Off-grid Irish Homestead Design

It has been a while since I have added new designs to this website – but it has been a busy summer, and autumn so far has kept me very busy too – both in work and on my own property. But now that our bumper apple harvest processing period is coming to an end,Continue reading “Off-grid Irish Homestead Design”

Maine Permaculture Design: Sustainable Food Production & Ecosystem Restoration

This is my design for a property of approximately 2 – 2.5 acres in Maine, USDA zone 5a. Like many of my designs, the starting point for this project was the desire of the property owners to increase the amount of food that they grow for themselves and their neighbours. They were also excited toContinue reading “Maine Permaculture Design: Sustainable Food Production & Ecosystem Restoration”

Garden Design Tip: Value Other ‘Gardeners’ in Your Outside Space

I am the main human gardener on our property, but I am far from being the only one who does things and makes choices that influence what happens in the garden. One important thing that human gardeners need to remember is that they are not gardening alone. Any human gardener is just one of aContinue reading “Garden Design Tip: Value Other ‘Gardeners’ in Your Outside Space”

Regenerating Native Oak Woodland: Holistic Permaculture Design

Here you can see my concept design for a site of approximately 2.5 acres in the California interior chaparral and woodlands ecoregion. It is located within an area where blue oak woodland predominates but the site itself has been degraded by human activity and largely denuded of its native vegetation cover. The client’s primary goalContinue reading “Regenerating Native Oak Woodland: Holistic Permaculture Design”

Regenerative Gardening and Regenerative Agriculture

In order to move towards a positive future for all, we need to embrace a regenerative rather than an extractive mindset. Working with cyclical systems, working with nature, we need to remember the importance of giving back, keeping those cycles turning rather than simply taking all that we can get. Regenerative gardening and farming goContinue reading “Regenerative Gardening and Regenerative Agriculture”

Overcoming Barriers to City Rewilding and Re-greening Initiatives

Rewilding cities and other human-centric spaces is increasingly important, as more and more people spend their lives in massive metropolises with little access to truly natural and ‘wild’ environments, and as we encroach ever more on the wildlife around us. Rewilding Cities: Identifying Sites for Permaculture Design Identifying land suitable for rewilding in cities andContinue reading “Overcoming Barriers to City Rewilding and Re-greening Initiatives”

Rewilding or Ungardening in Permaculture Design

When any permaculture designer is working on a project, they will typically be working within the relatively solid framework of the permaculture ethics and permaculture design principles. But permaculture as a design framework it not rigid. It leaves the space that is needed for nature, for people, and for changes over time as a systemContinue reading “Rewilding or Ungardening in Permaculture Design”

Case Study: Montana Permaculture Design

Montana is a varied state with diverse eco-regions, incorporating parts of the Rockies, of course, as well as some of the Wyoming Basin and portions of the Northern Great Plains. This design is for a client based towards the south-west of the state, in a mesic montane area where small fragments of stable, climax AspenContinue reading “Case Study: Montana Permaculture Design”

Case Study: Scotland Permaculture Design for Flooding Mitigation

Often in permaculture design, we encounter issues with water. In many areas and on many specific sites, a shortage of water is the challenge. But on occasion, we may find that the challenge we need to address is not too little water, but too much. In some regions, we are not faced with increasing droughtContinue reading “Case Study: Scotland Permaculture Design for Flooding Mitigation”

Case Study: Illinois Permaculture Design

This is the preliminary permaculture concept plan for a farmstead in Illinois. the design aims to synthesise the ideas of the client with the demands of the site and to allow them to make the most of the property – recently purchased – that has been somewhat neglected in recent years.  The client, a hobby farmerContinue reading “Case Study: Illinois Permaculture Design”