Preparing for Extreme Winters with Intensive Straw Mulching
When your farm is located, like ours, in a zone 3B spot challenged by wind, drought, erosion, and cold, protecting the soil and collecting water become major concerns. And so we’ve settled on the [...]
The Green Dreamer Podcast: Regeneration as a Real Path Forward
I recently had the chance to chat with Kamea Chayne from Green Dreamer Podcast about the poor condition of our soils and the solutions to address this problem, how we can eat a truly sustainable [...]
Good Life Revival Podcast: Rainwater Harvesting for Adaptive Habitats
How did Verge Permaculture begin? What is the order of operations in permaculture design if you want to prevent flooding and water scarcity ? How does a rainwater harvesting system mimic the [...]
How a Resilient Home Addresses Global Risks
This week, I want to go over a case study in rainwater harvesting design. This example is special to me because it’s about how we partnered with my mother-in-law to transform her property into a [...]
The Permaculture Podcast: Essentials Rainwater Harvesting
This week, I want to go over a case study in rainwater harvesting design. This example is special to me because it’s about how we partnered with my mother-in-law to transform her property into a [...]
How Rainwater Harvesting Transformed Our Urban Home, Part 2
This week, I want to go over a case study in rainwater harvesting design. This example is special to me because it’s about how we partnered with my mother-in-law to transform her property into a [...]
How Rainwater Harvesting Transformed Our Urban Home, Part 1
This week, I want to go over a case study in rainwater harvesting design. This example is special to me because it’s about how we partnered with my mother-in-law to transform her property into a [...]
Land as Insurance, Part 3: The Role of Farms
Here is part 1 and part 2 of the Land as Insurance series. In an attempt to understand how to create insurance for my family around food, water, energy, and money, I came up with the idea of [...]
Land as Insurance, Part 1: A Primer
This is a three-part series based on an idea I recently had around the subjects of farming, black swans, and creating a product that can help insure against risk. In this first article I’ll [...]
Land as Insurance Part 2: The Black Swan Theory - Resilience[…] Last time, we talked about predicta...
Urban Swales
Last year, we did a series of videos looking at the swale systems on our property and demonstration site. Part one looks at how we’ve combined the featuress of a Hügelkultur system, a wicking [...]
Urban Swales Part 3: On Levels and Transits
In this third video on urban swales, I explain why the level is a key tool in permaculture design and demonstrate its use to ensure that our swales work as intended: Check out Part 1 and 2 of our [...]
Urban Swales Part 2: Construction, Spillways & Catchbasins
This second video in the urban swales series looks at permaculture design with water as the primary consideration. Here I work on redirecting water passively from roofs and topsoil overflow areas [...]
Storing Rain Water WITHOUT a Tank > Simplicify[...] fact, Rob Avis of Verge Permaculture di...
Urban Swales Part 3: On Levels and Transits[...] out Part 1 and 2 of our urban swale [.....
Urban Swales Part 1: Weeping Tile & Mulched Pathways[...] out Part 2 and 3 on our video on [...]...
Urban Swales Part 1: Weeping Tile & Mulched Pathways
Last year, we did a series of videos looking at the swale systems on our property and demonstration site. Part one looks at how we’ve combined the featuress of a Hügelkultur system, a [...]
Our Permaculture Homestead – Video Tour
Join us for a beautiful and info-packed video tour of our permaculture homestead! This is a 3-part series where we explain and explore our: – thriving food forest complete with fruit trees, [...]
Coppicing – A Lost Art Revisited
Coppicing has always been interesting to me as a wood production system (fuel, timber) because it uses trees that can be cut perpetually. In other words, the tree is cut and grows back. This is [...]
Gains From Catching Rain In Drains: A Video Explanation Of The Rain Tank Project
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 [...]
Off the Deep End: How We Installed An Underground Rain Tank
A step-by-step account of installing an underground rain tank in our backyard for additional rainwater harvesting storage.
Case Study: How Ecological Design Can Mitigate Life, Financial and Infrastructure Risk
Identifying the Formative System The consultancy that I performed was in Central Alberta on the Red Deer River, which delineates the badlands from the grasslands. You can see in the photo that [...]
Audrey SmithThankyou for this instructive analysis. It's...
How Ecological Design Can Mitigate Life, Financial and Infrastructure Risk | Verge Permaculture[...] FAQ « Previous | Next &...
How Ecological Design Can Mitigate Life, Financial and Infrastructure Risk
This past weekend I did a consultancy of a property that illustrates the power of understanding how water moves through a property and the consequences of getting it wrong. What is interesting is [...]
Investing Like An Ecosystem[...] purchasing the right piece of property ...
How and Where Should I Invest My Money? or Invest Like An Ecosystem - Verge Permaculture[...] purchasing the right piece of property ...
Buying the Right Property - Avoiding Tears and the High Cost of Getting it Wrong | Verge Permaculture[...] of selling the property so that you can...
kurtisGreat article. This is the kind of analysis ...
Groundswell Greenhouse Grangers…. (at it again)
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 [...]
Designing and Implementing Invermere’s Community Garden[...] Verge converged with Big Sky Permacultu...
ChrisDo you guys plan on incorporating principals ...
Katrina KellnerSuch great work! Really look forward to getti...
Our New Hot Water System: How and Why We Went Solar
Over the past few years, our goal has been to slowly retrofit our 25 year old house into a little urban permaculture homestead. Most recently, we brought in Simple Solar to install a solar hot [...]
Swales: The Permaculture Element That Really “Holds Water”
Michelle, Rowan and I were driving home from a vacation in the mountains when we passed by a swale on a farmer’s field in the middle of Alberta cattle country. Naturally, it piqued my [...]
JohnThanks for posting this. Saw a video on perma...
Designing and Implementing Invermere’s Community Garden[...] job was to design the water system that...
The Eco-Transformation of our Home
For the last three years we have been working hard to convert our Calgary inner city home into a thriving permaculture project complete with a front yard food forest, water-harvesting features, [...]
Javier MoraHello, I like the things you are and have don...
Announcing Our 2013 Internship Positions! | Verge Permaculture[...] gain intimate knowledge of the permacul...
Photos & Stories from the Fall 2011 PDC (2/3)
This blog was contributed by current PDC student, Vanessa Hanel. We’ve now made it through 2/3 of the fall PDC and we are learning so much. Most recently we’ve covered Climate, Water & [...]
Letters from Jordan from Rob: Part II – The Conference
On September 17th, 2011 I attended the tenth international permaculture convergence (IPC 10) in Jordan… (which also happened to be my birthday). To read Part I of this series, click here. [...]
Photos & Stories from the Fall 2011 PDC (1/3)
This blog was contributed by current PDC student, Vanessa Hanel. Weekend #1: Getting Started & Compost Piles After waiting for what seems like forever, attending various courses and talks, [...]
Letters from Rob from Jordan: Part I – First Day
In mid September, 2011, I headed to Jordan to attended the tenth international permaculture convergence (IPC 10). This is Part I. To read Part II of this series, click here. I arrived safe and [...]
The Grass Isn’t Greener…
If you’ve been following permaculture in Calgary, then you’ve probably been hearing about Permablitz – the transformation of lawns into productive, abundant landscapes. You may be [...]
Ben DunnI think I agree with you there Wanda! I think...
Wanda Neal-YorkeI struggle with this particular bias as I lov...
Nancy BroadbentIn the 1940's my grandfather had just constru...
Hans @ Qberry FarmCut your lawn just before it goes to seed. Ch...
All About Water
This last weekend our Spring PDC class spent a whole day learning about all aspects of water including grey water, black water, rain water, and storm water. We learned how to put all of these [...]
Wet Pots at The Mustard Seed
Today the Mustard Seed Design Group, Prospect PDD Services and members of the Mustard Seed got together in the Mustard Seed art room to build wetpots for the rooftop garden that will be installed [...]
Turning Storm Water Into Productive Water
Today, cities face substantial barriers to effective water management due to the sheer extent of non-permeable surfaces such as pavement and concrete. During rain events, the main function of [...]
Designing and Implementing Invermere’s Community Garden[...] rain water will be sent to a constructe...
Zaytuna Farm Yields
History has shown time and time again that civilizations have risen and fallen based on the quantity and health of their topsoil. Since food is the basis of civilization and topsoil is the basis [...]
How to Build an Earthship – Our Adventure in New Mexico
Throughout the last year Michelle and I have been researching green building methods. So far we have visited and helped build strawbale houses, spent time in an underground concrete building in [...]
What is an Earthship? | Verge Permaculture[...] Recently we’ve received a lot que...
Helped build an EarthShip in Slocan Valley ne...
Wave Power at the Folkecenter and its potential in Canada – Updated!
I was sitting around on a Saturday Morning this weekend tired of looking at a computer screen so Melissa and I decided to go for a bike ride over to the Folkecenter Wave Energy test site. [...]