Permaculture Ste Anne de Bellevue

Minutes: Meeting no. 4, Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013

The New Coop du Grand Orme
Attendance: 5 (With Town Councillor Ryan Young appearing for a fly-by Q&A on Ste Anne de Bellevue's Sustainable Development Plan)

Discussion:

- The humble beginning of a Permaculture Library for our group, including textbooks (see below), DVD's and public documents (such as the Town of Ste Anne's Sustainable Development Plan).

-Legumes of the World is on the top of our wish list as a very desireable but expensive title, so if anyone comes across a source for this valuable book on the subject of the enormous array of useful plants in the pea family (which perform the important function of fixing nitrogen into the soil), please let us know!! (Leguminous trees are used for everything from shade to mulch to fodder.)

-Edible Forest Gardens by Dave Jackie and Eric Toensmeier (2 Volumes) is a definitive publication we now have so please, lets make use of it.

- 6 DVD Volumes (each one has 4 DVD modules) of Geoff Lawtons Permaculture Course for anyone wishing to gain in-depth knowledge about Permaculture ethical philosophy, land management techniques, or range of social applications.

-7 copies of the Ste Anne de Bellevue Sustainable Development Plan, which were distributed, and which link to Montreal's Sustainable Development Plan, which focus on green house gas emissions and energy efficient building techniques. (Incentives to promote buildings to be built to the Eco-Nova Standard.) Ryan points out that while there are certain elements missing (which were at the time seen as too radical), the document is overall quite forward-thinking and makes a provision for improvements and changes, or at the very least, wiggle room through interpretation of the text which is not always very specific.

- Ste Anne de Bellevue's new Status as an "Urban Dark Sky Site" thanks to the large tracts of forests (Arboretum) and open fields (Mac Campus) by RASC, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Another special accolade for our town. In future, all new light fixtures must not leak light into the sky to minimize light pollution and permit the continuation of celestial observation in Ste Anne de Bellevue.

- Harpel Garden Permaculture Project of Spring 2015. Possibility of Mac involvement, assuming town and Harpel Condominium Association approval /permission. Underused site distanced from the main street bustle with a compelling history in experimental town planning make this a very good potential place for such a project. Plans should include water conservation strategies and in particular storm water diversion (into garden for passive hydration of garden beds, easing volume in the sewer at that location), which is one of the preoccupations of the Town of St. Annes, we are told. The Town is proud of its uniqueness and this project could be another jewel in its crown. (For more info on permaculture solutions to storm water management, please see the example of Davis, California).

- Resumption of the Towns Environment Committee in January. Opportunity for new people to get involved.

- Permaculture and Universities. I was under the impression it was a no-go as far as curriculum went (due to copyright infringement) but seems I am wrong... Oregon State University offers a Permaculture Design Program through the Department of Horticulture in the College of Agricultural Sciences. Who knew? There are also many student-run initiatives and clubs. Check out University of Massachusetts, among others. Also, a beautiful poster at the Coop is announcing a new series of guest lecturers on Permaculture Design starting in January, right here at Mac Campus (at the Ceiligh)! We will distribute more information on that exciting development as we get it.

- Mac faculty who might be possible future guests for our group - David Weese (Linda Champaigne's husband) and Caroline Begg, both come recommended as open minded and forward thinking teachers

- Robyn Rees possible return for a second guest presentation for our February meeting? TBD.

- Philippe Derruder "le grand spécialiste de la monnaie locale au Québec" for a guest presentation in January, for which we should coordinate with the Coop and publicize as much as we can with word of mouth, email announcements, postering, the electronic billboard, the Coop newsletter and maybe the Mac Permaculture initiative (see below).

- Possible change of meeting time to the 2nd Wednesday of every month but TBC with the Coop. The Coop quite likes that we come during the day since it means everyone ends up buying something which cant happen at night since the cash is closed. They may wish to commence charging us for the meeting space should we wish to hold it at night since there is rather a lot of demand for it since the move to the new location.

Finally, we touched lightly on the subjects of "smart meters" and the chemical glyphosphate, the active ingredient in Round Up and which is a terrible pollutant for human, animal and insect health; cancer rates are very high in agricultural areas due to this and other herbicide/ pesticide use on conventional farms.

Thanks again everyone - I shall be in touch again re. the next meeting. Meanwhile, here are a few very  interesting links.  See you soon!

Freya

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Bernard Lietar speaks on an alternative currency system
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nORI8r3JIyw

Retrofitting a Small Town
http://permaculturenews.org/2013/10/24/retrofitting-small-town/

Manual for Creating a Community Food Forest on Public Land
http://permaculturenews.org/2013/01/23/manual-for-creating-a-community-food-forest-on-public-land/

New documentary film on the health benefits of walking barefoot on the Earth.
http://mygroundedmovie.com/

SPIN (Small Plot INtensive) farming as a model for peri-urban agriculture.
http://www.spinfarming.com/buy/

Loess Plateau Watershed Rehabilitation Project in China (before and after photo attached)
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2007/03/15/restoring-chinas-loess-plateau