*Welcome Michelle Avis, Rob Avis, and Takota Coen, Authors of Building Your Permaculture Property!

Where can I just buy the book, and give the author most of the profit?

Ron Strilaeff wrote:Where can I just buy the book, and give the author most of the profit?

You can head over to our website www.mypermacultureproperty.com and choose from the printed, audio or ebook version of the book

Welcome, Michelle Avis, Rob Avis, and Takota Coen to our forum. Thank you for sharing!

I am looking forward to all the great questions from our forum members and for the answers too!

Hello to my 3 favorite Canadians! I love your new book. Just finished the "what to do next section". I'm using your checklists and keeping the permaculture design of my property going in the direction that will bring me the most fulfillment 😁 thanks for your service!

I wish I could cross the border and join your next pdc.

Hey all, great to virtually meet you, thanks for stopping by and for all your hard work on this publication! I've had my eye on it since publishing so I'm glad to see this opportunity.

What would you say to a beginning designer just starting out (other than reading the book of course lol) - lessons learned, mistakes to avoid, things to specialize in, the future of design, etc?

My background is in community/organizational/biz development, and that's definitely what I bring to the design table as well. Do you have any tips and insights into how better to incorporate the community/social aspects into professional design?

Rebekah Harmon wrote:Hello to my 3 favorite Canadians! I love your new book. Just finished the "what to do next section". I'm using your checklists and keeping the permaculture design of my property going in the direction that will bring me the most fulfillment 😁 thanks for your service!

I wish I could cross the border and join your next pdc.

Great to hear Rebekah! Have you finished your Vision and Values One Pager yet?!?

And we can join our next PDC from anywhere in the world, we have taken it online. Visit www.vergepermaculture.ca

Hey Brad thanks for the question.

Brad Armstrong wrote:
What would you say to a beginning designer just starting out (other than reading the book of course lol) - lessons learned, mistakes to avoid, things to specialize in, the future of design, etc?

My background is in community/organizational/biz development, and that's definitely what I bring to the design table as well. Do you have any tips and insights into how better to incorporate the community/social aspects into professional design?

I'm not sure who coined this phrase but "you don't 'do permaculture' you 'use permaculture in what you do'" is one of my favourites. You really can apply the core facets of permaculture (interconnectedness, anti-fragility, adaptability, multifunctionality, redundancy, ethics etc) in all aspects of life. It is too common that permaculture is just seen as agriculture/gardening, when it can be applied to all aspects of human ecosystems.

Welcome! I have friends in Canada and have always wanted to travel up that way after living so close to the border in Kalispell MT and Seattle areas. I look forward to checking out your site and book.

Rob, Michelle and Takota are all upstanding people and happen to be local as well.

What are your recommended favourite first 3 to 5 actions steps to building your permaculture property after your vision one pager and a basic design.

Lots of people say one or more of the following: zone 1 garden, plant some fruit trees, swales, chickens, rabbitry. Others say observe and interact for a year - who the hell can take no action for a year.

I’ve actually done all of the above in the last 3 months minus rabbits and now is time to slow down and manage these systems and watch for successes and failures as well as general learning about the property and what is growing.

Great to have you here Michelle Avis, Rob Avis, and Takota Coen. Looking forward to your book.

Hi (welcome) !

Welcome, Michelle Avis, Rob Avis, and Takota Coen!

The trickiest part of this for me is acquiring the property to benefit from permaculture design.

Yes, I have finished it. And my personal resources inventory and resources evaluation. 🙂 I'm working on the journaling introduced in the last chapter. I feel like it will help with the seemingly neverending things to do on the homestead! I'm in this for the long haul. And your book has already helped me avoid burnout and giving up. Seriously. Thank you.

Ps, I posted questions for each of you 3, in the permaculture design forum. But maybe that was the wrong place?

Welcome thanks for sharing your book.

A warm welcome to Michelle, Bob, and Takota (cool name!).

By the way, for the record to the folks at permies.com... as a new person here, I know that the name policy is that we're supposed to use our real name and not a fake name. Please know that my last name is truly "Grow". Perfect for this site, I'd say.

Welcome and congratulations on your book!

Maggie

Welcome to all of you !!

I just read the review of the book and it looks to be a great wealth of information and ideas.

Welcome Rob, Michelle, and Takota. And congratulations on writing a book! What an accomplishment and it sounds like a great book to help so many of us learn from your experiences.

This looks like something I would definitely purchase. I have been trying to make my property this way.

Thanks for all you do, y'all are my favorite people! We listen to all your stuff. Awesome!

Thank you for the opportunity to ask you questions. What would be your top 3 cafeterias criterion if you were to purchase your next homestead?

Chris Marshall wrote:Rob, Michelle and Takota are all upstanding people and happen to be local as well.

What are your recommended favourite first 3 to 5 actions steps to building your permaculture property after your vision one pager and a basic design.

Lots of people say one or more of the following: zone 1 garden, plant some fruit trees, swales, chickens, rabbitry. Others say observe and interact for a year - who the hell can take no action for a year.

Hey Chris, I agree, observation alone is useless, you must interact as well!

In the book in step 4 Implement one of the approaches to action we talk about is the birdshot approach which is to run lots of little experiments that take less than an our of your time and/or cost less than your hourly wage. But make sure you are observing all of these little experiments or they are useless!

If you want to really ramp things things up you can try the Slug approach. Which is to focus on your weakest link. Some questions to help you find that weakest link is "What is the biggest drain on my quality of life right now" or "If everything else were to stay the same what is the one thing you could do that would most improve your well-being."  Or  "What is the one thing I don't want to do, but know that I should!"

Amin Jamali wrote:Thank you for the opportunity to ask you questions. What would be your top 3 cafeterias if you were to purchase your next homestead?

Hi Amin, I dont quite understand the question, what do you mean by "cafeterias"

Rebekah Harmon wrote:Ps, I posted questions for each of you 3, in the permaculture design forum. But maybe that was the wrong place?

Hi Rebekah, sorry I can't find them! can you link to the page, there are so many threads on permies!

Takota Coen wrote:

Amin Jamali wrote:Thank you for the opportunity to ask you questions. What would be your top 3 cafeterias if you were to purchase your next homestead?

Hi Amin, I dont quite understand the question, what do you mean by "cafeterias"

I meant to say criterion (my apologies). The reason I ask this question is because a good design can probably fix a good portion of challenges that are present with a given land. An example of this criteria would the level of sun exposure in winter or having a south facing road. If the energy that's put in toward fixing a problem (e.g. Having to create a new access road to the property because of long-term maintenance) is greater than the return, it feels like starting over with a different land would be easier.

Welcome Rob, Michelle, and Takota! I just put your book on reserve at my regional library and there are 9 reserves ahead of me. I always consider that a *really good* sign - a good book, and lots of people taking an interest in growing in ways that are healthier for the planet. Thank you all for visiting permies this week.

Welcome Rob, Michelle and Takota. I've been a big fan since the Rob and Ben podcast days and almost met Rob at the Kansas Mother Earth News Fair in 2019. Really enjoyed the Rainwater Harvesting book and can't wait to read this one.

Hello Michelle and Rob. I was happy to come and check out your book upon seeing the title.... I'm a relative newbie to permaculture. Enjoy your stay!

Rob, Michelle and Takota, congrats on your book endeavor.  

I struggle with trying to accomplish an already overbooked schedule and making the leap into bonified permiculture hits me with a reality check.   I adopt ideas that work for my small property and always seem to dream of bigger things that never come to fruition.  Like many, I do what I can.  High hopes and low expectations keep the dream alive.

Does your book have variations in size/scope of projects and ideas that would help those with limited time, money or resources.  Often times it's the little thing we miss that count the most.  Baby steps.

Yes, Takota, this one is for you:

After reading your book, and writing down just what I eventually want to build, I felt that the land I just purchased will eventually be too small, but its all I can afford right now.

I'm not a big-scale farmer, land inherit-er or millionaire. So.... the question I'm left with is: how does an average joe like me buy more acreage? What kind of a discussion would you create for someone wanting more land than makes financial sense?

And this one is for michelle:
Hey Michelle, in one of the verge videos, you mentioned that your medicinal herb garden supplies many of your family's health needs. As your family has gotten older, is that still true? What kinds of remedies do you find yourself making most often? How far do you take it? Do you think herbal medicine is a sustainable method for a big family?

I'm including herbology in my permaculture pursuits, but it seems that with all the building and organizing going on in these early stages, sometimes I just need some dang benadryl! Ya know? I'd hate for the herb-saving work I do to be wasted. Any wisdom you have would be greatly appreciated! 🙂

Hello to Michelle Avis, Rob Avis, and Takota Coen!  I can't wait to purchase your book.  What I've looked at so far, follows the path that my husband and I want for our property.  We have 5 acres, leaving 2 acres for the natural forest that exists and then making as much of the remaining property into a permaculture farm for ourselves and neighbors.  We've started an orchard and made our leaching field into a pasture of pollinator pleasures.  We are working on food beds, but it a process that can be slow.  

Can't wait to read more of your book.  Where can we purchase one?

Thanks again for joining the party!

I purchased this book during the summit (book launching) and have read through the whole thing.
Now comes the hard part - putting it into practice.
It's a well written book, easy to understand and comprehensive enough to get the job done - once the elbow grease has been properly applied.

Thank you to VergePermaculture for helping me to apply what I had learned from the PDC I took with Nicholas Burtner's School of Permaculture.  

What a task it is to get started.
But Thank You.

Amin Jamali wrote:
I meant to say criterion (my apologies). The reason I ask this question is because a good design can probably fix a good portion of challenges that are present with a given land. An example of this criteria would the level of sun exposure in winter or having a south facing road. If the energy that's put in toward fixing a problem (e.g. Having to create a new access road to the property because of long-term maintenance) is greater than the return, it feels like starting over with a different land would be easier.

Ah that makes much better sense! I had never thought of putting a cafeteria on a farm before haha!

My top three categories would be:
#1 Abundant access to water (or the ability to create access) in many different forms, lake, spring, wells, dams creeks etc)
#2 A minimum of 100ft/30m elevation change for gravity water potential and diverse microclimates. Ideally this slope would also face several aspects of the compass
#3 Good building location on a flat bench somewhere towards the lower third of the slope

Rebekah Harmon wrote:Yes, Takota, this one is for you:

After reading your book, and writing down just what I eventually want to build, I felt that the land I just purchased will eventually be too small, but its all I can afford right now.

I'm not a big-scale farmer, land inherit-er or millionaire. So.... the question I'm left with is: how does an average joe like me buy more acreage? What kind of a discussion would you create for someone wanting more land than makes financial sense?

Quality over quantity is what I would say!

I used to also think that I could only ever live on minimum of 160 acres, but I have since toured some incredible permaculture properties that were as small as 1/10th of an acre and I have realized that you can pack so much into even a tiny space that any land that had decent water access and structures could keep me busy for a lifetime.

Start where it makes sense, there is not saying you can't ever sell and go bigger. Geoff Lawton has had multiple properties in his career and some were tiny.

If you can prove your skills at regenerating land and producing something of value on the small scale you will have no shortage of buyers or investors :)

Jay Angler wrote:Welcome Rob, Michelle, and Takota! I just put your book on reserve at my regional library and there are 9 reserves ahead of me. I always consider that a *really good* sign - a good book, and lots of people taking an interest in growing in ways that are healthier for the planet. Thank you all for visiting permies this week.

WOW thanks for sharing that is a good metric :)

Robert Lightfoot wrote:Rob, Michelle and Takota, congrats on your book endeavor.  

I struggle with trying to accomplish an already overbooked schedule and making the leap into bonified permiculture hits me with a reality check.   I adopt ideas that work for my small property and always seem to dream of bigger things that never come to fruition.  Like many, I do what I can.  High hopes and low expectations keep the dream alive.

Does your book have variations in size/scope of projects and ideas that would help those with limited time, money or resources.  Often times it's the little thing we miss that count the most.  Baby steps.

I can tell by your question that you familiar with the 5 struggles of permaculture:
1. What should I do?
2. Where do I find?
3. How does it Connect?
4. Where do I start?
5. When does it end?!

If so then this is the perfect book for you, as each of the steps in our process deal with these problems directly. You will find Step 4 and 5 particularly helpful in prioritizing and avoiding burnout.