permaculture in action: the Garden Pool

[ceelove]

Permaculture: difficult to define, difficult even to describe, because in its essence it's about a paradigm shift, a different cultural perspective. After three days of the new class, I'm getting a sense of how to work it, but it's still hard to explain to others.

This, though, is a perfect example of permaculture in action - not that they use the word, just that this works with the principles. This family in New Mexico bought a house with "an old swimming pool without water but full of promise" and transformed it into a garden/chicken coop/tilapia pond, using vegetation generated within the system to clean the water and feed the chickens, manure as fertilizer, and so on. It is beautiful, inexpensive, and self-sustaining in less than a year.

Comments

[desiringsubject.livejournal.com]

That is very cool. I wonder how scalable it is, and then again I think about the articles I've read about crumbling suburbs because of foreclosures and the like and I enjoy the idea of building permaculture on the wreck of a failed suburban system.

[veek.livejournal.com]

I've never wanted a house with a pool so badly in my life.

[minerva42]

That's awesome.

That term irks me to no end

[(Anonymous)]

But it is NOT self sustaining.
They have to BUY both fish and chicken food.
That makes it NOT SELF SUSTAINING!!!

Re: That term irks me to no end

[ceelove.livejournal.com]

It may well irk you, but it is accurate. The fish and chickens are fed from within the system.

[vorpalbunny.livejournal.com]

That is so cool. All of a sudden, I want a pool in my backyard. :)