I am now offering home-scale permaculture site evaluations for anyone who is interested in applying permaculture principles to their home sites.

For a $150 fee, I will spend two hours at each site with the owners/tenants to assess residents' needs, evaluate their site, and determine suggested design elements and systems that will maximize sustainability for the long term. This evaluation is not a complete permaculture design, but rather serves as a springboard of ideas which each homeowner can take and begin to implement as time and resources allow.

Design considerations include:
- Site orientation & solar access
- Water flow, catchment & storage
- Sustainable food systems
- Energy flow and renewable energy systems
- Natural building materials & methods
- Animal systems
- Waste management & sanitation

This special rate is offered for a limited time to residents of Grass Valley, Nevada City and adjacent areas.

To schedule your site evaluation today, please call Paul Racko of Sierra Permaculture Design at 530-613-4181. Visit Sierra Permaculture Design online at http://SierraPermaculture.com

Paul Racko has been studying and applying permaculture for over ten years. In 2007, he received his Permaculture Design Certificate from the Regenerative Design Institute (RDI) and provides design and consulting services through his company Sierra Permaculture Design.

What is Permaculture? Visit Wikipedia to find out more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture

Good news, permies! The Sierra Permacuture Guild's discussion forum is now open! Chit-chat about all things Permaculture including animal systems, water catchment, alternative energy, local currencies, no-till gardening, bioremediation, natural building, community-building and whatever else tickles your fancy.

To register, sign in, and discuss, please visit: SierraPermaculture.org/forum

See ya on the boards!

Please join us at the inaugural meeting of the new Sierra Permaculture Guild! And pass the word on to other permies!

Saturday August 25, 6:30-8:30pm
at
The Sacred Bee
1451-A East Main Street
Grass Valley, CA 95945
venue phone: 530-272-6427

Agenda:
Introductions
Discuss format of group
List possible activities & speakers
Appoint secretary to keep minutes
Schedule future meetings
Other topics?
Community announcements

Bring seeds or garden surplus to share if you have any!

Please RSVP to Paul at paul@sierrapermaculture.org

The Sacred Bee is located between Brunswick Road and Dorsey/Sierra College Drive. Use Bus Route #1, get off at corner of Joerschke Dr. and Nevada City Hwy. or corner of Dorsey Dr. and East Main Street. Parking is available in the front lot next to the 'Bee' or all the way at the back of the lot past the sycamore tree. Please do not park directly behind the building as these spaces are reserved for tenants only.

Let's face it. Capitalism is doomed.

If you're an adherent of Peak Oil theory, then you also realize that the success and future of capitalism is fully dependent on cheap and abundant energy. Without such accessible energy, there can be no economic growth, and without growth, capitalism collapses.

Clearly, those of us in the relocalization movement need to start planning for an alternative economic paradigm now.

Local currencies are obviously part of the puzzle, but while doing some research online recently, I discovered a fairly unknown socio-economic system called Prout: Progressive Utilization Theory. I thought to myself, this -- or a version of it -- is what will very likely end up replacing global capitalism.

Take some time to read up on it and find out more:

Prout World: ProutWorld.org
Prout in 60 Minutes: Download Here
The book After Capitalism: details
World Prout Assembly: WorldProutAssembly.org
Prout on Wikipedia

Share your thoughts here on my blog or via the rest of the Relocalization Network.

It's never too soon to start planning for a new future.

Namaste.

Greetings Permies & Relocalizers!

I'd just like to quickly announce that the Sierra Permaculture Guild is now coalescing and a new website is now up at http://SierraPermaculture.org If you're an experienced permie, just learning, or want to plug into the permascene, please drop on by! Don't miss the ever-growing list of links as well as a groovy online (YouTube) permavid featuring Bill Mollison that we just added.

Of course, the Sierra Permaculture listserve is still going and the main networking point for permies in the Sierra Nevada bioregion. You can sign-up for the list at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/SierraPermaculture and either post your events or just plain find out about permahappenings in these neck of the woods, ask for help or technical assistance, swap seeds and plants, or organize work parties and other gatherings.

An upcoming gathering is in the works for permaculture practitioners and newbies alike ib the Grass Valley / Nevada City area, so stay tuned.

Looking forward to seeing and hearing from ya!

Whirled Peas,
Gryphon
Sierra Permaculture Guild
http://SierraPermaculture.org

Hey now. Just wanted to let you all know about my new blog at http://sierrapermaculture.blogspot.com

I'll be covering all our permaculture design efforts on my family's 13 acres on the San Juan Ridge plus other interesting local projects. First off, well be creating a keyline swale system on the slope in front of the house to which we'll add a branched greywater system and then plant with a variety of fruit trees and perennial groundcovers and vines.

Later this spring & summber, I'll be helping a friend build a cob cabin which I hope to cover for the blog as well. If you know of any other cool alternative building, renewable energy, or permaculture projects that are happening and would like some coverage the blog, just give a holler and let me know.

Gryphon

Aussie Ted Trainer has written an excellent how-to guide for transitioning from a consumer society to a simpler, more cooperative, just and ecologically sustainable society. Be sure to check it out at http://socialwork.arts.unsw.edu.au/tsw/.

Well, they're starting on one anyway, and what they've currently got up on their website at http://ibiblio.org/tcrp/doc/project.htm is pretty impressive and should make excellent food-for-thought for any relocalization effort. Check it out.

~Gryphon
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SierraPermaculture/

"There is a great need for a culture of guerilla relocalisation â€