At a recent discussion I was asked how we can facilitate discussions around socio-ecological transition with people who aren't necessarily very worried that the world's burning.  My reply: make sure they have eaten well if you want people to feel you have a warm personality give them hot drinks...

Peoplecare and contextuality Whats the most fashionable thing about permaculture where you are? Forest gardens? Herb spirals? Raised beds? Here in France its the latter. Now people are getting very exited about "la permaculture humaine". Human permaculture, yes a tautology but "peoplecare" works...

The plan is an aerial view of the coppice orchard. Species and climate notes are for central UK, adapt and evolve to suit your own conditions. Each tree occupies a square of about 4 or 5 metres per side. WINDBREAKS The coppice orchard is surrounded by windbreaks. If you already have tall hedges,...

  Note: microclimate / species notes are from central UK experiences – change things around to suit your own conditions. These notes are given as a template to be localised and individualised, rather than a set of absolute instructions. When I thought of the term ‘Coppice Orchard’ I wasn’t...

Trees and other plants form symbiotic relationships with micro-organisms in the soil that fix N from the air. This happens in nodules that may be seen on the roots. There are two main sorts of micro-organisms involved: 1. RHIZOBIUM. This operates with Pea and Bean family. It is most effective in...

THE OWN-ROOT FRUIT TREE PROJECT [funded by the profits of Cool Temperate Plants and Services] This project is based on the unpublished work of Hugh Ermen, formerly of Brogdale Horticultural Experimental Station and now retired and breeding new varieties of fruit trees. Hugh discovered that there...

(Inrokyo no Tenren) In order to understand it we can take the term Permaculture as a noun and a verb, as the end result and as the process. It is important not to confuse the two so I will use the term a Permaculture to refer to the end result and Permaculture Design to refer to the process. They...