"The word "permaculture" was coined in 1978 by Bill Mollison, an Australian ecologist, and one of his students, David Holmgren. It is a contraction of "permanent agriculture" or "permanent culture."

Permaculture is about designing ecological human habitats and food production systems. It is a land use and community building movement which strives for the harmonious integration of human dwellings, microclimate, annual and perennial plants, animals, soils, and water into stable, productive communities. The focus is not on these elements themselves, but rather on the relationships created among them by the way we place them in the landscape. This synergy is further enhanced by mimicking patterns found in nature.

A central theme in permaculture is the design of ecological landscapes that produce food. Emphasis is placed on multi-use plants, cultural practices such as sheet mulching and trellising, and the integration of animals to recycle nutrients and graze weeds."

- quote taken from the National Sustainable Agriculture Information SErvices websitehttp://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/perma.html - check out the site for more great information!

This is what Koinonia is striving for. Currently there is a two week permaculture class being held here. They have partnered with Koinonia in order to have a place to not only come and learn but be able to do demonstrations. The above quote mentioned sheet mulching. This is one demonstration that was conducted a few days ago in front of the library.

Sheet mulching is a method used to create nutrient rich beds (in our case around a few fruit trees) that will naturally suppress grass and weed growth without using pesticides or fertilizers. The layers used in this case (in order) were nutrient rich soil that had been composting for some time along with food scraps, cardboard (to suppress weeds and grass) with holes for the vegetable and other desired plants we wanted, hay, and decaying pecan shells. Those fruit trees are going to be so happy and healthy!

The closest building is the library and the farther one is Jubilee where I live!

Trailer with all the cardboard we used.

Iris that were inserted around the base of the tree as extra protection against weeds.

One of the teachers inserting a blueberry bush.