3. Local Food Insecurity
• Results of a 2011 Gallup survey on Food
Insecurity in 100 US metropolitan areas:
– 2010 Survey: Asheville metropolitan
area(Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison
Counties) - 7th worst in the nation!
– 2011 survey - 3rd worst !!
– One in 5 people (approx 106,000 People) in WNC
is food insecure!!!!
– NC 1st in local food insecurity in USA
– 1 in 4 kids hungry in NC, 1 in 3 obese!
– We source less than 5% of our food locally!
8. Gardens trump Agriculture
Gardens
• 1 calorie in/40 calories out
• High production efficiency
• Minimal external inputs
• Intensive space use
• Diverse yields/stable
• More nutritious foods
• Supports local community
• Unites
• Human Scale
• Distributes wealth and power
• Restore and regenerate
Industrial Agriculture
• 4-12 cal. in/1 cal. Out
• Less efficient production
• Maximum external inputs
• Extensive space use
• Monoculture/fragile
• Questionable nutrition
• Destroys local community
• Separates
• Corporate Scale
• Concentrates wealth and power
• Pollutes and degrades
14. Permaculture Design Goals
Restoration and regeneration of damaged
lands, ecosystems, communities, cultures
Conservationof natural and cultural resources.
Production: Whole system yields for all life.
Systems care: Maintenance and management
across generations.
People care: Meeting peoples primary needs.
Regeneration of our culture and our world.
15. Permaculture in the Garden
• Build soil, plant plants, tend animals
• Begin at the kitchen door and work outward on a controlled
front.
• Overcome limiting factors.
• Optimize use of space, fill the niches, stacking and packing.
• Select for place and optimum nutrition: varietal selection
• The art of placement: right plant, right place
• Mixed perennial, annual, and animal production systems for
creating food poly-cultures.
• Diverse yields over time. Year round production.
• A place for animals and fish.
17. What do we eat?
• Vegetables
• Herbs and spices
• Root Crops
• Grains
• Animals and animal products
• Oils
• Nuts
• Fruits and berries
• Mushrooms
• Products of the above: ferments, sauces, canned and
dried goods
19. Antioxidant Super Foods
FRUITS
Elderberry
Aronia berry
Sea Buckthorn
Mulberry
Serviceberry
Muscadine Grape
Hardy Kiwi
Blueberries
Cranberries
Blackberries
Raspberries
Strawberries
Apples
Plums
Cherries
Peaches
Red grapes
Prunes
Black Currants
VEGGIES
Collards/Kale
Potatoes
Kidney beans
Pinto beans
Asparagus
Yellow pepper
Green grapes
Black eye peas
Cooked tomatoes
Red Cabbage
Red-leaf lettuce
Broccoli
Beets
Tea Camellia
20. Regional Staples
– Sweet Potatoes
– Potatoes
– Onions
– Beans
– Corn
– Pumpkin and Squash
– Cabbage and greens
– Eggs
– Fruit, nuts, and berries
– Wild Plants and Game
– Small and large Livestock
21. Plugging the local nutritional food gaps
• Oils: Nuts, Seeds, Animal Fats
• Minerals: soil remineralization
• Grains
• Staples
• Cultivate more specialized farm/orchard
enterprises to close the loop/ fill the niches.
23. WHAT WE CAN GROW
Animals: bees, fish, chickens, ducks, rabbits, quail, etc.
Vegetables
Root crops
Fruits
Nuts
Berries
Grapes and vines
Herbs
Medicinal plants
Mushrooms
Grains
Flowers
Children
Ourselves
24. SUPPORT ELEMENTS
Greenhouse
Cold Frames
Row Covers
Biomass Production
Compost and Worm Bins
Beehives
Livestock Housing and Yards
Aquaculture Tanks and Ponds
Water Storage: Cisterns and Ponds
Root Cellar
Solar Cooker
Food Dryer
Outdoor Kitchen
25. • Vegetables to the center;
nuts, fruits, and berries
on the edges
• For limited spaces,
grow trees as shrubs
• Speed succession.
• Increase the productive
edges.
• Alley cropping
• Use vertical space –
Grow up, not out!
• Use shady spaces
• Use slopes to advantage
Permaculture Garden Strategies
39. Have fun. Savor the
journey toward an
abundant future.
Chuck Marsh
chuck@usefulplants.org
chuck@livingsystemsdesign.net
828.669.1759
40.
41. Zone Planning
Principle: Locate elements within the system for energy
conservation and best use.
Design Goal: local nutritious food for all. energy and
resource conservation.
Community scale zone planning:
Zone 1. Urban Homestead: example and inspiration
Zone 2. Neighborhood gardens, orchards, vineyards,
pharmacies, forests, urban farms.
Zone 3. Public spaces: Abundant food for all
Zone 4. Local farms, orchards, vineyards, forests
Zone 5. Regional farms, orchards, vineyards, forests
Zone 6. Continental producers
Zone 7. Global producers
42. Relative location
Principle: Make connections between elements.
Place elements in a system so that the needs of
one element are met by the yields of another
element within the system.
Design Goals: Build and link local food and resource
networks. Plan stable and resilient food
producing home and community landscapes.
• Develop logistical and connecting strategies for
building local food systems.
• Local community food and resource maps as
organizing tools.
43. Redundancy
Principle: Design redundancy into critical
survival systems: food, water, energy, etc.
Redundancy and diversity support security.
Design Goals: Build redundancy into:
• Food: Scalable, diverse local food supply.
• Energy: Diverse blend of local fuel and energy
sources.
• Economy: Develop a diverse local economy.
Support local businesses first.
44. Use biological resources
• Principle: Use biological resources instead of fossil
fueled or industrially based resources.
• Design Goal:
• Biological Economics
• Return to biologically based local food, energy, and
economic systems.
• Take advantage of the productive potential of natural
systems
• Close the loops. Turn “Waste” into resources.
• Carefully choose imports to support biological systems.