permaculture design certificate - day two...

Day two - a bright and sunny spring morning and less stressful day (I've almost got a couple of names to faces....)

Today we rapidly moved through basics of ecology (and it WAS really basic); map reading (again - very very basic stuff - fortunately I know my time in the scouting movement has given me a bit better overview); methods of design (as applied to permaculture); and climate (in quite a bit of detail for local - meaning bega valley conditions)

view from just outside our room down toward some raised beds in construction, then onto the vege garden.....
further down the hill is stone fruit and onto the river flats and tidal river (myrtle creek) at the bottom of the hill

One of the most valuable, specifically permaculture aspects taken on board today had to do with creative thinking and zone and sector analysis.

 The idea of analysing and designing for zones is paramount in permaculture and is worth explaining  - albeit basically here - zones start with the house and move from the most intensive usage area to least intensive.... like this...

Zone 0 = the house and people living in it

Zone 1 = the vegetable garden, compost area, small livestock (eg chooks, ducks)... this is the area that will be visited everyday (or many times each day)

Zone 2 = the food forest orchard, poultry area... (the chicken shed is often sited between zone 1 & 2), ducks, geese grazing area

Zone 3 = cropping or commercial area (maybe fruit trees, corn, potatoes, etc... whatever grows well in the region), larger animals (goats, sheep, cattle, alpaca)

Zone 4 = forest cropping (woodlot, furniture trees), shelterbelt, windbreaks, fire retardant hedges, fooder crops (for animals), other useful plants (eg dye plants, fungi)

Zone 5 = natural systems = areas left untouched to protect wildlife, waterways and land

Already I'm rethinking personal garden/farm set ups (and I have been aware of permaculture zones previously).... and I'm thinking about how this same idea of zoning may apply to other systems or modes of thinking/creating.....


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