Stumped?

Let's face it: In gardening/farming there are ups (tasty produce) and there are downs (cabbage worms, cropland turned marshland). It's difficult to stay positive while water fills your boots in a field once envisioned as a major crop or while digging up a row of pest abused cabbage. All the while, it's best to keep a permaculture attitude--'the problem is the solution.'
At Glacial Lakes Permaculture, we won't battle the marshland, forcing it to be a field, as it screams of its dream to be a duck pond. Instead, we'll dig.
Hefty stump in your front yard? Instead of paying hundreds of dollars for a stump removal service, my mentor covered it with all sorts of organic matter (maybe that 'failed' cabbage?) Until it decomposed enough to harbor Queensland Blue Squash. A problem turned solution. I think the squash agrees:

Dear Stump, 

                                     Thank you for your decomposition

     Sincerely, Squash

Copyright © 2011 Jacquelyn Marie Schneller.

Let them perch

If it creeps, crawls, or flaps tiny membrane wings, our first instinct may be to shoo [or spray]. This summer, I've learned to think before I shoo [and not even think to spray!]. Some insects are not only innocent, they are beneficial.

Beginners? Not sure whether to shoo or woo?  Start by identifying the insect. Play detective, & do a little research. After all, permaculture is information intensive. As a fellow beginner, I still depend on outside sources rather than inside instincts.  

You can try to identify your guests, or at least narrow the search, here: http://www.discoverlife.org/. Click on the IDNature Guides tab at the top of the page. 

The exquisite dragonfly (Anisoptera) has been granted shoo-immunity and is my current insect hero. A predator insect, dragonflies, prey upon many types of pests, such as mosquitoes and aphids. They also make great photo subjects. At Glacial Lakes Permaculture, we appreciate their appetite.  We want them to call GLP 'home'. Our invitation: many perching points, for our predators to scan below for the pests we curse, and they crave. Perching points can be natural: virtually any stem, stick or branch with a dragonfly sized landing strip; or man made: such as fence posts, tree supports, or an espalier* wire. In permaculture we consider the functions of all components of our system. Perching, can be taken into consideration as a valuable function when determining where and what to plant.

"Location, Location, Location"

"Dragonfly sized landing strip"

*more on Glacial Lakes Permaculture's very own espalier to come.

Copyright © 2011 Jacquelyn Marie Schneller.

Theory and then some

Most of my master's studies have been theoretical.
A year of theory left me starving for practical application.
Cue Glacial Lakes Permaculture.
The work in the dirt has been a physical & meditative blessing,
though I haven't sworn off theory entirely.
I'm amazed at the theoretical connections I stumble upon
during my hours in the sun.

Throughout my farm hours, my mentor shares practical insight about the projects at hand.
I hear about permaculture ethics, principles, and design tricks as they are implemented.

Please take a look at: http://permacultureprinciples.com/, contents inspired by David Holmgren, and note the Ethics & Principles:


Permaculture Ethics:
Care for the Earth
Care for People
Fair Share

Permaculture Principles:
1.Observe & Interact
2.Catch & Store Energy
3.Obtain a Yield
4.Apply self regulation and accept feedback
5.Use and value renewable resources and services
6.Produce no waste
7.Design from patterns to details
8.Integrate rather than segregate
9.Use small and slow solutions
10.Use and value diversity
11.Use edges and value the marginal
12.Creatively use and respond to change

The aforementioned ethics and principles are no doubt respected and present at Glacial Lakes Permaculure.
Over the course of the summer, I'll share my encounters with permaculture in consideration of these ethics and principles, which I have come to exercise as philosophy and design ambitions, respectively.

[Delicious] Fair Share

Copyright © 2011 Jacquelyn Marie Schneller.

Me, Where, & Why

In my restlessness, I excitedly skipped over any sort of proper bio [or even indication] of myself, my sponsoring organization, or my location. So, before I jump into lessons of ethics and principles--Me, Where, & Why:

Me:

For a more professional, yet quick blurb about me, by someone else: click here.

More personally:

I am a self-labeled young lady working on a master's degree, Human Ecology: Culture, Power, & Sustainability. This program is through Lund University, in Sweden, where, until now, I've spent the majority of my study time.

I like to move around. I think. Well, whether or not I like it, I somehow can't stop.

Despite the hair loss, I love grandiose & frenzied writing/art projects, which rarely see [other] humans or the light of day.

My hobbies sometimes hinder my studies; sometimes they help; but mostly they encourage overall sanity.

My latest endeavor, permaculture, has an advantageous position. It is a hobby, study, and hopefully, life philosophy.

Where:

I am currently fulfilling university credits through an apprenticeship program at Glacial Lakes Permaculture in Estelline, South Dakota, USA.

Why:

I was born and raised in South Dakota and despite my travel bug, I love my family and long to be near them. So, I chose South Dakota.

I chose Glacial Lakes Permaculture because of a very influential former employer and teacher. First he taught me about travel, now he teaches me about life & land. He demonstrates, and teaches, a socially/resourcefully responsible lifestyle through permaculture.

You can read more about him here: About my mentor

Hobby Helping, more on Food Forests coming soon.

You can also find this information, permanently, under the pages tab on the right of the page. 

Copyright © 2011 Jacquelyn Marie Schneller.

Pretty & Smart: Organic mulch has it all.

I apologize for the [blog] delay. There's just been so mulch to do.

Mulching is not just a way to keep a garden/farm neat & tidy for the neighbors.
(I say neighbors because from what I'm learning so far, I believe a permaculturist, absent of neighbors, would delight in natural chaos).
As you probably know, and I am discovering, organic mulching serves as a weed barrier, a moisture trap, and a nutritional infusion. We have been mainly applying alfalfa.
There is something strangely peaceful about quietly smothering a weed, with a warm blanket of alfalfa, instead of blasting it, and everything around it, with chemicals.

When making farm & garden decisions it can be helpful to remember the 3 main Permaculture Ethics: Care for the Earth, Care for people, and Fair share.  Do pesticides care for the earth or people? Does hay/alfalfa mulch?
And in consideration of the 6th Permaculture Principle: Produce no waste, so...

Extra Hay? Mulch Away!

A few days before the alfalfa blanket, we chopped and dropped a thin, but nutrient packed, layer of comfrey, a sort of pre-mulch, to some of the plants.

Our comfrey [chopped, leaving about 6 inches of stalk growth intact] 

couldn't wait to replenish itself.  

On an organizational note:
Scheduling will have me immersed in permaculture the first half of every week, leaving the second half (Wed-Sunday) for blogging and meditation on my experiences.

Don't Forget to Click on the Links w/in the text. 

Look Forward to: My interpretation of an Intro to Permaculture ethics and principles.

Copyright Jacquelyn Marie Schneller 2011

Town Mouse

In case you were misled, I am not a farm girl.
I'm not a farm girl by birthplace or childhood chores.
I am a town mouse. In a state full of farm.
From a town surrounded by farm.
But, as my skills & immediate farm common sense confirm
I am still a town mouse.
I am, however, a farm girl hopeful.
Which is what this [summer & blog] is really about.
I assume there are other town mice longing for farm & country style.
We can learn together. No post too obvious. No [new] skill too petty.
Luckily, I have a brilliant guide.
Equipped with sophisticated  knowledge, yet humble enough
to exhaust time teaching a simple town mouse to dig a hole...

...and fill it with a transplanted pepper.

This particular patch is predominantly peppers.
Permaculture design generally discourages monoplanting while encouraging diversity.
But, as Permaculture ethics* dictate, waste should also be avoided.
So, If life gives you peppers, plant them.
And so I did. Eighteen inches apart. Which, we discovered, is a distance I cannot eyeball.


*to be discussed in the [very near] future

Copyright Jacquelyn Marie Schneller 2011