It's hard to get anyone to agree on what exactly Permaculture is. The way I understand
it, is an ethic of caring for the earth and people sustainably, combined with design prinicples
to set up whole systems that work naturally without great input of material or labor.
At Fairweather Farm, we agree with the ethics of permaculture, and strive to learn ways to reduce inputs
and live in harmony with nature. The principles of permaculture are extremely useful, and we try to apply
them when making decisions (although I confess to impulse purchases of fruiting plants).
In addition to using the permaculture principles to arrange systems that work together, under the
umbrella of permaculture there is a great deal of useful information that we can apply, in
particular techniques to manage and retain water which we need due to the long dry season here.
Ashland has a loosely organized Permaculture group, called Siskiyou Permaculture Resources Group (SPRG).
It has been around for many years - since the 80s. It's been a wonderful way to form community. We meet
monthly, generally on the middle Wednesday.
We have a website (out of date), and a
yahoogroup mailing list. If you are reasonably local to
Ashland and interested in sustainable living, I encourage you to join!
Project No-mow
One permaculture principle is "the problem is the solution". We have a problem, our four sheep are eating a lot of grass and the pastures are getting low. And another problem; swaths of "lawn" that separate gardens and buildings, that Jay has to mow, especially in spring. So put them together! We fenced off half the yard, and the sheep are happily mowing it down.
3' chicken wire fencing, connected to t-posts and rebar, seems to be enough to keep them in place. We used a few concrete blocks to make stiles so we can easily walk over the fencing (although we need to unhook it to get a wheelbarrow through). The sheep do leave presents on the ground; after we have a dry spell, I hope they will rake into the ground and improve it and no longer be a menace to shoes. The sheep haven't bothered the
rosemary or lavender but they do seem to have eaten down the reseeded calendula.
As soon as we can put up some protection for the younger trees, we'll allow them in more of the yard. Sheep aren't like goats that will immediately destroy all trees, but sheep will eat leaves, and young trees are too vulnerable.
last updated: 3/15/08