Cohousing-L Mailing List: Permaculture & coho site programming

[Mmariner (Mmariner]

Rebecca Bryan said:

>>I've looked in the archive but can't find a list of CoHousing groups that
have made permaculture a key programming feature.  Are there any of you out
there?  We'd like to chat.  Rebecca Bryant, Ozark CoHousing

Rebecca, can you say more about Ozark's intentions -- even if you're not sure
 of specifics?

Do you have a consensus among residents to do permaculture?

How did you go about educating everyone about its benefits and costs?

Was it difficult to get people to accept what it would look like - fewer
green lawns replaced by gardens that look more like nature?

Do you plan to do a lot of edible plants or more decorative?

How do you handle  the initial outlay of labor to get things going?  Is it
true that permaculture is *less* labor intensive once the initial planning
and planting is done?

Do you have any good information sources you could pass along other than
 Bill Mollison's big permaculture book?  Web sites?  Magazines?  How about
posting a brief description of permaculture for folks unfamiliar with the
concept?

Per the previous thread about "serious food growing" and sustainability, I
strongly advocate permaculture for cohousing sites.  Sites with considerable
land could grow enough food to merit paying a couple people at least part
time (retirees? college students?) to do the gardening work.  Residents of
sites with limited land could benefit from the connection with the subtleties
of nature that working with permaculture facillitates.

Any group interested in truly stewarding their land should look into
permaculture or related approaches.  Many of us in late twentieth century are
so out of touch with the natural world that we have to reprogram ourselves to
remember how to live in harmony with natural processes again.  Beginning can
do this can further healing -- individuals, our society and the planet.

Michael Mariner