The design toolkit

1. 1

   Station 1

   Zone 00, the self

   Who is planning here, and where do I want to go?

   Before any map comes the person who plans. Christoff Schneider calls this zone 00: insight, vision and setting goals. Whoever is clear here plans the place for their own life, not for a picture from a textbook.

   In TerraWiki

   • Zones in permacultureA permaculture planning tool that places each element by how often it is visited. The extended model runs from zone 00, the self, out to zone VII.
   • The design processThe ordered steps of a permaculture design, from observing site and people through analysis and design to building, care and review, repeated in loops.
2. 2

   Station 2

   Ethics

   What is the work for?

   The three ethics are the measure for every decision: earth care, people care and fair share. They come before the techniques, because they say what a design is meant to be good for.

   In TerraWiki

   • The three ethics of permacultureThe three values at the root of permaculture: care for the earth, care for people and fair share, which sets limits and passes on surplus.
3. 3

   Station 3

   Survey

   What is already there?

   Look first, then act. Soil, water, sun, wind, plants and people are read, ideally over a whole year. Small tests and trials belong to it, because they show how the place responds.

   In TerraWiki

   • Observe and interactThe first of David Holmgren's twelve permaculture principles: watch a place closely, act in small steps and let its response guide the next step.
   • Indicator PlantsWild plants whose presence reveals the moisture, acidity, nutrient supply, light or salt of a site, so that the vegetation can be read like a soil report.
   • Spade TestA block of soil is dug out with a spade and examined on the spot for crumbs, roots, earthworms, smell and compacted layers.
   • Texture by FeelEstimating a soil's share of sand, silt and clay by rubbing, rolling and pressing moist earth between the fingers, without a laboratory.
   • Soil AnalysisLaboratory measurement of a soil sample: pH, humus, nutrients, lime, salt and sodium, ideally read together with field tests such as the spade test.
   • MicroclimateThe climate of a small place, a slope, a hollow, the foot of a wall, which can differ markedly from the regional climate in heat, frost, wind and moisture.
   • Water balance: when rain exceeds evaporationThe climatic water balance compares rainfall with the evaporation demand of the air, month by month, and shows when a place gains water and when it loses it.
4. 4

   Station 4

   Design methods

   From which angle do I think the design through?

   Bill Mollison’s eight methods look at the same site from different directions, from listing what each element is like to learning from nature and random assembly. Each one catches what the others miss.

   In TerraWiki

   • Design methodsBill Mollison's eight ways of working out a permaculture design, from listing what each element needs and gives to random assembly and zones and sectors.
5. 5

   Station 5

   Tools

   What do I use to place the elements?

   With these tools every element finds its place: zones by how often it is visited, sectors by the forces from outside, maps and tracing paper for overlaying, element analysis for the connections and functional design so that every element serves several purposes.

   In TerraWiki

   • Zones in permacultureA permaculture planning tool that places each element by how often it is visited. The extended model runs from zone 00, the self, out to zone VII.
   • Sectors in permacultureA permaculture planning tool that maps the energies entering a site from outside, such as sun, wind, fire, water, cold air, views and noise.
   • Base map and overlaysA scale drawing of a site's permanent features, with transparent layers on top for water, sectors, zones and plans, so each topic can be read alone or together.
   • Element analysisA permaculture design tool that lists what each element needs, what it yields and what it is like, so that the outputs of one can meet the needs of another.
   • Mollison's design principlesThe design rules Bill Mollison set out in 1988 and 1991, from relative location and multiple functions to zones, succession and the edge effect.
   • Scale of permanenceP. A. Yeomans' order for planning land: from what is hardest to change, climate and land shape, through water, roads, trees, buildings and fences to soil.
   • Plant GuildA mutually supportive grouping assembled around a central element, which may be a plant, an animal, or a structure such as a pond.
   • Stacking in space and timeA permaculture technique that lets several plants share the same ground, layered by height and root depth in space and following each other in time.
6. 6

   Station 6

   Principles

   What do I test the design against?

   David Holmgren’s twelve design principles and Bill Mollison’s older design principles are the touchstones. They do not say what to do, but they show whether a design is heading the right way.

   1. 1Observe and interact
   2. 2Catch and store energy
   3. 3Obtain a yield
   4. 4Apply self-regulation and accept feedback
   5. 5Use and value renewable resources and services
   6. 6Produce no waste
   7. 7Design from patterns to details
   8. 8Integrate rather than segregate
   9. 9Use small and slow solutions
   10. 10Use and value diversity
   11. 11Use edges and value the marginal
   12. 12Creatively use and respond to change

   All twelve in the wheel of principles

   In TerraWiki

   • Mollison's design principlesThe design rules Bill Mollison set out in 1988 and 1991, from relative location and multiple functions to zones, succession and the edge effect.
7. 7

   Station 7

   The nine steps

   In what order do I decide on the land?

   Schneider’s quick planning checklist sets what is decided first. What is costly and hard to change comes early, what is easy to move comes late.

   The nine steps

   1. 1Gather information
   2. 2Find zone 0
   3. 3What do I or the client want?
   4. 4Sector planning
   5. 5Zoning
   6. 6Earthworks
   7. 7Planting
   8. 8Buildings
   9. 9Fences

   In TerraWiki

   • The design processThe ordered steps of a permaculture design, from observing site and people through analysis and design to building, care and review, repeated in loops.

A journey through permaculture All of TerraWiki