Ansari Sustainable Living Permaculture

Fall, Projects and Learning

2009-09-27T08:10:00.001-07:00

Hi all, I want to apologize for the lack of posts last month, but there has been alot going on lately that has kept me from spending much time with this. I will be posting a recent design project that I finished last week for a client's 1/3 acre plot. I am writing this from the airport as I wait for my flight to Tennessee for the Gaia University orientation and Bioregional Congress. I am in the Integrative Eco-Social Design bachelor's program, and we are starting the year off with a week of orientation and learning at The Farm, in Summertown, TN. I will be staying at the Eco VIllage Training Center for the next two weeks, spending time with advisors and other Associates designing my curriculum and learning needs for the upcoming year.

The second week of my stay is for the 10th annual Bio-Regional Congress, which is a gathering of individuals, designers and professionals to collaborate on developing our abilities to create positive change in our own environments through community building, resource sharing, and sustainable design and development.

More about the recent design projects coming very shortly...

Permaculture Design

2009-07-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share a recent design project that I completed for a friend of mine. The design was for his 5 acre property, and the goal was to add to the existing work he has done with conventional gardening and growing fruit trees. The natural landscape needed some help, as his trees and general landscape are being ravaged by Japanese beetles. I also focused on further developing one existing garden area, and providing nitrogen fixers to another. The design also works with an area close to the home, between the garage and house, which is a mass of grapes, wild black raspberries, ferns, and a thick evergreen hedge that really needed help. Another important guideline for this project was maintaining the principle of multiple function. Simply, everything should be edible while serving a beneficial function to the environment.

Here is some of the goals articulation that was done for this project

1. Aid existing fruit trees
•Plant in polycultures of aromatic pest confusers to deter pest insects, as well as dynamic accumulators and nitrogen fixing shrubs.
•Create aesthetically pleasing examples of mutually benefiting plants.
•Sheet mulch fruit trees lining driveway and re fence to make mowing easier, eliminate weeding around trees.
•Trim back branches that overhang trees
2. Improve blueberry patch
•Add nitrogen fixing shrubs along border, sheet mulch where necessary.

3. Add to existing garden areas
•Hardy kiwi and grape vines along borders
•Berries, perennial vegetables and greens
•Dynamic Accumulators
•Perennial root crops

#1-9 on the design are the fruit trees that need the most help. They are an assortment of pear, apple, and cherry trees. For this application, I chose aromatic polycultures that will specifically work to deter Japanese beetles, while providing an edible yield or a medicinal use. Highly aromatic plants were chosen, along with edible berries that serve as dynamic accumulators, and other nitrogen fixing shrubs.

#10 is a patch of 12 blueberries that have done very well on their own, and the client was not interested in making any major changes to this area, however a border of nitrogen fixers was agreed on, just for the sake of easing mowing around the area.

#11 is an area that is occupied by several fruit bearing peach trees, as well as annual vegetables. These include broccoli, potatoes, onions, and a few others.

#13 is an area that occupies space between the house and garage, in a secluded, south facing space that is hedged in by tall, thick evergreen shrubs. This is an area that is still being worked on, and we haven't decided on a final plan for it, however it definately has the potential to be a dynamic area in the closer, more immediate Zone 1 or 2 of the property. I will keep you all posted on it's development!

I will post pictures of the site in the near future, and I will continue to keep updating on this projects progress throughout the year.

Urban Earth Architecture

2009-07-30T18:59:00.001-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to go to Rochester, NY to build an emergency shelter eco-dome. Our group consisted of Illiona Khalili, Metin Vargonen, Jessica Edmond, and myself. We worked with high risk inner city children and teens who were attending the Freedom School's summer program. The purpose of this workshop was to open their eyes to the opportunities that earth architecture can provide for them, while beginning to give them the skills that they can use as a trade to support themselves.

The shell of the dome, with the door forms in place.

Adobe earth architecture uses the timeless principles of nature to create structures that are practically indestructible. They are hurricane, tornado, earthquake, fire, and flood proof. They also withstood the most stringent California earthquake tests and were the first building technology tested to actually break the testing equipment!

Metin, and the dome two rows past the window forms.

From left to right, Yusuf, Jessica, Metin, Illiona, and a youth leader of the Freedom School.

It was a very profound experience to work with the children at the Freedom School, as well as their instructors and mentors. The children possess an energy that is extremely constructive and has the potential to do enormous good for the world, unfortunately their environments aren't exactly the best to develop that. With direction, support, and love, they really show potential for overcoming the negativity that they are faced with on a daily basis. This is perhaps the most important effect of working with them, even more so than passing on technical knowledge. It is the opportunity to show them a different way of life, one in which they can be proud of their accomplishments and in turn, help others who have yet to be touched by such positivity.

Welcome!

2009-07-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

Greetings! At Ansari Sustainable Living, we are a group that researches, develops, and implements all aspects of sustainability. I will be using this blog as a way to document our work on sustainable, ecologically regenerative projects. I hope that this will be a good medium for sharing our experiences and connecting with other like minded, positive people.

Check back often, much more is ahead!