On The Practical Meditation Of Sharpening Tools

On The Practical Meditation Of Sharpening Tools

By Hope Kelley - Apprentice 2026

Taking time to care for our tools facilitates relationships with them that change the quality of our work

In the first several months of my apprenticeship at Rancho Mastatal, I did not sharpen my machete once. Anyone who works with blades — or tools of any kind, for that matter — may be appalled to read this. We’ve all heard the old adage that “a sharp blade is a safe blade,” but still I put off the routine maintenance task week over week in my early months here — doubtful, I suppose, of my ability to properly carry it out.

Us apprentices had received a brief sharpening tutorial toward the beginning of our time here, and were expected to notice when our blades needed sharpening and attend to that need accordingly. As with many things at the Ranch, students are expected to implement and practice the skills we learn here without prodding or reminding. I knew machete care fell into this category of My Responsibility, yet I continued to procrastinate doing it. So, there came a day out in the agroforestry spaces — where we prune, chop and drop, and any number of other tasks with our machetes — where I could no longer ignore the fact that I was working with a dull blade.

On this same day, as our afternoon work session came to a close, a fellow apprentice announced that he’d be busting out the sharpening stones that afternoon to tend to his machete and that any of us were welcome to join. I jumped at the opportunity for some accountability, and what ensued surprised me on several fronts.

Firstly, I found the process of sharpening the machete to be deeply enjoyable. It was, in fact, a meditation of sorts. Before beginning, I set up an intentional workstation at a table of appropriate height so I did not have to stoop or stand on tip toe to work at a proper angle. I laid out the stone with a damp rag underneath to keep it from slipping, as well as a bowl of water and another rag to wet the stone as I went along.

Additionally, as a preparation method for an inexperienced blade-sharpener, I needed to inspect my blade before putting it to stone. I took note of the angle of the blade on each face, the curve of the tip, the width and the shape. It was the most amount of time I’d spent looking at my tool since it was first placed in my hands during our orientation months earlier. After inspecting it, I began running the blade over the stone, moving it against the grain, holding it at an angle so the stone would, with its rough face, polish the blade to a shine.

Perhaps by virtue of being new to the task, I found my mind unable to wander as soon as I touched steel to stone. I had to keep reminding myself which direction I was meant to move the blade in and how much pressure I should be applying. Thus, I found my mind to be singularly-focused and my breathing to be steady. With each inspection, the blade looked brighter as my hands worked in unison with the stone to pare back the dulled steel.

The second thing that surprised me happened the following day when I returned to the agroforestry spaces to clear pathways lined with a clumping grass species called Mambasa, which grows quickly but does not spread and serves as reliable biomass to adorn the feet of our fruit trees. From the moment I commenced slashing the grass with my machete blade, I felt the transformation that had taken place in my tool. I moved through the rows efficiently and with a certain level of enjoyment — a sharp blade may be a safe blade, but I would argue that it’s also a satisfying blade. Before sharpening, I had thought of my machete as a means to an end. Now, I saw it as an ally in my work, one that could improve both the quality of my work and my own enjoyment of it. All this is to say that until I began intentionally caring for my tool, I did not have a relationship with it, and ultimately did not enjoy working with it nearly as much I came to discover I could.

When we care for our tools — putting our time, attention, and energy into them — we inevitably create a relationship with them. I’ve experienced this phenomenon when washing my paintbrushes or putting a fresh coat of wax on my surfboard, but am only now beginning to experience it with tools here, too. Before beginning the work of carving joinery for furniture-making in the Ranch woodshop, for example, I’ve come to enjoy the ritual of sharpening the blade of my chisel before getting to work. It feels like having a wordless conversation with the tool, one that reintroduces us to each other before we set off on a journey toward creating something new. During the chiseling work itself, I feel differently toward the tool after our maintenance session than I would have if I’d jumped right in with an unsharpened (and ungreeted) blade. It’s not just that the tool is sharper and thus easier to work with, but rather that the tool has become a being that I have a connection to, that I am in partnership with toward the completion of a common goal. This makes me work with more intention, with more respect for the tool and ultimately for the medium we are manipulating — be it lumber or Mambasa grass. It also allows me to enjoy the process more, to fixate less on the product and more on the journey toward it, to be more open to learnings and revelations along the way as I practice a number of new crafts throughout my apprenticeship.

As I write this, it is a Sunday afternoon in Mastatal and I am sitting at my desk. My machete is leaning against the wall beside me in its leather sheath, waiting with a steely patience for the tasks it will facilitate throughout the work week ahead. Undoubtedly, our collaboration in the coming days (and weeks and months) will be enhanced and strengthened by some time together at the sharpening stone, a moment to connect and prepare, a small and very practical prayer.

La Transformadora Experiencia de la Certificación en Permacultura en Rancho Mastatal

La Transformadora Experiencia de la Certificación en Permacultura en Rancho Mastatal

Escrita por una estudiante

La Certificación en Diseño de Permacultura realizada en Rancho Mastatal (PDC en Español) no es solo el resultado de un programa de 88 horas de clases técnico-prácticas, ¡es mucho más que eso! Es el resultado de 14 días sumergidos en una experiencia 100% inmersiva de permacultura, donde cada participante tendrá que abrirse a poner en pausa todas sus rutinas habituales y aceptar los principios de permacultura implementados por Rancho Mastatal.

Conexión con la Cultura Local

Fuimos 18 participantes, de los cuales la mayoría eran locales y solo 3 viajamos desde otros países para vivir la experiencia. Pude haberlo hecho en inglés y haber conocido a muchas personas de distintas partes del mundo, pero al ser en español, esta experiencia me permitió conectar con la cultura de Costa Rica desde múltiples esferas. Como tenemos un clima similar en República Dominicana, solo al ingresar al proyecto pude ver claramente oportunidades de mejora, ya que tenemos un montón de especies parecidas.

Desconexión y Crecimiento Personal

Para quienes venimos de la vida caótica de la ciudad, esta experiencia se asemeja a un retiro espiritual, no porque el Rancho promueva nuevas creencias, sino porque invita a desconectarnos de lo habitual: sin internet, sin señal telefónica y con horarios de comida muy especiales.

Las simples normas, como quitarse siempre los zapatos al entrar a las instalaciones y que cada quien debe fregar sus platos, nos hacen entender desde el principio que una sana convivencia puede lograrse cuando, a pesar de tantas libertades, se dejan claras las reglas. Y, ante cualquier duda, solo basta con releer los principios de la permacultura para encontrar nuestras propias respuestas dentro de este esquema.

Particularmente, me resultó un choque tener que usar baños secos, ya que solo había conocido el método de las “letrinas” y los juzgaba como poco funcionales y poco higiénicos. Sin embargo, el vivir la experiencia y entender en clase cómo hacerlos y qué métodos implementar me hizo no solo replantearme por qué no tengo uno en mi proyecto, sino… cómo fui capaz de juzgar previamente este sistema. Y así pasaron cientos de cosas por mi mente en esos días.

Al principio, la desconexión me causó ansiedad. Cada vez que pensaba en conectarme a internet, sentía un nudo en el estómago por no tener el control de lo habitual ante las responsabilidades que dejamos en casa.

Solidaridad y Respeto en la Comunidad

Rancho Mastatal es un claro ejemplo de cómo la solidaridad y el respeto pueden hacer crecer una comunidad. Qué orgullo conocer de cerca cómo Tim y Robin podrían ganar más dinero añadiendo servicios como internet o el lavado de ropa; sin embargo, el proyecto ha optado por apoyar a una vecina que se sostiene económicamente en gran parte gracias a que todos los que llegamos al Rancho necesitamos pagarle por sus servicios. Y no solo a ella: están el bar de enfrente, el Proyecto de Marlon, el Proyecto de La Iguana Chocolate y muchos más que dan fe de que este proyecto no es una fachada, ¡es REAL!

Reflexión sobre lo Esencial en Nuestras Vidas

Es casi imposible estar dentro de esta experiencia y no preguntarnos qué es realmente esencial en nuestras vidas, frente a todas las cosas que hemos permitido normalizar sin pensar en el gran impacto negativo que le hacemos a nuestra amada naturaleza y a nuestro propio entorno social.

Una de las revelaciones más importantes que tuve fue con una de las meriendas. Una tarde, moría de hambre y aparentemente se habían olvidado de colocar la merienda, y todos asumieron que simplemente no habría nada. Mi intensidad me llevó a preguntar si es que no había, y fue entonces cuando, con mucho amor, nos sirvieron una bandeja hermosa con unos trozos de fruta perfectos. Cuando me dijeron que era guanábana, me fricé y, de forma automática, pensé: “No me gusta la guanábana”… Sin embargo, sentí el compromiso de probarla. Fue entonces cuando me detuve a cuestionarme: “¿En qué momento decidí que no me gustaba?”. Mi niña interior me respondió, recordando que en casa había una planta de guanábana cuya fruta era blanda y babosa, muy diferente a lo que tenía frente a mí en ese momento, que era una fruta con una estructura completamente distinta a la que describía mi recuerdo. Y fue cuando me dije: “¡Dios mío! ¿A cuántas cosas me he negado por prejuicios arrastrados durante años?”. ¡Amé la guanábana! Y a partir de ese momento, activé mi radar para hacer las paces con un montón de cosas que he rechazado, diciendo “no” cuando quizás la respuesta debería haber sido “sí.”

Prácticas Significativas en la Comunidad

Durante el curso, realizamos dos prácticas muy significativas que nos permitieron dejar nuestra huella en la comunidad. La primera consistió en trabajar en la finca de Marlon, un miembro de la comunidad, donde, entre todos, creamos una zanja que él realmente necesitaba. En este ejercicio, aplicamos todo lo que habíamos aprendido en el aula, poniendo en práctica los principios de permacultura en un contexto real. La segunda fue nuestro proyecto final, donde tuvimos la oportunidad de aportar con todo nuestro conocimiento a una pareja que recién comenzaba a dar forma a su proyecto en Mastatal y que aún no tenía claro su rumbo. Le pusimos el alma a nuestras propuestas, esforzándonos al máximo para ayudarles a definir el diseño de su proyecto y aportar claridad en su camino. Nos movía la emoción de dejar una huella positiva en esta hermosa comunidad, y cada tarea fue un paso más en ese proceso de aprendizaje y contribución.

Reflexiones Finales y Conclusión

Mi proyecto es La Finca de los Recuerdos en República Dominicana. Llegué a este curso sin entender bien lo que significaba la permacultura, pero con la clara certeza de que me llevaría mucho aprendizaje para mejorar las prácticas agroforestales en mi proyecto. Sin embargo, terminé el curso con el alma en paz, repleta de gratitud, nuevos sueños y un montón de nuevos amigos.

Estar en esta experiencia me puso en contacto con venas sensibles. Me hizo abrazar a mis padres por todo lo que hicieron en mi niñez para mantener lo que hoy es la finca de los recuerdos. En el alma le pedí perdón a mi niña interior. Ella siempre andaba descalza, sin preocupación por la ropa ni por peinarse, y fue la Maia adolescente la que la forzó a cambiar sus patrones nativos, dejar de pelear por defenderlos y la que la domesticó solo para poder sobrevivir en los estándares sociales que entendía como correctos. Entré a Rancho Mastatal un poco escéptica por tener que andar descalza, y fue en ese momento cuando comencé a cuestionarme esos patrones tan marcados que había asumido en mi vida, los cuales me habían separado de lo natural. Hoy entiendo el porqué de tantas decisiones que tomó mi padre en la finca y que por situaciones ajenas a su voluntad no me pudo transmitir. Rancho Mastatal fue para mí ese canal para poder conectar con todo lo que mi padre no pudo contarme sobre cada una de sus decisiones en nuestras 5 hectáreas.

La Certificación en Permacultura en Rancho Mastatal no solo te brinda conocimiento técnico, sino que transforma tu visión de la vida y la naturaleza. Me asombró ver cómo, a pesar de tanta carga de clases y el agotamiento, ¡nunca quisimos perdernos ni un minuto de cada una! Esto demuestra que el formato de las clases definitivamente funciona. Si buscas una experiencia que conecte lo intelectual con lo emocional, te invito a unirte a esta extraordinaria aventura. ¡No dejes pasar la oportunidad de sumergirte en una experiencia única que cambiará tu vida!

Permaculture Entrepreneurship: Navigating the Path from Student to Professional

Permaculture Entrepreneurship: Navigating the Path from Student to Professional

By Jason Thomas
The voice behind the podcast Regeneration Nation Costa Rica

After completing a Permaculture Design Course (PDC), natural building workshop, or any other educational opportunities at a place like Rancho Mastatal, many students find themselves wondering how to turn their newfound knowledge and passion into a career. This transition from student to professional is a common challenge in the permaculture world.

It’s not surprising, considering that most standard education programs don’t teach entrepreneurship, and new students of the trade often feel like they lack sufficient experience to charge for their services.

Common Challenges Faced by Permaculture and Alternative Solutions Students

I’ve interviewed dozens of permaculture professionals and students wishing to make their mark, and I’ve found some common hurdles that seem to hold people back.

Some of those obstacles include:

• Lack of business education and experience

• Little understanding of how to monetize their skills

• Imposter syndrome

• Limited support network

• Balancing ideals with practicality

• Many potential clients don’t know what permaculture or these sustainable solutions are, and many regenerative entrepreneurs don’t understand how their ideal clients are thinking about their needs from their perspective.

Insight Tool: Identify Your Hurdles

Take a moment to reflect on your own journey. What are some challenges you're currently facing in turning your ideas into a profession? Write them down and consider how they align with or differ from the common challenges mentioned above.

The Gap Between Passion and Profession:

This gap isn't unique to permaculture. Many individuals who care about helping humanity turn its trajectory around face a similar divide between academic knowledge and professional application. 

In permaculture, this gap is often widened by the holistic, systems-thinking approach that doesn't always align neatly with traditional business models but does exceedingly well when harnessing traditional tactics, repurposed in a holistic system approach.

Tim O’Hara from Rancho Mastatal shared with me in one of our conversations that he felt like they were chasing their tails for several years as they tried to figure out how to make it all work. It’s a similar story for many people who embark on a project like this.

… but that’s not the only way to go about it.

In today’s age, it’s easier than ever to learn from wisdom keepers like this and model from the solutions they’ve arrived to through their mistakes. It IS NOT a wheel worth recreating. We have work to do and the faster we can get our services out to the world, the better off we’re all going to be. 

The trick is not to do it so fast that you skip the foundational steps of contemplative design.

So, from a design perspective, let’s look at some solutions we can embrace to bridge this gap between passion and professional application. 

Key Business Skills Needed to Bridge the GaP

Business planning: 

Overcome your unclear direction and orientation to business by looking at your business idea as if it were pasture land that you are about to implement into a multi-yielding homestead. 

Taking the time to design your enterprise will earn you an intimate relationship with the path ahead and the confidence to walk it.

Marketing and communication: 

Conveying the value of permaculture and other sustainable solutions to potential clients can be tricky because they lack the vocabulary and point of reference for what it means, let alone how or why it provides any unique benefits to them. 

In marketing and communication, describe the benefits from the prospect’s point of view. 

Financial management: 

Understanding budgeting, pricing, and sustainable revenue streams may not sound sexy as you’re getting started, but careful documentation will come in handy when you revisit the feedback loop and want to understand what worked well, what didn’t, and how to do it better next time. 

Finances are only one part of the puzzle, but trying to skip it will leave you hanging with gaps in your picture.

Legal and administrative skills: 

Navigating regulations, contracts, and business structures is another aspect that many new entrepreneurs would prefer to skip. 

However, if you want to practice your trade as anything more than a hobby, you might as well start with the end in mind and get some of those things squared away as soon as they are relevant.

Networking and collaboration: 

Building a supportive community and finding complementary partners is the practice that will serve all others. We are a culture of people that want to help each other. We need each other! Reach out to other regenerative activators in your area and get to know them. 

I even teach people to create a database of these projects and their owners. This could prove to be your business’s most valuable asset.

Insight Tool: Skill Assessment 

On a scale of 1-5 (1 being novice, 5 being expert), rate yourself on each of the key business skills mentioned. Which areas do you feel strongest in? Which areas need the most improvement?

Essential Skills and Mindsets to Adapt as a Regenerative Entrepreneur:

As you embark on your journey as an entrepreneur and business operator, you’ll want to cultivate a set of skills and mindsets that support your personal growth and business development. 

The following attributes, to the degree they’re cultivated, will help you navigate challenges, recognize and embrace aligned opportunities, and cultivate the confidence to see them through. Let's explore some skills and mindsets worth developing:

Holistic Systems Thinking: 

Apply the holistic approach of permaculture to your business. Understand how different aspects of your business interact and support each other. Find common problems people face in your area that have insufficient solutions and find the place where those meet your passions and skill set. 

… or desired skill set. 

Remember, you’re a student who likes to learn new things. Nothing can hold you back!

Insight Tool: Map Your Business Ecosystem

Sketch a simple mind map, outline, or diagram of your current or planned business idea. Include key elements such as your services, target audience, resources, and potential partners. Draw arrows to show how these elements interact and support each other.

Adaptability to Change: 

Be prepared to adjust your strategies as you learn and grow. As Tim has mentioned to me, even they, after all these years, continue to develop and refine policies as they learn and grow. Their documents are regularly being edited and revised by new people with fresh perspectives. 

It’s a regular, intentionally planned practice.

Patience and Persistence: 

Building a successful business takes time. Rancho Mastatal, like most projects of this nature, didn’t have a huge budget to just set up shop and run massive retreats. Instead, they took a slow, iterative approach, using the resources they had on hand, which included the support of their neighbors, and slowly, persistently, grew as resources and wisdom allowed. 

Creating a phase-planned design for your new enterprise to spread your ambitions out over the next 3-5 years is a great way to resist distracting impulses and stay on track.

Lifelong Learning: 

Never stop learning. Stay open to new ideas and keep developing your skills. This is the habit that keeps on giving. However, don’t just study information focused on your trade. 

Round out your education so that you can understand the macro patterns of the human condition, market patterns, and personal development, as well as the micro details of your business operations.

Community Integration: 

Understand the importance of community integration. Of all the community projects and education centers I’ve researched around Costa Rica, Rancho Mastatal is one of the shining examples of community integration and worth modeling at any opportunity. 

Community integration is an extremely important part of our work. It helps us to integrate in a way that allows us to be accepted by those we wish to influence and serve.

Insight Tool: Community Asset Mapping

List 5-10 local business owners, organizations, or other leaders in your community that could potentially support or collaborate with your efforts. How might you engage with each of them?

Innovative Problem-Solving: 

Use holistic thinking to find innovative solutions to your business challenges. Permaculture teaches us that each problem holds a gem of solution just waiting to be discovered. By carefully researching and analyzing your options and approach, you can see these pitfalls before they ever become a problem and design ways to ensure they never will be. 

By staying vigilant in your process to find ways you can stack functions in your solutions, your experience operating your business will improve.

Clear & Effective Communication: 

Develop the ability to explain what you do and its benefits to a wide range of audiences. While it's always advised to start any product or service creation with a specific client avatar profile in mind to help target your messaging, we’re not just here to get customers. We want to affect change in the world, and that requires speaking other people’s languages. 

The best way to do that is to talk to more people about the problems you provide solutions for, but not with an intention to pitch your services. Instead, talk to them with a sense of curiosity and care. 

Get to know them and pay attention to the words they use in describing their challenges and perceived options. If you take the time to do this in a systematic way, you’ll develop the vocabulary and sensibility to make the impact you’re hoping for.

How the Permaculture Business Design Course Helps Bridge These Gaps:

The Permaculture Business Design Course is designed to bridge the gap between a passion for making regenerative practices what you do for a living and the business skills needed to make that happen. 

It applies the permaculture methodology and principles to design your business like you would a multi-yielding food system or a physical structure made from carefully calculated materials and procedures.

Why would we celebrate those practices on the land and houses, but not our business?

It’s impressive how often we stumble into a business idea, throwing offers out there hoping it will land with someone as we describe OUR favorite features of the service, rather than the benefits THEY want to receive. Business development is too common a reactionary process of figuring out as you go, which is exhilarating in moments, but not an effective way to get off the ground flying.

In this course, you’ll:

• Expand your perspective on how to solve common challenges people are actually experiencing so you can find the unique niche that’s perfect for you.

• Gain clarity around your unique vision and how it meets the needs of your region to purposefully design a financially regenerative enterprise that people can relate to.

• Enhance your professional skill set through training videos, insight tools, worksheets, and other guided exercises.

• Proceed through the lessons at your own pace to develop your offer, invisible infrastructure, marketing strategies, and operational procedures through slow and small solutions.

It’s a start-to-finish roadmap for the motivated permaculture entrepreneur, from ideation to implementation.

Insight Tool: Your Next Steps

Based on what you've learned in this post, what are three specific actions you can take in the next month to move closer to your goal of becoming a permaculture professional?

A Little More About Rancho Mastatal's Journey from Vision to Successful Enterprise:

I’ve had the pleasure of hearing Rancho Mastatal's story through my various interviews with Tim and the fortunate opportunity I’ve had to visit on the Ecovillage Tours that we now operate annually. 

Each interaction with Tim, Robin, and their team has demonstrated:

• Consistency in their intention to integrate and serve with the local community

• Persistence in finding solutions when change happens

• Adaptability through intentional experimentation

• And ongoing education and refinement of their practices. 

In an interview we did for the Permaculture Professionals Interview series, Tim shared that, early on, they didn't focus enough on compensating and taking care of the people that were making it possible. And that is unfortunately common amidst foreigners who buy land are happy to take advantage of the poverty wages many rural farm-hands are willing to work for.

Many of us have that wake-up call at some point, and for them it led to significant changes in their approach.

They implemented changes like:

• Formalizing their business structure

• Creating clear agreements and expectations

• Developing a core team with defined roles

• Implementing financial tools for better decision-making

Tim shared that developing more of a structure has helped them feel much more stable and resilient.

Rancho Mastatal's evolution is one of my favorite examples of combining permaculture principles with sound business practices. They've grown from a couple running a farm to an education center offering diverse courses, an apprenticeship program, and strong community integration directly affecting who knows how many hundreds of people each year, and thousands through the lives touched by those who’ve passed through their doors.

In the guest presentation Tim provided for the Community Living Agreements Training, he emphasized the value that clear documentation has brought to their project.

He explained that creating documents outlining standards for:

• Sharing communal space

• Participation expectations for members and guests

• And common operating procedures 

They have a library of best practices they can use to inform guests, train staff, and keep their intentions on track over time. 

(Image) PBDC Landscape 1.jpg

Are you ready to start to design?

The Permaculture Business Design Course offers the knowledge, tools, and support needed to navigate the journey from permaculture student to professional. It provides practical skills to design a business that's as regenerative and abundant as the ecosystems we aim to protect and regenerate through our work.

Enroll in the course to start designing a business in a way that will earn you experience, confidence, and clear enough vision to motivate people to your cause.

If you like the idea of designing and developing your regenerative enterprise in the company of other dedicated entrepreneurs, I offer a seasonal group program for permaculture-minded professionals looking for support and accountability as they navigate the path ahead. It’s application only and an interview is required to ensure we have a committed group of aligned individuals in the cohort.

Let’s do it together!

To learn more, visit the Permaculture Professionals Program and fill out the application. I’d love to meet you and hear about your ambitions to cultivate a regenerative livelihood.

Remember, as in permaculture design, the key to a successful business is thoughtful planning, diverse strategies, and regular visits to the feedback loop. 

However, accountability, coaching, and peer support are powerful amendments worth investing in.

May your dreams to serve through right action flourish!

Jason Thomas is the voice behind the podcast Regeneration Nation Costa Rica, designer and guide for Ecovillage Tours CR, mastermind facilitator for the Community Founders Circle and the Permaculture Professionals Program, and creator of the Permaculture Business Design Course. 

With over 20 years practicing both permaculture and entrepreneurship, he bridges these two worlds to empower our next agents of change.

Finding Home in Permaculture

Finding Home in Permaculture

By 2024 apprentice Allura

“Stand Still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here, and you must treat it as a powerful stranger, must ask permission to know it and be known. The forest breathes. Listen. It answers, I have made this place around you. If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here. No two trees are the same to Raven. No two branches are the same to Wren. If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you, you are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows where you are. You must let it find you.” - David Wagoner

There is a word I once heard called Solistalgia. It’s meaning is similar to nostalgia, but it is for a place you are already in. It is feeling lost and missing even when you are “home.” It was brought up at a discussion I attended by an indigenous elder, so too was the quote above, recited with strength and invitation. She said it is a collective occurrence, “for the forest to be lost on us”. For us to be disconnected from the land in which we dwell, for nowhere to feel quite like home and to be searching for it everywhere. To remain in a state of longing. But then a sense of gladness washed over her form, and she spoke again with an antidote: ‘let the forest find you. let the plants identify you instead of you trying to identify them. That is how we come home’ This wisdom is an upside down concept for many of us when we’ve been taught that we are the only observers when “alone” within the trees. Yet I also think it is quite simple and innate, to remember the awareness that surrounds us. It is a practice of receptivity and reconnection, one that seems so natural within children. Simply opening ourselves up to pay attention to the wonders and mystery of life as adults may at first seem like an intangible act but I truly believe it is just a practice of nurturing and reawakening one of our many organs of perception. One of my greatest guides to relearning these perceptions has been through the study of Permaculture, a culture that merges ancient wisdom and new through a system of principles and designs, bringing humans back into harmony with the earth.  And it is the first principle, to Observe and Interact, that grounds me with roots deep and unwavering into my sense of ‘Here’ wherever my feet kiss the ground. 

When we are children, it is instinctual to observe the mystery and wonder of life through interacting with nature. When we are small and physically closer to the earth it's as if we can hear her better and we naturally want to play, explore and relish in the awe of it all. I believe Observing and Interacting is the first principle to practice in permaculture because it drops us into the beginner's mind reminding us that we need to return to this way of observation and truly learn how to be with the land before anything else. This seems simple but it takes time. This principle goes against the reading or looking up of information on the internet with motivations of speeding up the process. David Holmgren, co-founder of Permaculture, says in his book “Although I recognize the value of formal education and training and communications media, they are also part of the problem preventing us from a more direct connection with, and experience of, the natural world through observation and experience.” Relearning how to be present and open is a fundamental prerequisite to reigniting our connection to the earth in order to work with her again. It is as if only the soft whisper in the trees can sing us a song to enchant us with her magic- ‘do you remember how to be with me?’ she asks. When coming to the first principle of permaculture, we must take the time to get to know our unique ways of observing and interacting with the earth. 

So I am learning how to join the dance of being one with the heartbeat of the earth again, a rhythm that I realize I knew quite well when I was young. Some ways I choose to interact with the land is by falling to my knees in her beauty, before the silent mountains or at dawn in the long grass that holds the morning dew. Falling in love with Earth, I consider an interaction too, with the sounds of the jungle’s midnight symphony lulling me into my dreams, or with the seedling in the nursery that sprouts strongly towards the long time sun. Sometimes I do interact with reading, about the plants or out loud to them. I merge my sense of play and devotion by encircling trees with offerings. Sometimes that is by clearing the space around them and surrounding their trunk in leaves and compost for nourishing support. Other times it is an altar of flowers and dark chocolate in honor of their beating spirit. I dare my quiet and shaky voice to talk with the plants too, asking questions and for guidance or by offering words of my own love. I am learning that I am interacting when I am in the forest and being, just being or singing, laughing or crying, dancing or resting, and loving. These are the ways I know to Interact. And I observe with my breath in reverent stillness of my mind. Sitting with a plant and breathing in, gratitude for their life and the air they feed me, I breathe out- this exhalation is for them. I believe these ways of observing and interacting with the land relays a message to the earth that I am ‘Here’, that I am listening and I am paying attention. I think it is not about what we do when we “Observe and Interact” but the intention behind it that forms a language of patience, appreciation and awe with the earth. The ways in which we each do this are unique to each person but in essence I think it is all within the same song. I hope this song can be heard, but in truth, I don’t know if I can prove to you that it is. I decide to carry on and do it anyway because after all, this is a process of being found rather than of finding. 

“By observation we usually mean using our eyes, but this reflects how visually dominated modern people are, raised in a literate and now graphical world. All of our senses have great potential to provide valuable information.” David Holmgren 

I believe it is possible to reconnect to the wonder and mystery of life by opening our senses to observe and interact, as the first principle of permaculture suggests. And when we can learn/remember how to connect with the wondrous earth that holds us, maybe within our sense of longing we can feel her longing for us too. Longing for us to remember that she is home and our ‘Here’ no matter where we wander off to in this wild world. How can we feel her closeness? There have been studies that show us the mycelium mat under the soil, which acts as the sentient mind of the forest connecting all trees, is able to sense when someone walks inside. It is becoming common academic knowledge that individual trees have the ability to hear, feel, see, recognize rhythm, store memory and the ability to communicate what they know amongst other trees. We already know the earth is identifying us. The unraveling knowledge becoming apparent is pure magic and can provide some reassurance to this process. But must we read it to believe it? Or can we simply join the dance and awaken our perception to believe and know it deep in our bones. ‘Stand still, the forest knows where you are.’ It has certainly found me. 

“Thus the thinking and design revolution, of which permaculture is a part, only makes sense when it reconnects us to the wonder and mystery of life” David Holmgren

Read these past blogs

The Ethics of Permaculture

If You Practice Yoga, Practice Permaculture

Why the World Would be a Better Place if Everyone Took a Permaculture Design Course

Los Suelos y Su Importancia para la Existencia de la Vida

Los Suelos y Su Importancia para la Existencia de la Vida

Escrito por el aprendiz 2024, Felipe

El suelo es una delgada capa de minerales, agua, gases, y material orgánico, la cual se encuentra activa biológicamente y debiese cubrir la mayoría de la superficie de la tierra. Acá se desarrollan una serie de interacciones, entre los múltiples elementos que habitan los suelos se encuentran: plantas, minerales, hongos, bacterias, filamentos, algas, pequeños animales desde protozoos a lombrices, insectos mamíferos, etc. 

El suelo es un sistema biológicamente activo que otorga una serie de servicios ecosistémicos claves para el mantenimiento de la biosfera (la parte de la tierra donde existe la vida), así como para la regulación del clima. Es la base del sistema alimentario del ser humano: 95% de los alimentos provienen de los suelos, es la base de la agricultura y es el medio donde crecen casi todas las plantas productoras de alimentos. Es uno de los ecosistemas más importantes para asegurar la existencia de la vida en el planeta. Aproximadamente un cuarto de las especies del planeta que se encuentran registradas necesita de los suelos para existir. Es extremadamente vital mantener la biodiversidad subterránea, para que los suelos estén saludables, en simbiosis y siendo el hábitat de diferentes especies, logrando un ecosistema equilibrado y balanceado para el buen funcionamiento de la cadena alimentaria del planeta. 

Algunos de los beneficios que los suelos otorgan al medio ambiente son los siguientes:

1. Producción de biomasa que sirve de alimento para muchas especies

2. Dotación de energía a muchos seres vivos

3. Filtra, regula y transforma la materia que absorbe

4. Es el hábitat de innumerables especies 

5. Fijación de Dióxido de carbono

6. Tiene un importante rol en la regulación del clima

7. Protección del recurso hídrico en las capas subterráneas

La formación de 1 cm de capa de suelo, puede tomar entre cien a miles de años. Este proceso llamado meteorización, consiste en la descomposición de distintas rocas madres y minerales que conforman una macroestructura, disolviéndose en partículas más pequeñas y originando nuevos minerales a través de la erosión que ocasiona el aire y el agua a través del paso del tiempo. El periodo de formación de los suelos depende de: tipo de roca madre, clima, la vegetación, topografía y el tiempo.

Según la OMS, 40% de los suelos del planeta hoy se encuentran degradados. En África, solo un 8% de los suelos es adecuado para su uso en la agricultura. Hoy en día, existe una gran amenaza para la seguridad alimentaria de los seres humanos, debido a la perdida de los suelos. La principal causa de esta amenaza, es el ser humano a través de la contaminación. La mayoría de los contaminantes provienen de desechos urbanos no tratados y actividades humanas como: las prácticas agrícolas insostenibles, la industria, la minería, deposición de contaminantes atmosféricos, entre otros. Ejemplos de estos contaminantes son: derrames de hidrocarburos, residuos urbanos, medicamentos, antibióticos, desinfectantes, pesticidas y fertilizantes, metales pesados como el plomo, cadmio, el mercurio, como también los plásticos y microfibras que afectan negativamente a los suelos. Otros factores importantes en la desertificación y perdida de los suelos son los monocultivos y la sobre expansión urbana. Esto tiene como consecuencia la pérdida definitiva de suelos productivos. El problema de la degradación de los suelos puede traer consecuencias graves como: sequias, guerras por recursos hídricos, pobreza, hambruna, marginación, emigración obligada, disminución de recursos esenciales, etc.

Algunas de las iniciativas que se pueden emplear para proteger los suelos son:

• Aumentar la materia orgánica en los suelos, con mayor cubierta vegetal, vegetación, lechos orgánicos y compost

• Usar la vegetación para proteger los suelos del viento y la salinidad

• Practicar una labranza mínima (que reduzca las emisiones CO2) y retener los residuos de los cultivos

• Implementar pastoreo rotacional

• Usar fertilizantes orgánicos y evitar los químicos

• Tener 100% cobertura vegetal durante todo el año

• Permitir el crecimiento de la biodiversidad por encima y por debajo del suelo

• Apoyar y proteger la simbiosis microbiana del suelo, incluido los hongos

• Reducir los combustibles fósiles

• Usar los residuos orgánicos que generamos para nutrir los suelos

Algunas de las estrategias que se aplican en Rancho Mastatal para el manejo de los suelos arcillosos de la zona, los cuales tienden a ser pobres en material orgánico y bajos en nutrientes disponibles, consiste en la nutrición de los suelos a través de compost para elevar el nivel de materia orgánica.

En el rancho se manejan distintos tipos de procesamiento de compost: 

1. Compost pasivo con el material orgánico de cocina en composteras verticales, formando niveles de residuos de cocina, cubiertos con hojas secas. La estructura de las composteras es en base de alambres, para incrementar la aireación, ayudando a la descomposición del material orgánico en estructuras más simples que servirán de alimento para las plantas del Rancho

2. Compost en pila con estiércol de animales, de granjas aledañas de la zona, mezclados con aserrín para balancear la proporción C:N, el cual se voltea cada semana y se humedece para no perder el nitrógeno de la mezcla

3. Lombricultura, en donde se alimentan las lombrices con los residuos del biodigestor. El biodigestor se alimenta con estiércol de animales de la zona para producir metano, el cual se utiliza como fuente de energía en la cocina. De esta forma, se tiene como resultado, el humus que producen las lombrices que van directamente a enriquecer el suelo de las plantas del vivero y gas para cocinar los alimentos del Rancho.

A partir del compost generado, se procede a ejecutar la fórmula de la santa trinidad de los suelos, la cual se forma a través de adicionar estos tres componentes ricos en nutrientes, que serán los encargados de devolverle el equilibrio a los suelos, alimentándolos de manera adecuado y sustentable.  

Materia Organica + Micorganismos de Montaña + Biocarbon = Suelo Dorado

• Materia orgánica: el componente del compost descrito anteriormente

• Microrganismo de Montaña: esta enmienda natural se genera a partir de la recolección de hojas y material orgánico de los bosques de la zona que contienen un alto nivel de microrganismos, hongos y bacterias altamente activos, para desarrollar los procesos biológicos que tanto los suelos necesitan. Estos residuos se depositan en un contenedor mezclado con agua y melaza para alimentar los microrganismos en un proceso anaeróbico, con el objetivo de multiplicarlos y reproducirlos. Muy parecido a como si se fuera a hacer una infusión de té. Después de dos semanas se tiene un fertilizante natural lleno de vida que los suelos y las plantas estarán muy felices de recibir. Lea más sobre esto aquí.

• Biocarbón: este componente se obtiene a través de la combustión incompleta de madera, donde se realiza una fogata y llegando a cierto punto de combustión se reduce la cantidad de oxígeno para permitir una estructura amplia y porosa. Para este proceso se utilizan los residuos de las maderas que se usan para los diferentes proyectos de la comunidad.

Otra estrategia que se aplica en el Rancho, es cubrir con mantillos los suelos y las especies deseadas, como árboles frutales, con el objetivo de retener la humedad en los suelos, incrementar la biomasa, para dar un hábitat propicio para la acumulación de microrganismos y hongos que benefician la absorción de nutrientes para el buen desarrollo del sistema radicular de las plantas. Para el proceso de elaboración de los mantillos y mejorar la calidad de los suelos se siembran distintas plantas de soporte, autóctonas de la zona y de rápido crecimiento, con el objetivo de proporcionar: biomasa (vetiver), fijación de nitrógeno (calliandra) , ornamentación (monstera) y diferentes nutrientes a los suelos, a través de las plantas que actúan como acumuladores dinámicos (girasol mexicano).

A través de la aplicación de las estrategias descritas anteriormente, se mejoran los suelos en Rancho Mastatal, contribuyendo con la restauración y la reparación de los suelos que tanto se necesita, devolviéndole la vida a este ecosistema tan dañado e ignorado por los seres humanos.

Artículos relacionados

Fermented Plant Juice (FPJ) and Its Application

Amending Calcium-Deficient Soils – A Tropical Permaculturist’s Approach

Improving Soils in the Humid Tropics of Costa Rica

The Ethics of Permaculture

The Ethics of Permaculture

By core team member, Sam Hansen

Philosophy is the study of knowledge, truth, and meaning. Ethics or “moral philosophy” embraces those principles as they influence human behavior. Socrates, who was a foundational figure in western philosophy thought that ethics are based on the premise that all people are essentially good and given the choice will make good decisions. Aristotle called this behavior “virtue,” a striving to do the right thing and make the ethical decision.

When these concepts are applied in practice, the seeking after right and wrong gets a little more complicated. Are ethics universal, or are they subjective, governed by individual attitudes and circumstances? And if that is the case, how can anyone be sure that they have “good ethics” and are always making the right decision? And by what means can we design a future in which every choice leads to the wellbeing of all humanity and to the wellbeing of the planet?

In 1978 Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, two Australian ecologists took on that challenge by developing an interdisciplinary design manual which they believed, if followed would result in a positive, integrated and prosperous future. They called their enterprise “permaculture” and created three fundamental ethical formations as its foundation.

“The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children. Make it now.” – Bill Mollison

Care of the EARTH

Care of the PEOPLE

Set LIMITS to consumption

Transition

---

Earth Care

The permaculture ethic of caring for the earth is founded on an understanding of the interconnectedness we share with all nature and that our survival as a species is dependent on that of the planet earth. While some might argue that this ethic stems from our own self-interest, Bill and David believed that the “survival of natural systems” is based on cooperation with, rather than domination over, the natural systems that provide a healthy habitat for us.

“When we lose plant and animal species due to our actions, we lose many survival opportunities”- B. Mollison.

Permaculture states that we leave these natural systems to flourish and when we require resources, we harvest them applying the rules of “necessitous use” which includes reducing waste, avoiding pollution, and safeguarding against any process with negative environmental or human impacts.

The Earth care ethic reminds us that our best, our only future, depends on the common goal of living together in harmony and cooperation on a thriving sustainable Earth.

People Care

When we come together and agree on the common goal of taking care of the earth and ensuring its existence and our survival on it, we can then focus on our relationships with others. From an early age we are taught to look out for our family and keep each other safe. As global citizens it is essential to treat all humanity as part of our family and extend the same care to all. A population that values each and every individual’s contribution and functions to support each other is more likely to thrive than one based on competition and opposition. Sadly, most political and state systems function by setting us on opposing teams. How much better would it be for everyone if we were on the same side working towards a unified and prosperous future?

What Bill Mollison called “communal permanence” is creating a strong sense of interconnectedness with nature and with each other so that we can thrive for many generations. For example, knowing that the forests we plant today will be nurtured and cherished for the future and not harvested for short term gain. This ethic is not a simple one in which to find balance, given that we have such a diverse range of cultures, customs, values and philosophies in the world. However, by working together towards common goals that allow us to live in harmony with nature, ensure that everyone has access to clean water and healthy food and enjoys the right to free expression, all the while not imposing on other’s well-being, we can strive to create a future in which we protect our planet and each other.

Set Limits to consumption – redistribute surplus

“Beneficial behavior involves managing natural systems for their own, and our, long-term benefit, not for our immediate and exploitative personal gain” - Bill Mollison

In a world of rampant consumption and waste the third ethic of Permaculture is based on setting limits and seeking to live a sustainable life by relying on the rule of necessitous use. When we free ourselves from competitive and wasteful economic systems, and organize equitable distribution systems, we discover that there are certainly enough resources to meet everyone’s needs.

The “Fair-share” ethic teaches us to look after our neighbor when they have fewer yields and in turn they will look after us when our yields are low. We can extend this ethic to all of nature and leave space for ecosystems to thrive. Minimizing waste and developing as many renewable resources and systems as possible will help us achieve a balance where we can all enjoy the bounty the earth has to offer, and we can care for each other.

Transitioning into a permanent agriculture and a permanent culture

Since the first permaculture design manuals were written in the late 70’s, much work has been done that has advanced all aspects of permaculture both in design and philosophy. As a result, a fourth ethic has been added to the original three, the “transition ethic.” As we endeavor to make our planet a better and more equitable one, and to protect the natural world and all who inhabit it, the reality of the tremendous inequities of the people who share it, make that a formidable task. 

Differing perspectives based on vastly different realities and experiences, make consensus on any and every decision extremely challenging. For example, so many of the agricultural practices employed in conventional farming are hugely destructive to the health of the soil and the people who are fed by it. But persuading a farmer not to use pesticides, tilling or monocropping, when they are convinced that their livelihood depends upon it, is not a simple matter. But neither is it impossible. Through education and support and the awareness of sustainable agricultural practices, farmers could make the necessary transition into rewarding, diversified agro-ecological systems that are resilient, respect the earth and provide plenty for all.

Transitioning people from a globalized individualistic consumption-based economy into one that is rooted in local communities and tied to resource sharing, also poses a challenge. Meeting people where they are and having patience with the fact that not everyone can immediately escape from under the thumb of the current economic paradigm comes with the understanding and application of permaculture ethics and their application in creating a better future. 

Breaking down existing systems and interacting with each other in respect and harmony will lead to the just future we seek. The process is a long one, but the transition ethic teaches us to be compassionate and patient as well as understanding that not everyone can simply make that immediate “switch.”

In a perfect world

The path humanity has taken since the industrial revolution, colonial exploration and exploitation, has been a hugely destructive and divisive one. The planet has been massively degraded and political elites acting in their own narrow interests have kept entire peoples and societies apart and impoverished. While the ethics permaculture proposes may seem utopic and difficult to achieve in the short term or on any significant scale, it’s important to remember that living mindfully, guided by these ethics and practices, can have a significant impact.

They can guide us to living in a harmonious relationship to the earth, ourselves and each other if only we keep them close in all aspects of our daily life. By starting out small and applying the ethics and practices of permaculture in our homes, neighborhoods and communities, every positive decision we make or action we take, has ripple effects that contribute to the transformations we yearn to see in the world. 

This is the goal of the permaculture movement on a global scale, to share ancient wisdom that largely has been forgotten and that can be used to connect us with a collective vision, behaviors and actions that will lead all who participate, to a just, equal and abundant way of life.

“Meaning in life is lost by striving after status and future glory; it is gained and realized by action towards a common ideal, in serving the whole according to our physical, mental, educational and understanding capacities. It is never enough to mean well, rather, it is necessary to ensure that it gets done.”

- Bill Mollison

Learn More

Join us for one of our yearly Permaculture Design Certifications to get theory and hands on experience from leading experts. Check out our workshop calendar for more educational experiences.

Read these past related blogs

What is Permaculture

Applied Permaculture Principles

Foundations for Success: 10 Considerations to Create a Healthy Project

What is Permaculture

What is Permaculture

By core team member, Ambra Pirker

“Permaculture (permanent culture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integrations of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Without permanent agriculture there is no possibility of a stable social order.” - Bill Mollison

History

Permaculture as a concept was coined in the late 1970s, between 1972 and 1974 Bill Mollison worked on developing an interdisciplinary earth science with help from David Holmgren in the later years. In 1981 the concept had matured sufficiently and it was thought of as an applied design system to the first 26 students through a 140-hour lecture series. The first literature around permaculture were two foundational texts: Permaculture One (1978), Permaculture Two (1979) followed by PEMACULTURE A Designers’ Manual (1979), the latter is considered the Permaculture ‘bible’ by many. In 2002 David Holmgren released the book “Permaculture- Principals & Pathways beyond Sustainability” where he summarized the principals into 12 and offered a smaller, easier but thorough read. Nowadays there are many different books around permaculture, many of them leaning to specific topics that fall under the big permaculture umbrella; some are more on the social side, many focus on homesteading and gardening and some are centered around agroforestry and tree crops.

Evolution

Permaculture’s concept has evolved since the 1970’s, in its beginning the focus was around the design of ecological, regenerative and smart agriculture with the idea of creating a permanent agriculture; with an emphasis on perennials, tree crops, water conservation, earthworks, soil improvement, biodiversity and much more. Many of the proposed systems and methods were drawn out or inspired by indigenous knowledge around land use and care. Mollison independently researched and published a three-volume treatise on the history and genealogies of the descendants of the Tasmanian aborigines, this interest and dedication around indigenous culture was key in the developing of permacultures basis.

Nowadays permaculture has a huge social side with the inspiration of creating a permanent culture of sustainable, regenerative, cooperative and compassionate living; while giving the power back to the people to design their lives in accordance to their values. Permaculture is helping in the creation of a network, a web of interconnected visions, dreams, projects, ideas and people, with a common intention of doing good for each other and the planet.

“Great change is taking place. These are not as a result of any one group or teachings, but as a result of millions of people defining one or more ways in which they can conserve energy, aid local self-reliance, or provide for themselves.” - Bill Mollison

Definitions

Permaculture is a macro-concept that involves many different topics, methods, systems and ideas. Ideas like moving back to the land, using nature as our guide, applying ecology in our productive systems, reconnecting with the cycles of nature, approaching life holistically, creating stable local economies, regenerating the landscape and our relationships with others, investing in resiliency and interconnectivity; are in the heart of permaculture. Since the beginning of permaculture, the sense of shared work has been central, “we could say that there are as many permaculture definitions as there are permaculturalists.” (People and Permaculture, 2012)

I personally like to describe permaculture as: “An ethically based design system for human habitation and regenerative living that encompasses most aspects of life as a part of this planet; based on observation, inspired by pattern, inclusive, biodiverse, holistic and kind.”

Essentially permaculture is a design methodology that has foundational ethics and core principals, that can be applied to most aspects in life. When practicing permaculture, the ethics are the guides and the principals are the canons, so for example when designing a new system or element first we evaluate if it respects the four ethics. There is a lot to say about each of these ethics, the following is a brief summary; to learn more check out our blog article The Ethics of Permaculture.

Ethics

1) The first ethic is Earth care, when considering that planet earth is our sole and only home the need to move away from our extractive, materialistic, consumption-based society becomes obvious. Taking care of nature’s resources needs to be a central part of any human endeavor, protecting our flora and its genetic diversity should be in mind every time we sew a seed. Defending our fauna and understanding their importance in ecological balance should be part of every anthropocentric project. Protecting and improving our soil, respecting our waters and using them rationally, understanding the importance of clean air and minimizing our contributions to its contamination, all of this is just the start.

2) The second ethic is People care, meeting tangible and intangible needs of humans is central in permaculture, we are not just talking about human rights, we are going way further into providing the space for people to flourish. Right livelihood is a common term in permaculture, based on the idea of working on something that feels right individually, suits our needs, and is in line with our ethics. When we think of people care, we think about the wellbeing, happiness, health and support that people need, not just in our immediate proximity like our family and friends, but also in our community and for the humans of the world, what can we do today to improve the life of others? Permaculture helps us remember how important it is to shift our attention onto how we interact with each other. We have the chance to support people doing good for the planet, for others and themselves, creating local economies and supporting ethically based business’ will have huge positive repercussions in our destiny as humans.

3) The third ethic is Fair share, also know as “set limits to consumption” or “redistribute surplus.” We need to live within the carrying capacities of the planet, in a finite world we can’t follow an infinite thirst for materialistic goods. Redistribution of resources including money, food, knowledge, skills, education, land, and time are needed if we want a prosperous future. This may sound utopic, but the reality is that there are enough resources on the planet to allow every human to have a balanced and enjoyable life, but the culture of consumerism and accumulation has enabled some to have way more than what they need. Permaculture promotes a simpler life, where we are able to appreciate what is actually important and necessary for humans to thrive. Luxury and opulence have no place in permaculture. Fair share is personal responsibility and we should take it seriously.

4) The fourth ethic is Transition, this one wasn’t part of the literature for a long time, it came as a compromise around time and cultural context. In this ethic the general idea is that change takes time, when switching to a different paradigm; capital is a limiting factor since in our current world a greener life is usually more expensive than a mainstream one, and honestly there is no valid reason to prolongate that reality. If big industries were truly paying the honest price of oil and big ag wasn’t subsidized by the state, the greener alternative would cease to be more expensive. Transition ethic also helps us come to terms with the time needed for change, the system that inhabits our society has been around for a long interval, a new age is coming as our only option for the prosperity of our species. I believe that permaculture is a great starting point in the creation of our next society.

There is a lot more to add to all of the ethics of permaculture, an important point to mention is that they are open for interpretation, so the extent and detail that every permaculture project is applying them to their decision-making will vary. There is no permaculture body that supervises if a so-called permaculture farm is actually taking good care of their employees or helping the surrounding community. This may be seen as a flaw in the construct of permaculture, but it’s a genuine effort for decentralized, independent, self-reliant change. The evaluator of genuine permaculture should be the education of the multitude, we have the authority to exclaim when the ethics are not being respected, caring for permaculture is supporting it.

Principles

Permaculture also has several principles that guide decision making, they vary from author to author, but focus on similar ideas. Bill listed five principals in the book PEMACULTURE A Designers’ Manual (1979):

1. Work with nature rather than against it: assisting rather than impeding nature, understanding natural succession and using it in our favor.

2. The problem is the solution: everything can be a positive resource, figuring out how we may use it as such depends on us.

3. Make the least change for the greatest possible effect: change is a constant in nature but when it comes from our development it’s many times very damaging. Designing to minimize change and maximize positive effect is central for a regenerative future.

4. The yield of a system is theoretically unlimited: the imagination and information are the only limits to the number of uses of a resource within a system.

5. Everything gardens: every creature makes its own garden and has an effect on its environment.

David Holmgren proposes 12 principals in the book Permaculture- Principals & Pathways Beyond Sustainability (2002), take in consideration that the first 6 principles study systems from the bottom-up perspective and the second 6 principals emphasize the top-down organization and relationships that tend to develop in co-evolution. The following is just a brief mention of the principals, to learn more check out the blog “Applied Permaculture Principles.”

1. Observe and interact: observation should be the teacher of any action, interacting the lessons. “Careful observation and thoughtful interaction.”

2. Catch and store energy: understanding energy in a broad sense, there are many different types of energy, some are solar, wind, biomass, soil, rain, heat, commitment, passion and love. “Make hay while the sun shines.”

3. Obtain a yield: yields of many types; harvests, fauna, habitat, knowledge, beauty etc., design systems to provide self-reliance at all levels.

4. Apply self-regulation and accept feedback: identifying positive and negative feedback loops. There is self-regulation in a system with a positive feedback loop. Accepting feedback will allow us to improve our designs to the point of self-reliance.

5. Use and value renewable: renewable resources are all which can be renewed and replace by natural processes over reasonable periods of time, and renewable services are the ones received by plants, animals, soil and water without damaging or consuming them.

6. Produce no waste: minimize pollution and waste by using all outputs, there is no waste in nature. Closing cycles with organic transformation of biomass and waste minimalist (refuse, reduce, reuse, repair and recycle.)

7. Design from patterns to details: the closer we get the harder it is to understand the bigger picture, pattern recognition is central. Patterns in nature are the arrangement of parts into a whole, our main source of inspiration and the answers of innumerable questions. Self-organization from symbiotic coevolution of nature.

8. Integrate rather than segregate: the integration of parts, elements, and humans is as important as themselves. Developing positive and reciprocal relationships lead to resiliency, balance, productivity, stability and effectiveness. Each element performs many functions and each important function is supported by many elements. Designing for synergistic relationships as a central point.

9. Use small and slow solutions: “Systems should be designed to perform functions at the smallest scale that is practical and energy-efficient for that function.” Start slow, receive feedback and expand accordingly.

10. Use and value diversity: diversity is key for balance. Diversity of ideas, knowledge, experience, age, culture, language, food and so on, are our tools for adapting to change and thriving in an uncertain future. Diversity in agriculture allows for resiliency and security.

11. Use edge and value the marginal: greater diversity of life in the region where the edges of two adjacent ecosystems overlap. There are special conditions in the transitions zone of two different areas, that allow for unique species or interactions.

12. Creatively use and respond to change: “The designer’s imagination and skill usually limit productivity and diversity before any physical limits are reached.”

Design Tools

Different authors will have varying definitions of the principles, but most of the time the same ideas and concepts are emphasized. There are a several important methods in permaculture design that I haven’t mentioned, one of them is the sector analysis which can be defined as the analysis of different energies that usually come from outside the land and have a direct influence on it. We as designers need to decide if these should be blocked, opened-up or channeled; some of them are the sun path (sunset/sunrise, winter sun/summer sun), winds, wildlife, views, neighboring structures, roads, etc.

The sector analysis allows the correct positioning of the different elements in the space, the elements are every system in the project; from the chicken coop, to the house. These can be productive systems (agroforestry, garden beds, cheese making facility, rotational grazing system, fish pond, etc.) or infrastructures (main house, yoga deck, kitchen, guest house, etc.) One very important methodology in permaculture is the element analysis, where we asses the needs, yields and intrinsic characteristics of each and every one of our elements, that way we can decipher the possible connections between them. Always with the goal of reusing every resource to its maximum, because we know there is no waste in nature, just inputs for a new process. By realizing the interconnectivity that is possible in our project, we can move on to the creating of a web of connections, which is a matrix that connects inputs and outputs of every element. This analysis will help us chose appropriate positioning of the systems, understanding that the element with more connections should be in a central position so we can save time when managing and navigating the space. The element analysis and web of connections should be hand in hand, because even though my pigs receive food scraps from the kitchen and the main garden, they need daily care and are able to forage in the food forest, we are not going to position them too close to the house because of their known odors and sounds.

The last method in permaculture design that I’m sharing is the zone analysis, zoning is a tool to organize our project into areas that require the most and the least attention. This can be applied to a house with a small garden or to a big farm. Basically, the zones go from 0 to 5, following is a summary of what each zone may entail, remember that every project is different so the following will vary:

• Zone 0: structures where permanent residents live.

• Zone 1: areas that are visited several times a day, the area closest to the house and paths that are connected with important elements in the project. This zone includes a veggie garden, herb garden, greenhouse, small animals (rabbits, guinea pigs), etc. Let’s say that you have a cheese making laboratory and packing room as your main work area, if you are visiting that space several times a day, that would be part of your zone one, just like the path between your house and that facility.

• Zone 2: areas that are visited at least once a day, we can have small animals and animal pens when they need to be fed on the daily, compost area, some fruit trees, more veggie beds, etc. Again, this classification will totally depend on our own daily schedule. 

• Zone 3: areas that are visited a few times a week. Larger food production system like a milpa, agroforestry systems, pasture lands, root crops etc.

• Zone 4: areas that are visited several times a month. These are semi-wild/semi-managed areas, used for gathering materials (timber, firewood, bamboo, fiber) and can include food forests.

• Zone 5: where we go to learn, where we are visitors and not managers, space that we give to nature. Many times, these are protected wildlife sanctuaries, ideally if the size allows it, 50% or more of your land should be in zone 5. In small, semi-urban and urban projects its complicated to dedicate an area to zone 5 because of the restricted space. In that case the edge of the property or even a corner where we allow native species to grow and thrive will have a big impact in the ecology of the project and the surroundings.

Concluding Thoughts

Now that we understand the basis of permaculture, its easy to find who is actually practicing permaculture. Its being practiced all over the globe in many land-based projects, intentional communities, homesteads, urban gardens. By many community leaders, innovators, architects, farmers, landscape designers, chefs, natural builders and many more.

It’s worth mentioning that permaculture can be many things, but it most definitely is not a neocolonialist tool, simply because the collective good and prosperity are keystones in actual Permaculture. As a design methodology for human habitats where some key concepts are: “share and return of surplus,” “integrate rather than segregate,” “cooperation instead of competition,” and “use and value diversity”; having an activity or development that damages local population or intends to create an exclusive bubble goes against permaculture. It’s necessary to protect permacultures name and reputation, for its reach to expand and create a better world, that is a task that we all should take seriously.

Using permaculture ethics and principles in the design of a project, regardless of its size, will promote a sustainable, low input to high output, self-reliant organism. For me permaculture is a way of thinking, a guide to understand and interact with the world, a kind reminder of our belonging to nature and a tool for living with intention. When we observe and interact with the world with permaculture lenses, we take action into choosing what is best for nature, others and ourselves, the sense of interconnection and reciprocity are in the heart of this philosophy. I believe that permaculture is a beautiful tool for positive impact and a way to create the change that we desperately need.

Learn More

Want to learn more about permaculture design and gets hands on experience from lead experts? Join us for one of our yearly Permaculture Design Certifications or other educational workshops.

Read these past related blogs

The Problem with Permaculture: Understanding Elements and Functions

Why the World Would be a Better Place if Everyone Took a Permaculture Design Certification

Social Permaculture: The Secret to a Successful Community

Social Permaculture: The Secret to a Successful Community

Social Permaculture: The Secret to a Successful Community

By Core Team Member Tim O’Hara

The people part of our work is arguably the trickiest.  Even though it takes experience, know-how and intelligence to design and install orchards, design and build infrastructure, and manage water, I’d say that they all pale in comparison to the work that’s required to create a holistic and healthy human environment in which to live.

The aspects of our work that fall into this category can be referred to as “Social Permaculture.” How do we organize ourselves?  Make decisions?  Compensate ourselves?  Resolve conflict?  Balance work and play?  Handle mental health concerns when they arise?  Take care of people adequately when they’re sick?  Raise a child in the same space where we work?  Interact with the local population in a way that’s authentic, caring and positive?

The structures that we’ve attempted to put into place that address these questions and their subsequent success are critical to the prosperity of this place and the people that work, live and visit here.

We’ve spent a significant amount of energy in recent years developing systems that allow us to better respond to the issues that inevitably arise within our human ecosystem.  It’s a work in progress, and it requires a lot of patience and perseverance when building a community from the bottom up.

The crux of this complex piece of our lives sits firmly in the art of creating clear agreements and transparent expectations.  In the incipient years of our community and project, in what was perhaps a demonstration of “anti-capitalism”, we foolishly eschewed good documentation, written accords, and good financial planning.  This led to what could have, and perhaps should have, been the demise of our idealistic notions of a sustainable and well-meaning business.

Through first-hand experience, insistence from team members, and at times shear desperation, we began to slowly put the pieces into place to shore up the systems that helped to create a fair, fun, equitable and economically successful workplace.  The exercise was at times painful, tedious and uninspiring.  And it took years, and continues to challenge our community through to today.  It is always a work in progress, and is constantly informed by who is living and working at the Ranch.

We are open to sharing both our triumphs and failures with those interested in learning from us.  We have 23 years of them under our belt now, and we aspire to match that number again in the future.  If we succeed, it will be a result of taking care of the people that take care of this place.  There could be nothing more important than fairly treating the people that are impacted by your project, and that’s not something we’ve always done well, nor is it simply achieved just by saying that it’s important.  It takes practice, education, trial and error and compassion, and along the way egos can be bruised and friendships disfigured.  But it’s worth the hard work, and is a critical piece of any project or community to keep at its core, if it expects to get through and beyond the honeymoon phase.

Read Past Blogs about Social Permaculture

Foundations for Success: 10 Considerations to Create a Healthy Project

How to Run a Permaculture Internship

Enriching Community Soil: 5 Simple Strategies That Support Sustainable Relationships

How to Optimize Your Syntropic Agroforestry Site

How to Optimize Your Syntropic Agroforestry Site

By 2023 apprentice Seb W

Syntropic agroforestry is an agroforestry system developed by Ernst Götsch. Its philosophy lines up contrary to the Darwinian model of evolution, being driven by competition. It is based on seeing evolutionary processes as driven by cooperation among members of the living system in a way that benefits the system as a whole. It aims to maximize of diversity and productivity through aligning Stratification (space) and Succession (time) of its plants. Furthermore, it subdivides these plants into target and biomass species which allows for it to become self-sustainable over time. In its essence it means trying to mimic the real forest as close as possible.

What follows are factors to be integrated into your syntropic agroforestry site to optimize its potential outcome. If syntropic agroforestry is new to you, read What is Syntropic Farming first.

Image by Orchard of Flavours

Consortium of Plants for Syntropic Farming

Since every climate and microclimate offers different qualities, therefore being able to habitat different plants, just putting out a chart of plants won’t help a lot of you. Instead we want to explain at this point how you can write your own consortium. A consortium is basically an optimized garden guild which integrates the succession of its plants over time. Stratification still applies but it is now planned over time. To plan a good consortium you want to research a list of edible plants viable for your microclimate, their height at maturity as well as time until maturity. Based on that you can then categorize your plants into the different strata as well as time stages.

When planning  a syntropic site we also want to keep in mind, that it will take at least 20 years until the climax stage is reached (if well managed). Within the first two years (until the end of placenta II) you can still add plants to the system though usually everything is planted in the beginning all at once. The only exception to that rule are climbers (exg. Vanilla or maracuja) as long as there is enough sunlight coming through to the ground.

Types of Plants to Plant

Whatever edible plants you want to grow, in syntropic agroforestry systems edible plants are not the only plants to be grown. Usually one aims to grow around 30% of plants just for biomass, of which again 30% are meant to be nitrogen fixers. Those biomass trees will then be cut down to chest level before the rainy season (or at the end of autumn in temperate climates). Applying this pruning technique will not only build good quality soil over time but also trigger a growth hormone release throughout the whole system pushing growth of everything within it. To attract native bird and insect species you should also consider adding some local plant species even though they might neither add to your table nor fix nitrogen.

Spacing Plants

To get a better understanding of how to finally design such a system, a spacing key is useful:

• Tree line to tree line (wideness): 80cm first tree line – 50cm walkway – 70cm biomass plants (e.g.. Vetiver, Mexican sunflower, pigeon pea…) – 200cm filled with veggies – REPEAT

In the lines themselves the trees are planted super dense together.

Depending on size and needs one might combine walkway, biomass plants and/or the veggie area (veggies will only grow until end of placenta II due to shade coverage).

The minimum tree spacing key looks as follows:

• Emergent to emergent tree: 12m

• Emergent to high tree: 10m

• Emergent to medium & low tree: 2m

• Emergent to biomass tree: 0.5m

• High to high tree: 9m

• High to medium tree: 7.5m

• High to low tree: 2m

• High to biomass tree: 0.5m

• Medium to medium tree: 6m

• Medium to low tree: 3m

• Medium to biomass tree: 0.5m

• Low to low tree: 3m

• Biomass to biomass tree: 0.5m

Ideally this spacing key is used on contour.

If you, like Ernst Götsch, are not a friend of tree lines, what Ernst recommends doing is: select an appropriate amount of diverse seeds, mix them all together, scatter them over your site and later decide which trees will stay and which won’t (negatives: some edible species vary heavily in flavour and consistency when grown from seed. Positives: way less work, good growing genetics only through natural selection, no row pattern).

Thoughts

Syntropic Agroforestry has received a lot of attention over the past few years. That being said, it is one of many different practices within the field of agroforestry practices and certainly has its negative sides. Contour is often times neglected in favor of north to south rows, invasive grasses instead of the mentioned vegetable rows will be a pain to manage over time, and proper spacing especially regarding tubers needs to be respected.

Hopefully this short how-to helps you get started on planning your own syntropic site to live more self-reliant.

Read These Past Blogs

What is Syntropic Farming?

The Problem with Permaculture

Applied Permaculture Principles

Learn More

Join us for one of our annual workshops on farming, plants, permaculture and more!

Rancho Mastatal - A Paradigm Shifter

Rancho Mastatal - A Paradigm Shifter

By 2023 Apprentice, Sebastian Wittwer

The current paradigm

PROGRESS, DEVELOPMENT, FREE TRADE. The western world runs on an inexplorable logic, replacing people with machines, creating local interdependences with global markets and excluding ancient knowledge preserved by native tribes. With an ultimate sense of righteousness, this industrial model is being spread around the globe, reducing the worlds diversity to a monoculture in a literal sense. This monoculture is only possible since freedom based on individualism is pushed as one of the “culture’s” main achievements. This freedom means also freedom from traditional community values which can lead to a loss of all sense of importance. Consumerism doesn’t express freedom, but slavery to purely material values. Everyone living in the same kind of buildings, wearing the same kind of clothes, working for the same reasons is not individuality but rather the homogenization of all people. True individuality depends on community. We have been taught to live in a culture of alienation, separation, and blocked initiatives rather than in practices of commitment. Freedom from responsibility for others is equally a loss of assurance that others are ready to be supportive of. To be able to obtain a rich diversity in culture around the globe and on the search for a renewed sense of community, it seems necessary to develop concepts of self that are very different from that with which we have been indoctrinated. Therefore we have to rethink the way we want to live in the modern world.

The significance of rooted teachers

Emme (Apprentice 2023) leading the daily meeting – the communal way of communication

Rancho Mastatal is living and teaching prime examples of what it actually means to loosen up these seemingly “set in stone” structures by returning to a communal oriented life.

Against sacrificing local production, local economic stability and communal security to transient efficiencies and the quick profits of distant businessmen/women through electronic communication and teaching, Rancho Mastatal provides educators willing to live where they work and to work where they live. A class of educators that cultivate a sense of place and that is therefore able to distinguish between local and universal, particular and general, concrete and abstract. Not only does this push their educational standard over most western universities’, it also helps building a strong local community by including native tribes and their knowledge, by creating local wealth and social security, and by emphasizing real and honest relationships towards everyone around.

Core team member Ali, hands on teaching clay plastering – one of the many skills she owns and can give instant feedback on

The importance of building onto the local economy

Through an orientation of their agriculture towards local needs, local possibilities, and local limits, Rancho Mastatal also supports the health of the land, the people, and their democratic liberties.

By switching their priority from the global to the local economy, they reduce the outflow of capital to distant corporations and capital then circulates within the local economy. Instead of trying to live as self-sufficient as possible, a sense of relying on their community has proven itself as the way to be. Instead of isolation, incorporation of the local community has proven itself as more community friendly, more efficient and a more sustainable way to be. This expresses itself especially through the food they eat (mostly locally grown rice, beans, eggs, veggies like yuca and malanga), which goes against the culture of food from where the majority of the core team comes from.

Typical brunch meal: Gallo Pinto, fried eggs, malanga patties, leftover frittata, fruit, salad, kimchi, salad dressing – mostly locally sourced, in parts even self-grown

By building this local food economy (which is at this point as much local as possible, though not free of regional, national and international products), one might even call it a local foodshed as they add a lot of value to the community. First it overall improves the quality of the food itself. Second they increase consumer influence over production which makes each and every consumer a participatory member in their own food economy and helps to ensure a sustainable dependable supply of food at the same time. Farming practices are immensely improved and last but not least the costs associated with long supply chains (locking at packaging, transportation and advertising) are reduced, reducing the cost of food in general while increasing income to local growers, creating a positive feedback loop within their community.

A constant moral compass

Through their degree of popularity, Rancho Mastatal could totally start emphasizing monetary profits and capitalize of the place a lot more, which would most probably induce a decrease in their ability to stick to the permaculture ethics (people care, earth care, fair share, transition). Against this common western path, this place and its people stay true to their moral compass even though they wouldn’t have to. Instead of going ever bigger and bigger while trying to maximize profits, they are using their resources to give back to their community in any and every way possible.

Courses held in Spanish that only cover the costs during its time or simply sending people over to the local soda to get extra/different food are minor examples of what is described above as measures of their established paradigm against the monocultural life of the west.

To be able to initiate changes that may someday become radically transformative it needs places starting with small, reformist changes. Rancho Mastatal has proven itself over more than 20 years to be one of those places.

Locally produced chocolate by La Iguana Chocolate sold by Juan Luis - Good business during the dry season with all the guests, course attendees and friends visiting the Ranch and therefore one way of bringing more capital into the community as a whole

Check Out These Past Blogs

The Problem with Permaculture – Understanding Elements and Functions

Transition Ethics: The Art of Compromise

The Ecstasy of Cheese: A Meditation on our Conceptions of Value

The Ecstasy of Cheese: A Meditation on Our Conceptions of Value

The Ecstasy of Cheese: A Meditation on Our Conceptions of Value

By 2023 apprentice, Sedona Lewis

One evening the apprentices were enjoying dinner when Sam, a core team member, approached us with a gift. From our reaction, a bystander might have assumed he unveiled something approximating a winning lottery ticket. However our hoots and hollars were in response to, simply, cheese.

After only a few months living at the Ranch, I have observed my experience of eating good cheese transform from mundane to something approaching ecstasy. This has lead me to reflect on our personal and collective conceptions of value.

Apprentices excited about cheese!

A Permaculture Diet

As a society we have grown accustomed to waltzing into a grocery store and purchasing virtually any vegetable, fruit, grain, nut, or seed we desire. Globalization has artificially eliminated scarcity and seasonality from our lives; we are living in an age of unprecedented abundance.

Seasonal fruits off the farm

In Mastatal, there is no grocery store. Aside from the local bar and the Soda, a small restaurant, the closest store is forty minutes by car. Despite our isolation, the Ranch is a place of remarkable abundance. However different from the globalized, western sort of 'abundance' referenced earlier.

We are lucky to operate in a part of the world which provides a prolific variety of edible and otherwise useful plants. Things we can't produce ourselves are mostly purchased from our neighbors, such as milk, eggs, and pork. Nearly all other vegetables, fruits, and other food items sourced regionally. Thanks to the hard work of our meal coordinators (mostly Robin), over 80% of the calories we consume are sourced within fifty miles of the Ranch.

We maintain a sense of place within our diets; during meal times we are engaging with our surroundings. No longer are we enjoying cheese from France, salami from Italy, and wine from Spain in the same meal. We're embracing the here  through our food.

In keeping with the ethics of Permaculture, this means we are dependent on and invested in the health of our local and regional communities. The variation in our meals comes with the seasons, and our health is linked to that of our environment. I have observed that this way of interacting with food has changed the way I think about, and value, my food.

Sedona with her morning harvest of salad greens

Our Conceptions of Value

Olive oil, butter, cheese, meat, bread, and nuts are examples of foods that many of us used to consume almost daily. Delicious, yes, but not extraordinary, and only worth what the price tag says at the store. Now, several months into the apprenticeship, items like these have become precious.

During my days splitting bamboo, sifting clay, and working in the orchards, I've had the opportunity to ponder the following questions. I invite you to consider them for yourself before reading my list of ideas.

What makes something valuable?

Perhaps...

• An item's relative availability

• The effort required to acquire the item

• The relative necessity (a bowl of rice when you've just eaten a meal and a bowl of rice when you haven't eaten for 2 days may as well be two completely different items)

• Personal preferences/tastes

• The collective value structure and social narrative associated with that item

The experiential and monetary value of a food item can be somewhat arbitrary...

Of course it's important to note and remember that our species evolved under conditions in which sufficient nutrition was not the norm. It makes sense why nutrient dense foods such as cheese, meat, and honey were and are sought after and treasured.

But still, we invest a lot of resources shipping things like salad greens, spices, and liquors around the world. Is the Italian wine really that much better? Couldn't the same caloric and satisfactory needs be met with items produced regionally? It seems that there is something deeper influencing our values surrounding food.

Our special occasion pizza party

what do we gain by attaching arbitrary value to specific foods?

• Special foods provide a sense of occasion and celebration

• These occasions provide a sense of anticipation, which alters our experience

• Special foods, and the events formed around them, provide space for community to be            built

• As food is a human universal, sharing food is a way to bridge and build relationships

A Note on Sharing

One might assume that precious food items at the Ranch would be hoarded; kept in decoy packaging in the back of the refrigerator with the intention of maximal solitary indulgence. However, as we have adjusted to our new environment, I have observed something entirely different. The reflexive action when in possession of said precious items has been radical generosity. Perhaps it is because a precedent of sharing and reciprocity has been set for us by the culture here at the Ranch. However, it genuinely seems like reveling in the remarkable depth of blue cheese is just more enjoyable when done in the company of others.

Enjoying sharing some treats with the community

The utility of sharing is easy to see when living in community. When taken out of the individualist paradigm operating in most of the western world, reciprocity is an undeniably advantageous practice. Given the unpredictable nature of life, I wouldn't be surprised if appropriate generosity has been selected for throughout our evolutionary history. No doubt those who refuse to share with their community when needed would feel the consequences of their actions later on.

Looking Ahead

So, I invite you to consider how living in this age of convenience and instant gratification affects your sense of value.

How might your experience of peaches change if you only ate them when they were in season? What could be gained by manufacturing a bit of scarcity, creating some anticipation, in your life? How can you apply these principles, rooted in Permaculture, to repair your communities and regenerate our natural environment?

Just food for thought - because now we only have cake on birthdays, and I think it tastes sweeter.

Chocolate bon bons, made from locally grown cacao

Check out These Past Blogs

Eating Local: Reconnecting to Food

Farm to Table Permaculture Pizza

Turn Local Rice and Beans into Fermented Bread

An Interwoven Life

An Interwoven Life

By 2023 apprentice Elya Justina Mech

As you pass through the gates at Rancho Mastatal, you step into another world. A place where perhaps the hands you hold at evening circle are the very ones who built the structure you'll sleep in that night.  Where your salad greens come from the garden you walked through that morning with your coffee, and the cows down the road have not only given the kitchen milk to make dairy kefir, but manure to fuel the bio-digester cooking system.  The connections here are endless; its permaculture life you can see and touch.

As apprentices we are learning the principles of permaculture - not just in the classroom but also in our morning community contribution skills, during meal prep, on our walks through the agroforestry system, and as we assist with the daily function of the Ranch's infrastructure.

Its easy to understand why this way of life makes so much sense.  We can see our regenerative influence on the natural environment, and feel a deep satisfaction from knowing how the components of your day are interwoven.

And at the Ranch it's very clear to see that you are also nature, you belong here, and you can have a healing impact on the earth.

Here are some more examples of ways in which our daily life is interconnected:

• Water Kefir or "Balm" that we enjoy at our meals is a probiotic-rich, fermented drink made from yeast, local raw cane sugar with a base of fruits, spices and herbs from our gardens and orchards.

• Eggs from Dona Flor, a chicken farmer in Mastatal who provides us with a large supply of our daily protein. Our beautiful brunches feature frittata or scrambled eggs.  We also make homemade mayonnaise and use the eggs in baking for special occaisions.

• Composting toilets allow us to drastically reduce our water consumption compared to conventional toilets.  They also create nutrient-rich humanure to be used in our orchard spaces.

Meeting our energetic, nutritional, and social needs in symbiosis with nature brings such a joy and satisfaction to all those who live, work and visit Rancho Mastatal.  Its inspiring to see how we can live in way that is kinder to the Earth and healthier for our bodies and minds.

Thinking back to life before the Ranch, its easy to see how many components of my daily life came from far off places and how my needs were often met by people whom I did not know and came from sources I was unfamiliar with.  Without that integration I felt disconnected and there was a part of my spirit which was searching for more.

When we think about all the aspects of our daily lives - what we eat, how we process our waste, how we spend our time, and the spaces we occupy, we can ask ourselves 'how interconnected are these elements'? 

Part of the magic of the Ranch is how its inspiring others to bring back these values and ideas to wherever they're from and share a new way of living with their family and community.  You don't have to be living in a rural town in the tropical rainforest of Costa Rica to have a life that is interwoven, regenerative, and full of meaning.

Perhaps you can start by growing some herbs or veggies in your own backyard or by finding a farmer's market to visit each week.  How about hosting a monthly dinner with your neighbours and inviting everyone to bring a homemade dish?  Which local businesses in your city can you become a patron of? 

Maybe you are already living on a piece of land you'd like to develop into a community project. There could be a nearby seed saving bank to help you get started on growing heirloom varieties of vegetables or neighbours to borrow tools from and donate building materials.  Often times there are school groups looking for volunteer opportunities and gardening clubs who have years worth of knowledge to share.  The farmers in your area will also be a valuable resource to connect with, having insight into growing seasons and weather patterns.  If you are looking to raise animals, they may be willing to help you get started and even sell animals to you.

Permaculture is all about creating a thriving and regenerative world for us to live in and enjoy. We can use smart and slow solutions right where we are to improve the way we meet our needs and the needs of others.

As I spend another beautiful day at Rancho Mastatal I am filled with gratitude to be able to learn these lessons in the heart of a thriving community.  With each meal, every visit to the garden and orchardsand spending time in structures that have been lovingly made from the land, I realize how this interwoven life has enriched me and changed the way I will live from now on.

What is Syntropic Farming?

What is Syntropic Farming?

By Joshua Wright, apprentice 2022

Syntropy and entropy are two forces at work in this universe. Entropy being the movement of matter and energy towards chaos and simplicity over time. Syntropy being the opposite, of the movements of matter and energy towards higher levels of complexity and order over time. Syntropic farming is tapping into this universal force and leveraging it to produce a product useful to humans, food.

On Earth plants are the drivers of syntropy. Through photosynthesis they accumulate solar energy and make that energy available to other forms of life. Over time this accumulation of energy has led to the ability of our planet to support the order and complexity of life we see today.

To understand how we can use this for food production we need to have an understanding of a natural forest system and how it evolves and accumulates energy.

A forest cycle: 

We define a forest cycle as from clearing to clearing.

Starting with a blank slate, "weeds" and grasses colonized bare ground. Slowly energy accumulates supporting shrubs, small trees and eventually a mature forest. Then an old tree dies and falls creating a new clearing.

This is one cycle. This process can take thousands if not millions of years. Then the next cycle begins anew. However this cycle isn't starting from the same point as the cycle before. The system has millennia of accumulated energy stored as organic matter, topsoil and biodiversity. The time taken in cycle two to reach a mature forest is dramatically reduced compared to cycle one. 

This is syntropy at work!

When we start a syntropic agroforestry system we start by creating a clearing, kick-starting cycle two.

So what do we plant in this clearing?

When selecting our plants we want to make sure to represent all the different layers in a mature forest. The layers are categorized as Emergent, High, Medium and Low.

Mimicking a forest our emergent layer should occupy 20% of the canopy. Below that our high layer will occupy 40%, Medium 60% and low 80%.

Image by Orchard of Flavours

These layers are directly related to how much sunlight a plant needs to thrive. E.g. Papaya is emergent needing full sun. Most of your familiar fruit trees occupy the high layer, cocoa would be in the medium or low layer along with coffee as they tolerate lots of shade.

Another consideration when deciding what to plant is how quickly a plant will grow.

This takes us to a key idea in syntropic farming.

Maximizing solar energy capture

We don't want to have to wait several years for our fruit trees to be mature to have a closed canopy with maximum solar capture. We want to harvest this energy immediately.

To do this we have to design our syntropic farm not only in space but also in time.

A helpful tool is to further categorize our plants by their life cycle. In syntropic farming these categories are labeled: placenta 1, placenta 2, secondary 1, secondary 2 and climax. 

Placenta 1 are fast growing annuals that mature within 6 months. E.g. Radish, arugula (note. these are also part of the emergent layer, not because they are tall trees, obviously, but because of how much sun they need.)

Placenta 2 are slower growing annuals or biannual that are ready to harvest between 6 months and 2 years. E.g. Banana, pineapple, yuca.

Secondary 1 are fast perennials ready between 2-10 years. 

Secondary 2 are slow perennials, 10-15 years. E.g. Most fruit trees.

Climax, this category takes over 15 years to mature. E.g. hardwoods and nut trees.

Now I know this is sounding awfully complicated and it is.  So let's take a step back and see what this looks like when we start putting it all together.

Image by ECHOcommunity

Understanding our layers and succession planting

We have our clearing, the stage is set. 

In a mature forest all the seeds of the different layers are present in the soil together at the same time. When that clearing occurs they all start growing together, some fast, some slow, occupying all the different layers. We will do the same. 

Sowing a variety of annuals, perennials, fast and slow growing plants. With good planning what we get is our annuals popping up, harvesting sunlight, shading the soil and providing us with a crop in the first few months. When we harvest those annuals, light and space is opened up for the next succession of plants to come through. There is always a cover of green, growing leaves on our site, photosynthesizing and shading the soil.

After a few years, after the harvest of placenta 2, our fruit trees will be well established saplings. They have been protected from wind and harsh sun, they have had the soil loosened by the roots of all the plants that came before and they are in the perfect position to thrive!

Your Syntropic orchard awaits

Through observing how natural systems work, partnering with nature, humble stewardship and intentional management, humans have the potential to shepherd and accelerate succession. Regenerating eroded landscapes, reversing desertification and growing plants to eat. Let's make our food production systems part of the solution.

Learn More

Join us for one of our yearly workshops about permaculture, farming, plants and more!

If You Practice Yoga, Practice Permaculture

If You Practice Yoga, Practice Permaculture

By 2022 apprentice Lucas

Yoga.* Permaculture. Two seemingly disparate systems of knowledge and practices. What does a morning vinyasa flow class have to do with a plant guild? What does a contour line have to do with downward facing dog? Sit back, find your beginner’s mind, and read on.

Here are 5 reasons to practice both yoga and permaculture:

#1 Ahimsa and permaculture ethics

Ahimsa is the first yama (observance) of yoga ethics. Ahimsa is non-violence, or translated affirmatively, it is compassionate living and celebrating the inherent sacredness of all life.

The three ethics of permaculture are earth care, people care, and fair share; there’s also arguably a fourth - transition.

Earth and human care are outward expressions of ahimsa. This is what grounds a skillful permaculturist AND a skillful yogi aspirant. An active practice of love is caring for the earth and caring for each other. All of permaculture and yoga is built on this.

#2 Prana and prosperity

Skillful permaculture yields prosperity and abundance of: food, fuel, diversity, resilience, and interconnection. By harnessing natural forces and energy (prana) like rainfall and sunlight, permaculture produces more life-serving outputs like food or wildlife habitat, with less energy invested.

By working with our breath in yoga, we cultivate prana, mastering our life force from within. This yields more steadiness and ease even in challenging physical movements, poses, or expressions. Many yoga sequences are based off of optimally activating the nadis (energy channels) in the body to rebalance and revitalize us. We hold downward dog after opening our hearts in cobra. On a landscape, we plant vegetation on contour to catch and store water and minimize erosion.

With permaculture, we breathe life into a landscape, channeling prana along the nadis, and the result is prosperity.

#3 Observe and interact

Observe and interact is the first principle of the permaculture design methodology.

When observing nature and the land from a permaculture paradigm, I notice how much sunlight a particular area gets, what the microclimate is, the qualities of the soil, and the wildlife present. I devote especially close attention to an orchard slope and make a mental note of which plants need pruning and which need more support. I prune, I apply some nitrogen rich compost, and I come back in a few days to observe again. I learn from my observations and I learn from my actions.

Observation is a cornerstone of yoga. We observe our breath. We observe our body. We bring conscious attention to our thoughts and allow them to pass through our awareness like leaves floating down a river. By observing closely we build our awareness.

We then engage the breath, mind, and body in various exercises and movements. The interactions lead to new observations in perfect interdependent co-arising. We feel greater well-being, samadhi, or connection to the divine.

#4 Sangha and community

Well-being is supported in community (sangha). In spite of a toxic dominant culture that tries its best to separate us and 2+ years of the covid experience, people found ways to connect and continue to create community. Yoga centers offered classes online, outdoors, or utilized other larger community spaces to accommodate mats being farther apart. The act of practicing together creates bonds between all beings present. The possibility of harmony emerges.

Mutual support is an essential aspect of successful permaculture communities and landscapes. From a permaculture perspective, we create the conditions needed for mutual support. We create a greywater system to disperse water to plants that need the water, plants who then filter the water to be clean enough to continue on in the water cycle. We create a salt-water brine to submerge green papaya in order to support the growth of Lactobacillus bacteria, who then ferment our raw papaya into tasty kimchi that improves the fortitude of our gut microbiome. We exist on this earth in a community of life.

Inclusive yoga spaces where people come together to practice creates communities of mutual support just like a plant guild of wild hops (nitrogen fixer and mulch), caña india (contour stabilizer), vetiver (erosion control), and pineapple (food crop). Thich Nhat Hahn said that the next Buddha will be a Sangha, a community. Perhaps that is a yoga community, or the permaculture community, or a synthesis of many communities.

#5 Skill in action

Yoga is skill in action. Permaculture is skill in action. Yoga is reunion. Permaculture is reunion in this 3D material reality.

What does social and environmental justice look like? What does healing look like? What does a healthy community and landscape look like? Drab concrete, hazy air, industrially processed food, and the pounding sound of heavy machinery? Or green spaces, fresh air, abundant fruit hanging off trees, and the song of birds and lively human conversation?

Both permaculture and yoga reckon with cultural appropriation, privilege, and the intersectional systemic injustice of our day. Both are attempting to bring forth ancient wisdom that differs from current societal norms. Both have immense potential to heal: individuals, communities, and the biosphere. Both are vehicles of transformation.

Stale, sterilized yoga practice in commercialized studios of the capitalistic west is not enough. Reunite with the divine AND local water, food, energy, and educational sovereignty. Activate your chakras AND your connection to the community of life. Put your head in the clouds AND your hands in the earth.

If you practice yoga, practice permaculture

All the “reasons” above are really all the same. A personal yoga practice can feed and nourish oneself to devote even greater energy into permaculture practices out in the world. An applied permaculture approach to one’s home and community creates opportunities for healing out in the world. The co-founder of the yoga studio I completed my yoga teacher training at often speaks about how important it is to take our yoga practice with us off of the mat. Bringing yoga into our everyday lives. I don’t know of a better systemized way to do that than through permaculture. If you practice yoga, practice permaculture.

Sources and notes:

1. Bhagavad-Gita

2. Skill in Action (Michelle Cassandra Johnson)

*Yoga means many things to many people. The yoga I’m writing about is the yoga I practice and study. Mostly Hatha-Raja yoga, with lineage through Lindsay and Bart of Global Breath in Durham, NC and their teacher Dharma Mittra in NYC

Want to Learn More About Permaculture?

Join us for one of our yearly Permaculture Design Certifications.

Check Out these past blog articles about permaculture

Why the World Would be a Better Place if Everyone Took a Permaculture Design Certification

Why you Should Take a Permaculture Design Certification course at Rancho Mastatal, Costa Rica

The Problem with Permaculture – Understanding Elements and Functions

The Wizard and The Prophet — A Book Review that Resolves the Duel

The Wizard and The Prophet — A Book Review that Resolves the Duel

By 2022 apprentice Lucas Babinec

Imagine two completely opposed ways of seeing the world and today’s environmental issues. The first represents the Wizards and sees humans as large-scale problem solvers, able to create massive top-down fixes with cutting edge technology and innovations, perhaps outside the bounds of nature. The second features the Prophets and sees humans as needing to consume less, becoming more efficient, less wasteful, adhering to the biological limits all other species live within. These two paradigms became two of the most significant movements within environmentalism over the last 150 years and in The Wizard and The Prophet, Charles Mann dives deep into the lives of the two men who most embodied the two distinct views: William Vogt and Norman Borlaug. Mann also brings a magnifying glass up to their impact on initiatives to modern day dilemmas regarding food, water, energy, and climate change.

The book’s successes

The read was often captivating, really humanizing two prominent people who dedicated their lives to the environmental challenges we face as a species. I feel environmentalism can get quite unapproachable and unrelatable for the typical person. People talking about problems that are far away from one’s own backyard, not only physically, but timescale too (decades in the future). Mann impressively paints the story arc of the lives of these two men, weaving the philosophies and figures that influenced them smoothly into a cohesive narrative. Here’s some essential info about them:

William Vogt ~ aka the Prophet

·       Born in “pre-suburban” Long Island in 1902 and dealt with polio and serious family drama

·       Saw the degradation of the surrounding natural habitat during his early adulthood as a bird watching enthusiast

·       Headed to the guano islands off the coast of Peru in 1939; hired to conduct research about the birds there

·       Published The Road to Survival in 1948

·       National director of Planned Parenthood from 1951 until 1961

Norman Borlaug ~ aka the Wizard

·       Born in rural Iowa in 1914 and watched his family struggle to make ends meet year after year farming the land

·       Had ambitions to get out of his small town and studied forestry at the University of Minnesota

·       Researched wheat rust in Mexico beginning in 1944; new cultivars of disease resistant wheat discovered in the late 1950s

·       Methods applied to wheat in other countries plus rice and other staple crops throughout 1960s, “Green Revolution” coined in 1968

·       Won a Nobel prize in 1970

The way Mann structures the middle portion of the book into sections (food production, freshwater supply, energy usage, and climate change) is intuitive. To see the two different approaches directly applied to real life challenges made the whole premise of the book way more relevant.

Mann skillfully explains the process farmers use to create new breeds of a plant as well as the process of photosynthesis as it relates to attempts to create adaptations in new varieties of food plants. There are a couple of helpful graphics to accompany these detailed explanations too (pp140 & pp195).

In the water section it was fascinating to learn about mega-projects and the pitfalls that come up, like lack of funding, ecosystem degradation, and poor efficiency.

The stories in the energy section about the demise of oil boom towns and the machines of the initial solar power movement like the Pyrheliophoro, were particularly interesting.

In the climate change section Mann nimbly bounces between reforestation of deserts in Burkina Faso, a debris mountain named Fridgelandia in post-Katrina NOLA, the burning Jharia coal field, US senate testimonies about change in carbon dioxide levels, and much much more.

The deluge of information would be overwhelming if it weren’t for Mann’s deft ability to sow the threads in the overarching narrative.

Constructive criticisms

While being quite exhaustive in regard to history, the book’s breadth of scope looking at how the ideologies look in modern day solutions is disappointing. For example, the word ‘permaculture’ is not mentioned a single time in the book. One reason that alternative solutions are marginalized is because best-selling authors such as Charles Mann don’t devote awareness to them. Thousands of readers could have been exposed to key words such as permaculture, holistic management, or regenerative agriculture and are instead left to wonder if big technological fixes are our only way out. To his credit, Mann does say in the prologue that the book is not “a blueprint for tomorrow.” However, this contradicts the text on the cover flap that claims “The Wizard and The Prophet is essential reading on the future of our species.”

Another critique is the subtle sensationalization of opposition in the two views. Though they did have their differences, Vogt and Borlaug shared many similarities, most importantly being english speaking white men who grew up in the United States in the early 20th century. Both were immersed in the cultural soup of the times and it follows that they were subject to the same biases as anyone with close proximity to power. Vogt walked in the footsteps of racist elitist conservationists (pp81-82) and Borlaug was influenced by the heads of the big money groups who funded his projects (pp119-120). The inherited intellectual imperialism seeps out insidiously in both the Wizard and Prophet views portrayed in this book. A caption on a photo captures it perfectly:

 “According to its architect, Ralph Walker, the modernist IRRI [International Rice Research Institute — An institute based in the Philippines funded by the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations] campus, constructed entirely of imported materials, symbolized ‘a new type of imperialism’ of ‘specialized knowledge generously given to backwards peoples,’” (190).

The passages that compare the two ideologies are rift with divisive language such as: ‘hostilities’, ‘conflict’, and ‘radically different’. Mann even writes, “indeed, the dispute between Wizards and Prophets has, if anything, become more vehement” (7).

It’s 2022 and there’s enough tribalism and opposition going on, at least in my home country of the US. We don’t need another book that pits two groups against each other. Maybe that is what’s needed for some people to build awareness of our species’ ecological situation.

Personally, I would have been much more interested if Mann also focused a bit on the similarities between the two men and their philosophies and how we can integrate both approaches to find the best, most appropriate solutions.

In the end of the prologue Mann asserts that “I wrote this book to satisfy my own curiosity, and to see if I could learn something about the roads my children could take,” and I hope his curiosity has led him into researching more holistic, healing, and regenerative solutions (such as permaculture) in the next book he publishes.

The Bottom Line

The Wizard and The Prophet is exceptional as a history and at the same time, lacking as a source of knowledge for the future. If you want a detailed account of two major establishment approaches to environmental challenges, this is a book for you. If you are more interested in reading about holistic solutions to our global ecological crisis, seeking a source of inspiration, or want to read about ways of bridging different ways of thinking, I highly recommend these books:

All We Can Save

Braiding Sweetgrass

Climate: A New Story

Permaculture: A Designer’s Handbook

Check out these Past Blog Articles

Book Recommendations

Ranch Reading Recommendations

Permaculture-Based Alcohol Production as an Energy Source — “The Proof is in your Buzz”

Permaculture-Based Alcohol Production as an Energy Source — “The Proof is in your Buzz”

By 2022 apprentice Lucas Babinec

With a refractometer we determine the brix of various fruits

Bring to mind a world where energy is cheap, plentiful, AND environmentally friendly. What’s powering that world? Wind? Biogas? Hydroelectric? Solar?

Pause.

Take this question seriously.

Our current track record with energy has us in a planetary ecological crisis, not to mention indirectly causing inequity and oppression all over the world. Now, what if we could grow our own fuel, in a way that increases soil fertility, ecosystem health, biodiversity and without any pollution or additional extraction of our planet’s precious resources. In a decentralized, community supporting, and resilient system. Caring for each other (people), the earth, and sharing the abundance fairly. Crazy. Nonsense. Not possible.

Enter Permaculture-Based Alcohol Production as an energy source

Please, if you’re here reading this and are unfamiliar with permaculture, check out these essential blog posts: Why Permaculture and Applied Permaculture Principles. Also, *shameless plug warning* look into taking one of our yearly Permaculture Design Courses.

In my first blog article I reviewed a book, ‘The Wizard and the Prophet’, about two different mindsets when working through our ecological challenges as a species. Permaculture-based alcohol fuel production harmonizes both perspectives, bring the best tech magic from the wizard and the most essential wisdom from the prophet together. At this point you probably are asking the question:

How?

Simple. Regenerative agriculture. Fermentation. Distillation. And then cycling all yields back into the system, aided by stacking functions and honoring the principle of zero-waste. This can be done on a household level or on a community level. Both would work within the design framework of permaculture and both are probably needed to gain true energy sovereignty. Primary fuel crop and overall polyculture selection would be specific to each biosphere and personal/regional culture preference.

A productive banana grey water circle

For example, here in Mastatal that might look like a great diversity of fruit trees: Sapote, pitanga, starfruit, jackfruit, mango, papaya, and many others that offer both food and the chance to ferment whatever can’t be eaten. Then, you’d have your staple fuel crops such as bananas, cassava (yuca), bamboo, and sugar cane. These would all be supported by other plants that fix nutrients in the soil (making them more bio-available), attract pollinators, and provide biomass for mulching. With skillful agroforestry methods in place, such as those implemented at Rancho Mastatal, anyone or any community could grow their own fuel. In a temperate climate like North Carolina, the fruit trees might be pawpaws, apples, and mulberries, with staple crops like potatoes, corn, soy beans, and hemp (grown in a polyculture/plant guilds with regenerative practices; no monocultures, no GMOs, no pesticides and other toxic chemicals).

Okay, now you might be wondering why this isn’t already the case. How come we don’t already have alcohol (aka ethanol) as an abundant, environmentally friendly fuel source?

100 years ago

What was going on in the United States back in 1922? Any guesses? Alright, well, many things actually, but what was a major one relevant to this topic? One word. Begins with a ‘P’.

PROHIBITION.

Our homemade alcohol station

The US Congress passed the 18th amendment in 1919, outlawing all production and distribution of alcohol. This destroyed the alcohol fuel industry and all farmer led cooperative distilleries, which had been booming since Pres. Teddy Roosevelt championed some liberating legislation in 1906. At the time, even Henry Ford preferred alcohol as a fuel source. The Model T was a dual fuel vehicle, able to run on ethanol or gasoline. Then an oil man with a last name beginning with ‘R’ ruined the party. When prohibition was reversed in 1933, gasoline was firmly positioned as America’s favorite fuel. Great for Big Oil. Bad for the people. Bad for the planet.

If this surprises you or leaves you feeling skeptical, I totally understand. Dive in, investigate and decide for yourself.

My curiosity has been sparked. I picked up the book ‘Alcohol Can Be a Gas’ by David Blume and now I want to prove that these possibilities are real. With more than six months left in my apprenticeship at the time of this writing, I reckon some experimentation and hands-on learning is in the cards. I didn’t even get into explaining the whole fermentation and distillation steps in this post or the various co-products that can be harvested from it. There’s a lot more to learn, stay tuned for the next installment of Permaculture-Based Alcohol Production. To be continued…

Read Other Permaculture Related Blogs

La Importancia de la Permacultura

6 Reasons to Use a Biodigester

Endeavors to End Propane: Local Fuel Sources and Efficient Cooking Technologies

Salak: A Productive Understory Crop

Salak: A Productive Understory Crop

By 2022 apprentice AJ Nolan

Salak palm is a great option for an understory species for a permaculture tropical agroforestry system. The risks of cultivating this species are beautifully contrasted by the enjoyment and health benefits of the fruit it produces. You truly get what you pay for. The fruit can be eaten right off the palm and makes for a great snack after working in the orchards.

Salak palm is native to Indonesia and is often cultivated in analogous climates. Here at the Ranch, we have around 40 palms both male and female.

A bowl of freshly picked salak

How to Start Growing Salak

Propagation

In order to establish salak in your agroforestry spaces you’ll need to start with propagation. Salak can be started from seed and should be placed sideways and half buried in a well-drained potting mix.

Both males and females are needed for successful fruit production. There is no way to determine the gender of the palm until 3 years after planting, when they begin to flower. Having 3 female plants for every male plant has proved to be optimal for our orchard space of roughly 4000m2. Once the plants reach maturity and begin to flower you can then identify any excess males you may have.  Replace them as needed to reach your ideal ratio (3 female : 1 male)

Planting

• The best time to plant is at the start of the rainy season.

• The soil around the palm should be heavily top-dressed with compost.

• Each plant should be planted 2-3 meters apart and are best planted in the same area for safety reasons and pollination needs (more on pollination below).

Keeping in mind the spiked nature of salak, it is good practice to avoid planting where any fruit or nuts may fall from overstory species. The palm is best planted under a low-maintenance canopy of fruit and nut trees. The individuals that have done the best in our orchard spaces have been ones that receive about 50% shade.

Maintenance 

Using the macana to help remove dead material

Maintenance of the salak palm is where your patience and physical fitness will be put to the test.

Once the plant reaches maturity, it is time to start pruning. Remove any dead material and any leaves that are blocking easy access and visibility to the flowers. It is recommended to remove any hijos that are growing on the mother plant. Hijos are competing with the mother plant for sunlight and nutrients so it is best to use them as mulch seeing as they inhibit fruit production. The mother plant can be identified by following the roots. The roots lead into the mother plant which is curved and looked to be in an upward dog position. Any other segment not attached to the roots, but are instead attached to the mother plant are known as hijos.

After pruning, we make donuts around the palm, using mulch from around the orchard space. Read this blog “5 Grow-Your-Own Mulch Plants for the Tropics”. We have moved away from using the salak prunings to mulch the trees with, as it makes for further maintenance and pollinating challenging. We pile the cuttings and let them decompose in a pile or burn them and add to the trees.

Helpful pruning tools

When it comes to pruning, always have both of your hands occupied so you don’t accidentally reach out and grab the spiky palm. For optimum pruning our tools are: a macana, machete, garrabato, loppers, and a pruning saw with a long blade or handle. Using a macana and a pruning saw is an effective way to pry the hijos off of the mother plant. This takes practice and it is best to have at least two people to pry the hijos away. Then, using a garrabato to move the fronds around, I use my machete to move the cuttings to the pile.

Unlike most tree species, salak’s growth pattern is not one of vertical extension. As salak continues to grow, it will shuffle along the ground (much like a snake) and will begin to hover, the roots acting as it’s foundation on the forest floor.

Pollinate

In addition to the efforts of pruning, you should also pollinate the female flowers with the male flower. The native pollinator can only be found in Indonesia so whilst native pollinators will give very low levels of production, if high yields are desired it is necessary to hand-pollinate (learn more about pollination here).

Female flower

Male flower

Salak flowers all year round, so we have found it very useful to mark the females with red flags for easier management. This is because you only need to check to see if the female plants have any receptive flowers and then go and find a male flower if needed.  The female flowers are cone-shaped and covered with a dense outer layer. The outer layer is shed over the course of a couple of months and the pink flower is revealed. The male flowers should be removed and brought to the female plant to dust the open flower. Within a few days the flower should harden up, which indicates a successful pollination.

Harvesting 

Now comes the best part....harvesting! To determine if the fruit is ripe, take one off towards the base of the clump of fruits, after eating the flesh, see if the seed inside has changed from white to a brown color. If the seed is brownish and the taste is sweet and satisfying, you’ll know the time is right! If the seed is light brown or white and the fruit is astringent then you will know to leave the clump of fruits on the palm to mature further.  Harvest when you can to avoid competition from pests but don’t be too indulgent because the fruit does not ripen off of the plant. After repeated successful harvests you will begin to be able to identify when the clumps are ready for harvest without needing to taste one first.

The different colors of the seeds to determine ripeness

Overview 

Salak is a valuable companion in your agroforestry spaces, able to be planted underneath mature fruit trees. Like anything worth doing it involves work and dedication, but the rewards are well worth the effort and the work will not be in vain. The fruit is delicious and nutritious and maintenance is a great way to truly earn the fruits of your labor.

References :

El Arbol “Al servicio de Agricultor” Vol 2. Guia de Especies

Check Out These Other Blogs About Salak & Permaculture

Salak Pollination

Salak Palm: A Guide for Tropical Permaculture

Ameding Calium-Deficient Soils - A Tropical Permaculturists Approach

LEARN MORE

Join us for one of our educational workshops about permaculture design, natural bulding, fermentation, and more. Check out our yearly workshops here.

Making Compost 101

Making Compost 101

By 2022 apprentice Joshua Wright

Smelly, sticky, messy.

Perhaps these are some words to describe your experience with food waste. But it doesn't have to be! Enter the world of composting!

In permaculture we love composting and would never think about just throwing away our food scraps into the trash, because they aren’t waste, they are resources that will benefit our garden and our planet.

Composting is a great way of dealing with your kitchen scraps, autumn leaf litter and/or lawn trimmings, along with any other organic matter that may be in your garden. Dealing with a “waste” product and turning it into something beneficial. In permaculture we also call this stacking functions.

An apprentice flipping our compost pile

What is compost?

Compost is broken down, decomposed organic matter. It occurs naturally in the environment around us as living things decay. Through human interaction this natural process can be sped up.

Why should you be making compost?

Composting has several great benefits:

• It improves soil health. Adding organic matter into soils allows them to better retain moisture leading to reduced irrigation costs. It lends itself to better aerated soils reducing the need to till and it provides habitat for beneficial fungi and micro-organisms to continue the work of decomposition and nutrient cycling. 

• It provides plants with nutrients essential for their growth. The main elements plants need are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K), all of which are present in compost, along with a number of other elements in trace amounts such as Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Iron (Fe) and Zinc (Zn).

• Composting diverts waste from ending up in landfills and the incinerator. Both of these require lots of energy and resources to maintain and manage, so by composting you are freeing up time, money, and energy for better utilization elsewhere (building an abundant, regenerative future we can be proud of).

• When in landfills food waste doesn’t have access to oxygen, becoming anaerobic. When decomposing in this airless environment it produces methane and carbon dioxide. When not in balance with natural cycles these gasses contributes to greenhouse gas overload in our atmosphere adding to our global climate crises.

In summary by composting not only are you doing less bad (by producing less pollution) you are actively doing good (building soil which is essential for a healthy planet)! Win, win!

So how do we go about getting started?

Our little wigglers that we use for our vermicompost!

1. First, let’s identify the best location: Ideally you will have a spot in your garden that is out of direct sun and protected from the rain. You will need something to contain the compost in. A wire cage or recycled wood pallet box will both work great. But you can use any containment method that is roughly 1m^3 and allows air to circulate. If you are limited in space or don’t have a yard, there are many great DIY options, such as a plastic bin with holes drilled out. Or check out vermicompost, which uses worms to help you out! Check out this blog article from Mother Jones to learn more about using worms to compost in a small space.

2. Next let’s look at what goes into your compost: We can break this down into two basic categories: "greens" and "browns". "Greens" are materials that contain higher quantities of nitrogen and "browns" contain higher quantities of carbon. Balancing this ratio of greens to browns is what will define the success of your compost operation.

3. This ideal ratio being 25-30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen.

   Examples of “greens” are kitchen scraps or fresh lawn clippings. “Browns” can be dried leaves, wood chips, saw dust, etc.

   Remembering that there is carbon in ALL organic material including materials that we classify as “green”, we can achieve our ideal ratio (25-30:1) by adding roughly 2 parts “brown” material to 1 part “green” material.

4. If your compost pile starts to smell, attract flies or is excessively wet add more browns, if it is too dry reduce that amount of brown material you add.

5. Your compost should have the same moisture content as that of a damp sponge. When squeezed firmly no more than a few drops should come out.

Excellent!

Armed with these basics outlined above you are ready to begin your journey into the underworld (soil).

Keep in mind that there is no teacher out there as good as direct experience so get your hands dirty and have fun with it.

One day, we too, shall be compost. And so closes the circle of life.

Emptying out one of our compost toilets

Other Related Blog Articles

Transforming Human Waste into Fertilizer: Compost Toilets

5 “Grow Your Own” Mulch Plants

Learn More

Join us for one of our educational workshops about permaculture design, natural bulding, fermentation, and more. Check out our yearly workshops here.

Beyond Cacao: The Fruit(s) of the Gods

Beyond Cacao: The Fruit(s) of the Gods

By 2021 Apprentice Cameron Conklin

Various forms of theobroma processing

You may have heard the term Theobroma (“theo” meaning “God” and “broma” meaning “fruit”) in reference to the genus of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) the incredible fruit that creates what we call chocolate. Here at the Ranch we love our cacao, but we also grow two other members of the Theobroma genus - cupuacu (Theobroma grandiflorum) and pataxte (Theobroma bicolor) who have stolen our hearts this year. Like cacao, these trees produce a fruit filled with delicious pulp and seeds and have proven to be amazing additions to our culinary experiments. These pre-Colombian species are still grown on a relatively small scale and have retained significant genetic diversity. They provide hope for a more diverse tropical forest system and chocolate industry.

A Short Description and History

The Cupuacu (Theobroma grandiflorum)

A cupuacu fruit

The cupuacu tree grows to an average height of 6-10 meters, maturing in 4 years. It has a large, brown, smooth oblong fruit (15-35 cm long), that falls to the ground when it is ready to be harvested. There are about 25 seeds per fruit protected by sweet, tangy pulp. Cupuacu is native to the Brazilian Amazon. Today it is still cultivated primarily in Brazil, but can be grown anywhere from southern Mexico to Peru. Right now, the cupuacu pulp is the most commonly used product from the fruit. The pulp is used for drinks, ice creams, pastries and other sweet treats common across Brazil. There is significantly more pulp in the cupuacu than cacao. To my surprise, the seeds are not as commonly commercialized, but there is a growing market. The seed is high in fat, about 48% (similar to 45% in cacao), which has created a budding market for industrialized cupuacu butter being used in cosmetics for skin care. Cupuacu butter has higher yields per fruit than cacao and its price is attractive for farmers. Processing accessibility seems to be the current limitation in production increase.

Yet the seed also makes for a creamy and delicious cupuacu chocolate or “cupulate” that creates light mocha-colored bars or drinks. From what I can see, there is an untapped market for an alternative chocolate product made from the cupuacu bean. The taste is tantalizing - fruity, earthy, and bright. It also has lower levels of alkaloids, theobromine, and caffeine than cacao but still retains high levels of vitamin C and anti-oxidants. The fat content makes for an extra creamy consistency. However it’s high oleic fat content is also one of its logistical downsides. It has a low melting point of 30 degrees Celsius (compared to 35 degrees for cacao) which can make transport difficult. Yet combining cacao and cupuacu together makes for a winning combination!

Here at the Ranch, we have used cupuacu for everything from making vinegars and wines, to bonbons and coconut cupuacu hot chocolate! It is truly a magical tropical fruit that I could see becoming much more popular across Central America soon.

The Pataxte

A pataxte fruit

The pataxte tree grows to an average height of 8-12 meters, maturing in 5 years. It has a large, yellow, round to oblong fruit with distinct ribs (12-30 cm long). Its pulp is tangy, and can sometimes give off the aroma of gasoline, but generally has a sweet taste. Here at the Ranch, the pataxte pulp flavor is defnintely more polarizing than cacao or cupuacu. There are about 40 seeds per fruit and the pods fall to the ground when ready to be harvested.

Similar to the history of cacao, the pataxte was developed into chocolate during the Aztec period and likely originates from the Amazon. Mesoamerican civilizations used pataxte in beverages similar to cacao. Pataxte is grown from Peru to Mexico, but today it is most commercially available in Mexico. Its seeds are used in combination with cacao to make chocolate bars or fried/roasted for savory dishes. In Oaxaca, there is a traditional beverage called the “popo” made of pataxte. Pataxte is also often used to create buttery foams on the top of traditional cacao and maize beverages in Maya culture.

Pataxte already has a history of being combined with cacao to make chocolate, but this relationship is still underutilized and certainly not pervasive in Costa Rica. Pataxte provides an incredible nutty, buttery, and sweet flavor to cacao. However, its fat content is much lower coming in at around 20%. This gives us the opposite problem of the cupuacu, making it difficult to create a creamy bar with just pataxte.

Sounds like a combination situation just might be the ticket! Here at the Ranch, we have combined pataxte with cacao and cupuacu to make bon bons, chocolate drinks and delicious chocolate sauce!

Seeing Chocolate in a New Light

A small harvest of cacao fruits

A beautiful and important lesson I’ve learned this year is that chocolate is more than just dark, hard and bitter. Experimenting with cupuasu and pataxte has showed me that chocolate can be soft, creamy, nutty, floral, and taste like red wine. Expanding my interpretation of chocolate to encompass these other Theobroma varieties has inspired me to learn more about how to grow cacao, cupuacu, and pataxte in combination. This could create a more ecologically and economically diverse and stable chocolate farm for growers across Central America. It could also create more complex and unique chocolate products for everyone to enjoy!

The Fermentation Process

These Theobromas taste best when the seeds have been fermented, letting the sugars in the pulp seep into the seeds and enhance the flavor of the beans. A typical ferment needs a fairly large number of fruits (30+) to reach the desired temperature to initiate fermentation. Due to the somewhat sporadic and limited harvest of cacao, cupuacu, and pataxte we get from our agroforestry systems, we often find ourselves needing to ferment a small number of fruits at a time (under 10). To tackle this problem, we have done everything from warming jars of seeds in hot water baths to heating them in our compost piles!

The recipe below has wound up being one of our favorite ways to “ferment” the beans. It is a two for one process creating both tasty vinegar and beans with a rich flavor profile. As sometimes happens, we actually never intended to use this recipe to ferment beans, we just decided to give the beans a try after making the vinegar. Lucky for us (and for you!) we loved the way the beans tasted after going through this process.

A mixture of Theobroma seeds that have been fermented and are drying in the sun

Recipe: Theobroma Vinegar Fermentation

Every so often, magic is created from a forgotten experiment. This recipe is just that, an experiment that was left on the back of the shelf only to be found again and turned into something delicious! This process actually produces two unique products, vinegar with notes of chocolate, red wine and nuts along with beans ready to be dried, roasted, and turned into chocolate!

When beginning with fresh pods:

1. Place seeds and pulp of cacao, cupuacu, and pataxte into a bucket. We have used as little as 4 fruits to as many as about 10 fruits for this process.

2. Fill with water, enough to cover all of the seeds and pulp sufficiently. Add more water if you would like to yield more vinegar. This is up to you!

3. Add 1/3 cup tapa dulce (our source of raw sugar) for every fruit in the ferment.

4. Leave open to oxygen but covered for bugs (we use a cheesecloth and string).

5. Stir once a day for 3 days.

6. On the third day, check the flavor of the ferment, adding more sugar if the solution has already lost significant sweetness.

7. Check the vinegar once a week for 3 more weeks, testing the solution to see how well the pulp has soaked off of the beans. Add more sugar if the vinegar flavor is weakening.

8. After about a month, check to taste - If the vinegar is tangy and the beans are relatively free of pulp (the cupuacu and pataxte will have more pulp than the cacao) then the vinegar ferment is ready.

9. Strain the vinegar and bottle, storing in an anaerobic environment for 6 months to age.

10. Wash the beans, removing any extra pulp you can, and lay out to dry in the sun.

These beans can then be used to make homemade chocolate bonbons, ground up and put in smoothies, or in the chocolate sauce recipe below.

recipe: Theobroma Chocolate Sauce

This creation is a delicacy here at the Ranch, made with three different members of the Theobroma family we grow: cacao, cupuacu, and pataxte. This sauce is a great accompaniment to almost anything sweet, but we particularly like it for drizzling over coconut macaroons (stay tuned for our upcoming recipe book). If you only have access to 1 or 2 of these beans, you can follow this same recipe and it will no doubt be delicious. The flavor profile will change as you change the ratios of the beans, so experiment as you have access to different quantities of each!

1/4 cup cacao beans

3/4 cup cupuacu beans

3/4 cup pataxte beans

1/4 cup tapa dulce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Water to taste

If beginning with fresh pods:

1. Ferment the beans following the “theobroma vinegar fermentation” recipe above.

2. Sun-dry or dry beans in a dehydrator (the skins should feel dry and no longer sticky).

3. Roast beans in a cast iron skillet on low for 15-20 minutes until flavors are released and shells look easy to peel.

4. Peel shells, separating beans out.

5. Grind beans all together using a heavy duty hand crank in order to release the fats, creating a paste.

6. On low heat, melt 1/4 cup tapa dulce (our local sugarcane), stirring in the paste. Slowly add water to create the consistency you are looking for. You can make this sauce as thick or thin as you’d like!

7. If you already have roasted nibs, you can skip steps 1-4 and continue with the recipe!

A cacao overlooking La Cangreja National Park

These magical and delicious fruits have some serious potential in the chocolate making market. We look forward to getting larger harvests and experimenting more with these incredible fruits.

Check out these past blogs

Farm to Table Chocolate Bonbons

Life of Spice: Farm to Table Cinnamon

How to Design, Plant, Maintain, and Feast from your Food Forest

Amending Calcium-Deficient Soils – A Tropical Permaculturist’s Approach

Amending Calcium-Deficient Soils – A Tropical Permaculturist’s Approach

By 2022 apprentice Connor Gilmartin

A walk through our orchard systems

Wade Davis once wrote that the Kogi people of Columbia believe “The surface of the Earth itself is an immense loom upon which the sun weaves the fabric of existence”. The garden and orchards of Rancho Mastatal are proof of this eloquent observation. While walking through the orchard spaces of the Ranch, your field of vision is overtaken by a mosaic of emerald green foliage, and gem-like, plump tropical fruits. This intentionally designed agroforest is abundant - however, a productive tropical orchard or garden does not come without hard work. Without mindful intervention, these orchards and gardens would not reach their fullest potential. It is our goal to listen to Madre Tierra, and help her achieve her most resilient, healthiest form.

Tropical Soils

While the jungle soils of Mastatal are abundant in in biodiversity, they are lacking in potential hydrogen (pH), which results in acidic soil. This low-pH, high acidity soil presents a bit of a problem for a gardener like myself, who is keen on optimizing a plant’s growing medium, in search of nutrient-dense, boast-worthy fruits and vegetables. Simply put, acidic soil results in low levels of available calcium. It is a known fact that calcium plays a crucial role in plant health and development. So… how can we remedy this issue? I’m glad you wondered.

A tropical permaculturist in this predicament is faced with two options; purchase bulk calcium carbonate in the form of ground limestone to apply as a top dress, OR use all those eggshells sitting on the top of the compost bucket to make Water-Soluble Calcium (WCA). WCA is one of the five inputs developed by Master Han Kyu Cho, the prolific South Korean gardener responsible for what is known globally as Korean Natural Farming (KNF). I’ll note that topdressing with limestone (CaCO3) does play a role in our agroforested zones - foliar feeding 12 acres of orchards would be unrealistic, to say the least. Foliar feeding a quarter acre of raised garden beds is a different story. Preparing WCA is fulfilling and presents a phenomenal opportunity to help close the loop between your garden and kitchen, while also providing your plants a calcium-rich tonic they’ll thank you for. When you see your pepper’s shiny leaves praying towards the morning sun, you’ll see what I mean.

How to Make Water-Soluble Calcium

I’ll begin by listing the materials you’ll need to make a batch of Water-Soluble Calcium (WCA). They are as follows;

1.)    Two clean glass jars (I am personally Ball Brand loyal, but any clean glass jars will do)

2.)    Eggshells (Rinsed after cracking to remove organic matter)

3.)    Brown Rice Vinegar (3% acetic acid is what you’re shooting for if you make your own vinegar like we do here at the Ranch)

4.)    A cast iron skillet

5.)    A breathable cloth to act as a “lid” (cheesecloth or nut milk bags work quite well)

Washed egg shells and homemade bottles of vinegar

One of our alternative wood fired cooking stoves

I chose not to list specific quantities of eggshells and vinegar because the amount of WCA you might want or need is variable, depending on the size of your garden space or application schedule.  By weight, the solution will be prepared using a ratio of 1:10 (eggshells to brown rice vinegar).

To prepare the WCA solution:

1.)    Collect eggshells, gently wash with water after cracking.

2.)    Lightly roast the cleaned, dried eggshells in a cast iron skillet for approximately 30-45 minutes. This removes any potential leftover organic matter stuck to the shell. Shells should be dry and toasted golden but not charred.

3.)    Add toasted shells to a glass jar filled with brown rice vinegar. You will see carbon dioxide being released as the eggshells float up and down the vinegar. This is good. This is a sign the calcium is being dissolved into the solution.

4.)    Cover your jar with a breathable cloth. This prevents pests or large organic matter from entering your prized water-soluble calcium solution.

5.)    Place jar in a cool, dry location for 7 to 10 days.

6.)    After this time has passed, check to see if the solution is still bubbling. If it’s not, that means your solution is saturated and all set for the final step.

7.)    Strain your solution into a clean glass jar to remove eggshells. Cover with airtight lid, label, and store at room temperature out of direct sunlight.

Toasted egg shells

Egg shells sitting in vinegar

Voila! A week has passed and now you have a jar of homemade water-soluble calcium. You must be excited to go give your plants a taste. I’d recommend doing so in the early morning. Greet the sun, sing to your plants, and remember, your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds, you can grow flowers, or you can grow weeds. Happy gardening!

Want to learn More?

We have been applying permaculture principles to our agriculture systems for the past two decades. Join us for our yearly Permaculture Design Certification to learn more about designing and implementing sustainable tropical systems.

Check out these past blogs on Tropical Agriculture

Tips for Working with Tropical Soils

Using Mountain Microorganism to Create Organic Fertilizer

Making Microbes: Fungal vs Bacterial Soil Life

Nitrogen Fixing Plants at Rancho Mastatal