Getting ready...

Over the last few weeks, I've been hunched over the laptop getting ready for our upcoming workshops in Mohadi. We've set the dates now. We'll be covering an introduction to permaculture on Tuesday the 16th, followed by an intro to Zone 0-2 (or kitchen gardening) on the Wednesday. This will be the first time the farmers are introduced to permaculture (apart from brief mentions in past workshops), so it's pretty exciting.

 

My 'desktop' (aka the dining room table)

I must admit that it's a bit daunting too! My permaculture design course was set on the Isle of Man (UK), which right now seems a billion miles away from the type of permaculture we'll be designing here. Yes, of course the principles apply everywhere, but it's hard switching from temperate (and pretty wet and windy!) to dry tropical (very hot and very dry most of the year). But the potential here is so fantastic and each day I learn so much more about different crop potentials... my brain is overflowing with ideas! Here's the rough content for the first day that I've scrawled out...

Rose Morrow's "Earth User's Guide to Permaculture" has been indispensible! I find it so accessible.

I'm now trying to think creatively about how to do some practical demonstrations. Maybe we'll follow Bill Mollison's lead and create a banana circle! Or maybe we'll try out some things from Chris Evans' new online book . I'm particularly tempted to try out the sweepings pit as it's so simple and should work here. It's an example of making a small change for a big effect, so it should make an impression, as it did on me.

If anyone reading this has ever worked in the dry tropics with kitchen gardens, especially if they have designed using permaculture, I would love to share ideas with you. Please leave any comments here!