Food Forests in Chicago?

Coming up next...

Food Forests in Chicago?
Thursday, April 10th, 7-9 pm
Find out about progress in urban forest gardening and opportunities for creating them here, even with limited space. Includes examples of how appropriate companion plantings can improve productivity.

Learn how ecological garden design is applied with the goal of mimicking some of our major native ecosystems - the forest, woodland and savanna.

Growing paw paws are among the options. They are our largest native fruit, and have other valuable uses.

Some resources and details are listed here.

Presented by Rael Bassan, CUP coordinator.

At North Park Village Nature Center
5801 North Pulaski, Chicago 60646
312.744.5472

More info: raelearth at yahoo.com, 773.756.5033

Neighborhood Orchards

2005 - The beginnings of neighborhood-orchard
http://areachicago.net/p/issues/issue-1/neighborhood-orchard/

2006 - More on orchard as network
http://www.clairepentecost.org/autpart.html

2007 - As part of "clever appropriations of disused urban land for the purpose of growing food."
http://www.realitysandwich.com/garden_pirate

Coming up in September

Starting a "Low Carb[on] Diet"
Tuesday, September 18th, 7-9 pm

Learn how to create "cool household systems" that cut emissions to help ameliorate our global-warming future.

Dave Kraft of NEIS, will introduce you to the "Low Carb[on] Diet: A 30 Day Program to Lose 5000 Pounds". This step-by-step workbook facilitates making the simple lifestyle changes that can reduce your annual household CO2 15% or more, while saving money. Free. Workbook $13.

At North Park Village Nature Center
5801 N. Pulaski, Chicago 312-744-5472
Turn left at the first T intersection

For more information on the program:
773.342.7650, neis@neis.org

Permaculture is about...
taking responsibility for our actions and for our planet, and turning around our behaviours of consumption and exploitation... - Graham Burnett
http://www.spiralseed.co.uk/permaculture/

INTRODUCING
Permaculture Potluck #1
- "tastes" from an integrated toolbox approach to just and sustainable living.
Tuesday, February 28, 6:45 - 9:30 pm
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Break at 8 for the co-op's vegetarian potluck. Please bring a dish to share.
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At Stone Soup Co-op 4637 N. Ashland, Chicago
- Ring bell at side door -
Info: 773-907-1465, raelearth (at) yahoo (dot) com
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Find out about permaculture - a nature mimicking design system, through the stories of urban garden consultant Bill Shores, and Chicagoland Urban Permaculture coordinator Rael Bassan, who grows mushrooms.
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Learn how to turn problems into solutions, wastes into resources, and other examples such as how Mexican gang leaders became eco-punks, liberating their neighborhood.
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This session will focus on the rationale and principles, with some examples. A second session in March will provide more practical details of some applications.

P E R M A C U L T U R E

A few RESOURCES

Peace through Permaculture: A Positive Alternative to "Peace through Military Strength" A four article collection 2002-2004 http://sdecc.igc.org/intropc.html

Permaculture ethics: 1) earth care, 2) people care, and 3) fair share - of resources and surpluses. Achieved largely through closing the loop by recycling/investment of surplus into 1) & 2).

In Permaculture, we work towards creating a PERMA-nent CULTURE by investigating sustainable ways to meet our needs. http://www.designtrek.net/fgperma06

A short introduction is at
PERMACULTURE; ETHICAL DESIGN FOR ABUNDANT LIVING
By Graham Burnett http://www.spiralseed.co.uk/raven/
Principles (A short set - over 30 have been proposed by others)
1) Work With Nature, Not Against... - 'Bending nature to our will' is not only energy consuming, unsustainable and destructive, it is also unnecessary for providing our needs.
2) The Problem Is The Solution - Depends how we look at things...
3) Maximise Diversity - Functions should have multiple supports
4) Everything Cycles - 'pollution' doesn't exist in nature for long.
5) Correct Placement - Maximise beneficial connections

URBAN PERMACULTURE
Urban Permaculture Guild. San Francisco Bay Area. Includes paradigm reconstruction, creative transformation, artistic and ecologically-oriented placemaking. http://www.urbanpermacultureguild.org/mission.html
Inspired by City Repair http://www.cityrepair.org/about.html
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The Urban Permaculture Homestead http://www.sentienttimes.com/03/june_july_03/permacultureT.html
By Jude Hobbs, Eugene, Oregon.
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Urban Permaculture: Self-sustaining food, fibre and energy producing ecosystems http://www.life.ca/nl/40/perma.html

ECO-PUNKS
How Mexican gang leaders became eco-punks, liberating their neighborhood with permaculture tools.
Ahoka Fellow Helen Samuels started the process...
http://www.ashoka.org/fellows/viewprofile3.cfm?reid=96884
of becoming El Coolectivo Ecológico Social Tierra Viva
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/globaltribe/countries/mex_punk.html
http://www.tekio.net/youth_network.html PICTURES !!!
http://www.tierraviva.org.mx/
and pioneering radical social alternatives
http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=409

FOOD FORESTS - coming to Chicago?
Home Scale Food Forests. Also useful material for those with limited sun.
http://www.edibleforestgardens.com/about_gardening.html

MORE "TASTES" of PERMACULTURE
Permaculture: A Pattern for Whole Systems Design http://www.patternliteracy.com/
Site by Toby Hemenway, author of the 2001 book, Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. Excellent for US gardening.

http://www.holmgren.com.au/html/About/aboutpermaculture.html
Site by David Holmgren, author of the 2002 book, Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability Expands on applications to the rest of personally controlable permanent culture

A more extended Introduction to Permaculture: Concepts and Resources http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/perma.html#defined
from an agricultural and appropriate technology viewpoint

NEW!!
Illinois Permaculture Handbook (released December 15, 2005)
http://robscott.freeshell.org/book/
A 130 page book, written by Rob Scott, implementor of the Urbana Permaculture Project. http://www.prairienet.org/upp/ Includes an economics chapter