Hey everyone, My name is Kelsey and I live in the Sierra Nevadas, northwest of Yosemite. I have been really down, angry and hopeless about how people are treating the Earth and how far away people have gotten from their natural roots. I recently started watching Geoff's free videos on www.geofflawton.com and they have given me a sense of hope and positivity I have not had in a long time.. I finally feel passionate knowing there is a simple solution! My boyfriend and I care take beautiful 160 acres on the outskirts of the Stanislaus National Forest with a terrible 8 mile potholey, washboardy, dusty dirt road but it's totally worth it to be so far away from town! Permaculture is definitely in this piece of land's future. We are 100% solar powered with amazing water that I am really thankful for(if it doesn't run out this year). I'm wondering if there is a good California permaculture school or community or something out there that anyone knows of...
Hi Kelsey, welcome to the PRI forums! Glad you found Geoff's videos, there's a wealth of information there. Where does your water come from? A well? Quail Springs is one of many Permaculture sites in CA. Note their work to revitalize onsite water springs: https://www.quailsprings.org/our-story-3/ There's also a northern California Permaculture Convergence you might be interested in: https://www.facebook.com/TheNorthernCaliforniaPermacultureConvergence/info?tab=page_info
hi Kelsey, welcome, i sure hope the water stays on there too! with the lack of snow pack it is going to be an interesting summer. everyone hopes for rain. if your well or spring is fed from the forest i hope the forest has not been mined for wells and water as many places are now all putting down wells as fast as they can (before the groundwater regulations and permits get harder and more regulations). do you have an above ground tank for storing water? i for one would not want to be out there at the mercy of neighbors who drill and pump from greed and not from a sustainable perspective. my thoughts will certainly be with you and hope that some decent rains come soon. i have been doing a lot of reading on the way water has been developed in California and the arid west and it's quite an interesting subject, but as of yet i see no actual rational system being considered. the CA groundwater rules will be decades yet.
Yes, the water comes from a well, and we have a storage tank. It's so old though, it's starting to leak(it's metal) and in the summer it is so hot that if you don't use up the water quickly it gets algae in there. My closest neighbor is about a mile away and they're down hill. He probably wont be dropping any wells either, he's just a cool old guy. I'm really thankful to be out in the National Forest! I can't believe it, in the central valley they are adding more almond orchards at an alarming rate. It's like the central valley fungus is spreading into the mountains. They've used up all the flat land for giant cookie cutter houses and almonds... Thank you for the welcomes and the info 9anda1f! I will check both of them out.
Hi Kelsey, I just got here and looking for a good permaculture group in southern california if anyone knows of one.
There are a number of Permaculture sites/groups in California, some of the largest are listed here: https://sacredecologyfilms.com/project/top-10-ecology-centers/ Have you tried searching through the Worldwide Permaculture Network for individuals/groups in your local area? https://permacultureglobal.org/
