Permaculture Homestead Design: Emerging Patterns

1. Emerging Patterns
Aly Lewis
Integrated Backyard Homesteading
L. Silva STOCKSCH 197A

2. CLIMATE
Just as a reminder, I live in USDA zone 10b, Delray Beach Florida.

3. BRAINSTORMING
Before writing on my notecards, I brainstormed on lined paper. I found
my list was way too broad. I was listing categories, not elements.
For example,
I listed “IRRIGATION SUPPLIES” and “ANIMALS”.
I re-wrote the list and broke down the categories into more specific
elements.
For example,
“ANIMALS” became “chickens, feed, shelter, building materials”
“IRRIGATION SUPPLIES” became “well or city-water, rain-catch, filter”

4. NOTECARDS:
Elements
I came up with 19 elements to start:
1. potting soil 11. coop
2. vermi-compost 12. chickens
3. organic matter 13. feed
4. perennial vegetables 14. seeds
5. sub-tropical/tropical fruit trees 15. building materials
6. annual vegetables 16. medicinal plants
7. rain-catch 17. solar powered home
8. water filter 18. labor/time
9. well or city water 19. plant nursery
10. irrigation supplies

5. Notecards: Initial Categories
I wrote each element on an index card and laid them out on the
table. I shifted them around quite a bit to come up with categories.
Each element I personally use now in my garden-space with the
exception of chickens and solar power.
The 4 initial categories were:
Chickens, Irrigation Supplies, Plant Nursery, and Miscellaneous.

6. From Categories,To Goals
Everything felt a little disconnected. After reading the second question
from our professor, I decided broader goals would help me organize the
cards more efficiently.
I came up with 4 major goals:
1. WATER
2. FOOD NEEDS
3. INCOME SOURCE
4. SOIL BUILDING.

7. Final Organization
Under the 4 Main Goals, I placed each and every element. I even added a 20th
element “teaching others” under Income Source.
GOAL 1 : WATER
Water filter, well or city water, irrigation supplies, rain-catch
GOAL 2: FOOD NEEDS
perennial vegetables, annual vegetables, medicinal plants, sub-tropical/tropical
fruit trees, chickens, coop, feed, building materials
GOAL 3: INCOME SOURCE
potting soil, seeds, plant nursery, solar-powered home, teaching others
GOAL 4: SOIL BUILDING
labor and tme, organic matter, vermi-compost

8. Example:
Here is an example of the SOIL BUILDING
goal.
Elements listed are Labor/Time, Organic
Matter, and Vermicompost.

9. Final Examples
Some elements could potentially fall under two different goals, but I chose to focus on the
primary function of each element.
For example, “chickens” (and the coop, feed, building materials needed to raise them) fell
under food needs, primarily.
However, chickens could also become an income source or they could be utilized under the
soil building goal, if I purposefully rotate them.

10. Final Examples (cont.)
Another interesting observation was the element
“seeds” could be used primarily under the goal of
income source, but it could also fall under soil
building, if I were to use a cover crop such as
buckwheat or clover.

11. Conclusion
Eliminating categories helped me see the bigger picture and
interconnectedness of the elements. The major goals helped me
organize all of the cards thoughtfully. It also is helpful to remain flexible
within these vital goals. For example, if vermi-compost isn’t selling well
as an income source, it is certainly still useful under the goals of food
needs and soil building, as it contributes to disease control and overall
health of the crops.
Nothing seemed out of place. If anything, it just became difficult to
choose just one goal for each element to fall under.
With almost all of my elements serving as multi-functional within different
goals, I feel that I am close to achieving closed-loop systems that
implement Permaculture design.