Class notes by Charles D.

Writing reflection number seven makes me look back into the previous Reflections, and what each of them has to offer in terms of personal experience.

I have to say that each of the reflections came with a mixture of excitement and an internal debate on what to say and how to write it.

Which in my case is always a lengthy process. I guess the difficult part for me is making the writing process simple and a representative to my thoughts. I like our group project and the way our group process is unfolding. Most of all, I like the passion and the commitment of each participant learning about agroforestry. It came at a right time for our final project. We have well covered, in previous classes, important aspects of social permaculture. So, I feel that we are prepared to assess the site in a smart way and to design a proposal that will work for Center Street. We have many ideas, and I am confident that something beautiful will emerge from our final design.

Class notes by Charles D.

Our permaculture course is coming to an end, and I cannot help feeling that the Saturday classes have come and are going at an incredible speed. One thing is clear: I have been learning a lot, and I have been  having a great time in the process. Even though I am speaking for myself, I recall that most of the course participants expressed the same feeling in conversations. Anyway, it is hard to describe my experience in this course, and the beyond my expectations learning benefits I received in every class. Clearly, the social permaculture part of the curriculum has given a clearer  sense of purpose to those of us who came to this course with the expectations of learning a few gardening techniques and skills.

Class notes by Charles D.

When my teammates and I got together to observe our Center Street project, we simply walked down the street, allowing ourselves to be absorbed in its environment.

This is not the first time we walked down this street to go to the farmers market, located two blocks away from the Berkeley bart station. This time, we were on a special mission. We moved at a slower pace, equipped with our new Permaculture knowledge; thinking aloud about specific observations , like, how the tall buildings shadows have defined a micro-climate, less appealing than the open and sunny area where the farmers market, thriving at the edge of the park, has become a pleasant attraction on Saturday mornings. We took note of the many details that caught our attention, from a Permaculture perspective. Studying the physical environment and the various functions that attract people in this community led me to one conclusion: The social element we observed in this environment is conducive to the applications of Social Permaculture. Without it, me and many others, would have missed important details, relevant in creating a Permaculture design of this section of Center Street.

Class notes by Charles D.

In the beginning, twelve weeks felt like an eternity. Now that it is all coming to an end, it feels like it’s ending too soon; probably because our class has developed a great collaborative bond. The same collaborative bond we will build as soon as we return to our own communities to practice what we have learned in Social Permaculture. Yesterday, Starhawk brought magnificent examples of implementation of social permaculture principles, during demonstrations against big world corporations summits, and also in a post disaster rescue project in Louisiana. Learning about these real life applications opened up new perspectives for us; the “new advocates for permaculture and urban permaculture”. It is rather exciting to be part of the Bay Area permaculture network and even more exciting to be part of a positive change in our respective communities. Kevin Bayuk shared with us the wisdom of graduating with the purpose of serving in our own communities, and not to go charging ahead with a “change the world” kind of mission statement. The way he explained it is that, bioremediation at a small community scale will eventually factor to a larger community and by doing so, it will multiply to have a global impact. All the presenters and instructors have taken turns to offer us this same perspective.

Class 6 notes by Charles D.

“If you give food to the hungry, they will always expect food from you. But if you teach the hungry how to grow food, they will never go hungry.” This old saying, I vaguely remember, came to my mind as we walked back to Common Circle, after a day of practice in the Youth Garden  in Berkeley. As we walked through residential areas in this part of the city, I noticed how home owners are turning their front yards into small gardens or miniature farms. Most of these small garden projects seem to have been inspired by permaculture. Block after block, a pattern becomes obvious, and a theme of the land reveals itself. This community is inviting Nature back into its city, by gardening and coming together in redesigning the residential environment. And a good example in redesigning is “The Center Street Design Project”, which will set the stage for permaculture design projects in the city. All this is exciting news for the future of city living.