A Description of permaculture at the Bethel Business and Community Development Centre and at Newforest Institute.

1. Permaculture:
Southern Africa and Northeast U.S.
Featuring
Bethel Business and
Community Development Centre
New Forest Institute
Applications in Mid-Coast Maine
Andrew Watkins, July 29, 2009

2. Contents
Context
Available Resources
Connecting the Dots
with Permaculture

3. Themes
Water Harvesting
Natural Building Technologies
Appropriate Technology
Food
Cycles

4. Context: Lesotho, S. Africa
Year 2000 – 2001: Peace Corps
Site: Bethel Business and Community
Development Centre
School for Rural Development
Demonstrations of Permaculture
Appropriate Technology

5. Where Are We?

6. Lesotho: The Mountain Kingdom

7. Context: Maine - 2008/2009
Brooks, ME
New Forest Institute
Summer Volunteer
Permaculture Certification

8. Overview
Lesotho – Bethel Business and Community
Development Centre (BBCDC)

9. The Bethel Region
Heavily eroded
Minimal Vegetation
Mountainous
Note the Plateau

10. BBCDC and Village of Bethel
Eucalyptus Grove
Scorched earth
Aspen Grove
Dongas (Gullies)

11. Brooks, ME
Young forests
Many fields
Near the coast
Clear Cuts
Gravel pits

12. Connecting the Dots with
Permaculture
Permaculture is an ecological design system
for sustainability in all aspects of human
endeavor
www.permaculture.org
Permacultural systems tend toward creation
of forest ecosystems that sustain humans
in a multiplicity of ways

13. Principles to look at
1) Design elements are put in the right place
2) Each element serves many functions
3) Each function is served by many elements
4) Put often-managed elements near the house
5) Put rarely-managed elements farther away
6) Pay attention to sun, wind, and fire directions
7) Stack plants vertically
8) Use time stacking

14. Primary Tenets
1)Earth Care – Earth as home – it's the only one we
have
2)People Care – Helping each other in a way that
develops healthy societies
3)Fair Share – Limit consumption so that others
have their share

15. Resources: Lesotho
Water
Stone
South Africa
Sunshine

16. Home away from Home
The Rondavel
Northern Exposure
Plenty of Daylighting
Batch Water Heater
Photovoltaics
Solar Oven
and...

17. ...from the South
Metal Roof vs. Thatch
Quite the View
My own Peach Tree (2)
Stone Masonry
and...

18. To build the round walls...
•
A BBCDC-designed and
built form
•
Lay the stone and
concrete inside
•
Similar to Cob
Construction

19. A closeup of the peach tree
...And to provide it
water...

20. A Swaling System
With other water
systems such as... (3)

21. Spring-Fed Cisterns using...
Photovoltaic Systems
and
A Hydraulic Ram Pump
Supplying Water to...

22. Ivan's House with
Integrated Cistern
Solar Oven
Private Garden
Mechanics Shop
Guest Quarters
and...

23. The Campus Center with
Stone work
Solar Technology
Landscaping
Food Production (7)

24. The Restaurant and Office Complex
with
Discrete Cisterns
PV DC system
Thermo-siphoning water
heater
Solar exhaust vent
And seating for 24

25. The Machining and Carpentry
Workshop with
2003 – PV array added
Arc welding powered by
generators
Furniture building
and School kitchen on the
right
And all these buildings
include...

26. Solar Technology
Which also powers... (3)

27. A Commercial Food Dryer
Used for drying fruits
and vegetables
Solar powered using flat-
plate technology
Air exhausted through
the Turbine Ventilator

28. A Bread Oven Prototype
Using an anodized
aluminum shell and
having parabolic frame
Dual Orientation and
10-loaf capacity

29. Commercial Solar Ovens
Able to cook enough food
for school population
Formed with square tube,
sheet metal, and
anodized aluminum

30. Batch Solar Water Heaters
Storage and heating
integrated in one unit
Will only heat up limited
amount of water
is simple to construct
Not usable in freezing
conditions
Allowing humans the time
to...

31. Produce Food Sources such as

32. Seedlings and Saplings for
regional farmers
Shading
Value Added Business

33. For cooking food, Solar-powered
Cookers
Of Commercial
and...

34. Household size
capable of cooking...

35. The Following Foodstuffs
A Pot of Beans
A Thanksgiving Turkey
Loaves of Bread
Many Potatoes
A pan of Lasagna
made with food from...

36. The market gardens
Interspersed around
the campus and
Growing a wide variety
of vegetables
And now for a little trip...

37. To The Shores of Maine and ...
Permaculture in
Waldo County
where...

38. Resources in Maine include
Timber
Slate
Stone
Water
Seaweed
and...

39. Clearcuts become Forest Gardens (2,3)
With Fruit Trees
Nut Trees
Fruit-bearing shrubs
Soil builders
Herbaceous plants
and...

40. Ponds are discovered
Providing water for
flora and fauna
Sources of irrigation
Opportunity for water
management
and...

41. In winter become
Places to Skate and
Frolic
Part of a snow field

42. Where yards become gardens (8)
Full of food for body
and spirit
and minimal weeding
and...

43. More Ponds (2)
Feed water plants
Birds and insects
while...

44. Small Dimensional Timber
Can be used for building
hobbit houses,
Can use unusual pieces, and
Create a cozy nook for
living in
and then...

45. Greenhouses
Provide early season
vegetables such as
radishes and lettuces
and...

46. Where Seaweed is used as fertilizer
Adding many nutrients
Enriching the ecosystem
Enhancing vegetable
growth
so that...

47. A Cob Oven
Can be used to make
pizzas with those
vegetables
which...

48. Can be Eaten with Friends!

49. And the Results Deposited in...
A Mouldering Toilet
from whence...

50. Nutrients for the Forest Garden are
deposited
In a never ending
cycle of use and reuse

51. Thank You
Resources: Books
Introduction to Permaculture; Mollison &
Slay
Permaculture: A Designers' Manual;
Mollison
Gaia's Garden...; Hemenway
Resources: Magazines
Permaculture Activist
Permaculture Magazine