If permies.com is the hottest permacuture site on the web....

[pebble]

are we the coolest?

8)

[eco4560]

With you here pebble - I think so....

[S.O.P]

Boom-tish (http://instantrimshot.com/index.php?sound=rimshot&play=true).

[Pakanohida]

are we the coolest?

8)

Gosh darn right!

I would also add kindest, and more accurate to Permaculture ethics. :)

[9anda1f]

are we the coolest?

8)

And, the original!

[Grahame]

I was wondering. Is the traffic here in the forum getting slower. My personal feeling is that there used to be more interaction than we see these days?

If so, where are people going now? Facebook? The garden?

[Michaelangelica]

I was wondering. Is the traffic here in the forum getting slower. My personal feeling is that there used to be more interaction than we see these days?

If so, where are people going now? Facebook? The garden?
Hard to say
We seem to me to be getting more traffic but mainly lurkers and fewer joining in perhaps??
Over 170 looking/reading forums now,(opps my maths seems crook actually "220 users online. 7 members and 213 guests")
maybe all problems can be solved by previous posts?

[Grahame]

maybe all problems can be solved by previous posts?

OK, I can dig that. Then perhaps it's time to start being pro-active!? Maybe we can take on some of the bigger issues as a collective?

[eco4560]

Is the Grahame for PM campaign back on then?

I think it is a bit quieter too. With Costa on Gardening Australia, maybe permaculture is so mainstream that you don't need to come here anymore?

[S.O.P]

Judging by the posts, and some of the people that posted them, the heyday was some years ago. Perhaps when the Internet, permaculture and the social web met.

Perhaps everything that could be said has been said and repeated verbatim across blog posts worldwide.

Perhaps the message has been fragmented across personal websites, youtube and aforementioned blogs.

Perhaps it has become a money thing. The last post I saw from one of my personal heroes was a For Sale thread on electric fences.

And perhaps, it's so mainstream that everyone is out there doing it.

[Pakanohida]

That 'place' and I use that term very loosely, enjoys perverting Permaculture into highly profitable method of farming (surplus ethic goes out the window there) & favors doing things anti-permaculture. As such, many Americans and people from all over the world go there, not here, for advice.

Oh, and forbid you bring up how you shouldn't add chemicals or truck things in. You get shot down and moderated.

So honestly, as I see it, screw that place. It's too perverted for me, I prefer real Permaculture and lessons from nature.



EDIT - IMO the ONLY reason that place is popular is because of traffic generated by YouTube videos, and his frankly aren't all that good often. More often then not i found the videos to be "dick teases" in that they do not deliver the content they often elude to. For example:

That places example of "Closed Canopy Gardening" http://youtu.be/-o2kVOyE5Ww

A real example - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVo2bOIN_AA as well as this one which shows a real closed canopy system http://youtu.be/-5ZgzwoQ-ao

[9anda1f]

Meh, they ain't THAT hot ... here's the graph for the last three months from Alexa.com comparing our PRI forum to the permies forum (note that we're running almost neck-and-neck, we're the blue line, permies is the red line):

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t133/9anda1f/forums_Alexa.jpg

[Ludi]

I do wish folks would post here more......

[pebble]

Me too Ludi. We seem to have alot of new people here this year. How come they're not posting more or sticking round?

I would also prefer more permaculture specific posts. We've been having alot of the meta type, what's wrong with the world type posts lately.

9anda1f, I'm sure if that chart used numbers of posts rather than % of internet, the differences would be more obvious ;-)

[Ludi]

We've been having alot of the meta type, what's wrong with the world type posts lately.

I wouldn't mind those so much if we could drag permaculture into the discussion, "How this problem can be solved with permaculture" type things......That's what I'm most interested in these days, how actual people can solve actual problems with permaculture, not so much theory, but how to do it.

[pebble]

Great point Ludi, I'm up for that too.

[Pakanohida]

I do wish folks would post here more......


Agreed :y::bow::party::party::party::party:

[S.O.P]

So, how about that weather? ;)

[Pakanohida]

So, how about that weather? ;)

Man made like Sepp Holzer's or actual weather? Which weather do you speak of ;)

[S.O.P]

The type they seed with chemicals.

[eco4560]

The type they seed with chemicals.

LOL - I might have to moderate you for that!

You are clever to be able to do that graph thingy Gandalf. We should ask you around more often!

[Pakanohida]

The type they seed with chemicals.

That's weather too far north and east for me. Canada is actively spraying chemicals in the air to negate hail over farms.

[TrevNorman]

I am one of the "lurkers" who reads a lot and gets a lot of information from here. The reason I don't post often (maybe this is true for others??) is that I don't really think I have a lot of insight into the discussions. I am fairly new to Permaculture so I wouldn't necessarily be helping others with my comments. But it is a great place to read and learn.

[Pakanohida]

I am one of the "lurkers" who reads a lot and gets a lot of information from here. The reason I don't post often (maybe this is true for others??) is that I don't really think I have a lot of insight into the discussions. I am fairly new to Permaculture so I wouldn't necessarily be helping others with my comments. But it is a great place to read and learn.

But do you learn more by asking questions?

[mischief]

Yep

[eco4560]

Sometimes people don't even know the right questions to ask though.

[TrevNorman]

Whether they are the right questions or not, I have many. I am just asking them slowly so as not to overwhelm the kind permaculturists who answer them all.

[Pakanohida]

Sometimes people don't even know the right questions to ask though.

The only dumb question is the one you did not ask. --Ancient proverb

[pebble]

Whether they are the right questions or not, I have many. I am just asking them slowly so as not to overwhelm the kind permaculturists who answer them all.

It sounds like we are all a bit bored at the moment, so I wouldn't worry about overwhelming anyone ;-)

[Redreamer]

I have a question....

I was a member here years ago... and i couldn't get back into my account because i moved continents.. well hemisphere's too. Then just today i got a linkback on my blog and it came here....

but it is on the bottom of someone else's account... someone called Suze in NSW?

now i moved from Western Australia to upstate... never lived in NSW so i am completely flummoxed! certainly time to say hello again anyway.

and i do believe i know Ludi from another place :D

[Ludi]

Hello! :)

[eco4560]

Welcome back. Sounds like the universe brought you here for a reason....

[chook-in-eire]

That 'place' and I use that term very loosely, enjoys perverting Permaculture into highly profitable method of farming (surplus ethic goes out the window there) & favors doing things anti-permaculture. As such, many Americans and people from all over the world go there, not here, for advice.

Oh, and forbid you bring up how you shouldn't add chemicals or truck things in. You get shot down and moderated.

So honestly, as I see it, screw that place.

I just got thrown out for criticizing the Austrian guru... First I was censored (and accused of being a nitpicking sockpuppet of the agro-chemical industry - it'd be funny if it wasn't so sad). Then I saw two other folks being censored too and PM'd them to ask what they had written as the posts had vanished within minutes of being put up. This morning I find my account locked. So much for "Private Messages".

Glad to have found this forum recently. And the Worldwide Network.
I'm at http://permacultureglobal.com/users/4635-ute-bohnsack

[pebble]

I'm glad you found us too :-)

I can't see the page you link to because it requires a sign in and I'm not registered there.

[chook-in-eire]

Thanks Pebble :)
Sorry, forgot about the registration. If you want to know what I'm on about go to http://www.permies.com/forums/search/filters/-1 and under 'search by member name' type Ute in the first field and chook in the second field.

[pebble]

8)

Jeeze, that Holzer thread is interesting. And the Salatin one!

[andrew curr]

yes where are the heroes i luv darren too
Judging by the posts, and some of the people that posted them, the heyday was some years ago. Perhaps when the Internet, permaculture and the social web met.

Perhaps everything that could be said has been said and repeated verbatim across blog posts worldwide.

Perhaps the message has been fragmented across personal websites, youtube and aforementioned blogs.

Perhaps it has become a money thing. The last post I saw from one of my personal heroes was a For Sale thread on electric fences.

And perhaps, it's so mainstream that everyone is out there doing it.

[Unmutual]

I play around on the Square Foot Gardening website, and their posters write up articles, the most notable being the friday rookie topics. We also started a series on plant propagation/seed saving(though I have no idea where those went). I'm sure there are many subjects that we can come up with for permaculture topics, even if it is just on a weekly basis. And since permaculture can be done on any scale, each topic can be broken down by venue. Have our gracious admins pick a topic, then people pick their region if they choose to type something up. A month in advance might be a good idea, but I don't really know how detailed these articles should be.

For example:

Water harvesting

Dams and Swales on Broadacre
Swales and Catchments in an urban setting
Keyline ploughing
What is a Keyline anyway?

or

Surveying the Property

Broadacre surveying
Why it's important to survey your land even if it's only 20' x 20' and how to do it.

or

How to Get Started

The Logical Process of Permaculturing Your Property
The Logical Process of Permaculturing Your Life

or

How to Propagate <Insert Plant Name Here>

or

Species Lists (include common and scientific name, what and how to use each species, preferred environment etc.)

Nitrogen Fixing Annuals/Perennials by Region
Nurse Annuals/Perennials by Region
Perennial Food by Region
Chicken Breeds by Region
Easily Coppiced Trees by Region
Fast Growing(ie: mulch) Trees by Region
Useful Plants by Region(yarrow, comfrey and the like)

That's about all that my morning brain can come up with at the moment(first cup of coffee just finished).

[Pakanohida]

Welcome Ute & Unmutual. :)

[eco4560]

That's about all that my morning brain can come up with at the moment(first cup of coffee just finished).

How about how to grow and prepare your own coffee?!

[S.O.P]

How about how to grow and prepare your own coffee?!

I always liked this post, Eco.


Hi,

We've moved to a property that has 30 coffee plants and we have started harvesting and processing them.

We pop them out of the red outer layer within 24 hours of picking. They are then soaked in water for up to 48 hours to ferment. The slippery beans will get a grainy coating. When they feel grainy, wash them out a few times and put in the sun in a thin layer to start the drying process. After a few days (depending where you live), 5-30 days (it doesn't take long here on the Sunshine Coast) the husks will start to split - they will then come away easily and reveal the little inner bean, they expand when they are roasted. This will have a papery covering, which you don't need to remove, it will not affect the coffee.

Leave these to dry in the sun. They are ready to be roasted when you can bite into them and don't leave a dent.

They are then ready for roasting in your kitchen oven. 200 -230 degrees until they are all the same colour - you can vary the depth, but keep an eye on them. Could take as little as 20 minutes to roast a thin layer but will take longer if you have a thicker layer - up to an inch. Give them a stir during the roasting process to roast then evenly.

We then grind them in a mortar and pestle. The ground coffee can be stored in the fridge, or the unroasted bean can be stored in airtight jars ready for roasting.

The DPI have more detailed info on how to process coffee at home - it tastes great and it's nice to know you have grown it.

And this is the PDF which I found was the 'best'. Quite detailed actually, whether or not it is correct, it's up to you.

www.defoundation.org/...Coffee/Coffee-Hand-BookFinal1.pdf