Permaculture applied to landscape design integrates each space with its regional & cultural context. This minimizes ecological impact while maximizing utility, aesthetic value, and quality of life. "Permaculture is revolution disguised as organic gardening" Graham Burnett Permaculture  A Beginners Guide Learn Permaculture in Philippines & 40 poor farmers learn Permaculture free! 72 hour accredited Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) Course 1-13 Nov in Cebu City. "Permaculture is a holistic approach to landscape design and human culture. It is an attempt to integrate several disciplines, including biology, ecology, geography, agriculture, architecture, appropriate technology, gardening and community building." Guy Baldwin The course's teacher is Greg Knibbs (www.edge5.com.au), from Australia- Greg has regularly teaches with the father of Permaculture, Bill Mollison, and has ongoing projects with communities, non-government organizations and private companies in the Philippines, West Africa, Cambodia and Australia. Over the last 30 years Greg has worked in the Environmental field and his expertise lies in Permaculture, Earth Restoration, Education and Design. Enrol now online! http://www.permacultureph.org/enroll.html Course Fee Php37,500 (or about US$875 depending on the exchange rate on any given day)- DISCOUNTS of up to 15% AVAILABLE FOR EARLY REGISTRATION! EVERY enrolled student in this PDC WILL ENABLE Permaculture Action Asia to teach Permaculture to 40 below poverty line beneficiaries FOR FREE in 2011 and set up 9 Permaculture demo sites Cebu province wide! Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/permacultureph Subscribe to our Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/permacultureph PDC 1-13 Nov in Cebu City, Philippines Permaculture Design Certificate Course Held over a period of 12 days, the curriculum for this course is based on subjects covered by Bill Mollison, widely regarded as the father of permaculture, in his book Permaculture: A DesignerÂs Manual. "Though the problems that face the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple." - Bill Mollison, Father of Permaculture The course includes:  Introduction to Permaculture  Methods of design  Pattern understanding  Climate  Trees & their energy transactions  Designing against disaster; fire; drought  Soil  Water  The humid tropics  Dry lands stragies  Humid cool to cold climates  Aquacultures  Earthworking & repair  Effective aid  Right livelihoods  Village development Php37,500 Course Fee DISCOUNT AVAILABLE! Discounts for early payments or early deposit of Php12,000. Reserve your place early and receive a discount on full fee: Receive the following discounts on course fee if deposit or full payment made before- 15 Aug 2010 receive 15% Discount- Php31,875 Total 31 Aug 2010 receives 10% Discount- Php33,750 Total 15 Sep 2010 receives 5% Discount- Php35,625 Total The balance of your course fee is due before the course starts. "It is our collective responsibility to protect and nurture the global family, to support its weaker members and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live" - Dalai Lama ABOUT CEBU CEBU was ranked third best island in Asia recently by New York-based travel magazine Travel + Leisure. Travel + Leisure magazine recently released the results of the survey, which covers hotels, airlines, cruises, islands and cities all over the world. http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/2010/islands/asia-islands/23 Only a few minutes away from the city are numerous white sand beaches, crystal blue waters, and swaying palms, making Cebu a perfect destination for both business and leisure. Mactan Island is a coral island and famous scuba diving and beach site. It is also the site of the Export Processing Zone. Malapascua Island is endowed with white sand beaches and crystal clear waters, and the west coast is ideal for swimming and snorkeling. The sleepy little market town of Moalboal was one of the first places where scuba diving caught on in the Philippines. From here, you can dive straight off Panagsama Beach, which is home to an extraordinary array of coral, anemones, sponges, and a swarming host of brightly colored reef fish. Olango Island, 20 minutes from the airport in Cebu supports the largest concentration of migratory birds found in the country. These birds migrating from Russia stop here en route to Australia. See more at http://www.cebucitytourism.com/aboutcebucity.html "What Permaculturists are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet" Dr. David Takayoshi Suzuki- World renown Japanese-Canadian academic, science broadcaster & environmental activist. ABOUT US Permaculture Action Asia is a brand new non-profit social enterprise focused on Permaculture. We provide free Permaculture courses and distribute seeds and plants to low income beneficiaries. This program will start Jan 2011 Cebu province-wide, and from 2012, is to spread around Region 7, and from 2013, Philippines wide. Permaculture Action Asia manages 8 Permaculture demonstration sites (opening 2011) located around Cebu province. Our flagship demo site, Cebu Eco-Culture Club, showcases the 5 zones of Permaculture in a 64 hectare Cebu City site, and houses 40 beneficiary families as a model eco village. ENROL NOW online! http://www.permacultureph.org/enroll.html Hi there, We are a NGO in Philippines looking for volunteers on our eco farms (permaculture) . The volunteer opportunity is- After a 2 weeks permaculture course/orientation, Volunteers would work on the Permaculture demo sites and with below poverty line beneficiaries on their own sites. Alternatively, also in our head office in admin/clerical, marketing, IT or other capacities depending on skills of volunteers. -- JENSEN GO CHOW B Business/ LLB Executive Director Permaculture Action Asia, Inc. "Solving the World's Problems in a Garden" www.PermaculturePh.org www.facebook.com/permacultureph www.twitter.com/permacultureph www.youtube.com/permacultureph http://www.linkedin.com/companies/permaculture-action-asia-inc.?trk=copro_tab "Permaculture is revolution disguised as organic gardening" Graham Burnett ÂPermaculture  A Beginners Guide Unit 2, Ground Floor, Josepha Arcade, Sergio V. Lim Building General Maxilom Ave, Cebu City 6000, Philippines Phone: +63 (32) 412 4076 Fax: +63 (32) 231 7537

I guess it's time for me to go beyond a general interest in LA and decide what it is I want to do. What stirred my interest and question was the combination of outdoors work, creative work, nature, environment, and the fact that getting into LA with an engineering/geology background might easier than switching to something else "creative" that didn't involve the science/engineering side of LA. As it turns out, I am really less interested in that part though. So maybe LA is not the degree for me or at least overkill. I have since talked to two local industry professionals which has been another eye opener. It seems, the two work at opposite ends of the spectrum. One designs high-end backyard paradises, deals with planting and design. The other has a workload that consists mostly of landscaping the space around his company's architecture projects, and deals with irrigation issues, city codes, turf grass, and sprinkler systems. The latter doesn't sound nearly as much fun as the former. It sounds too much like engineering. The guy was great, almost a life saver, provided a wealth of information, and yet I came away thinking maybe I am peering down the wrong alley here. Maybe I shouldn't try to pursue LA but continue gardening at home. Anyway, I got a number of leads for additional people to talk to, and I will see what they say. I could see myself working on residential projects and even for some municipal department. 99% of the cities I see are in dire need of landscaping and protecting those small and shrinking green interstices. Maybe my green passion for nature and environment would be better spent somewhere else rather than possibly having to go to work for a company that's "landscaping" urban sprawl. I don't mean to offend anyone. I just think much of urban USA is not a nice place to live. Is LA the field for someone wanting to make a difference here, or should I look into urban planning ? Anyone ? I'm confused.

Hello dream garden, Around here, having had a skiff of snow over the past few days, the concept of a garden is pretty well a "dream" at present - though I think that it's past time that I should put some seeds into the earth that I stored in pots in the basement. Thank you for your message of appreciation. Yes - "stretcher" is an interesting site. Some years ago when my son and I had a display at a fall fair, mine being along the line of "Making Your Dollars Work Harder" and "How to Pay Less Income Tax", a man came up to me and asked me what right I had to call myself a financial planner. I told him that all that I have to sell someone is looking at money a little differently than they, for if I look at it (almost) identically, they won't pay to talk to me ... and if I look at it from a hugely different perspective, they'll clap their both hands over both ears and think, "Oh, Lord - no way am I even going to consider trusting management of my precious money to *this* flake!!". I said that it seemed to me that the time when I began to look at money somewhat differently than most city folks (my major potential market) was when I grew up on the farm. He replied, rather vehemently, that that had nothing to do with it! I told him that I thought that it did, for most city folk have regular income and if they miss a couple of paycheques, are crying the blues such that you think that the world was about to end, while for most farmers irregular income is an ongoing fact of life. Further, most city folk don't think much about the difference between cash flow and capital - their main capital issue being their mortgage, on which they make regular payments without thinking. They have no idea how one needs to consider, having enjoyed a little larger income than usual this year, whether to do an overhaul of the tractor motor, or trade it on a better one, and whether one can afford to get a better/bigger combine this year, or buy some more cattle, or hogs, put a new roof on the barn, make an extra payment on the mortgage, etc. I also told him that I'd taken the courses that stockbrokers take - much more complex than the training of most mutual fund sales folk. Plus six courses (passed 5) leading to title of Chartered Financial Planner - later revised, I'd have to start all over: at 70 or so (now 77), and receiving 3 pensions - I thought not. By the way, having done a preliminary calculation of my tax for this year, I find that I may be paying something under 10% of income in tax - about half of the amount of my charitable contributions (without considering the political ones, that are partially deductible, up to a limit, as well). Hope you enjoy your spring - and your garden. Mine, in the corner of a field of beans for processing (freezing, canning) got sprayed last year ... twice! ole joyful P.S. When you live among refugees for a time - it gives you a whole different outlook not only on money and its uses, but on various other dimensions of living, as well. Including being thankful for the accident of birth that had me born in this country rather than in many others - but they are God's people, too - and I owe them something o j

I think the distinction between semi-custom home and truly custom construction is significant. I've done both plus lots of renovations. In our custom build, we had a fabulous GC. The way he liked to do business was to spend countless hours up front getting into excruciating detail about building products. Once we had cost out our desires, it became apparent that this house was going to cost a whole lot more than we had anticipated. We owned the land. The unknown costs lay in porches and basements. We all agreed that we needed another plan. (We were using William E. Poole plans) I went home and quickly found another plan that would work with a few modifications. It had smaller porches and we ditched the basement in favor of a FROG. It was a smarter build thanks to my GC. We owned the land and had more than 60% of the construction cost in cash. The bank loved us. Low risk. They only got involved when we were close to finishing up. I think we had one construction draw and a final inspection. Our GC suggested that we mutually determine his fee up front. It was a flat amount. This way, he was assured that he would be paid and make his profit. We paid him in monthly installments. The last payment would be withheld until we had release of liens from all of the subcontractors and the GC. Any costs would merely be passed through his accounts. There were no mark up on materials and services. They were entirely at his cost. I was given a copy of all of the receipts. He would present a months worth of bills and receipts at a time. There was one or two items that he needed the money a little faster. I think the framing material was an example. It was a pretty big bill as I recollect. In the areas where a guestimate was required in the budget, he would tend to overestimate. This way the surprises were pleasant. The hard work was done up front. We used those surprises to finish out the FROG. I ended up sourcing the appliances, the plumbing fixtures and the decorative electrical fixtures. He was a little leery about that, but I had everything ordered and stored in my garage ahead of time. I would take them over the day before they were needed and have them on site. The appliance dealer kept my appliances in storage until I was ready. The only plumbing fixture that I had the plumber order was two real cast iron tubs. I didn't want to be responsible for transport or installation of those. The GC had such a great time working with us, he and his brother, decided to do all of the interior finish carpentry themselves. They were used to working on projects that were 50% bigger than our home. We fit right into their schedule. It had been a long time since they had gotten to work together, they wanted to do it. They did a beautiful job. They built my mantle and an arched pocket door from a picture I provided them. They did a beautiful job. Semi-custom building, now that is an exercise in frustration. I'll never do that again. The answers in semi-custom building always seem to be no.