On a two week rotation, students from the Jasper Place Culinary 10 program will be working in the food forest courtyard and in the greenhouse to collect and grow food for their program, which inevitably ends up bellies of student and staff. Below are some pictures of the herbs we’ve been growing in EarthBoxes over the summer. One of the great things about growing in EarthBoxes is that they’re easy to move and will be brought inside (either to the greenhouse or to the Culinary classroom) to continue growing all winter.

Left: A JP Culinary student gathering flat leafed parsley. Right: Thai Basil, French Tarragon, and Summer Savoury

Above: Herbs getting ready for drying.

When I first started at the school in February of 2010, almost immediately, I set out to start the JP Permaculture Club. For the last year and a half, this club had been the source of most of the projects and success we’ve had. Meeting once a week, students are involved in starting and taking care of plants, building food forests, and discussing the implications of permaculture.

Clubs Day

Each Fall, JP hosts a clubs day in which dozens of clubs set up booths in the hallway to advertise and recruit new members; a great chance for making connections, we wanted to make a good showing and with lots of new students feel pretty happy about the event.

Above Left: The JP Permaculture booth Above Right: Students, staff, and clubs advertise their clubs via the #jpREBELS live twitter feed.

A mycorrhizal fungi and a poplar tree pair together in mutually beneficial relationships.

Note that an organism with 8 beneficial relationships is better off than another with only 3.

In the picture above, we have a fungi and a poplar tree… both of them are quite different but are connected; the fungi is mycorrhizal, meaning that it lives on and in the roots of the poplar tree, seeking out and finding minerals and water that it delivers to the tree in exchange for photosynthesized sugars. This relationship is mutually beneficial and, as a result, these two very different organisms are better off than they would be if they were alone; in fact, you could argue that it’s because of their differences that their partnership works so well. In this way, we can start talking about resiliency as the direct result of connections; when looking at systems we can conclude that the more connected something is, the more resilient it becomes. As social ecologist Peter Drucker wrote, coming together results in the “alignment of strengths, making [our] weaknesses irrelevant”. We can imagine how resiliency is further compounded by the addition of a third, fourth, and firth element; even more so, if these elements are diverse. Diversity creates more opportunity for connections and hence resiliency, for this reason, it is important to protect.

Above: A muir web is a map of an ecosystem’s relationships (From Mannahatta)

Above Left: A map of a social network

What takes care of an ecosystem? Nothing… or more accurately, no one thing! Ecosystems are so interconnected and so rich in diversity that they are intrinsically resilient; they are self-assembling and in near constant dynamic equilibrium. As a result, they act as nets that capture and store energy, carbon, water, and nutrients. Imagine a drop of rain landing in an ecosystem; because of the number of connections and the amount of diversity, this one drop of water may take hundreds of years to leave and through its journey, benefits dozens or even hundreds of living organisms. The capacity for prolonging the journey allows for even more connections which, in turn, allow for even more capture and storage. In his book Seeing Nature, Paul Krafel refers to this as nature’s “upward spiral”. Permaculture shows us that we can, and should only, work with the upward spiral of nature; this looks beyond sustainability and actively seeks to increase ecological resiliency.

A Social Net?

People, in addition to being an integral part of ecological networks, are social beings and, and as such, belong to social networks. (It’s important to note that social networks aren’t only online; though, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc) are tools for virtual extending traditional social networks). Because both ecology and social networks are systems we’re able to make some correlations between them; both consist of relationships and connections and thus follow similar patterns and principals. As an example, we can start thinking of a resilient person as someone who has many social supports (family member, friends, interests and hobbies, numerous skills ect.), resilient communities as diverse (bringing many people, groups, and organizations together), and resilient cities, as Richard Register writes in his book Ecocities, a place for “maximizing connections”. Social networks offer the exchange of thoughts, ideas, questions, answers, and the occasional flu virus. Not unlike the drop of water in an ecosystem, an idea flowing though a social network has the ability to cycle for hundreds of years and, in doing so, builds connections, links to other ideas, and becomes resilient. Applying permaculture principals to social systems would then say that we can, and should only, work to increase social connections and the capacity for social resiliency.

School As Ecosystem

As the ‘Social Permaculturalist’ at Jasper Place High School, it is clearly my job to pursue both ecological and social resilience; to date, much of this blog has been about the former. In the coming year, I hope to document my experience working to build, maintain and map the social network of a large educational institution. What is a resilient school? What do resilient staff members and students look like? How closely can we link what’s happening within our hallways to the outside community? In the coming month, I hope to answer these questions.

Some of you may remember that last spring, we inoculated the entire courtyard with a mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria solution; so impressed by the flush in plant growth and health was I that I could resist attempting to brew our own version of this soil food-web soup. Not only did these tiny soil organisms help in decomposing our foot deep layer of much but they also capture and store nutrient (within their tiny bodies) and form symbiotic relationships with plants.

Though, the last time we inoculated our soil we used a commercial product from Fungi Perfect, I’ve been familiar with compost teas for quite some time. It wasn’t until I ran into Bruce Dueley’s elegant “Little Texan Tea Brewer”, however , that I decided to try it with the Indigenous Permaculture class. The simple brewer creates an abundance of beneficial soil organisms and consists of nothing more than a bucket (with lid) some 1/4 inch hose, a nylon bag, an air pump, and some air stones; all of this was pretty easy for us to track down as we had just recently purchased some hose, and air pump/stones for our aquaponics system.

A Bucket, Turned Compost Tea Brewer

The teas have many variations; a Google search yields numerous results. Typically, each recipe consists of water and a sugar source (usually molasses); sometimes soil amendments, such as rock dust, are added. After the tea has been left to brew for three days, it can be applied directly to your garden and potted plants.

Why the Air and Sugar? It’s About Cellular Respiration!

Simply put, soil-organisms, like all living things, convert glucose and oxygen into carbon dioxide and energy (ATP). In our case, we’re trying to create an optimum environment for the breeding of micro-organism so providing our compost with a source of glucose and constant supply of oxygen, we keep them happy and multiplying. If there’s too little sugar, the population will peak and begin to decline. If our tea doesn’t get enough oxygen, a less efficient anaerobic cellular respiration begins; producing carbon dioxide and alcohol (not the by-product we’re looking for).

The General Set-Up: Bruce Dueley’s “Little Texan Tea Brewer”
Compost is contained within a nylon staining bag and added to a slightly sweetened (glucose) solution; air is than pumped into the bag and container. The entire mixture is allowed to brew for three days and is than applied to plants as a way of inoculating soil with beneficial micro-organisms.

An article about the Indigenous Permaculture class at Jasper Place High School appeared in today’s paper. Last week the Edmonton Journal’s education reporter, Elise Stolte, visited the JP class; what followed was a great article! Thank you Elise!

Screenshot of the Edmonton Journal Article

For more on reporter Elise Stolte, check out her Edmonton Journal profile, Education Page, or follow her on twitter @estolte.

In the middle of February, CBC’s Niall Mckenna paid the Jasper Place ‘Indigenous’ Permaculture class a visit; bringing a tape-recorder and a TV camera, here is the first segment of the coverage:

JP Students Discuss the Indigenous Permaculture Class (~3:00)

Built upon the Aboriginal Studies curriculum, Jasper Place ‘Indigenous’ Permaculture aims to use permaculture as a tool for reconnecting ourselves with a rich culture of being connected with the Earth. Currently, the class is working towards the design and implementation of an Aboriginal Medicine Wheel garden next to the Food Forest.

Above Left: Students participating in a traditional sharing circle. Above Right: Students working in the greenhouse

It’s in all of our best interests to build mutually beneficial relationships within our communities.

One factor contributing to the incredible resiliency of natural systems is the idea that everything is connected; each element and species uses the resources around it (it’s needs) and in-turn, directly or indirectly provides certain services (yields). In this way, the yields of one element become the needs of another and nothing is wasted. On the ecosystem level, this creates a web-like structure of relationships where energy, nutrient, and resources are captured and cycled; benefiting each element on the group level.

Needs & Yields Analysis of a Chicken

What’s interesting is that social systems also rely heavily on the creation of connections; the more connected an individual, organization, or community is, the more resilient they will be. That’s why it’s in all of our best interests to build mutually beneficial relationships within our communities.

The following is a Needs & Yields analysis of Jasper Place Permaculture; if you see ‘a fit’ that you would be interested in pursuing, please contact our program.

Needs & Yields Analysis of Jasper Place Permaculture

In their vision of the future, they write:

Edmonton, 2040, is a sustainable and resilient city. In our quest to live within the limits of nature, we have become a leader in energy efficiency and energy conservation. A carbon neutral city, rich in biodiversity, Edmonton is prepared for disturbances that could result from climate change and peak oil.

You can find the full document here:

http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/city_wide_initiatives/environmental-strategic-plan.aspx

Representatives from the Office of Environment will be there to talk about energy and climate change. There will be discussion about community action – what we can do at the community level, and what the best ways are to raise awareness and spread the word.

Come and join us to talk about:

• Where we are
• Where we want to be
• How do we get there

Who:        Reps from the City of Edmonton Office of Environment

What:      “The Way We Green” community info and discussion

Where:    Grovenor Community Hall, 14325 104th Ave.

When: 7:00 PM, Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Grow Forward Grovenor Team

(Join our new Facebook page!)

Rob Avis & Michelle St.Cry-Avis of Verge Permaculture

On March 16, Rob and Michelle Avis of Verge Permaculture presented an amazing ‘Intro to Permaculture’ workshop on the campus of the University of Alberta! Hosted by Tad Hargrave and E-SAGE (Edmontonians Supporting a Green Economy), the well attended three hour workshop covered many of the principals and philosophies behind permaculture design.

What’s more is that Rob and Michelle donated the evenings proceeds to E-SAGE and the Jasper Place Permaculture program; proceeds that will go towards the completion of a greenhouse aquaponics system! We promise to give you an update on the aquaponics project in the near future.

Left: Students from the ‘Indigenous Permaculture Class’ looking at the aquaponics system in progress.

Right: A model of the full aquaponics system.

It would be hard to deny that Rob and Michelle of Verge Permaculture know there stuffff; two summers ago, the two of them organized my first Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) at Gull Lake, Alberta. Since than, Rob and Michelle have continued to be a permaculture force in the province (and beyond) teaching dozens of students and spreading the permaculture word. I would highly recommend checking out there website, facebook page, and looking into any of their future courses.

For more on Verge Permaculture and E-SAGE:

Verge Permaculture Website                                  E-SAGE Website

Verge Permaculture Facebook Page          E-SAGE Facebook Group

Screenshot of West Edmonton Local Article