Permaculture

When you’re just beginning to design your permaculture property, the first question you’re likely to ask is “What to put where?” Should the compost be conveniently close to the house, or near the [...]

Permaculture gardening offers a holistic approach to managing your property, whether you aim to improve stormwater management, combat drought, or simply enhance ecological health. But how do you [...]

Every so often, someone will come up to us and ask – So what’s so important about permaculture anyway? How is it better than conventional farming? And what’s the deal with a “permaculture [...]

An orchard in your backyard – think of it!  A virtual grocery aisle, providing a ready crop of fruit and livestock to provide your family with healthy, nutritious, free food, enough to enjoy in [...]

If you’re looking to cut your landfill waste, undo the effects of erosion, reduce your climate footprint, and fall in love with the regenerative magic of soil, your best first step is a simple [...]

Cruise through suburbia one spring or fall day, and you’ll see them: rows upon rows of paper bags of leaves, lawn clippings, and yard waste, waiting for municipal pickup. Ironically,  the [...]

Early in the spring of your gardening life, when your herbs and veggies are still small, there’s a certain parent-like charm about trotting around with a watering can or hose, tenderly pouring a [...]

In our last blog, we looked at how water and soil interact in assuring the success of your permaculture property. In this post, we’re going to take a look at how you can revive the soil ecosystem [...]

It’s been a number of years since we moved from our first homestead in suburban Calgary, but we still love to hear the gasps of awe and admiration as we show its Before and After pictures: from a [...]

If you listen to conventional wisdom, you might begin to think that planting fruit trees on your property is a terrible idea – they’re prone to diseases and pests, and demand endless spraying and [...]

“Food forest” – “forest garden” – “agroforestry” – if you grew up seeing farms with single-crop fields stretching away into the distance, these terms may provoke some cognitive dissonance. [...]

(A Quick Summary of Rob Avis’ in-depth article on Mainframe Design, published in Permaculture Magazine)  When you’re face to face with your new property, how can you set priorities in beginning [...]

Imagine a garden where every plant, insect, and drop of water plays a vital role in a vibrant ecosystem. This is the heart of an epic permaculture garden, a space that transcends traditional [...]

One of the fascinating concepts in biology is the microbial infallibility hypothesis. In his 1951 textbook, British microbiologist Ernest Gale put forward a hypothesis which stated: “If [...]

If there was ever a time to add Permaculture to your property, it is now: whether you plan to buy a new piece, rural or urban, and transform it, or to redesign the property you have.  The last [...]

In my last post, we saw how a century-long trend of hyper-specialization has led us to where we are today, which has come with many benefits and tradeoffs. One of those tradeoffs is a false sense [...]

In my last post, we looked at the hidden risks in one crucial system of human civilization – energy – and how those risks could undermine the entire house of cards within a decade or [...]

Recently Hilliard MacBeth, director of wealth management at Richardson GMP in Edmonton, put his reputation on the line by stating that Canada is a a housing bubble set to burst in the next few [...]

For part 1 of the Building Enduring Assets series, click HERE. One of the keys to building enduring assets is smart debt management. Debt can be a tool, but beyond a certain point it can turn [...]

Check out the other posts in the Building Enduring Assets Series: Building Enduring Assets: An Introduction Building Enduring Assets: Debt Management An enduring asset is one that maintains or [...]

Check out the other posts in the Building Enduring Assets Series: Building Enduring Assets: Part I An Introduction Building Enduring Assets: Part II Debt Management Building Enduring Assets: Part [...]

Hi everyone, Rob here with a quick update. Through our activities with Verge & our consulting company, Adaptive Habitat,  we are continually immersed in exciting projects & opportunities [...]

After looking at lists of bad building design choices, I’ve gathered together top 11 promising appropriate technologies I’ve seen in use for residential and commercial buildings. For those [...]

Over the past 10 years I’ve seen a lot of mistakes in home design in both urban and rural properties. Over the next few blog posts, I want to look at some of those blunders and point to [...]

Recently Michelle, Rowan, Naomi and I embarked on a cross-country train trip to attend a family reunion in the eastern townships of Quebec. With a little extra time left over after the [...]

In this video Rob showcases one of the major water harvesting feature – an underground rainwater cistern – on Rob and Michelle’s urban home property. This rain tank is unique because [...]

For the past 5 years I have been consulting in permaculture, which is the design and integration of: renewable energy systems low energy buildings food system design – both annual and [...]

Last weekend both Jordan and I had an amazing opportunity to be part of Rob Avis of Verge Permaculture’s Design Team, participating in an applied Design Practicum at the Groundswell [...]

I recently had the opportunity to interview my friend Tad Hargrave from Marketing for Hippies in Edmonton, Alberta.  Verge has not only been hosting Tad’s workshops in Calgary, Edmonton and [...]

During the second week of the Verge Internship, interns participated in a bunch of different activities. Several of us worked on preparing small soil blocks for starting seedlings, and  [...]

Well this past week-end we kicked off the start of Spring in a big way: Saturday and Sunday were the first two days of our Calgary Permaculture Design Course, Saturday was Seedy Saturday and [...]

I just stumbled across this great podcast interview that was done by Mark Connoley-Mendoza as part of his “Meet Your Farmer’s Market” series back in July 2010. Thought this [...]

Well we had an absolute blast teaching the Calgary part time PDC this year and it is hard to believe that it is over! During the course we designed the Mustard Seed rooftop garden, surveyed and [...]

Everyone knows that you can’t finish a permaculture design course without a wrap-up party and talent show! Our first Design Course in Calgary was no exception to this rule – and our [...]

Last week-end we hosted our first annual potluck for all of our past (& present) (& some future) permaculture design students. It was a great event and really fun to re-connect with about [...]

Largely popularized by the 2008 documentary movie, Garbage Warrior, an Earthship is an earth-sheltered, passive solar home built from – well, trash (basically, car tires and cans). Inventor [...]

Thanks to the great group of people who joined us for a wonderful time this past week-end learning about the edible and medicinal qualities of wild plants. Big thank-you also to Master [...]

Last week-end we were invited up to Edmonton to teach a course at the UofA Campus Saint-Jean. It was a small, but very engaged class and we thoroughly enjoyed teaching and meeting more [...]

[Rob recently connected with Katrin Klingenberg, the Director of Ecological Construction Laboratory in Illinois and one of the founding members of Passive House Institute US. She had some great [...]