness about green building and permaculture at Omega Institute Teen Camp.

That's all for tonight. Good night everyone.
Ryan

[Part 2] Slideshow - June 5 - Permaculture Edible Forest Garden -

[Slideshow] Transform Your Yard into a Permaculture Edible Forest Garden (Yarden)

Permaculture Garden in Amherst, MA - May 28, 2010

I've been slacking on the blog posts as of late. It's been a big transitionary period in my life and my attention has been spread thin, but I want to update you all on the status of the garden. Planting began in early April. The weather has been extremely cooperative this spring, aside from two violent but quick-to-pass wind/rain storms.

Observing the garden has been quite a lesson. Many things have worked better than I imagined they would. Many things didn't fare quite as well. I've made mistakes and learned heaps by undertaking this project - it started 9 months ago in September, 2009. Now, I'd like to share with you some pictures. I'll show a few before/afters because it's remarkable how much the ecosystem has shifted here at 3 Willow Lane. Whether or not this a positive transformation is up for you to decide.

April 2, 2010 - sheet mulching the remainder of our lawn. The goal: to make a pathway from the sidewalk of Willow Lane (Amherst, MA) that is inviting and encourages people to enter. It was intentionally shaped as a tree, with the wide base at the sidewalk and the branches opening up to different beds of the garden.

Fresh wood chips (about 3") were laid on top of one layer of corrugated cardboard for the pathways. The darker you see is a mixture of decomposted wood chips (raked from other beds of the garden (these chips decomposed during late fall - early spring) and compost, both atop of cardboard to prevent grass from taking over.


White clover was seeded into this mix of wood chips and compost and watered each day. This was about after 1 week of seeding. The white clover fixes nitrogen (which can be tied up due to the wood chips breaking down) and acts as a beautiful ground cover and place-holder until other plants are transplanted.


About 4 weeks later, the green clover carpet has formed quite nicely.

Here's how the tree path looks now.

Personally, I believe that yard transformations - Grass to Gardens - is great on so many levels. For one, it simply feels great harvesting from your own garden. Most people get a sense of pride, I certainly do, when they see plants that they've cared for are healthy and growing. Why fight nature (mowing your grass - it's a vicious cycle!) when you can be more connected to the micro-ecosystem in which you live.

Here we were in September, 2009.

And here we are now:

Edibles and beautiful flowers growing where grass was dominant just last fall.

Edible forest gardens - mimicking a forest ecosystem (think layers) and being intentional about species selection.

Salad bowl lettuce growing alongside fava beans. Both are doing excellent.

Potatoes on the left and favas on the right.

Lots of garlic...

... and chives!


The daisies are blooming.

And sweet williams flower is beginning to show its head. Stay tuned for more updates... and maybe even begin asking yourself "what else can my lawn be used for?"

I'll be working in the yarden all this week. If anyone in the Amherst area wants to come and help, we have a lot of fun projects going on. They are (including, but not limited to) building a rainwater catchment system, some bed prepping and planting, and digging out some beautiful and gigantic flat granite stones that have been grown over by grass since we bought the property 4 years ago! Hope to see some of you soon.


Peace,
Ryan

Update on Cape Wind Project!

Today is a great day! I received a message from my friend, James Burns, telling me to check out the latest news about the Cape Wind Project which I was following very closely back in the fall, 2008.

Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar announced today that the Cape Wind Project is approved by the Obama administration. This is BIG news considering the project was proposed TEN years ago...and more than 25 million dollars has been spent trying to get it built. On the other side, 25 million was spent trying to prevent it from being built. Check out the video of it being approved on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY87nknT_1Y


I researched and wrote about this project for my natural resource policy and social conflict course - I uploaded it for anyone who is interested in reading about the project's background:

http://umass.academia.edu/documents/0011/1604/Cape_Wind_Conflict.doc


Below is an article taken from Reuters talking about the approval. You'll be able to find lots of other links about this in the coming days. This puts a big smile on my face and is a really big step for clean renewable energy in the U.S.

Cape Wind, first U.S. offshore wind farm, approved

A power-generating windmill turbine operates in a wind farm on Backbone Mountain near Thomas, West Virginia August 28, 2006. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

A power-generating windmill turbine operates in a wind farm on Backbone Mountain near Thomas, West Virginia August 28, 2006.

Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

BOSTON (Reuters) - The first U.S. offshore wind farm, a giant project 5 miles/8 km off the Massachusetts coast, was approved on Wednesday after years of opposition involving everyone from local Indian tribes to the Kennedy family.

U.S. | Green Business | COP15

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gave the green light for the historic 130-turbine, 420-megawatt Cape Wind project in Horseshoe Shoal, Nantucket Sound, in what supporters considered a huge step forward for renewable energy in the United States.

"This project fits with the tradition of sustainable development in the area," Salazar said in Boston.

Although small in terms of its production -- the facility would produce enough electricity to power 400,000 houses -- its approval was encouraging to other offshore wind projects already proposed for the East Coast and Great Lakes.

The turbines, more than 400 feet high, will dot an area of about 24 square miles (62 square km), larger than Manhattan, and be visible low on the horizon from parts of Cape Cod. The site is tucked between the mainland of the cape and the islands of Martha's Vineyard, an exclusive celebrity vacation destination, and Nantucket.

German conglomerate Siemens AG will provide the turbines. Construction is expected to begin before the end of the year, said Jim Gordon, president of Cape Wind Associates. Power generation could begin by 2012.

The decision to approve Cape Wind, subject to certain conditions designed to protect offshore waters from damage and reduce visibility, is expected to face legal challenges, but Salazar said he was confident the approval would stand.

Supporters say wind farms represent a giant push for renewable energy efforts and reducing dependence on foreign oil, and fit well with the Obama administration's strategy.

"Greenpeace has been campaigning to get the Cape Wind project built for nearly a decade, and today's victory is worth celebrating. It is long overdue," said Kert Davies, research director at the environmental group.

YEARS OF REVIEW

Cape Wind was subject to years of environmental review and political maneuvering, including adamant opposition from the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, whose six-acre (2.4 hectare) family compound in Hyannis Port overlooks Nantucket Sound.

A final ruling was near in 2009, but delayed again after two Wampanoag Indian tribes complained that the giant turbines would disturb spiritual sun greetings and possibly ancestral artifacts and burial grounds on the seabed.

Opponents have deemed the project an eyesore, and raised issues ranging from a detrimental effect on property values in the popular vacation area south of Boston, to possible damage to birds, whales, fishing, aviation, and historic sites.

U.S. Senator Scott Brown, the Republican elected this year to fill Kennedy's seat, criticized Wednesday's decision and said the project was a threat to regional tourism and fishing.

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, a federal agency in charge of safeguarding historic landmarks, recommended this month that the project be rejected.

The governors of six eastern U.S. states shot back in a letter to Salazar, arguing that other offshore projects will likely be abandoned if the Cape Wind project was rejected.

Salazar cited that letter as part of his decision. "We believe there is huge potential for offshore wind along the Atlantic. We don't want to be second to anyone," he said.

U.S. wind generation increased by 27 percent last year, accounting for 2 percent of total electricity supplies, according to the Energy Department. Wind power supports about 85,000 American jobs.

"Renewable energy projects like these not only help fight climate change, they can create jobs and play a central role in our economic recovery," said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Several countries have achieved much higher levels of wind power generation, often with large government subsidies, including Denmark, Spain and Portugal.

Less than 2 percent of wind energy is offshore, but turbine makers see it as an area of huge growth potential.

Siemens rival General Electric Co expects to increase its offshore business to generate $3 billion to $5 billion a year over the next few years, chief executive Jeff Immelt said at the company's annual meeting in Houston on Wednesday.

Tom King, president of the power company National Grid US, said talks with Cape Wind about purchasing its output are continuing.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63R42X20100428?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Local PDC Course May 10-21 (All-Star Lineup!)

G'evening y'all,

I just received notice that there will be a permaculture design certificate (PDC) course taught at Hampshire College from May 10-21. It is being taught by local permaculture instructors Mai Frank and Ned Phillips-Jones (with guest instructors including Dave Jacke, Jono Neiger, and Eric Toensmeier). That's an All-Star lineup for those of you who aren't familiar with the names.

This is an awesome opportunity to gain your PDC and it probably the least expensive PDC course I have ever seen. I highly recommend making an inquiry if you are at all interested in permaculture. The last I heard about half the spots were filled.

Check out the flyer and e-mail HCPermacultureDesignCourse@gmail.com for more info. Also, please pass this e-mail along to anyone you think might be interested.

Hope everyone is doing well and your end of the semesters aren't too overwhelming. Good luck - the semester's almost over!


Peace,
Ryan

Work-Day at 3 Willow Lane this Saturday, 4/24!

Hey y'all,

This is a rather impersonal message since I'm trying to send it out to many people and not spend all day on the computer! This Saturday I'm inviting lot's of folks over to help with the project I've been working on for the last 6+ months - turning my yard into an edible forest garden - a yarden. Here's the e-mail I've been sending around.

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I'm writing to inform everyone about a project that I'm currently working on and incredibly passionate about. I'm in the process of converting my single-family home in Amherst, MA into a model residence for ecological living. A large portion of the project entails transforming the entire grass front yard into an edible forest garden. This project was started back in September, 2009 and there is almost no grass left! Perennial fruits, vegetables, berries and roots have already begun growing and we are trying to make this project as inspiring as possible, in hopes that others will want to do this to their yards!

We'll be having an informal work-day with tours this Saturday, April 24, starting at 8:30am and lasting until 5:00pm. Some food will be provided but please bring a lunch if you plan on coming early and staying throughout the day. Please bring any of the mentioned tools if you have them (more pitch forks, digging forks, shovels, rakes and hammers will be needed if lot's of people show up!)

The main goal of this project is to save energy and this Saturday we will be setting up a clothes line made from all recycled materials (minimize dryer use), an outdoor compost bin (less trash to landfills) a trellis or two for our vegetables, and we will be sheet mulching some pathways and inoculating certain areas of wood chips with white clover (to fix nitrogen, minimize the work that is lawn mowing, and improve soil health.) Maybe some planting, too.

It is expected to be another gorgeous day this Saturday, so please come help us out at 3 Willow Lane, in Amherst, MA. Call or e-mail Ryan Harb if you have questions / for directions. (978) 314-1176.

I hope to see some of you on Saturday!
-Ryan

Permaculture Design Course in Peru

Happy spring, y'all. Below is an e-mail I received from my friend Cynthia, who is co-teaching a permaculture design course in Peru! This sounds like a fantastic opportunity and I wish I could go! Two friends of mine from Growing Power will be heading south to stay in Peru for a year or so... if you do decide to go on this please let me know as I'll be wanting to hear all about it!

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Permaculture Design Certificate Course
in the Peruvian Amazon
Healing the Land & Healing our Bodies
through Permaculture & Shamanism
Bilingual: English and Spanish
June 22nd – July 6th 2010

www.PlanetPeoplePassion.com

Planet People Passion is thrilled to offer a very special opportunity to partake in our inaugural Permaculture Design Certificate Course at The Amazonian Institute for the Preservation of the Rainforest & Indigenous Traditions.

The objective of the project is to establish a Permaculture education and information base that will empower the community and provide models for sustainable agriculture alternatives to slash and burn practices, soil remediation, reforestation, effective use of water resources, recycling and waste management.

Guided by lead instructor Andrew Jones, and assistant instructors Shenaqua Sookhoo-Jones and Cynthia Robinson, students in this intensive two week Design Certificate Course will have an opportunity to play a hands on role in the real life design planning and implementation of this Permaculture site located on 40 acres of previously clear cut forest in the Peruvian Amazon 60 kilometer from Iquitos, Peru.

In the course we will be studying a holistic approach to Permaculture incorporating:
• Multiple meetings with many local villages and tribes in order to learn of the history, culture, resources, and current challenges these indigenous communities face. It is important that we truly understand the problems in order to design relevant solutions.
• Explore the symbiotic relationship between nurturing the land and nurturing our own bodies.
• Work with indigenous Shamans in order to explore the medicinal and sacred plants of this incredibly bio-diverse and magical region.

For more information visit www.PlanetPeoplePassion.com
To learn more about Permaculture and the specific topics covered visit HERE

Cost:
$2000 regular
$1800 early bird registration (by April 21st)
$1600 student (early registration discount does not apply)

Price includes room, instruction, meals, activities and transportation once in Iquitos (everything except airfare).

Questions, contact Cynthia Robinson:
cynthia@PlanetPeoplePassion.com
917.297.6696


In Gratitude,

The PPP Team
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Green Building and Sustainable Design - Summer Course

Greetings all,

Do you want to know more about green building? Are you feeling the need to gain some hands-on natural building experience this summer?

My name is Ryan Harb. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a finishing graduate student from UMass and in May I will become the first person in the country to receive a MS in Green Building. I have a strong interest in ecological design and for 4 years I have been transforming my single-family home in Amherst, a college rental property, into a model sustainable residence. One project I'm working on now is a front yard transformation – creating a 5000s.f. highly productive, food producing, permaculture garden at my home. Designing sustainable (food and other) systems is one of many aspects of green building.

This summer I will be co-teaching a 3-week Sustainable Design and Construction course at Sirius Community - a model educational and sustainable ecovillage in scenic western Massachusetts. This is one of the few opportunities in the country to receive college credit while learning experientially about sustainable design and construction. All students will receive natural building certification upon completion of this course.

The spots to this class are filling up fast and we would love to see more representation from UMass. This course takes place literally 20 minutes down the road in Shutesbury, MA

Course Topics:

What is Green Building?
We will take you on an ecological journey through the entire green building process: from site selection and laying the foundation to selecting appropriate materials and conducting a life cycle analysis.

Green Structures: Simple to Complex
Green building at its simplest form: primitive shelter building, site analysis, passive solar architecture, patterning for energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies.

Natural Building:
Exploration of natural building materials, their properties and their 'roles' as structural components. Students gain experience in timber frame, straw bale and cob construction.

Community Strategies:
Eco-village and community design; master plans and how they evolve over time. Group design project and presentation.

Course Dates: June 21 – July 11

Apply before April 15th! The deadline is soon approaching.
Contact Living Routes today: http://www.livingroutes.com/programs/p_greenbuilding.htm


I hope to see some of you this summer.

Happy Spring,
Ryan Harb


Please pass this e-mail along to others who may be interested in this great opportunity.

Donate to Big Brothers Big Sisters Organization!

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather! Life is extremely hectic right now and because of that I haven't gotten to post on the blog very much recently. I'm in the process of transforming my yard into a garden (or a 'yarden'), finishing up graduate school, and doing numerous other outside of academia activities. I will write again when life calms down some!

Next Sunday (April 11) I will be bowling for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Organization with Sam, my little brother of 2 years! Last year we were the number 2 fundraising team in Hampshire County - totaling around $1250! This year I've been away for most of the fundraising-season and because of that I'm getting a VERY late start!

Many of you donated last year and I thank you so much for that. This year our goal this year is $500 and we are going to try and do that in a week! Here's how you can help:

Go to the following link: http://bit.ly/bUeBOX
Donate to our team: A couple of "Sirs"!

Or if that link doesn't bring you directly to our page: do the following

www.bowlathon.kintera.org/hampshirecounty/2010
Clink the link on the right that says "more" (it's underneath "Team Rank")
Our team name is the top one - A Couple of "Sirs" - with me listed as the captain.

If you are willing/able to donate, I ask that you do it sometime this week, as the event starts on Saturday and we will be bowling on Sunday. Thank you SO much for your help - this is truly a great cause and everything you pitch in will help the organization make future big/little matches and hold other fun events like this.

Be well, everyone!

Ryan

Slideshow from Friday workshop

Companion-Planting Workshop in Amherst - Friday (April 2) at 9:00am!

Hey y'all

Come by 3 Willow Lane in Amherst, MA this Friday to learn about companion-planting! Llani Davidson from Sirius Community will be facilitating a FREE companion-planting workshop... teaching people what annuals go next to what for maximum benefit!

I have recently received over 50 varieties of seeds from Fedco and they are all going in the ground this Friday (April 2) starting at 9am! If you can come by and help, it will be greatly appreciated! Some of our activities include raking mulch off the recently sheet-mulched beds closest to the house (zone 1 for permaculturalists!), adding some more compost to the already raised beds, and laying down some cardboard and wood chips on the paths (slowly and surely, there will be just FOOD not a LAWN on this parcel of land!) I couldn't have gotten this far without all of your help, and now I'm asking for it again. One day I will return the favor - I am all for Propogating these edible forest gardens for All… if you need help with yours, please let me know.

The planting-party will last until probably 2:00ish depending on how many people show up (and the amount of cardboard people bring!) If you can come, it would be helpful to bring:

-Shovels,

-and lots (and lots!) of cardboard for sheet mulching a few paths!

Feel free to bring others if you can make it - and a head count would be helpful for coordinating all of this. E-mail me at iamharb@gmail.com or call: (978) 314-1176. Looking forward to seeing / meeting lots of you this Friday.

Peace!

Ryan

Please pass this message along to others.

Ordering Seeds from Fedco!

Good morning -

Wow, this weather we've had the past 4-5 days has been unbelievable! Everything is coming to life.. though I hope a deep frost doesn't come in and set everyone/everything back! Not to be pessimistic, but I have a feeling that might happen.

Spring is around the corner regardless and it is almost time to start planting! It's a little sad not having a greenhouse / the infrastructure to start sprouting on my own, but in time... This year I'll have to buy a few starters (peppers, eggplant, tomatos to name a few) to go along with the $100 worth of seeds I just purchased from fedco. This is in addition to the $1000+ I'll be spending at Tripple Brook.

Here's a list of the seeds that will be coming in the mail within two weeks:

299WI-Windsor Fava Bean (B=8oz) 1 x $4.00= $4.00
307KO-Black Kabouli Garbanzo Bean OG (A=2oz) 1 x $1.60= $1.60
335TO-Tiger Eye Bean OG (A=2oz) 1 x $1.80= $1.80
540BD-Bodacious Yellow Sweet Corn (A=2oz) 1 x $2.20= $2.20
818GT-Oregon Giant Snow Pea (B=8oz) 1 x $4.00= $4.00
888CA-Cascadia Snap Pea (B=8oz) 1 x $4.00= $4.00
925GO-Golden Gopher Muskmelon OG (A=1/16oz) 1 x $1.60= $1.60
940DL-Delicious 51 PMR Muskmelon (A=1/16oz) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
1226NL-National Pickling Cucumber (C=1/2oz) 1 x $2.20= $2.20
1312MM-Marketmore 76 Slicing Cucumber (B=1/4oz) 2 x $1.40= $2.80
1372LM-Lemon Slicing Cucumber (C=1/2oz) 1 x $2.20= $2.20
1411BZ-Black Zucchini (C=1/2oz) 1 x $2.50= $2.50
1434CZ-Cocozelle Zucchini (C=1/2oz) 1 x $2.50= $2.50
1504SF-Saffron Summer Squash (D=1oz) 1 x $5.00= $5.00
1611ZO-Zeppelin Delicata Winter Squash OG (A=1/8oz) 1 x $1.60= $1.60
1622BU-Bush Buttercup Emerald strain Winter Squash (A=1/4oz) 1 x $1.20= $1.20
1628BB-Burgess Buttercup Winter Squash (A=1/4oz) 1 x $1.10= $1.10
1655BH-Blue Hubbard New England strain Winter Squash (A=1/4oz) 1 x $1.10= $1.10
2042SN-Scarlet Nantes Carrot (B=1/2oz) 1 x $2.50= $2.50
2121RO-Red Ace Beet OG (A=1/8oz) 1 x $1.30= $1.30
2186BB-Bulls Blood Beet (A=1/8oz) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
2214CB-Cherry Belle Radish (C=1oz) 1 x $1.80= $1.80
2224EE-Easter Egg Radish (C=1oz) 1 x $3.50= $3.50
2234CH-Champion Radish (C=1oz) 1 x $1.80= $1.80
2310HA-Harris Model Parsnip (A=1/8oz) 1 x $0.70= $0.70
2377TR-Oasis Turnip (B=1/4oz) 1 x $5.50= $5.50
2439EV-Evergreen Hardy White Scallion (B=1/8oz) 1 x $2.20= $2.20
2540LS-Bloomsdale Spinach (D=4oz) 1 x $3.50= $3.50
2722SB-Salad Bowl Lettuce (A=2g) 1 x $0.70= $0.70
2738AO-Antares Lettuce OG (A=1g) 1 x $1.30= $1.30
3008HO-Hopi Red Dye Amaranth OG (B=1/8oz) 1 x $2.00= $2.00
3049CL-Claytonia (B=1g) 1 x $2.20= $2.20
3096KH-Good King Henry Chenopodium or Goosefoot (A=0.5g) 1 x $1.30= $1.30
3644DC-Diamante Celeriac (A=0.2g) 1 x $2.40= $2.40-replaced with Brilliant
4412TO-Astragalus OG (B=3g) 1 x $3.00= $3.00
4481WO-Wild Bergamot OG (A=0.1g) 1 x $1.10= $1.10
4491BO-Borage OG (A=0.5g) 1 x $1.10= $1.10
4509NP-Catnip (B=7g) 1 x $2.50= $2.50
4510LC-Lemony Catnip (A=0.5g) 1 x $1.10= $1.10
4517RO-Caribe Cilantro OG (A=1g) 1 x $1.00= $1.00
4584LM-Ladys Mantle (A=0.05g) 1 x $1.10= $1.10
4651PR-Pennyroyal (A=0.2g) 1 x $1.30= $1.30
4657RM-Rosemary (A=0.2g) 1 x $1.30= $1.30
4681BS-Baikal Skullcap (A=0.1g) 1 x $2.00= $2.00
4686TS-Topas St Johnswort (A=0.1g) 1 x $1.10= $1.10
4698SW-Sweet Woodruff (C=2.4g) 1 x $5.50= $5.50
5011CH-Copperhead Amaranth (A=0.2g) 1 x $1.30= $1.30
5746PG-Purple Globe Amaranth (A=0.1g) 1 x $1.20= $1.20
6055YP-Yellow Prairie Coneflower (A=1g) 1 x $0.90= $0.90
6126FN-Forget-Me-Not (A=0.1g) 1 x $0.90= $0.90

Subtotal: = $102.50
Maine Sales Tax: + $0.00
Adjusted Total: = $102.50
Volume Discount: - $10.25
Seed School Discount: - $0.00
Organic Growers Discount: - $0.00
Handling Charge: + $0.00
Shipping: + $0.00
Grand Total: = $92.25

More updates to come.. I've been very busy with work lately
and haven't been posting much. But lots of pictures to come
this spring! Stay tuned...

Peace,
Ryan

Tripple Brook Farm - Sat. Feb 20 Recap!

Happy Monday,

This weekend I went to Southampton to work with Steve Breyer at Tripple Brook Farm. My classmates Alex, Emerson and Marty came along, and my roommate James also met us there. We all worked in the greenhouse for a bit, did some grafting and helped with the cleanup work (removing the unproductive plants and making room for others just getting started.)

Alex and Marty admiring a cactus plant!

Mysterious!

All of us brought home a mulberry root stalk in addition to the plant credit we're all building! It's a great system... Steve is extremely appreciative to have people working for plants rather than cash and he usually has plenty of work to do and plants to barter with. For people into permaculture... what an ingenius way of working in community (helping Steve by doing a work-trade) and taking care of earth by planting perennial polycultures!

Here are some pictures showing what we accomplished!

This is another woman who was working for plant credit at Tripple Brook, Kate.

Starting the grafting, after learning some stone sharpening!

We were grafting 'Szukis' (variety) scions onto the american persimmon rootstocks.

We accomplished quite a bit in the 5+ hours we stayed. I'll begin posting regularly each week (on Monday or Tuesday) stating which organization I'll be volunteering at on which day. I'd love for more of you to join, so please e-mail me if interested in permaculture, perennial plants, natural building, straw bale construction, intentional community living, ecovillages, (keyword plugging!), compost, nuestras raices, sirius community, tripple brook farm!

Enjoy your days,
-Ryan

Volunteer Opportunities in the Pioneer Valley area

I've been spending a lot of my days working with some great organizations: Sirius Community, Tripple Brook Farm (plant nursery) and soon, Nuestras Raices.

Nuestras Raíces Farm is an urban community farm that supports beginning immigrant and refugee farmers, grows small businesses, and celebrates the Latino community of Holyoke MA. We have compost on site, and plan to construct a larger compost area in the future, and we are seeking a volunteer compost manager to increase our capacity to manage and use our compost effectively.

If anyone in the area is looking for some great permaculture-related projects to get involved with, please contact me! I'm willing and able to drive (I will be driving myself anyway, so it is no problem!) and can introduce you since it is sometimes intimidating to go to new places by yourself.

Here is an e-mail I just sent out to some folks about the Nuestras Raices compost management volunteer opportunity:

Hey fellow volunteers,

I'm writing this message because Nuestras Raices is looking for a few people to help create a compost management plan. See the attached description.

I spent a bunch of time working with compost during the month of January - volunteering at Growing Power (Will Allen) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Amy sent out a message about Will speaking at the White House last week.) Their organization picks up about 6 million pounds of food waste each year and turns it into soil for the farms! We're certainly not trying to collect THAT much right away at Nuestras Raices, but there is certainly some small-scale local restaurants, schools, churches that we can partner with.

Even if you don't have composting experience but are interested in helping, please send Amy or myself an e-mail. This could be a really fun and rewarding project - thinking in terms of the environmental and social action issues of our time and how closely they are related. So let's turn some "waste" into something useful, help heal the land, and build community simultaneously. And then eventually, you will learn to love compost as much as I do!

Other projects happening right now include finishing construction of a straw bale garage (being turned into a studio for future living space!) at Sirius Community in Shutesbury, MA. Here are a few pictures of our progress so far. I usually go on Thursday mornings, or Friday / Saturdays.





Finally, Tripple Brook farm is a plant nursey in Southampton, MA that pays in plant credit! If you are in need of plants (which also make great gifts for people in the spring) or just want to feel more connected to nature during these cold winter months, e-mail me (iamharb@gmail.com). I have A LOT of yard to fill for the upcoming spring, so I will be at Tripple Brook every Saturday and/or Sunday from now until spring.

Link to my previous post about Tripple Brook.

That's all for now, hope to hear from some of you awesome people soon!

-Ryan

Will Allen with Michele Obama fighting childhood obesity

My friend Katie, who I met working at Growing Power, just sent me the following article. It's Will Allen's birthday today and I think he's going ot enjoy being at the white house for it. Wouldn't you???

Growing Power founder on hand to help launch childhood obesity initiative

By Karen Herzog of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Feb. 8, 2010 |(0) Comments

Milwaukee urban farmer Will Allen will share a podium with first lady Michelle Obama at the White House on Tuesday.

The Growing Power founder and CEO is to be one of three featured speakers helping Obama officially launch a national initiative to fight childhood obesity.

Allen will join Judith Palfrey, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Willis "Chip" Johnson, mayor of Hernando, Miss., as they formally announce efforts to raise awareness of the need for children to have healthier schools, more exercise, access to affordable healthy food, and the knowledge to make healthier choices on their own.

The campaign was first broached publicly last month in Michelle Obama's keynote speech to the National Council of Mayors. President Barack Obama also mentioned the initiative in his State of the Union address.

Allen, whose Growing Power urban farm and food systems training center at 5500 W. Silver Spring Drive, operates in an underserved area of Milwaukee, plans to speak about the need to increase access to affordable healthy food. He will talk about creating new infrastructure to grow food in cities and new networks to channel food from diversified local farms into communities.

Allen said Monday that he also plans to invite the first lady and other national leaders gathered for the Tuesday announcement to visit Milwaukee and to see Growing Power in action.

"We have to institutionalize good food in our schools, and not only in the cafeteria, but in our teaching every day," Allen said in a phone interview.

"We also need to be able to grow food year-round where it's needed, despite the climate, the way we are doing it here at Growing Power in Milwaukee. We need to scale up these efforts, growing good soil, growing good food, growing the relationships necessary to distribute and deliver this food to people."

Ditch Your Bank for a Credit Union

I'm doing some research right now about credit unions for the discussion I'll be leading during Wednesday's permaculture class. The discussion will be about money and in one part of the class we'll be talking about where we store our money.

Permaculture is a lifestyle and it's important to keep your hard-earned money in a safe and reliable place. (from Are Credit Unions Foolish) According to the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), a credit union "is a cooperative financial institution, owned and controlled by the people who use its services. These people are members. Credit unions serve groups that share something in common, such as where they work, live, or go to church. Credit unions are not-for-profit, and exist to provide a safe, convenient place for members to save money and to get loans at reasonable rates." Essentially, credit unions are collectives of people brought together to loan each other money at fair rates. Pretty simple, actually.

I stumbled upon this interesting article called "Ditch Your Bank for a Credit Union"

By Liz Pulliam Weston

A lot of you are really and truly sick of your banks.

You're sick of getting socked with fees, or tripped by hidden penalties, or earning lousy interest rates. You're tired of being treated like a nuisance rather than a customer. And yet you have little hope that the bank down the street is any better.

But who says you have to settle for a bank? Relief could be as close as the nearest credit union.

Because so many people are fuzzy about the differences between banks and credit unions, I'll highlight the three most important distinctions:

• Credit unions are member-owned. If you have an account at a credit union, you're a part owner in the enterprise. That may not entitle you to use the executive washroom -- your CU probably doesn't even have an executive washroom -- but you're likely to be seen as a person rather than as a "cost center."

• Credit unions are not-for-profit. This status helps explain why interest rates tend to be significantly better, and fees fewer and smaller, at credit unions than at banks. Any profits credit unions do make are distributed as dividends to their members. Contrast that with banks, which continually invent new fees and policies to boost profits (and to pay those stunning executive salaries).

• Banks hate -- hate -- credit unions. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Federal Credit Union Act into law in 1934 to "promote thrift and thwart usury," and banks have been gunning for them pretty much ever since.

Because of their not-for-profit, cooperative structures, credit unions are exempted from most state and federal taxes. Banks have convinced themselves this is an unfair advantage and have spent a lot of effort, plus a fortune in lobbying fees, trying to legislate credit unions out of existence, or at least limit who can join. (I guess they thought the money was better spent there than on, say, improving their interest rates, reducing their fees or slashing their telephone hold times.)

Are you eligible? Almost certainly

Fortunately for you, banks have failed pretty miserably in their efforts to contain the competition. That's why the Credit Union National Association, the CUs' trade group, can brag that virtually everyone in the U.S. can belong to a credit union, thanks to where they live, where they work or the associations to which they belong.

Average interest rates at credit unions vs. banks

Consumer loans	Credit unions	Banks
Credit card	11.64%	12.76%
48-month new car	5.46%	6.91%
48-month used car	5.72%	7.50%
36-month unsecured	10.60%	12.47%
Mortgage loans
HELOC	4.70%	4.90%
Five-year ARM	5.54%	5.71%
30-year fixed	5.44%	5.58%
Savings
Regular savings	0.68%	0.44%
Interest checking	0.48%	0.36%
Money market	1.22%	0.62%
One-Year CD	2.93%	2.26%

Source: Datatrac, December 2008

The nation's credit unions count 90 million members, and their trade association estimates members save $8 billion a year thanks to better interest rates and reduced fees. Credit-union-issued credit cards, for example, tend not to have annual fees or to charge punitive interest rates for a single late payment. Most credit unions offer free checking accounts, and penalties for overdrawing those accounts tend to be lower: a $20 or $25 fee is typical, compared with up to $39 a pop charged by banks.

Also, (from Consumer Savy Tips) "Because credit unions tend to be smaller and cater to a select group of people, there is more personalization between the staff and the members."

Larger banks (not naming names but you can guess) will invest more regularly in some environmentally harmful practices, like coal-mining, because their number 1 mission is to make money for shareholders, plain and simple.

Are you convinced? Who's taking their money out of a big-bank tomorrow and putting it in a local credit-union? Comments encouraged!

Grafting Persimmons at Tripple Brook Farm

G'evening -

Today was great. I woke up rather early and departed for Southampton to go work for Steve Breyer at Tripple Brook Farm. I arrived at 10am and the day began by walking outside with Steve to his persimmon trees. We cut some branches from an on-site persimmon tree (variety 'yates') and brought the cuttings inside to the greenhouse, which is attached to his house. A description of the Yates persimmon:

"Introduced by Edward Yates of Cincinnati, OH, the original tree was discovered in a pasture in southern Indiana. Bears large, yellow, sweet fruit with fine flavor. Hardy, prolific and very early ripening, the fruit ripens here during October. Very unusual for an American persimmon, the mature but still green and firm fruit will ripen well off the tree; this suggests commercial marketing possibilities. Also, in areas where the growing season is too short to allow ripening the fruit on the tree, the mature fruit can be picked before freezing damages it and it can then be ripened indoors. It is said that this cultivar will bear seedless fruit if grown without a pollinator, so growing it without a pollinator may be advantageous."

Steve brought out some American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) sapplings that he purchased from a plant nursery in Montana and then we began bench-grafting.

The American persimmon sapplings, packaged in a trash bag with wet newspaper for moisture and humidity control.

Healthy looking roots.

First, the area was sterilyzed with some rubbing alcohol. This is done to decrease the chances of pathogens affecting the newly grafted trees. We sterilyzed our hands, the razors, sissors and desk we were working on. We then sharpened the razors so that we could make the cleanest possible slices (increasing the likelihood of a successful graft.)

Here are some pictures of our work:




Looking proud after hours of grafting. I learned from a very knowledgable and experienced grafter - more than 7 hours was spent doing whip-grafting today, which is different from splicing.

Images taken from: http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult/treeshru/whipgrftg.htm

More persimmon grafting, but of a different variety, "szoukis."


I left Tripple Brook around 6:15pm with some witchhazel branches (soon will be flowering red in my kitchen) and a bunch of black walnuts that Steve harvested in the fall and gave to me. I also made about $15/hour in plant credit. Tripple Brook has a great system where anyone can go and work there in exchange for plants. Labor is so appreciated in the nursery business, says Steve, that he is thrilled when anyone takes him up on that offer. Myself, being in the position I am with 5000 square feet of unplanted garden (a bit overwhelming at times!)... I need all the plant credit I can! Therefore, I'll continue to work at Tripple Brook Farm for the next few months - at least one day per week - accumulating credit and eventually bringing home a car-full of plants for the 3 Willow Lane permaculture edible forest garden.

Isn't it great when everyone benefits? Humans are definitely social beings that work much better together, in community, than separate from one another.

It's great being surrounded by plants in the coldness of winter.

Especially when there's fig trees...

...and some hardy banana trees as well!