Permacultureglobal.org - the interactive map and database of the Worldwide Permaculture Network

Chicagoland Permaculture at Townline Design

Details

Commenced:	01/05/2013
Submitted:	06/05/2013
Last updated:	07/10/2015
Location:	Waukegan, IL, US
Climate zone:	Cold Temperate

My Projects

(projects i'm involved in)

Chicagoland Permaculture at Townline Design

Waukegan, US

Followers

Back to Chicagoland Permaculture at Townline Design

Spring update

Project: Chicagoland Permaculture at Townline Design

Posted by Daniel Brown over 10 years ago

Slow, cold, miserable, and somehow still busy.

With a tightening budget and an extremely late winter, we weren't able to erect a greenhouse, delegating all of our transplants to two small cold-frames. They did not perform well to say the least, so we're off to an even later start than last year.

We did manage to get a couple of langstroth beehives set up outside, and I baited them with lemongrass oil. Now that the bees are out collecting pollen, I'm hopeful that the next colony to swarm will find it's way to one of our boxes. Package bees are in very short supply this time of year, especially due to colony collapse. This winter was also particularly brutal, with beekeepers reporting losses exceeding 60%. These italian honey bees also come from Californian almond orchards. So, rather than buying in bees which are not hardy to our climate and notorious for colony collapse, I've elected to simply attract the bees which are already living here comfortably. If they can survive a winter here by themselves, they could only do better in a well maintained hive.

The earthworks last year were a partial success. The swale works great, but the lack of established roots and pressence of heavy clay soil make drainage a slow process. We've had multiple overflow events, but the spillway is working as intended with minimal erosion. Our raised beds, on the other hand, are a bit too high and drain too quickly, requiring fairly consistent watering throughout the summer. The cardboard and woodchip mulch in the footpaths has done a superb job of keeping the weeds away. Using wood chips as mulch in the beds was probably a mistake, but we had no other suitable material at the time. The problem is that the mycellial growth in the soil is making it compact and difficult to plant into. Fortunately, the soil food web is off to a great start with plenty of small insects and large worms.

For now it's just sowing/transplanting, watering, weeding, and mulching while I prepare other developments. I'm going to dig another, smaller swale. I plan to feed this next swale into a retention pond, which will be another new experience to check off my list. I'm also trying to get in touch with several people about applying for a grant or some other kind of funding so that we can build this greenhouse already.

Comments (0)

You must be logged in to comment.

Courses Taught Here!

Project Badges

Administrators

Team Members

(close)

Legend of Badges

Note: The various badges displayed in people profiles are largely honesty-based self-proclamations by the individuals themselves. There are reporting functions users can use if they know of blatant misrepresentation (for both people and projects). Legitimacy, competency and reputation for all people and projects can be evidenced and/or developed through their providing regular updates on permaculture work they’re involved in, before/after photographs, etc. A spirit of objective nurturing of both people and projects through knowledge/encouragement/inspiration/resource sharing is the aim of the Worldwide Permaculture Network.

	Member A member is a permaculturist who has never taken a PDC course. These cannot become PDC teachers. Members may be novice or highly experienced permaculturists or anywhere in between. Watch their updates for evaluation.
	Permaculture Matchmaker One of these badges will show if you select your gender and the "I'm single, looking for a permaculture partner" option in your profile.
	PDC People who claim to have taken a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course somewhere in the world.
	PDC Verified People who have entered an email address for the teacher of their PDC course, and have had their PDC status verified by that teacher. Watch their updates for evaluation.
	PRI PDC People who’ve taken a Permaculture Research Institute PDC somewhere in the world.
	PDC Teacher People who claim to teach some version of PDC somewhere in the world.
	PRI Teacher With the exception of the ‘Member’ who has never taken a PDC, all of the above can apply to become a PRI PDC Teacher. PRI PDC Teachers are those who the PRI recognise, through a vetting board, as determined and competent to teach the full 72-hour course as developed by Permaculture founder Bill Mollison – covering all the topics of The Designers’ Manual as well as possible (i.e. not cherry picking only aspects the teacher feels most interested or competent in). Such teachers also commit to focussing on the design science, and not including subjective spiritual/metaphysical elements. The reason these items are not included in the PDC curriculum is because they are “belief” based. Permaculture Design education concerns itself with teaching good design based on strategies and techniques which are scientifically provable. PRI PDC Teachers may be given teaching and/or consultancy offerings as they become available as the network grows.
	Aid Worker The individual with this badge is indicating they are, have, or would like to be involved in permaculture aid work. As such, the individual may or may not have permaculture aid worker experience. Watch their updates for evaluation.
	Consultant The individual with this badge is indicating they are, have, or would like to do paid permaculture design consultancy work. As such, the individual may or may not have permaculture consultancy experience. Watch their updates for evaluation.
	Community Project Community projects are projects that help develop sustainable community interaction and increase localised resiliency.