Session Two: A visit to Nate's Permaculture R&E Lab

Main Concepts and Demonstrations:
The Permaculture Ethics

Organic Gardening
Wild Edibles

Cold Frames

Solar PV panel
Solar thermal panel

Rain water harvesting

Earth Oven & Natural Building
Stacking functions
48v Solar electric vehicle
Compost systems
Research with the Pokeweed plant, berries and juice

Permaculture Site Design

We began the day's session at Summer's knoll, with a review of our last meeting. We discussed the main topics of biomimcry, annuals, perennials, monocultures, polycultures and biodiversity. The students were engaged, and remembered most of the topics that we had covered on our Nature awareness walk. Apparently, the class drove by a corn field on another recent trip, and one student said "look at that mono crop! the soil is terrible!". We all thought that was hilarious and great. Nate then shifted the conversation to the day's new lesson, starting with the ethics of Permaculture. Permaculture is a way to design sustainable human communities. Some say Permaculture is different from all other design systems because it emphasizes function, natural pattern, principles and ethics in its decision making. We used the analogy of another very popular ethic, the "golden rule". Nate learned that this was the Summer's knoll school motto!

The Permaculture ethics are:

1. Care of Earth
2. Care of People
3. Fair Share


We then talked about the 6 main areas that Nate does his permaculture research in:
Food, Energy, Water, Building, Transportation and Waste. In keeping with the educational approach of Problem Based Learning, Nate explained that the problem he is researching solutions for, are how we can get these 6 areas of our life off of fossil fuel dependence. (OFF=Off Fossil Fuels)

The students were getting anxious to go to Nate's, so we loaded up the bus and headed over to "the lab". When we arrived, we walked to the backyard to begin some initial observations. Nate told the students to take 5 minutes to walk around, explore and most importantly, observe what was going on in his yard. The students walked along the various garden paths and research plots, inquisitively exploring and pointing out discoveries to each other.

exploring the backyard garden

The Organic Garden

Nate brought the group together on the brick patio, and began to ask what students had observed. We started to put things into categories of food, energy, water, building, transportation and waste (FEWBTW). The most common observations were the natural raised bed garden and food forest. The students observed that Nate had a mixture of annuals and perennials. Many students recognized tomatoes, kale, zucchini, cauliflower, squash, beans, peppers and herbs, all annuals.

Students exploring the many vegetable beds, paths and growing areas in Nate's garden

Wild Edibles - Lamb's quarters

There was a huge stalk of lamb's quarters that we all plucked and ate leaves from. Lamb's quarters are a delicious wild edible, compared to spinach, kale and chard. They have a robust dark, green, earthy taste, with almost a buttery aftertaste. Several students kept going back for more! Even Chris had to get seconds!

mmmm, delicious lamb's quarters!

Cold Frames

The second major observation the students made were of Nate's interesting panels, windows and mobile gardening beds. Still on the topic of food solutions without fossil fuels, Nate told the class that we can in fact grow food all year long in Michigan, even in the winter. Using inexpensive, greenhouses, hoop houses and "cold frames" allows us to grown wonderful vegetables and other edibles during the snowiest months of January. This is important because we use a massive amount of fossil fuels to transport food to us from all over the world. Nate had several cold frames, which are like mini greenhouses, but typically made with recycled and repurposed windows and panels. Nate grows spinach, chard and kale in his.

The cold frames are the two clear window boxes on the left

Solar Photovoltaics (PV)

Noticing the other equipment nearby, the conversation quickly turned to energy, as the students began asking about Nate's Solar Panels. There are 2 basic types of Solar panels: Photovoltaic, or PV, and Thermal/hot water heating. PV panels produce electricity, the same kind we use in our house to power our lights and appliances, while thermal panels use the sun to heat the air or water. Nate had all the students feel the solar panel plating, in order to "demystify" this technology. Its important for kids to get comfortable and used to seeing how this equipment works. Nate's panels are rated to produce 100 watts of energy per hour when in direct sun.

Nate demonstrating how solar panels produce electricity

Solar Thermal hot water heating

The second type of solar panel Nate demonstrated was a Solar thermal hot water heating panel. This is a "passive"solar panel (meaning no electricity is used), which is colored black, so when installed on a rooftop it becomes very hot in the sun. Once hot enough, we can run water through the dozens of small tubes coiling and passing throughout the panel, which in turn gets very hot. Nate told the class that with the right technology, we can heat most of our water with the sun in Ann Arbor. This could replace a lot of fossil fuels that we use, as about 20% of a modern family's energy bill goes toward hot water heating.

the solar hot water heating panel

Rain water harvesting

Since we were talking about a water solution, Nate asked the class if they had observed any other water solutions. Several students noticed the gutter system on the earth oven structure. They noticed the piping that led down to a big wooden crate. Nate told the class that this was how he caught and stored rain water. In the wooden crate was 110 gallons of stored rain water. Rather than using and paying for city utility water, which is chemically treated, Nate uses natural rain water on all of his garden vegetable plants. There is an old farmer's saying, that "rainwater sweetens the soil". Catching and storing different types of energy (like solar, water, and wind) is a very important principle of Permaculture design.

the rainwater harvesting system and enclosed storage cisterns

The Earth Oven - Natural Building

By now, the students were getting very excited, as many of them had been anxiously awaiting the time when Nate would start demonstrating the earth oven. The sign saying "Pizza Garden" is all it takes to make just about anybody excited! Earth ovens are big, hollow domes made of a material called "cob". Cob is a mixture of clay, sand, and soil. Cob has been used for thousands of years to build ovens, walls, and even multi story houses and buildings. It is one type of "natural building" technique that is returning to popularity, as people are trying to build structures out of more local and sustainable materials. Nate builds a fire in his cob oven, and the cob captures and stores the fire's heat, so that Nate can bake loaf after loaf of bread, and pizza after pizza. It is a very sustainable way to cook food, which doesn't use fossil fuels.

Nate's cob earth oven

Stacking Functions

Another main principle in Permaculture is to "stack functions". This means we try and get as many uses and connections from our systems and designs. Nate's earth oven structure is a good example of stacking functions, because there are many systems working together. The earth oven cooks food and provides heat. The roof on top of the structure protects the cob in rain and snow, but is also used to catch and store rain water. There are raised beds all around the structure that Nate uses to grow tomatoes, peppers and herbs for his pizza sauce and toppings. The captured rainwater is needed to help grow these plants. This structure has many different systems, but they are all working harmoniously so that Nate can grow, water and cook delicious food without using fossil fuels. All these parts working together is similar to a forest system found in nature, with different plants, trees and animals providing multiple functions for one another, but all for the benefit of the ecosystem's balance, diversity and health.

A full view of the "pizza garden" with earth oven, water storage, and pizza crops

The 48v solar electric vehicle

After the earth oven demo, we "shifted gears" and went onto Nate's driveway. Arguably the most obvious way that we use fossil fuels are the cars that we drive. It's very normal for some families to have 2 or 3 cars in America, and most run on petroleum. If we are going to get off fossil fuels for good, we have to design new solutions in transportation, not just for families, but communities, cities and even entire nations. Nate is interested in electric vehicles, and is designing a solar powered, electric golf cart. This was also a great chance to introduce energy storage to the class, as the solar car has six 48v batteries.

the solar car with a 100 watt panel

The solar car's 48v batteries

Composting Systems

Many students immediately recognized the wood pallet bins in the corner of Nate's yard, and several said they compost the same way at home. We talked about how most organic matter can be broken down into compost and used for improving soils. Nate's back yard has two types of composting bins, one for leaves and brush, and one for leftover food and scraps. The bin for food uses worms to break down the food scraps into organic matter, in a method called "vermicomposting".

Nate told the students that his backyard is an example of a "closed loop system". He explained that he grows edible plants in soil, then eats the plants, then composts the leftovers and scraps into new soil, then grows new plants in that soil. It is the ultimate in recycling, because there is no waste, and the system can function without fossil fuels. The students remembered that "there's no such thing as garbage in nature", and saw how everything had a purpose in Nate's back yard. Excellent!!

students taking notes on Nate's different compost bins

The poke weed plant - A research Plant

Nate's research has taken him into many exciting fields. One of them is in the realm of using plants to help us produce energy. Scientists at Wake Forest University discovered that ink from the poke weed plant berries, when applied to solar PV cells, actually increased the efficiency and production of electricity by as much as 50%. This is very exciting research, and shows that nature can help us out in many different ways. If we are going to harness and use all of the benefits that plants can give us, we need help studying and researching their different uses and properties. We need to experiment. This is the foundation of problem based learning: the student's education is combined with teacher's research. We have obtained 25 individual solar cells for our research, and the students will be helping Nate find out the best ways for the poke weed plant to help increase solar panel production.

A student in between the pizza garden and research garden (the poke weed is on the right)

Harvesting the poke berries

The students all took turns clipping bunches of berries of the poke weed plants, to be juiced into ink and then applied to our solar cells.

a happy harvester with an excellent crop of berries

Juicing the poke berries

The class left the backyard R&E lab to come inside for the day's final project: Juicing the poke weed berries into ink. They all took turns smashing the berries through a strainer, and into a storage bucket. The juice had to be strained several times, to make sure no seeds or organic matter were in the batch, just ink. The students had a blast with this!

The berry ink has a deep, rich purple color

the class's canned batch of poke berry ink, ready for our experiments

Permaculture site design: our "dream" backyards

While individual students were taking turns juicing the poke berries, Nate set up the rest of the class with some guidelines for designing their "dream" backyards. Permaculture designers create environments that are self sufficient and integrated with nature, and there is no reason why younger designers and scientists can't do the same. Nate told the class that their designs must include map labels, like north, east, south and west, and have solutions in food, energy, water, building, transportation and waste. The students had a great time using their imaginations to design, draw, and color solar panels, earth ovens and forest gardens. It was great to see them so engaged, and got the teachers thinking that we need to do class permaculture design for the entire summer's knoll school!

This was a very exciting and information packed day. The students were energized by all of the demonstrations and activities, and can't wait to come back to Nate's house, hopefully for some pizza from the earth oven! To be continued.....

Session One: Nature Awareness and Bio-mimicry - A Walk in the woods

September 16, 2011

Main Concepts:

Tools of a Permaculture Scientist

Nature as Classroom - Biomimicry

No such thing as "garbage" in Nature

Two Types of Plants - Annuals and Perennials

The importance of Soil

The Functions of Plants

Wild Edibles and Medicine

Introduction to Pokeweed - a research plant

Monocultures and Polycultures -(Human design vs. Nature design)

Nature loves Bio-diversity

Introduction

Today was our first session together, and the first time for the Summer's Knoll class meeting Nate and learning about Permaculture. Chris had introduced the class to Bio-mimicry last week, so they were familiar with some of the main concepts. Permaculture scientists use bio-mimicry to design food, energy, water, building, transportation and waste systems. After brief introductions and some supplies prep, we headed off to County Farm Park, a 141 acre nature preserve and community garden site located in Ann Arbor.

Once we arrived, we took seats in the pavilion and began a formal introduction to the day's lesson. It was imperative to treat the students like scientists from the onset, and let them know we were embarking on a scientific research field trip. The students had notebooks, and we talked about how scientists take notes to keep track and organize the "big ideas" and important concepts. Nate had the class label the day's note taking as "Nature Notes".

The class preparing for our nature walk

Tools of a Permaculture Scientist

Next, Nate took a few minutes to introduce his Permaculture research equipment and tools. He showed the class his books on wild edible plants, tree identification, wilderness survival, and urban plants. Nate also had his shovel, hatchet and tree saw, safety goggles and gloves, head lamps, multi-tools, ropes, tarps, and various bags and containers for collecting specimens. He emphasized that in permaculture (and bio-mimicry), our most important tool is our eyes, with which we can observe Nature.

Nate's permaculture research field tools

Nature as Classroom

The group then spent some time talking about the many lessons to be learned from Nature. In permaculture and Bio-mimicry, we watch and observe nature for patterns and lessons, that we can then translate and implement into our own lives and designs. Observation is key. One main idea is that humans spend a lot of time, energy, and fossil fuels trying to make ourselves separate and different from Nature, in our homes, farms, and cities. Another main observation we can learn by watching Nature's cycles of growth and decomposition, is that there is no such thing as "garbage" in Nature. By this it is meant that Nature uses and recycles everything (especially waste products and "dead" things). Nothing is wasted. The idea of trash is a human concept, as Nature finds a place and a use for everything in her systems, so therefore, everything in Nature has value.

decomposing wood and organic matter, returning nutrients to the forest floor topsoil

Annuals and Perennials

Before leaving the pavilion for the woods, Nate had the class write down the two main types of plants we would be observing - Annuals and Perennials. Annuals are plants that exist for only one season, and then must be replanted or regrown from seed. Many of the vegetables we eat, like lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes are annuals. Perennials are plants that come back year after year, from one planting. Examples of perennials are fruit and nut trees, as well as many types of shrubs and bushes, like strawberry and raspberry. A major difference is also seen in the two plants root structures, with annuals having shallow and thin roots systems, while perennials are able to develop thick, complex and soil structuring roots systems. This allowed an opportunity for Nate to introduce and emphasize the importance of soil. He told the class that 95% of the food we eat comes from topsoil, and that the US is losing over 2 billion tons of topsoil every year, primarily through the way we grow our food (industrial agriculture).

Annual (left) vs. Perennial (right) root structures (Wes Jackson - land institute)

Observation and the Functions of Plants

As we began our walk in the woods, Nate again emphasized the importance of observation. The students were very engaged, pointing out their varying observations. Many of the students already have an excellent grasp of nature and natural systems, and this was a welcome surprise. After several minutes of walking, observing and conversing about what we were noticing, Nate stopped the group in front of a massive maple tree. He asked the class to start compiling a list of all the things that the tree provides. The class immediately began to rattle off functions of the tree - shelter and food for animals and insects, shade, wood for heating, wood for building, sap for syrup, leaves for composting and building soil (impressive!), and several more. Nate reiterated that all of these uses of the tree were important Functions, and that each plant has different functions to play and provide in Nature. In permaculture, we want to learn, support, and utilize as many of the natural functions that we can find in our environment and ecosystems.

Students identifying and compiling the functions of plants and trees

Wild Edibles and Medicine

After identifying about 15 functions of the maple tree, we marched on through the woods. From here, we began identifying and discussing wild edible and medicinal plants that were all around us. This is important because so many of us in our modern culture associate food with only coming from a grocery store or restaurant, and that is a tragedy. There is food and medicine all around us, if we have the eyes and minds for it. We identified wild grape, burdock, jewel weed, shepherds purse, common plantain and others. All of these plants have edible and medicinal uses and functions in our lives.

students picking wild edible grapes

Poke weed - A research plant

We were extremely fortunate to stumble upon some wild poke weed. This plant will be playing a crucial role in our future research and design sessions. Nate introduced the plant to the students and talked about its many functions. From inks and dyes, to edible greens, to cancer fighting medicines, poke weed is an amazing plant. Nate finished by telling the students that he is working on ways to use poke weed ink with solar panels, for maximizing electrical efficiency. He asked the students if they would like to help him in his work, and received a thunderous "YES!!".

Nate showing students poke berries from the poke weed plant

Monocultures and Polycultures

We emerged from the woods to a maintained grass meadow with tables. From here, Nate was able to visually introduce and demonstrate the differences between monocultures and polycultures. Monocultures are plant systems that utilize only 1 plant species (mono=1). Many of us have resource depleting and intensively maintained monocultures growing in our yards, in modern grass lawns. Monocultures of corn, soy, and wheat dominate American industrial agriculture. Unfortunately, monocultures are not found in nature, and are a human design for either production or aesthetic purposes.

This is important because it again illustrates that humans are the only species to design environments separate from and against natural systems. Nature uses polycultures (poly = many). When we go into a forest, there are hundreds, if not thousands of interdependent plants and animals cooperating in a productive ecosystem.

In permaculture, we design systems with bio-diverse polycultures, that maximize ecosystem health, efficiency, and resilience. Nate took this opportunity to demonstrate the differences between monocultures and polycultures with different soil samples from the polyculture woods, and the monoculture grass lawn. The students immediately recognized the difference between the two, noticing that the monoculture soil was light brown, full of clay, and compacted, while the polyculture soil was dark black, crumbly and contained much more organic matter.

Nate demonstrating monoculture vs. polyculture soil types

Nature Loves Biodiversity

We finished our field research by returning to the concept of Nature as classroom, and reviewing many of the lessons we had learned from observing the natural woods ecosystem. Nate closed the session by telling the students that we will be taking these lessons from the woods, and applying them to many areas of our lives, as permaculture scientists. He left the class with a reminder that Nature can provide for all of us, if we learn and work with her systems. The most important lesson from the day, which the students agreed on, was that Natural environments use many different types of plants and animals to maintain healthy ecosystems. Nature loves biodiversity!

Permaculture farm systems utilize bio-mimicry and biodiversity (www.ifoam.org)

In our next session, we will dive into the soil food web, the principles and ethics of permaculture, and demonstrate how all of human existence depends on the top six inches of soil. To be continued!!!

Pilot Project Overview

Summers Knoll - Chiwara Permaculture

Problem Based Learning (PBL) + Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) +
Permaculture R&D Collaborative.

This is a community based science course. The focus of this course is solving problems found within a community. Through collaborative, contextualized research, students and facilitators identify problems, solutions and goals, while participants develop hands on, real world skills in Self Directed Learning (SDL). This program is unique in that it combines a progressive educational approach rooted in experiential learning in a 3rd and 4th grade classroom, and a community based, permaculture research and education (R&E) firm.
* “R&E” was inspired by former University of Michigan president Jame’s Duderstadt’s paper “Envisioning a Transformed University” in which he suggests the need to “integrate the educational mission of the University with the research and service activities of the faculty, by ripping instruction out of the classroom... and placing it in the discovery environment of a laboratory”. The student’s learning is combined with the professor’s research.


Initial problems and areas of research:
Pokeweed plant as used in Solar Photolvoltaics (PV) research (wake forest)

• Testing application of dye - Solar panels and printer ink
• What configuration of panels leads to maximum efficiency?

The soil food web and how to build topsoil naturally (“teaming with microbes”), Cornell

• What combination of plants builds healthy topsoil?
• What combination of plants could be added to topsoil to correct deficiencies of certain nutrients?

How to make an Ann Arbor home fossil fuel free, and 100% self sufficient in:

Food - edible forest gardens, perennial grains/polycultures, season extension (hoop houses), compost, food preservation and storage, indoor LED growing.
Energy - solar PV, solar thermal, wood gasification/bio-char, human powered energy systems
Water - water catchment and storage, rain gardens, Greywater systems
Building - Natural building (cob, strawbale, cordwood), Plant based plastics - polycarbonate PLA panels, geodesic domes, compressed earth brick (CEB press)
Transportation - Ethanol, solar vehicle, 100% plant derived kite board rig
Waste - community bio methane, bio char, composting toilets and heating systems, vermi-composting (worms)

Facilitator Goals:

Chris Swinko - 3-4 classroom teacher

Nathan Ayers - Director - Chiwara Permaculture

Providing students with opportunities to engage in real world problem solving that addresses the needs of their community. Community based service learning.

Helping students to cultivate problem solving strategies that emphasize elements of design thinking, engineering, and collaboration.

Pilot program, establishing curriculum and course material that is replicable

Course is well documented through video, photos, blog etc (permission forms)

Publish student research - Blog - Make science competitive with sports

Students learn how to write a proposal

Transmission of Permaculture principles and ethics

Teach students how to conduct a “Permanalysis” - A permaculture based (FEWBTW) home energy audit.

*The importance of multi lingualism - learn names of equipment and concepts in multiple languages. Impress upon students the need to actively listen for “same meaning but different words” analogies. The development of Analogy as a problem solving tool.

* Evaluation - entry/exit surveys, and ?? Long term student tracking study - who ends up in science/engineering field.