Hiya Smitty

Good to read ya.
Permaculture can be as hard or easy as you want it to be. It's more than
just planting food, it's how each element within the whole system
interacts with each other to benefit not only you or me but benefits the
system itself to make it work better and more efficiently.

Some simple examples are using space within or around a chicken coop to
grow not only food for the chickens but food for you which directly
benefits from the chicken "outputs" manure, body warmth, pest control
(careful thought needed there though) etc ... of course the chickens
could be rabbits with a worm farm underneath to use the manure and
convert it to vermicompost or ducks for more reliable snail control (and
slightly safer veggies), but the point is the "system" is built up with
a wholistic plan that integrates any and all those different elements so
that they compliment each other.

The climate of a particular area can be a major factor in deciding what
you can grow or what species of livestock you can keep but its not
really a factor as far as the principles of PC go .... you can create
your own system wherever you live ... each system uses what is available
within the constraints of that climate ... it's a matter of honing the
system to work best for your situation and location.

*The grass is always greener section*
I came from the UK to Australia thinking I could grow anything here ....
not so ... the climatic differences whilst helping some things stop me
from growing things I used to take for granted in the UK, here its as
dry as England was wet, as hot as England was cold .. where I stayed
indoors in England because of the knee deep snow ... now I stay indoors
because its 40 deg C outside and the effect on any plants trying to stay
alive is just as dramatic, here is crunchy dry grass where there was wet
soggy or frozen grass, here is furnace hot drying Northerly winds where
there was freezing 'cutting you to the bone' North winds .... its a
tricky old world
* end of grass is greener section*

Point is ... it will never be wet enough/dry enough/sunny enough/cool
enough wherever we live to do what we all want to do when we want to do
it, the good news is that as far as PC is concerned it really doesn't
matter ...... cos what ya got is exactly what your PC system can use,
how its used depends on how you plan it and that determines how well
each element works within the whole system.

Not sure how many of the regulars are left on the NG, but there used to
be a wealth of experience on here ...prolly still is ... the main thing
to remember is we are all learning all the time ... no matter how long
someone has been using PC, theres always another point of view to
consider or another problem/solution that can be of interest to others.

So ask away ...post away ... I'll help if I can and hopefully others
will get involved too.

(hope at least some of that makes sense)

Pete



wrote:
Hi all,
PC Novice here so really just getting started in this field.. This
person has hit the nail on the head for me.. I found this to be the
case here on the web too.
Another thing I find is that there is a ton of stuff for folks living
in places they can do this year around and almost zilch for a cold
climate newbie permie like myself..
Not being critical, just a plea for some help and maybe a nudge from
you big brothers and sisters who have been doing this for years now..
my 2 cents smitty

but when you get involved around the 'net and try to do any research
all you get is certificates, diplomas, institutes and the call for it
to be a uni degree and a senior school curriculum. and it all spells
money and they are not promoting pc as something everyone can do to
some degree you along with pete and others i hope we can count
ourselves in as well are out there doing it and untill all that
factional garbage this group was full of help and ideas going back and
forth but now that the only thrust is from those chardinay yuppies
looking for an easy buck.