OP 1B- Learning Intentions and Pathway Design

1-Installation of Subterranean Heating and Cooling System (SHCS)

Objective:  Document the process to put on public access TV and post on the Internet.  To have a SHCS that can be available for demonstration and hopefully inspire more of it’s kind. 

            The Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute (CRMPI) inspired this project.  At the Love Creek Center for Permaculture we have two greenhouses on site that are in the process of having the SHCS installed.  We have video documentation of some of the construction and an explanation of what has been done up to now.   We intend to continue video documentation as we complete the greenhouse and show what is possible in the finished product.  I have done several action learnings with this technology, first being introduced to them in 2005 at CRMPI, helping to install one of the fan systems.  Then again at CRMPI in 2009 I got to see them in action while I stayed at CRMPI for a week.  The success at CRMPI has inspired me to create one at 4000 feet in California.  The SHCS is explained in full detail on www.sunnyjohn.com/indexpages/shcs.htm.  The system uses the phase change of water for heat exchange and storage.  Complete instructions on designing and installing SHCS can be found on the website under Free SHCS design calculator. It is easy and simple once you get all the numbers together.  While one of the SHCS is installed we still don’t have paneling installed.  And the other greenhouse already has paneling but no SHCS yet.  Much of the work for this dual project has already been done.  Just some finishing installation touches which can easily be finished in a day.  Much of the work left to do in the greenhouses will have to do with designing and planting the desired plant guilds.  Plants will be chosen based on their desirability, lack of local and or seasonal availability, and predator hosts for insect pests.  Then begins the action-learning spiral of what works best.  This will all be documented through photos and videos so people will be able to see what the possibilities are.

2- Indoor mushroom cultivation room for profit. 

Objective: Build a mushroom cultivation chamber for profit.  Continually have a fresh supply of gourmet mushrooms to sell and/or trade. 

            Building on my mycological awareness, I intend to build an indoor mushroom cultivation room so I can sell mushrooms at local farmer’s markets, restaurants and my CSA.  I have already learned much about mycology, actually learning “everything I need to know to become a mushroom farmer” when I took mushroom cultivation at UC Davis.  After several attempts at log cultivation, the slow production time has inspired me to have an indoor cultivation chamber to achieve consistent harvests.  After reading several books, I’m still longing to learn a little bit more about the design of a cultivation chamber before I jump into this project.  I recently inquired to Far West Fungi, whom I sell wild mushrooms to, if I could volunteer at their mushroom farm so I can get a good sense of what I will be building before I build it. I feel my skills and knowledge of how to grow mushrooms is sufficient to start a mushroom farm, however I do intend to do some collaboration with others that have experience with mushroom cultivation as well as marketing.  The goal is to have fresh mushrooms year round.  The cultivated mushrooms will fill in the gaps that are missing from the wild harvest and to have a diverse selection of mushrooms to choose from.  I intend to begin with easier mushrooms to cultivate such as shitake and oyster.  Once the system is set up and working well I will begin experimenting with more exotic varieties. 

3- Mushroom cookbook 

Objective: Create a mushroom cookbook that is a complete introduction to mushroom cooking.  Including cultural significance, nutritional properties, excerpts from mycologists and chefs, photos and more.

            Expanding on my mycological awareness even more I was recently asked by one of the owners of Far West Fungi to write a mushroom cookbook.  Funny thing a friend and I had talked about writing a cookbook about a year ago.  So when he mentioned it to me as I was surveying Far West’s collection of mushroom cookbooks I took it as a sign that I should.  I contacted my friend Shanan Manuel and she is really exited about it.  We haven’t had time to discuss it much but the initial vision is to have a cookbook about mushrooms that can educate the reader on many different aspects of each type of mushroom.  Complete with culinary attributes of each mushroom, nutritional qualities of each mushroom, foraging tips, cultivation tips, stories, photos and more.  I have experience cooking with several different varieties of mushrooms but don’t have them all down, so I will need to experiment with several varieties to know more about them.  I will also want to include excerpts from professional mycologists, chefs and the like.  I hope to collaboratively create a resource unlike any other available.        

4- Seed Saving project- Bean project/ grain project

Objective: begin to create a local source for calorie crops such as dry beans, peas, corn and other grains.  Many beans come from overseas so as I like eating beans I want to reduce the ecological footprint associated with eating them.  Working with landowners that are interested I will grow many of my own seeds for an increase in seed stock.  Eventually growing enough calorie crops to provide for the local community.  

            I’ve been breeding and saving my own plant seeds for about a decade now.   Recently I’ve grown more interest in creating my own source of calorie crops for better self-sufficiency.  I have several different bean varieties that I’ve been growing for several years and have increased my seed stock.  I plan to increase the plantings of all of these varieties as well as begin to build seed stock for other varieties.  Eric Taylor of the Foothill collaborative for sustainability has secured land for seed production.  I plan to work with him and others on the site that has been provided.  My neighbor raises chickens and I hope to grow some dry corn with him this summer for chicken feed and human consumption.  I will also continue growing various calorie crops at the Love Creek Center for Permaculture in hopes to provide for the residents.  

5- Gravity fed water/ irrigation system.

Objectives:  Reduce the Energy use from pumping water out of the well.  Take advantage of the surface water that is available.  Help a neighbor to have cleaner water at his house.  Store water in a tank high above the property so we can use it to irrigate crops below it.  

            At the Love Creek Center For Permaculture (LCCP) there is a spring that has been dammed up and plumbed.  We are able to use the water from the spring to run a hydraulic ram, which has the ability to lift a portion of the water 3 times higher from where it started using the hydraulic ram.  Our neighbor has a spot that is about 100 feet higher on the hill than our gardens.  He could use clean fresh water, as his well is old and rusty, which makes his water not so potable.  Once we finish putting in the pipes we can install a tank.  Then we will have to change our watering practices to fit the amount of pressure that the tank on the hill provides.  I’m inspired to be less energy dependent and install a more appropriate technology for the site. 

6- Permaculture Design Course   

Objective:  Bring a Permaculture Design Course to the region.  Have at least one PDC a year. 

            Living in a region where permaculture isn’t well known, I feel obligated to help facilitate its establishment.  I have been studying Permaculture for over a decade.  I recently took a Permaculture teacher training course and am still in the developing stages of a PDC at the LCCP.  My next steps for this include apprentice teaching at another PDC and developing a curriculum for LCCP.  I have already been working on the design of presenting the course, working with teachers at a local community college on the Socratic method of learning/teaching.  I have developed a set of questions that allow students to examine the Permaculture Design Manual thoroughly.  I have made a few contacts of possible PDCs to apprentice at, but have only lightly touched on the subject and nothing concrete yet.

            There are several logistics to work out still, such as veteran teachers, cooks, budget, and other details.  If I want to have a PDC this summer or fall I need to get cracking.  As I will continue to work on this, I’m not sure yet if I will host a PDC in 2011 or 2012.  I hope to at least apprentice teach in 2011.  I’ll have to see who my collaborators are and how things work out.