Award-Winning Author. RainWater Harvesting, Low Utility Bills, Sustainable Living, PermaCulture.
~OUR FOCUS.
~WHAT MAKES a PermaCULTURE CENTER?
~OUR AWARDS.
OUR FOCUS. "Save Money & Mother Earth without living in a tent."
Creating resourcefulness in a world where a premium has been put on dumbing-down the population.
As an Author, I'm devoted to sharing my ideas about how we as individuals can recapture our personal power.
As an Educator, I'm devoted to ReSkilling: Re-Learning tasks that our grandmothers took for granted.
As a Person, I always ask: "Is this place (the world or this person...) better for my having been here?"
WHAT MAKES a PermaCULTURE HOUSE?
OUTDOORS:
~~CHICKENS!: Our lovely laying hens lay about a dozen eggs per day. ALL ORGANIC! Drinking rain water, eating tomatoes, fruits, organic lay ration. These gals livin' high on the hog!
~~RAINWATER HARVESTING/PURIFICATION system (do-it-yourself for $500 vs. contractor's $12,000 estimate)
~~COMPOST PILE: Someplace constructive for table scraps.
~~PESTICIDE-FREE YARD: 12 years running
~~XERISCAPING: Using plants & trees native to this area, keeps watering to a minimum. Thornless cactus, agave, century plants
~~ReSKILLING WorkSHOPS: For the Community. Rainwater harvesting. Kombucha Tea Making. 100-Mile Challenge
INDOORS:
~~GREYWATER CAPTURE: Grey water captured from washing flushes toilets. Since we already paid for the washing machine water, we flush our toilets for FREE.
~~NATURAL FLEA TRAPS: A bowl of water w/squirts of dish soap does the trick when placed under a lightbulb-style night light.
~~DRINKING PURIFIED Rain WATER: Going on 4 years now.
~~HOME FOR RESCUE CATS: We love you kitties & know you're going to get ALONG with the new chickens.
~~FRONT PORCH: Enclosed for our rescue cats using all donated & recycled materiel (except for 1/2" hardware cloth & screws).
~~NO AIR CONDITIONING: No A/C has been utilized at The PermaCulture Center for 2 years... during TWO RECORD back-to-back heat waves (2008, 2009).
~~UTILITY BILLS: $71.42/mo. (on average) for 11 years running.
~~GAS WATER HEATER: Turned "OFF" APRIL to NOVEMBER.
~~CHICKENS: We bulit a hen house based on our own design.
~~FRUIT ORCHARD: In-progress. We haven't mowed front yard for 5 years. JAN 2010 front yard will host a Community Fruit Orchard
~~SOLAR OVEN: Great for baked egg custard (when the sun's shining-- and in Central Tejas, that is OFTEN!)
~~NO GAS DRYER USE: During the entirety of 2009 (this was Doc JODY's 2009 New Year's Resolution... one of them, anyway).
~~SLEEP on FRONT PORCH: During summer (eliminates cost of running the attic ceiling return fan).
~~SWIM (nearly) EVERY DAY: At Barton Springs, America's largest all-natural (no chlorine) municipal swimming pool: 68-degree water year 'round. Doc JODY's record: Ambient (air) Temp: 31 F. degrees.
~~NO MEDICATIONS: on the premises (if you don't count chocolate).
~~AUTO REPAIR: We change our own oil, check tire pressure, change fuel filter, alternator, serpentine belt, radiator overflow tank, valve cover gasket, rotor, distributor cap, plugs & wires, etc.
~~RAW-MILK KEFIR: Cow's milk. Heaven on wheels.
~~KOMBUCHA TEA: More heaven. All ORGANIC. 5 years straight.
~~The PermaCULTURE HOUSE has on the premises:
~~NO Microwave oven
~~NO TV
~~NO Solar Panels
~~NO Coffee Maker
~~NO Drugs on the premises
Doc JODY's AWARDS:
~~Winner, Texas Water Development Board Rain Catcher Award, Commercial/Industrial category
~~Winner, The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Groundwater Stewardship Conservation Award
~~The Mayor's Award for Environmental Excellence
~~Designated Lowest End-User Water Consumer in The City.