Transforming Thailand

In January of 2012 I will embark on a journey to transform a conventional Thai farm into an example of abundance and profitable permaculture. Equipped with a Master Plan developed by Terra Genesis International, a global permaculture consulting company which includes Edible Forest Gardens co-author Eric Toensmeier, Panya Project founder Christian Shearer, and Appleseed Permaculture’s Ethan Roland, I will be called upon to test the limits of permaculture design.

Through the implementation of design strategies crafted to reduce costs, maintenance and external dependancies, Terra Genesis International aims to increasing fertility, health and productivity of all aspects of the farm.

An extension of the Panya Project in Chaing Mai, Panya CQ (as it is currently known) is an opportunity to showcase the ecological and economical advantages of permaculture design. By reducing overhead and external dependencies of food and fuel while increasing diversity within the farm, Panya CQ looks to provide a model for struggling farmers throughout Southeast Asia and the world.

You can be apart of this amazing transformation too by joining us for one (or all) several upcoming workshops and courses that will lay the foundation for this inspired work!

February 13 - 17, 2012 ~ Adobe Oven Building workshop led by natural builder Taiga Marthens. US$200 (US$100 for February 18th PDC students!)

February 18 - March 4, 2012 ~ 72-hour Permaculture Design Course (PDC) led by Christian Shearer and Geoffroy Goddeau. US$990 (US$690 ~ NGO special price*)

March 5 - 11, 2012 ~ Earthworks Implementation workshop led by Christian Shearer and Panya staff. US$200* (US$100 for February 18th PDC students!)

June 24 - July 7, 2012 ~ 72-hour Permaculture Design Course (PDC) led by John Champagne. US$990 (US$690 ~ NGO special price*)

July 9 - 13, 2012 ~ Permaculture Teachers Training Course led by John Champagne. US$490 (US$250 ~ NGO special price*)


These prices included all meals and a place to stay for the duration of the course.

We ask all registrants to make a deposit of US$200 to secure your spot.


*If you work for an NGO and believe that permaculture could help your organization achieve its goals, please contact The Panya Project about the NGO discounted rate.

Out of the morning mist...

Over the past nine weeks I've participated in the construction of an agricultural dam, a swale, a couple of terraces, a large urban garden, several compost piles, 1000 liters of compost tea, an aid proposal to a Nepalese orphanage, and 600 square meters of food forest. Aside from exploring a nearby rainforest, swimming in the ocean and the occasional night at the local pub... it's been a non-stop permaculture marathon!

My mornings generally start around 5:30 am. I have no alarm clock... in fact, my means of telling time here are incredibly limited. Nature tells me when to rise, a bell rings when its time to eat or take a break and the end of the day comes when my eyelids are too heavy to stay open (usually fairly early... depending on how my day has been spent).

The mornings here are quite stunning and by far the favorite part of the day. Just before the sun rises and the first vestiges of light begin to peer over the rolling hills to the east, the most amazing sounds erupt from within the twilight. Sounds of some spectacular science fiction space odyssey, complete with lasers, androids, and strange aliens all battling over the airwaves, ring through the forest gully just below my camp. Of course, what I'm talking about is not really other worldly... even though I swear sometimes that George Lucas is outside my tent filming another addition to the Star Wars saga. These are the sounds of the Australian avifauna, the laughing Kookaburra, the Eastern Whipbird, and the Australian Magpie just to name a few.

A light fog settles in the valleys as the sun begins to crest over the mountains. The roosters are signaling that the farm is waking up. The cows are reminding us that its time for their morning milking. Ducks waddle and quack impatiently for their daily treat of seed mix. 

After a quick chat, stories of past triumphs and great adventures, some preludes to what the day ahead might hold, we swing into action. Each morning varies in regard to what activities I might find myself engaging in. Cattle may need a new paddock to graze, compost may need to be turned, previous day's projects may need completing. Lately, I've been spending a lot of time meditating along the many kilometers of swale, chopping support trees and mulch plants as the wet season swings into action and growth rates begin to accelerate.

My experience on the swales has lead me into a deeper understanding of the systems on the farm. How water flows through and permeates the landscape... and even more fascinating, how the landscape responds. To observe the very subtle ebbs and flows of the farm goes beyond my ability to communicate. Observing how things react to my influence gives me the sense of what it truly means to be human.

Throughout most our lives, disturbance of the environment has had a net-negative result. We've largely polluted our rivers and lakes, eroded our soils and destroyed the very foundations that our livelihood rests upon. Our quality of life, like the soils we depend upon, continues to erode away as we seek new ways to understand our place in the world. 

Many of us are seeking ways to minimize our impact on the environment. "The only way we are going to survive..." we say, "is to stop consuming." "Leave no trace!" is the new mantra.  Well, whether we like it or not, we are going to leave one heck of a trace on this world. In fact, our impact today far out strips even the imaginations of our ancestors. 

But the impact we have on our environment is part of what makes us human. We are terra formers, fire starters, farmers, builders, herders and hunters... there is no avoiding our impact. We can, however, have an impact that is one of regeneration to our environment rather than destruction. 

What if we flipped this mantra on it's head and said... "leave a forest!" instead? That would certainly give us a different perspective on our place in the world.

With my riceknife, I create great disturbances in my environment. In the morning mist, I cut down forests of ginger and clumping grasses, I dismember trees and bushes and chop up their branches as they hit the ground... knowing that this action also results in a killing off of an equivalent portion of their root systems. And through this destruction... a vast forest of fruits grows in the wake of me and my riceknife.

Through permaculture we learn to observe the natural habits of the flora and fauna that populate our systems. This helps us design systems that allow each element to express its most natural inclinations while benefiting the elements around it thus decreasing the need for external input and increasing the benefit of outputs. These simple observations allow us to improve the quality of life of all the participants of the system, not the least of which ourselves. So why should our eye for observation not turn inward and really begin to examine what our natural habits are and thereby create patterns that allow us to express our innate function within the ecosystem while leaving a trace that we can truly be proud of?

With the afternoon sun now hot on my back... I turn to observe the trace of debris I've left in my wake. For once in my life, it's not just a tattered and spoilt landscape that I see. I see the ripening of a new paradigm for the disturbances I will create in this lifetime. I am man... watch me grow!

Imagine The Abundance - Urban Gardens

Imagine, you're perusing the Sunday paper, thumbing through various articles, world news, sports, opinion pieces... yea, we've all been there. What feelings arise for you as the images pass by your eyes? Article after article, world news and local... everything seems so dismal.

In disgust and with a freshly drained world view, you fold the paper up and drop it back down on the table. Just before you look away and try to forget the morning sorrow, a small advertisement catches your eye.

FREE GARDEN
DESIGN & INSTALL

Free garden? Sounds too good to be true. But it's about the only positive thing you've seen this morning. What have you got to lose?

What you don't know is that, behind the scenes, there are 20 knowledge hungry permaculture students waiting to get out of the classroom and get their hands dirty in your very own backyard!

Enter The Permaculture Research Institute's, Nick Huggins, and his class of Urban Design & Consultancy Students.

With help from Nick, you've sourced all the materials, made sure you've stayed within your budget (yea, well... you do have to provide something. A small materials cost will be well worth the expense after that first time you bypass the produce section in the supermarket), and now, there's a mountain of compost next to Gravel Summit and The Great Wall of Strawbale all ready to somehow be transformed into your new backyard garden. Oh yea... and that pesky depressing paper? It's there too... along with many more like it, waiting to meet what you hope will be their final resting place.

With great anticipation, you try to envision how those pieces might all fit together. You imagine watching steaming piles of compost being shoveled atop some pathetic politicians face. "That'll do 'em right," you mutter out loud with a sinister grin.

The Business of Permaculture

Nick brings an interesting approach to teaching permaculture. One that, I personally believe, is not taught or even talked about enough in permaculture circles. Nick uses his time in the classroom to show students the viability of permaculture as a model for ethical AND profitable business.

Profit. The word itself can drag up some of the same feelings and emotion as those grim sunday headlines. In fact, some might say that many of those headlines are the result of our profit driven society. In permaculture however, we take every opportunity to see how a problem can be turned into a solution... how wastes of one system become resource for the next.

Profit, itself, is not inherently evil anymore than a hammer is a weapon. Like any other tool, it's all in how we use it. The ethics of permaculture (earth care, people care, share of surplus) not only provides some direction to how we might use profit for good... it directs us clearly to share it for the good of the people and the planet. Imagine if all the world's financial transactions were guided by these ethics?

Sharing the surplus of his successes in permaculture business has allowed Nick to grow permaculture's reach into new demographics that would otherwise go unserved. Our clients, the Finlayson's, are the latest beneficiaries of that surplus.

The Garden of Your Future


It's Wednesday morning, a light rain just thinned out as a bus full of permies pulls in to the drive. You can hardly contain your excitement as this international team of permaculture interns greets you.

After a quick brief, the team gets to work marking out the design with a can of blue paint as you try to envision the plants draping over the edges of thin blue lines, heavy with produce.

As images of your future garden flash before your eyes the reality is manifesting in front of you... you stare intently, trying not to blink fearing you might miss the amazingness of it all unfold.

Over the course of next three days you watch as the cycles of abundance are set into motion in your very own back yard. There's no stopping it now. An engine has been started under your soils, and in your heart. What a gift!


(Special thanks to Mark Finlayson and family for the wonderful hospitality and time lapse photography and all the students, interns and teachers of the PRI who made this such an amazingly inspirational experience.)

Interning on Zaytuna Farm

Over the past three plus weeks myself and 15 other cohorts have been fully engaged in farm life. And, although there are several aspects of this lifestyle that you might expect out of a typical farm experience (i.e. milking goats, turning compost, planting veggies, etc...) this is far from a typical farm!

Zaytuna Farm stands apart from other farms in many ways... not the least of which being that it is the home of the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia. The staff at Zaytuna are growing more than just healthy veggies, they're turning out crop after crop of new permaculture professionals.

This year my cohorts and I are lucky enough to count ourselves among the yield! Over the course of 10 weeks we not only engage ourselves in what it takes to run a permaculture farm, we also learn valuable skills such as the ins-and-outs of permaculture earthworks, how to run a permaculture landscape and consultancy business, the finer points of soil biology, permaculture teacher training and how to engage in international permaculture aid work. And, as if that weren't enough, all the while we're caring for livestock, pruning trees, harvesting food for our daily meals... the list goes on and on.

After the first week of introductions and orientation to the farm we got right into the heavy lifting... earth lifting that is. Well, earth moving might be the more accurate term.

In the Permaculture Earthworks Course, we learned about various types of earthworks systems such as dams and swales and how they would be implemented in a landscape. Then we got hands on and tested our surveying skills as we scoped out a location for a new dam (number 15?) on the farm.

Surveying, we learned quickly, is a very important skill in regard to testing our assumptions and finding a suitable site for a new dam or swale. The eye plays quite a few tricks on us and, at one point it took two groups of us swapping places on two separate ridges and looking across at each other from a different perspective before we realized that it wasn't the equipment that was failing us, but our very own eyes.

After a bit of toying around and pegging out different hypothetical dam sites, it was time to get serious. The excavator was on the ground, ready to roll, and it was our job to direct him. Fortunately for us, Glen, our machine operator, was a very experienced earthmover that had put in many of the dams here at Zaytuna previous to this one in courses just like ours. He knew what he was doing, even if we didn't. He also new how to explain what he was doing and share some of the insights of his over 20 years in the business... so long as you can sift through a deep Ausie accent to discover the gems of knowledge he doled out. 

Glen pointed out many of the things we should know to keep an eye out for when going into a job and what to do should you encounter certain situations. We were very fortunate, in a rather strange way, that our dam building exercise was actually wrought with problems. Fortunate in that we had the expertise of both our highly experienced earthmover, Glen, and our highly experience course instructor, Geoff, to lean on. With their combined experience, all the issues we encountered as we excavated our lovely new dam created nothing more than a valuable learning experience... and a perfectly suitable, albeit odd looking, new dam. Check out the video of our project here.

With dams, swales, some pipe crossings, and a couple new camper sites carved out our earthworks adventure came to a close... but our internship had only just begun!

This week, our motley crew of Permaculture Interns (ranging from the Pennsylvania to Perth, Germany to the Caribbean Islands and about everywhere else in between) are taking on Urban Design and Consultancy with previous intern graduate, Nick Huggins. Another great adventure is just ahead as we prepare to install a permaculture garden for a real live suburban client in the neighboring city of Lismore. For the clients sake... let's hope we don't encounter quite as many "learning experiences" as we did during the earthwork's course!

The Growing Abundance of Moloka`i

Several, all but empty, gift shops line the main drag here in the small town of Kaunakakai, Moloka`i. Two meager grocers dominate the square's activity. On the edge of town, which is really only about a block wide, there sits a quant old natural food store that reminds me of more than one ol' town co-op on the mainland.

A doddering old codger directs me around the store and points out all the things grown on the island without every having to leave his seat behind the counter.

"This is the stuff Robin brought by yesterday" he explains to another customer, pointing to a box of produce just over the counter from where he sat.

Robin, that's who I'm supposed to meet up with later. She's coming into town to meet me discuss possible camping accommodations. What are the chances this store clerk is talking about the same Robin you ask? Well, on Moloka`i, as I would soon find out, the chances are pretty darn good.

The overhead view

Touching down at the small airport I started to question my motives for coming to this island. Was I really going to find the answers to all the questions I had or was this going to be an adventure in lost time?

The island wasn't really much to look at from above. Roads and fences partitioned open agricultural plots and pastures. The earth, exposed and denuded, seemed to imbue every visible car and building with it's ruddy pigment. This depressing sight did not give promise to what I hoped to find here.

I was picked up at the airport by Emillia Noordoek, Sust `aina ble Moloka`i's Executive Director. According to their mission statement, Sust `aina ble Moloka`i works to "restore the island's legacy of "aina momona" (abundant land) creating a sustainable future that integrates traditional knowledge and cultural pathways with compatible, modern sustainable strategies".

As we drifted through the lonely street from the airport toward town I engaged Emillia in questions regarding the island's history and what led to the current state of malady I observed from above.

"Like everywhere else, people got on the train of 'modern agriculture'" she explains, "high input, intensive monocultures that wreck the land ...now we're just trying to find our way back."

Emillia explained the current projects they're working on such as trying to revive the schools struggling agriculture program and build curriculums that teach elementary students the fundamentals of sustainability. She also tells me of how they are contending with other issues such as the need for worthwhile employment.

"We are going up against one of the island's largest employer, Monsanto."

As it turns out, much of the land on Moloka`i that had previously been used for pineapple production is now being leased to Monsanto (some 1,650 acres) for a 99 year term. It should come as no surprise that the most isolated islands in the world are a prime target for genetic experimentation.

Island solidarity

When we arrived in town Emillia dropped me by Kalele Bookstore where I was welcomed by Teri Waros. Teri, an inviting and friendly woman with an unabating smile, welcomed me in and offered me a liliko`i (a fruit I was quickly becoming addicted to during my time on the islands) as she helped me to make arrangements for my evenings stay.

"I'll call Robin and see if they will be swinging into town today," she volunteered. "Why don't you set your bags down out back and explore the town a bit. There's a natural foods store across the street in case you need anything."

As it turned out, Robin was on her way into town and offered to take me back to the farm after she finished her errands. In the mean time, Teri was setting up for a movie viewing that would prove to  completely alter my understanding of island life.

Gathering in the Kalele Bookstore, the community of Moloka`i had come out to hear story of their sister island peoples to the North. The Unangan peoples, much like the native people of Hawai`i, lived an isolated island life for many years sustaining off the abundance of their islands and the vast Pacific Ocean.

The ongoing plights of these two island cultures, although differing in many ways, is painfully linked. Generations worth of exploitation, slavery, cultural suppression and even genocide still haunt them.

During the course of the film, and subsequent discussion, I found myself in awe of the strength and resilience of these two island cultures. Through so much adversity, they still find a way to persevere and work to revive the way of life that their ancestors knew. 

Restoring aina momona

No one seems to exemplify this more fluently than Malia Akutagawa. Malia, a marie biologist and environmental lawyer, and her work with the Permaculture Research Institute, was my main motivation for detouring to this obscure island. Already, before even having the opportunity to spend much time with her, I was discovering that the island had much more in store for me than I ever could have expected.

After an inspiring evening at Kalele Bookstore, I awoke in the trees surrounded by a forest of food. Out of the screened windows of my one room bungalow there hung a profound cornucopia of fruit. Mango, avocado, starfruit, papaya, acerola, to name just a few that could be seen from that vantage.

I had awoken on Robin and Dano Gorsich's Permafarm located in a remote hideaway on the East end of Moloka`i. This amazing site was a small example of the vast potential the island held for food production. On 9/10ths of an acre, Robin and Dano supported themselves and managed to raise and put their four daughters through college.

The Permafarm is special in many ways... most notably in its location. Being in the Waialua Valley on the windward side of the island, the Permafarm is nestled in the heart of Moloka`i's rainforest with a still unsullied stream. But over 2/3rds of the island are desert and that desert has been growing.

President and founder of Sust`aina`ble Moloka`i, Malia Akutagawa has worked on a huge variety projects to reverse the desertification of her island including a permaculture initiative designed to create a network of local teachers to mentor youth and manage large earth repair projects.

I met up with Malia later that morning and she told me more about her current goal to initiate an ahupua`a restoration project. Extending from mauka (the mountain) to makai (the ocean), this restoration project would serve as an example of responsible land management for all of Hawaii and, as my experience the previous night had shown, be an inspiration far beyond any single chain of islands.

Malia drove me around the island and showed me several sites that her community has been working on including several fishponds and the location of the earthworks course put on by Geoff Lawton in December of 2010.

As we explored these various sites around the island Malia explained to me how the picture of health and sustainability on Moloka`i has been skewed. Much of the statistics used to describe things like employment rates and poverty rates fails to account for the people who are still subsisting off the abundance of their natural environment.

In a subsistence study in 1993, Malia helped to co-ordinate the collection of data that found a significant amount (38%) of all the native peoples diet on the island was provided by subsistence activities such as fishing, hunting and foraging. This clearly illustrates the importance of the aina in the native hawaiian way of life.

Bits and pieces


All together I had a very inspiring few days on Moloka`i. What I've been able to write about here is only a small glimpse at the beautiful impression this island and her people have left on me. It's not everyday that I have the opportunity to explore a world so foreign and yet so close to my heart!

I wish the people of Moloka`i well in their struggles to maintain the sacred wonders that have been bestowed upon their small island. One day I hope to return to the island and contribute the restoration of  momona!

A deep mahalo to Malia Akutagawa, Robin and Dano Gorsich, Emillia Noordoek, Teri Waros and all of the aina ohana for all the love and aloha!

After departing from the islands I have finally arrived at Zaytuna Farm, the home of the Permaculture Research Institute of Australia. Over the course of the next ten weeks I will participate in an intensive permaculture internship that covers all aspects of cultivating abundance in any landscape.

In January I will head to Thailand to help assist in the creation of a new permaculture farm in the central Thai town of Korat.

I hope that you will join me for these and many other exciting adventures ahead in my quest to cultivate abundance the world over!

Sting of the vana

Sitting atop the magnificence of the vast pacific ocean, waves gently lapping under the nose of my Aunt's standup paddle board, it's rare that I've felt so immersed in the abundance of the universe. Letting the cacophony of sensations flow through... no attachment, no aversion - simple presence.

Suddenly my awareness shifted as I realized that the gentle lapping of waves had ratcheted up several notches in volume and intensity. Lifting my head and looking around I found I had drifted close to shore where the surf was crashing against the jagged black lava rocks only a few feet ahead. Attaching to my board I now needed my skills in aversion to steer clear of a rather painful incident. So much for my meditation!

As I climbed over the sunken lava rock, waves pushing and pulling on my already tired legs, my heel came down on something sharp that sent a warm toxic pain through my calf muscle.

"That can't be good" I though as I quickly scooted forward to avoid further damage. Vana, I later found out, is the Hawaiian name given to spiky little sea urchins that like to hide in the dark crevices of lava rock.

By the time I had freed myself from the bully arms of the ocean and pulled my board up onto the sandy shore a nickel sized lumpy black spot had formed on the very hot and tender back of my heel.

"Hmm... I guess this means I should take a break," I thought as I hobbled back over to my towel. I was a little worried that, whatever I had stepped on, I might be in for more pain as the toxin made it's way into my blood stream. My aunt hadn't told me any stories of people dying out here from stepping on mysterious hot spiky things... but she also didn't mention that I might encounter such a hazard.

I figured, if it was a life or death matter, I would have been cautioned. I was already concluding that it must have been a sea urchin (even though I really had no idea what that meant) and that it was probably not going cut my adventures short... although it could certainly put a thorn in my heel!

After about thirty minutes, I was confident that I was not going to go into anaphylactic shock and that I could probably get up and limp over to the resort beach house where my aunt was working. Already my concerns of dying alone on the beach were fading. The pain had not gotten any worse and, because it was only affecting the very back of my heel, I could get up and walk without aggravation.

No man is an island

Paradise does not come without a little pain. Personally, I know this. I worked hard to get here and, although it has been quite the vacation so far, my adventures are intended to provide growth and experience over a pleasurable paradise retreat.

The sting of the vana, for all it's warm discomfort, provides a healthy reminder that there is urgent work to be done. Nipping at my heels is the stark reality of how dire our cultural shortsightedness is to our long term survival on this planet.

The Big Island is a striking example of the devastation our myosis can create. When I reached the top of the hill I ran into a landscaper by the name of Mark.

"Your Aunt tells me you're into permaculture," he says glowingly.

"Well yea, it's what is taking me to Australia... I stopped here along the way to visit."

"You ever hear of 'Bill Mollison'?" He asked with a grin.

Before I could even get an answer past my lips he was regaling me with long winded stories of how he once met and worked with Bill in Portugal. His first exposure to permaculture, back in the mid-nineties when it was still "hokey hippy stuff", he says, changed the way he looked at his trade.

He talked to me about building grey water systems and flow-forms as well as something called "Sonic Bloom" where artificial bird sounds are used to induce flowering.

An interesting guy with genuine intentions, Mark's current work involves installing and maintaining landscaping for the uber-wealthy within the Hawaii resort community. He was happy to be making a decent income doing what he loved but he conceded to the challenges of esthetics over the practicality of natural methods. Creating systems of self-renewing fertility does not often fit the esthetic ideals of the super rich.

Mark was optimistic though. He shared with me his vision of reforesting the island, starting from the beach front resorts and moving mauka (Hawaiian for 'toward the mountain'). He then proceeded to tell me some of the history behind how the Big Island came to find itself in the situation it is in now.

The whole island aside from the most immediate lava flows was forested at one time, he explained. "...but the monarchy got greedy and sold all the trees off for guns and alcohol. Now it's all ranch land."

Ranch land indeed. Much of the leeward side of the island is dominated by cattle ranches. Parker Ranch, with nearly 225,000 acres, is the largest and oldest ranch on the island. In fact, Parker Ranch is one of the oldest and largest ranches in the United States!

Near the Volcano National Park, rangers are in the process of fencing out the cattle to restore the once diverse landscape. Needless to say, cattle are in no way endemic to this island. First brought here as a gift to King Kamehameha in the late 1700's, there are now somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 head of cattle roaming the 700 square miles of Parker Ranch alone. That is nearly one sixth of the island!

According to a Livestock Management report produced by the University of Hawaii in 2003, even if the islands were to double their production over the following 10 years since the report was written, it would still supply less then half the total state's beef consumption. To re-quote a statistic from an earlier blog, 80 - 85% of Hawaii's food is imported.

This presents a serious challenge for islanders. How can we feed the islands in a responsible and sustainable way? My only hope is that my trip to the small island of Molokai this weekend can help to shed some light on this very interesting subject.

Stay tuned to hear stories from my visit with Malia, president of Sust `aina ble Molokai:

What's burning in East Texas?

Just east of the Davy Crockett National Forest lies a little patch of red dirt I might one day call home. Douglass, Texas... crazy as it sounds, this place has a lot to offer. Pine trees, rich soils, natural springs, loving family and some of the most beautiful land in Texas are just a few of pleasures I have the good fortune to enjoy before my adventures ahead.

But is is all pleasure, the drought has hit this land particularly hard. Ponds and creeks are almost entirely dried up. Livestock and wildlife are struggling, not just to stay hydrated but to stay fed. Typical pastureland does not weather these arid extremes well... in fact, typical pastureland does not weather any extremes very well.

The vegetation is all but missing from the landscape this year. What is left hardly appeals to the ranging cattle. Many ranchers have sold off their herds early and those who haven't have had to invest a lot in imported feed to keep them going. Either way, conditions like these make ranching a costly venture.

To make an already bleak situation worse, it seems when the high-pressure front that has hovered over most of Texas all summer, and prevented many a storm front from quenching this parched landscape, has at last moved on, it does so not with much needed rain but rather with raging winds.

As I write this, there are evacuations just minutes up the road from where I sit. The smell of smoke hangs in the air and an orange glow lights up the sky to the North West. All that lies between my parents sapped land and a devastating inferno is a pine forest (tinderbox) and a small band of dedicated firefighters.

For us, fortunately, we will be spared this evening. The winds are in our favor and the flames are unlikely to make it this far tonight. Here's to hoping the winds don't shift!

Other's have not been so lucky. Continuing to add insult to injury, this summer will not subside without great losses to land, livestock, homes and wildlife. The thousands of acres ablaze across Bastrop and all throughout Texas today is an unfortunate example.

There are no easy solutions to the situation we are witness to this year. And, with the continual degradation of our landscape through deforestation, ecological neglect and agricultural misunderstandings there is a good chance the situation will get worse before it improves.

Not only is this trend held in place by many causes, it also doesn't seem to be localized to just Texas. All across the world, deserts are expanding while natural forests decline at alarming rates.

Despite the obvious challenges, there is a lot that we can do to turn this trend around... but it's going to take quite a shift from our current practices of land management. What we need is a holistic approach. Building on systems such as Holistic Land Management, Permaculture and reforestation efforts we can begin to rebuild our soils, buffer damage from natural disasters, recharge our springs, aquifers and rivers, and even increase precipitation.

These changes are going to require a great deal of cooperative effort on our part. Only by working together are we going to be able to have any substantial recuperative impact on our environment.

Leaning back

Kicking off the adventures right, these last two weeks have felt the equivelent of a month's worth of activity. Aside from not blogging on this page, here's a little taste of what I've been up to since my last blog post:

The adventure officially kicked off on Saturday, July 30 with the most inspirational display of community love and togetherness. Yes, it was a party. To call it an epic party might even qualify as an understatement. It was beautiful in all regards and elevated my spirit beyond any previous frame of reference.

After the explosion of love that was the end of July, the first weeks of August have been a whirlwind of organization and development. Not entirely centered around the development of my personal upcoming adventures (fortunately, much of that organization is already in place) but rather the organization of Community Cultivators.

Somehow, I've successfully managed to occupy more of my time on this development than my 40+ hours a week at Wheatsville. As you can imagine, a lot can get done in a couple of weeks with full time project development. A key to the future will be figuring out a way to make this work a paid gig (or at the very least, a self-sustaining one).

Recognizing the community had reached an obvious inflection point, the consensus could be felt hovering in the air and floating on the breath of every conversation... it's time to get organized!

One meeting, two meetings, committees, defined roles, events, a list of projects, timelines... Engagement, involvement, inspiration, encouragement, excitement! These are but a few of the happenings I've been blessed to witness over the past two weeks... and, above all else, the deep understanding that we've only barely begun to scratch the surface of potential with in this thing we call Community!

From reading this blog it's easy to extrapolate that this is about all I do. Well, yea... but what else is there? Follow your passion! There is no time to waste on anything that doesn't feed your spirit!

I feel incredibly fortunate to have found a community of people as passionate about life as I. But I didn't find that by sitting around my living room in apathy. Bare your passion to the world. If you don't find your community, Cultivate it!

Yes, it takes time and it takes commitment... the benefits are well worth your efforts!

And now, I set myself out to embark on an adventure that will carry this passion around the globe. Life is as much about cultivation as it is about exploration.

Until then, leaning out: giving the community the opportunity to find its own identity and build its own narrative.

Separating myself has to be one of the most challenging parts of this whole process. So many beautiful things on the horizon.

From a continent away I will look on and watch how we grow together even while separated by great distance.

Blah blah... none of this is what you came to this blog to read. You want to hear about my adventures. Well, stay tuned. The adventures have just begun.

32 days from Honolulu. 42 from Kona. 52 from Molokai. 59 from Australia. and 64 from complete permaculture immersion!

Next stop... Douglass, Texas?

Ready or not...

My bag is packed. Yes, I said bag. As in singular.

Ok, so I will have a second bag... for my books. Aside from that, I have consolidated my life for the next year + into one bag. It's a beautiful thing and I'm still having a hard time grasping it.

It's like it's all happening of it's own accord now. A flow.

Maybe more like a torrent?

By the end of the weekend I'll be for all intents and purposes, homeless. Really, that is to say, I will not have my inviting bed and only a hardwood floor to lay my head. Well, thats not true either.

Now, lets be completely honest... the point of this blog post is not to waste your time with silly exaggerations because...
Ready or not - IT'S TIME TO PARTY!

You are cordially invited to my Permaculture Adventure Kickoff!

When: Saturday, July 30th at 8pm -- until the party ends.

Join me at the Deadend Homestead:
3616 Pennsylvania Ave
Austin

Hope to see you there!!

Discovering Permaculture in San Diego...

This past weekend was a strange mix fun, education and awkwardness. It started Thursday when I arrived at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego for a national conference of retail grocer cooperatives. You can surely imagine the irony of hundreds of old hippy co-operators invading the Hard Rock Hotel in Sunny San Diego. With out a doubt, the irony would only became more pronounced as the weekend progressed.

There are few things in this world that I find more fascinating than a less-than-subtile reminder that I live in a bubble of my own making. Exposer to the "hard rock" lifestyle, as prescribed by the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego being no exception. I'll get to more of that in a minute...

A Hard Rock Checkin

I arrived in San Diego with high expectations. This would be my third year to attend a CCMA conference and the last time I would attend under my current board term. At the end of August, I will turn over my seat on the Wheatsville board of directors in preparation for my highly anticipated journey Down-under!

CCMA has proven in the past to be an "experiment in sleep deprivation"... quoted directly from Wheatsville's own General Manager, Dan Gillotte. For three event-filled days it's learn, listen, eat, drink, party, prattle, rinse and repeat. 

The conference always kicks off with a series of pre-arranged tours of the host city and all that it has to offer (or at least a decent cross section). Last year, I visited several farms throughout southern Indiana, ending up at a winery for wine and cheese tastings... yum! The year before that, I had an (unplanned) 32 hour tour of the DFW airport (the details of which I'd rather not go into) that resulted in me missing the (planned) tours of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

So you can imagine my anticipation of this event when I found a tour that included a permaculture farm in the Souther San Diego valley!

"Perfect!" I thought, assuming that this would be a great opportunity for me to get my feet wet before immersing myself in the permaculture travel blog that awaits me. Well, as you can probably tell from my lead-in... that is not exactly how things turn out.

Arriving with high aspirations, check-in at the lobby of the Hard Rock Hotel gives me a small taste of what's ahead. My room is not ready?... Wait. What do you mean my room is not ready? Oh, you need a credit card to charge the room to, even though it's already been paid for?... right. No, I do not have $850 dollars just hanging out on my debit card, sorry. No, I don't think I'd like to have a $850 dollar hold on my card for a room that isn't even ready yet, thanks. Can the strange blocky dude with the generic tribal armband tattoo hold my bag while I wait for my room?... yea, I guess. 

Whew, thank goodness that's over with... now, on to the tour! Wait... not enough busses? Didn't we register in advance? Bummer, I really had my heart set on visiting a permaculture farm. I guess it's on to the Historical San Diego tour?... still not enough room, right!

It appears that all the busses have left the station... except for one -- "Hello public transit!" San Diego's finest! Get your gear together friends... it's time for an adventure!

See the farm!... A battle cry of sorts. Tour number five, a motley crew of co-opers, blazes on into the great unknown!

The Adventures of Tour Number Five

Well, so far, my plans were not exactly working out as I had hoped. But, I had to check my baggage at the door (yea, that guy with the tight tee-shirt took 'em, remember?) and count my blessings. At least I was with a group of great people who shared my passion for co-ops and sustainable agriculture!

In the midst of our exploration of San Diego's public transportation system, I lifted my head from the cacophony of co-operative conversation and immediately realized -- I'm still in my bubble!

The stoic faces of San Diego's hapless stared back at me. What a strange disruption to their afternoon commute we must have been. It was obvious that an examination of co-operative governance styles was not on their list of things they hoped to be exposed to on that fateful day. 

The swaying palm trees of Southern Cali

The public transport system had taken us as far as it could. Only our feet would deliver us now.

By this point we had completely embraced the idea of making Tour Number Five one to remember! There was plenty of sight seeing opportunities along the way and our lack of tour guild lent itself to uninhibited discovery. 

On our final leg of the tour before finally reaching Wind Willow Farm, we stumbled upon an expansive community garden in the Tijuana River Valley Regional Park. The community garden was host to many interesting sights. It was there that we discovered what can only be described as one of San Diego's great hidden treasures, guarantied not to be found in any tourist guide... Behold! San Diego's most unusual palm tree!!

Ok, ya got me... the picture on the left is NOT of a palm tree. This is, however,  one of the oldest brassica I've ever seen! In Central Texas, we have to mulch deep to weather brassica like this through our brutal summer, and sometimes all the mulch in the world isn't sufficient. This little dinosaur needed nothing more than the uninterrupted beauty of Souther California's climate and a cool coastal breeze to survive through several seasons and result in the canopy of leafy green goodness you see here.

Wind Willow Farm, finally.

At long last, as the official tour bus pulled away, our destination was in sight... Wind Willow Farm and Education Center was just around the next bend (the one that tour bus just pulled around. yea, that one!) 

Well, we probably should have called ahead. Thankfully, these were possibly some of the most hospitable farmers one could find in the Tijuana Valley. 

Mel Lions, a man with an obvious passion for his work greeted us. "did the bus leave without you?" he questioned. "No, we're the unplugged tour... we didn't want to be constrained to the guided tours and decided to explore the real San Diego. We took the public transit system."

"Well, in that case, I think you all deserve a tour!"

To be continued...

The start of an endless summer?

In terms of seasonal progression, the first day of summer is still about two weeks away but you wouldn't know it by the weather in Central Texas! It's hot and getting hotter and the reality of this endless summer is beginning to sink in.

Just as the high temperatures here in Austin start to wane, I'll be headed to the southern hemisphere. If the Australian Spring is anything like the Springtime weather we get here in Texas than my summer will likely continue unabated.

From there, the hot summer winds seem to be blowing me in the direction of Thailand. I've already bought a ticket, and, to satisfy the terms of my ETA (similar to a visa) I have to leave Australia by mid-February... Just when things will surely begin cooling down... on to the heat of Southeast Asia!

Who planned this trip anyway? Endless summer... what was I thinking?!

I was probably thinking, "Opportunity of a lifetime. See the world. Practice permaculture. Share abundance." The logistical details of seasonal relief had obviously escaped me. Or, the excitement of these unbelievable opportunities overrode my sense for climate comfort.

Thanks to the amazing support of friends and family, I have the feeling all this summer heat is going to feel like a nice cool breeze. The generous folks at Eagles Nest Outfitters, for example, have set me up with some great gear to help me weather the elements. What better way to spend a year of summer than hanging out in a sweet hammock? How about hanging out in a sweet hammock with a rainfly and mosquito net?

In addition, I want to again thank all the people in my life who have contributed, in one form or another, to this epic adventure. Because of your love and support I'm seeing a whole world of opportunities opening up in front of me, the abundances of which I have every intention of sharing with you all!

My deepest thanks!

Plans beginning to take shape

Time is compressing down on this long awaited adventure. Only a matter of mere months now. It's challenging to even relate all the little details. So many moving pieces, so many beautiful new connections, so many inspiring new inspirations. With all that's happening, it's sometimes difficult to maintain focus on all the ducks that I'm trying to corral into neat little rows.

Over the course of the next three and a half months I'll be handing my role as Stocking Supervisor at Wheatsville Co-op over to a new set of hands. With any luck, this new person will be able to take the position (and the co-op) to places I've not even considered. Already the position is rapidly evolving into one that will be much more effective for my predecessor. I've taken a lot of pride in my work there and it's important for me to continue to see it progress and improve, even when I'm not at the helm. 

Even as I'm planning an effective exit strategy at Wheatsville, I'm working to insure Community Cultivators has a solid foundation and leadership to continue growing and making a difference. The variables involved in those two things alone are enough to take up all my energy and then some. Somehow, I've still managed to make time to enjoy my life. In fact, I think I enjoy it now more than ever!

I'm not sure how exactly I've found the time to maintain two blogs in the midst of all this, either. One thing I do know is that I've hardly seen my house in weeks!! It's mostly a place were I go to sleep at night and brush my teeth in the morning. why I'm spending so much money on something I could get at a free camp site I'll never know.

Once the next three and a half months are up, I'll have only a month and a half to get my stuff together before I embark on this crazy adventure. During that final month and a half there are several things that still need to happen. A trip to Douglas, Texas to visit my folks and store the few personal affects I'd like to retain is not least among them. A tour through Dallas and Houston will surely also be in the works for that short time.

On September 14th, two short days before my 31st birthday, I will board a plane to Honolulu, Hawaii. While there, I will spend much valuable time catching up with my cousin and aunt who I've not seen in several years. This is where I hope this blog will really start to take shape. The plan is to travel across the islands meeting new people and exploring the beautiful beaches of Hawaii. 

Oahu, Molokai, and the big island are all definite destinations for this leg of my journey. My aunt lives on the big island, in Kailua-Kona. I'm looking forward to checking out the lava fields and other sites I've been hearing about there. In Oahu, my cousin has a beautiful home (I've only seen in pictures) in Honolulu. The surf calls to me and, with any luck, you'll see a picture or two of me riding the waves and climbing the mountains of Oahu.

My adventures in Hawaii will conclude, most appropriately, with a trip to the island of Molokai where I hope to meet up with Malia Akutagawa who heads up the Sust`aina ble Molokai network. Recently, Sust`aina ble Molokai Partnered with Permaculture Research Institute USA to develop a Molokai Permaculture Education Initiative. Check out this video that came out as a result of their hard work:

It's a highly inspirational piece that I'm very excited to get the opportunity to visit first hand. I'll do my best to document the progress their work has made on the landscape and share that with you here. 

Of course, there are plenty of things I'd like to get to do while I'm in Hawaii, and I'm sure there will be plenty of adventures of the spontaneous variety, but my time will be limited and the things I've listed here are about the only things important enough to me to have scripted.

After almost 20 days of island fun I start the grueling 22 hour flight that will take me to Brisbane, Australia. From there, I travel 3 hours inland to start my internship on Zaytuna Farm with the esteemed Permaculture Research Institute of Australia. 

The internship is a 10 week intensive that traverses five weeks of course work interspersed between five weeks of hands-on application. After completion of the internship, the real fun begins... and this is where I begin to show what your generous donations can do. 

After the internship I will venture into unknown territory. Although I am trying to establish some idea of where I'll end up... I'm also hoping to leave this end of my trip somewhat open-ended. I'm sure opportunities will arise while I'm in Australia that are too appealing to pass up. The book is open and the pages yet to be written. Your generosity will help to carry me into unexplored lands. And, through this blog, you'll have the opportunity to see the powerful influence a small donation can have on the lives of people who have very little.

Imagine, you could provide generations worth of food security to a whole community abroad with very little effort of your own accord. In return, I'll show you techniques and methods to achieve the same thing in your own back yard!

Thanks to all those who have donated already. It's been very inspiring to witness the generosity of my family and friends!

My deepest appreciations,

Theron

the sound of a distant train

As I shift things around in my house my mind drifts to all the new adventures I've yet to encounter. On the floor of my living room I'm building three piles of all the things I've accumulated over the past several years. 

One pile contains all the things I want to come back to, a collection of soft and comforting thoughts to welcome me home.  

Another, the largest of the three piles, is built of all the things that no longer serve me. Everything I've collected and, for one reason or another, found no particular reason to continue hanging onto. 

Last and, in this case, also least, is the small collection of things I will be taking with me. Purely utility, this pile includes mostly hiking and camping gear, a few books and a small collection of outdoor attire. The most recent addition to this area of my living room floor is a pair of durable, waterproof, italian leather hiking boots which will double as a sturdy work boot for my permaculture practice. 

Each of these piles represents a totally different frame of mind. Basically, my headspace, much like the physical space I occupy, is divided into three distinct piles.

I have, in this lobe, between these folds of gray matter, the thoughts of all the people, places and the various "works in process" that I hope will be here to welcome me back. With all the great friendships that have developed for me and all the projects I'm starting to see grow and progress, I feel that I'll find it difficult to say goodbye. And so, like the pile on my floor, I put these things in a place that I can come back to with the hope that I will one day again have the opportunity to appreciate their fine qualities.

Then there is the large load of karmic accumulations that I will leave behind entirely. In the physical world... this is the largest of the three piles. In my figurative headspace, this is pile is actually quite small and mostly made up of intangibles. Things like a 50+ hour a week job, rent on my little North Hydepark cottage, and other stresses and obligations that go along with such vestiges of my "modern" lifestyle.

lastly, and conversely NOT least, is the space that I store all the dreams, goals and aspirations of what's to come. Between almost every thought and idea there is a whisper of the adventures ahead. Like the sound of a distant train, these thoughts are increasing in size and volume, not far now from permeating the entire landscape that is my mind. As the steady hum of this approaching train draws nearer, I realize its becoming more and more difficult to focus on all things still hanging out in the other two piles. Drowning out many of the less significant things I would normally occupy my time with, the only things that really seem capable of still capturing my attention are the ones that are starting to shout at me through the recognition that I'm clearly not paying them nearly as much heed as I once had (ahem... utility bills, for example, have a good way of reminding me I need to maintain focus for just a little while longer).

And so, for a little while longer at least, I realign my focus and anchor my resolve so that the sound of this approaching train does not uproot me before I'm all aboard!

15 hours and $400 later...

Well ok, I didn't raise $400 in 15 hours. But, thanks to all the generosity you've all demonstrated, I have raised over $400! I know, the progress bar on my ChipIn widget only says $355... but that's because it's not counting the cash donations I've received. I tried to find a way for it to include that but apparently they want to charge me service fees for that little transaction, so... I'll just keep it where it's at!

In exchange for that four hundred plus dollars, I've racked myself up a healthy bit of consultation hours. I'm excited about the prospects of this little experiment. This is a great opportunity for me to put my current permaculture knowledge to good use, expand my experience a bit, and really get myself thinking critically about various topics related to my upcoming ventures. Not only is it a good chance to test the proverbial waters of permaculture consultation, it's a good way for me to dip my toes in the models and systems I'll be completely immersed in before too long.

In the meantime, I've been continuing my work with Community Cultivators and ape99 at the Permaculture Park (aka Deadend Homestead and Farm) on the East Side of town. Every Sunday at around noon we break into whatever new or unfinished project that still needs doing... and believe me, there's never a shortage of projects to work on! After the work is done, there's great potluck food (almost always fresh and local) and occasionally some live music and/or campfire to help fuel a great community spirit.

The past few weeks it's we've been finishing up a natural building project for the future greenhouse. If you haven't had the opportunity yet, check out the video and write-up I did on that project as published on the Permaculture Research Institute's website here!

In addition, I'm currently working on a story about the happenings of the Co-op Think Tank project as well as a more complete video documentation of the Permaculture Park. You can check out the Community Cultivators blog to follow those projects and various others that might crop up over the course of the next few months.

An outdoor shower made from woven bamboo...
one of many projects we're working on at the
Deadend Homestead and Farm

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in checking out any of these projects first hand. We're always happy to have extra hands helping out but we don't expected it of anyone. Everyone has their own priorities and we just want to share what we're learning and hopefully inspire others to start their own projects (we're more than happy to lend a hand with those as well!!)

If, for some reason, Sunday afternoons don't work well for you but you're interested and want to get involved, just drop me a line! We're normally putting on potlucks and other events throughout the week and we're always interested in new peoples and new ideas!

Thanks again to those who've contributed to my fundraiser! It really is amazing to see generosity of the world in action. I'm looking forward to the adventures and opportunities your contributions will open up for me... and I'm looking forward to sharing your kindness and generosity with the world at large!

If you haven't contributed yet, you haven't missed your opportunity. For only $50 you get two hours with me talking your ear off about whatever permaculture subjects are of most interest to you. I promise, I'll make it worth you're hard earned investment!

In addition to getting some quality permaculture time with yours truly, you'll also get to see your contribution go to good use as you follow along with my adventures through this blog. The $405 I've collected so far are currently resting safely in a savings account. With this blog, I plan to detail what each dollar donated goes toward. Forget the Red Cross, I intend to spend each and every penny on real aid work! On top of that, I intend to show where and how each of those pennies is being spent so that you'll know your contributions have made a real impact on the lives of those in need.

If you've already contributed and are waiting to collect those consultation hours, you should have seen an email from me explaining how you can collect. If you haven't seen an email, not to worry, it's really easy. Just shoot an email my way! I'm happy to make myself available to you and work with whatever areas are of the most interest to you. If you happen to have a curiosity about a particular permaculture technique or field of practice for which I am not experienced I'm happy to spend some time researching for you so that I might be better equipped to provide you the best possible knowledge and advice on the subject. Besides, it helps to fulfill my goal of becoming more versed in permaculture theory and application prior to my excursion down under.

Thank you so much for your interest in sharing this experience with me and for all your support, be it monetary or motivational... I honestly couldn't do it without you!

Raising aid...

For those of you that know me well, you know that it has long been my dream to be the most effective contributer to the cultivation of abundant livelihoods as I can be... If you didn't know this about me, welcome to my vision! In pursuit of this dream, I have plotted a course that will take me to the other side of the world to engage and learn from some of the most accomplished experts on the subject. But my journey only begins there. Through my participation in the Permaculture Research Institute's internship program at Zaytuna Farm in Australia this October, I'm looking to immerse myself in an established and proven system of "regenerative" design. And, although I see this model to be far beyond the simple idea of "sustainability", it is only a single milestone in a long journey toward the realization of my vision.


Something you may also know about me is that I'm not really big on asking for handouts. Maybe it's just the way I was raised but I think we each have a responsibility to earn our own way in life. In the same vein, I also recognize that, without the generous help of friends and family, I would hardly be where I am today!

It's in this context that I ask for your help. And, as far as I can tell, there is truly no better reason to ask for help then to ask so that I might be better equipped in my mission to help others. Here's what it's about...

What it's about:
I've set aside enough money for my modest living expenses and course fees while I'm in Australia. The plane tickets and transportation expenses are already paid for and I'm putting $2,000 in savings to cover my return trip as well as any emergencies I might encounter.

All these things are taken care of, all I'm missing is an opportunity to take my experience to the field... I mean, the real field! After a 10 week intensive permaculture internship, I want to take my new found permaculture skills to the people most in need (wherever they happen to be)!

...And that's where you come in!

I'm officially starting a fundraiser on this site to ask for your help so that I might be better equipped to help others!

What it's for:
The money raised through this site will allow me to spend at least 6 months after completing the internship doing permaculture aid work in one of several countries in need. To cover travel and living expenses for 6 months, I'm looking to raise at least $1,000, anything over that amount will go toward extending my aid work or reinvested into the community here, upon my return!

How it works:
Because I love you, I want to give back to you in the best way I can!

So, for every contribution over $50
I'm offering 2 hours of permaculture consultation.

Give $100 or more and get 5 hours on-site consultation!

All you have to do is click the ChipIn button bellow or at the right hand side of the page.




If you like, you can also contribute in a variety of other ways:
Send Cash or Cheque to
Theron Beaudreau
4605 1/2 Evans Ave
Austin Texas 78751

I will also be arranging a fundraising event that includes a yard sale, bake sale, and silent auction sometime this summer.

If you'd like to contribute but funds are tight, you can lovingly donate art, crafts or other items to the silent auction.

It is my personal promise to you that all proceeds received through this fundraiser will go directly toward supporting the vision stated above. If you have any questions or are interested in donating to the silent auction please contact me at theron AT communitycultivators DOT org

Your love and support is deeply appreciated ~!