Ecological Design Blog

What Is Permaculture And Ecological Design?

6/18/2017

Permaculture system. Copyright Permasystems.

Ecological design = any form of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes (Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan). Was popularized in 1971 by Ian McHarg in his book, Design with Nature. This book describes an ecologically sound approach to the planning and design of communities.

Permaculture = combines the words permanent agriculture and culture.. Coined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in 1978 based on the work by Masanobu Fukuoka, J. Russell Smith, P.A. Yeoman to simply be ethical, regenerative landscapes and food systems.

Here at Permasystems, we use the terms permaculture and ecological design interchangeably.

Work with nature, instead of against it

Permaculture is an ethical design system used as lens to view the world and a toolbox to develop and maintain regenerative systems. It focuses on using regenerative energies in the ways that nature already does and connects different disciplines, strategies and techniques. Permaculture works with, benefits, and extends the patterns of nature.

Ecological design and permaculture principles have been used by humans for thousands of years. Unfortunately, we have lost many of those skills that were being honed for eons. Now, we are seeing a resurgence of people bringing permaculture tools back and utilizing them for everything from growing food, to designing communities, managing waste, water and soil, building homes and other structures and much more.

Permaculture tree. Copyright Permasystems.

To better understand permaculture, lets take a look at a healthy tree growing in the remote mountains. It grew from a seed. This tree gets water from precipitation, no hoses. This tree gets nutrients from the soil and air, no artificial fertilizers. Soil is built from the leaves that fall off of the tree, from dead branches that break down, from bacteria and fungi living in the soil creating nutrients for plants. Nothing extra is added! It is regenerative!
Now, look at a tree in your yard or neighborhood - how does it compare to our mountain tree? Is it regenerative? If not, how could we make it?

Permaculture can be used at any level, from your house, to your garden, to your neighborhood, to your to city, or beyond...

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How To Measure Rainfall - Sometimes Not As Easy As You Think

4/16/2017

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Measuring rainfall with rain gauge. Copyright Permasystems

How much does it rain where you live? Do you know? Does it matter?

It is easy to guess how much it rains, maybe you look at a bucket or puddle but to really know you must use some kind of proper gauge, like the one above.

It is important to measure rainfall to calculate your supply when trying grow plants, manage stormwater or prepare for years of flood or drought. After all, if you don't know how much you're getting, how can you prepare for the future?

The easiest way is to buy a gauge. The AcuRite 00850A2 5-Inch Capacity Easy-Read Magnifying Rain Gauge is less than $4 on Amazon (click item for link). Then, take the gauge and place it (often mounted to a wooden post) at a level that is easy to read. Be sure the gauge is not near any buildings or trees because wind can push the rain to fall at an angle and be blocked by an object which might give you a bad reading on your new gauge. I like to put out two gauges in different places and compare them - but I realize that is pretty nerdy!

Once you get some rain and check the gauge it is best to write it down so you don't forget! Then, you can use the data to figure out your annual rainfall. Just add up all the numbers. But wait - what month do you start and end with to find out how much you got for the year???

Professionals that measure rainfall sometimes argue about this. Two years ago, after using the so-called rain year - July to June - for more than 130 years to measure precipitation totals, National Weather Service stations in Southern California started using the "hydrological year" - October to September. Why does it matter?

In order calculate an accurate and comparable average, the beginning and end of the "year" that is used should be outside of the rainy season or after a normal break in a rain season. For example, the calendar year begins and ends right in winter, when a lot of places get a significant portion of their precipitation - this makes it often a bad time to start record keeping.

It can be tough because different places in the country have breaks in the rain at different times so it's hard to have just one type of "rain" year to easily be comparable. Luckily this problem is pretty easy to fix - every weather service station nationwide produces two rainfall totals: one based on the calendar year and a second based on local preferences. The big question is when should your local area make it's rain "year"?

Looking at the above graph in Ramona, CA (eastern San Diego County) where we have our permaculture education and demonstration site, you can see the rainy season comes to an end in June. That means either the rain year - July to June or the "hydrological" year - September to October - would be appropriate to use, the former being the most accurate.

So far, this "year" in Ramona we have received higher than average rainfall, like much of California has. A nice change from some recent lower than average years. As we go from extreme years of drought to extreme years in flooding, knowing how much rain we get allows us to properly prepare our rainwater harvesting systems, whether they be active or passive systems, for the future. This reduces the chance of problems or system failures allowing maintenance to be minimal and us to sit back and relax whether the weather is bone dry or soaking wet. Remember to design with the future in mind!

Resources:
U.S. Climate Data - http://www.usclimatedata.com/ - rainfall totals and graphs by city.

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Ferrocement - a simple, cheap, long lasting building medium

10/31/2016

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Ferro means iron, and although we do not use iron in ferrocement, we do use steel, an iron alloy.
The cement we use is Portland cement, a form of limestone.
Cement is used to encapsulate the steel mesh in thin layers forming the walls of the tanks. This method utilizes the compressive strength of cement and tensile strength for a marriage of unequal quality.

Ferrocement was first used back in the 1850s, by the great French architect Henri Labrouste, a Boulogne gardener Joseph Monier and a country gentleman named Jean-Louis Lambot. They made plaster vaults, flower pots, doors and boats. In 1876 mechanical engineer W.E. Ward built a ferrocement house in Port Chester, New York which is still in good condition!

Ferrocement boat built in 1887 and still afloat today.

The building of our tanks is modeled off that of Martin Iorns and Lou Watson who invented and patented this building process in the 1960s called laminated ferrocement - the use of a mold to accurately reproduce super strong and long-lasting boats. And their boats are still in great condition today! We took their idea a step further to make water tanks and integrate a modular system for off-site manufacturing of the tank sections.

A ferrocement boat built by Fibersteel, Iorns' and Watson's company, in 1978.

We make pre-cast modular water tanks in 2 foot tall sections. Currently we make a 3 foot diameter water tank, but will have other sizes available in the future. The bottom section (seen in below photo) includes the 2 foot tall sidewalls and a bottom, then we can stack additional 2 foot tall sidewall sections on top of the using a male-female compression lip. This allows the sections to nest snugly against each other. Then we seal the seal with a super-strong industrial polyurethane sealant which is potable grade so it does not affect water quality.

The short modular sections allow for an easier casting/curing process and make it much easier to move the sections around. Once cured, we roll them on our trailer and right into your yard where we stack them together, then add a lid. This way we don't need big cranes or a lot of space for installation.

Bottom section being placed on gravel frame, ready for second section.

Our laminated ferrocement building process uses approximately 80 percent less cement that conventional reinforced concrete and is far stronger and does not crack as is often seen in foundations, bridges, other cement structures. The walls of our tanks are only 3/8" thick but super strong and will hold your water for decades to come!

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What Is Permaculture And Ecological Design?

How To Measure Rainfall - Sometimes Not As Easy As You Think

Ferrocement - a simple, cheap, long lasting building medium

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