23: Diane Kennedy on Simple, Inexpensive Abundance
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Today, we are joined by Diane Kennedy of Finch Frolic Garden, a Food Forest Habitat in San Diego as she talks about creating simple, inexpensive abundance through the practice and implementation of permaculture on your property.
Diane is a former senior park ranger and tour guide for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, librarian, and baker. She is a long-time vegetarian, organic garden, free-lance writer, and activist. She started her blog at Vegetariat.com.
She and her daughter also post photos of the many creatures living in their habitat on their Facebook page.
Diane gives tours of her permaculture habitat in San Diego.
She took her permaculture design course with Josh Robinson of the San Diego Sustainable Institute.
Permaculture teaches how to design your property to manage rainwater, stack functions so that each element works with the other, how to feed your soil rather than your plants, cut your costs considerably, and so much more. Permaculture is simple, inexpensive compared to modern gardening practices, and provides abundance. Every year there is better soil, better harvest, better habitat, cleaner and more abundant water, cleaner air, more efficient energy usage and so much more for so much less. Mollison says that in permaculture, 99% of your effort should be in the design, and 1% in the labor, which is the opposite of the way gardens and homes are set up now. If you are working too hard, your design needs adjustment.
All of the growth is “organic” and organic. Using guild plants – plants that do not compete.
There is habitat here – Anaerobic clay with a year-round pond. Listen to the podcast to hear the story of the pair of native endangered turtles that appeared in the pond – They had to climb a fence to get in.
Her “failure”: Irrigation system was recommended, and it was the worst possible thing I could have done. if you have a golf course, then it’s great.
Diane says, “I’m doing the mistakes so you don’t have to.”
18:30 [NEW TERM] Swale: Level bottom ditch on contour around the property to catch rainfall. Listen here for a complete definition.
You’ll also learn about stacking functions!
Recommended Books:
Gaia’s garden by Toby Hemenway (user friendly) –
Permaculture City by Toby Hemenway
Producer’s note: Click here to listen to Toby’s Hemenway’s Podcast.
Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison
Permaculture: A Designers Manual by Bill Mollison
Diane’s Advice: DO IT
Where to find Diane?:
dianeckennedy@prodigy.net
