Be part of a crowdsourcing effort to create an urban edible forest garden in the City of Syracuse, NY.

The Best Design, selected by a panel jury, will receive a $250 cash award and will be implemented on the property of the Rahma Free Health Clinic at 3100 South Salina St in Syracuse.

Submissions are due by April 1, 2011 with the Best Design and two Honorable Mentions announced at the Upstate NY Permaculture Gathering in Rochester, NY on Saturday April 9, 2011.

http://www.alchemicalnursery.org/news/359-2011-community-permaculture-design-open-announcement.html

2011 Permaculture Community Design Open:
Rahma Free Health Clinic Snack Garden, Syracuse, NY

Open Registration Date: 8:00 AM EST - February 16, 2011
Final Submissions Due Date: 5:00 PM EST - April 1, 2011

Winners Announcement: The winners will be announced at the Upstate NY Permaculture Gathering in Rochester NY, on April 9, 2011; and on the Alchemical Nursery website.

Awards for entrants:
- The Overall Best Design will receive $250 cash and be displayed in the Rahma Health Clinic lobby.
- The Overall Best Design and two Honorable mentions will be featured on the Alchemical Nursery website, and be displayed at the Upstate NY Permaculture Gathering in Rochester, NY.
- All entrants will receive acknowledgment for their participation through Alchemical Nursery website and media, and will receive a letter of recognition.

Creative Brief:
The Rahma Clinic is a new resource for Syracuse providing free health care services at their 3100 South Salina St. location. An important part of health is nutrition and healthy eating, and it is a well known fact that the Southside of Syracuse currently does not have a grocery store providing fresh produce and healthy food choices.  Young and old are faced with an overabundance of pre-packaged sugar laden snacks and processed “foods”. More healthy food options are needed for Southside residents and visitors.

Creative Task and Criteria:
Create a design for a free harvest “Snack Garden” at the Rahma Clinic, based upon an edible forest garden model that demonstrates the following 5 task criteria:

I. Perennial “Snacking”
- Demonstrate an Understanding of Proper Growing and Site Conditions
- Feature primarily perennial species that are suited to the Syracuse biosystem
- Require minimal maintenance
- Produce food for continuous seasonal harvest that can be “eaten from the vine” - or snacked on raw from the garden.

II. Demonstrate Permaculture Ethics
- Earthcare, Peoplecare, Fairshare

III. Follow Permaculture and Edible Forest Garden Principles
- Permaculture is an ecological design system that looks to nature for inspiration to create productive and resilient design solutions. For nutshell descriptions of the principles visit http://permacultureprinciples.com/principles.php
- Multi-Story and Multi-Product Functionality and Design.  For more information about edible forest gardening visit http://www.edibleforestgardens.com/about_gardening

IV. Construction Criteria and Specifications
- Designs must be easily implemented by community volunteers.
- Site specifications (location, square footage, shape, aerial photograph, current vegetation) are available for viewing at http://goo.gl/maps/omCq
- Material costs should be within a reasonable amount for a grassroots and volunteer driven task, using donated materials and funds.

V. Additional Aspects
- Originality, Uniqueness, and Aesthetics; Creation of a compelling design story
- Use of Local, Repurposed and Natural Materials

Background:
The Community Permaculture Design Open is a project of The Alchemical Nursery, intended to bring free and innovative Permaculture design to the needs of regional socio-economic and community development. The Design Open also gives an opportunity to Permaculturists, landscape designers, and sustainable agriculture practitioners to showcase their work.

Jury and Evaluation:
The Design Open jury will pick an Overall Best Design and two Honorable Mentions from all submissions based upon the criteria above.  Submissions will be evaluated by a jury made up of individuals who are versed in Permaculture, landscape design, and sustainable agriculture.  The jury members are:
- Emanuel Carter, Associate Professor, Dept of Landscape Architecture at SUNY-ESF
- Frank Cetera, Board President and Certified Permaculture Designer, The Alchemical Nursery
- Michael Burns, Certified Permaculture Designer and Co-Founder of the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute
- Lindsay Speer, Certified Permaculture Designer, Syracuse, NY
- Valerie Dawnstar, Certified Permaculture Designer, Oswego, NY
- Jessi Lyons, Resource Educator, Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County

Registration and Submission:
Register for the competition starting on Wednesday February 16th by sending your name (or name of all partners if a team) and contact info (email, telephone, and mailing address) to: <permaculture@alchemicalnursery.org>

Provide the following materials for submission by April 1st to:
The Alchemical Nursery
200 South Geddes St.
Syracuse, NY 13204
<permaculture@alchemicalnursery.org>

1. Presentation Panel must be submitted both digitally in PDF format, and in hard copy (Printed on paper with board backing optional).

2. Application Materials must include a supplies/plants list, budget, and a short biography or resume of the team member(s).

3. Anonymity must be ensured for judging purposes.  Please do not include names/institutions/ or any other identifying information on the panel or PDF file.

http://FLXpermaculture.Net