permaculture interns

Garden of zomba is seeking interns interested in learning about forest gardening, permaculture design, and diy urban homesteading. We're looking for energetic and creative folks who can offer 6-8 hours each week (ideally, two mornings/afternoons per week) to transform this little house in the ghetto into a permaculture research and education center. Well, actually, it already is that, but we're looking to expand. We have a lot of projects in the queue, waiting for people interested in doing them. There's a lot of information and skills to be developed, in a practical setting (my daughter would call it playing). Ideally, we'd like to produce a heck of a lot of food, and use low-tech, low-cost means of achieving some level of sustainably aware living, and do it in such a way that it is accessible for anyone else with the time to do it.

What we can offer includes a share of produce from the garden, and access to tools and resources as they flow through the place. You can pick the brains of two people who are certified permaculture designers (and who heartily add that they are still very much learning), as well as access to our post-apocalyptic library (including lots of good permie books). We also have food preservation skills, mostly fermentation (sauerkraut, kombucha, wine) and canning. You can gain skills as we do, accessing the creative parts of our brains so unused in "real" work.

We have one-quarter or so acre of thick black soil, with a couple dozen fruit trees and several berry patches. We are interested in establishing perennials for food, fuel, and fiber (and beauty!). These are our short abbreviated goals for this year:

Start seeds, and have transplants ready to put in the ground in spring.

Convert south side former lawn/straight bed gardens to one of beautiful design, integrating flowers, vegetables, and herbs into one functioning low-maintenance garden.

Establishing many types of small gardens for identification as in a botanical garden; such as, insectary, pollination, Chinese medicinals, and native plants.

Designing, installing, and maintaining a system of rain barrels, swales, and graywater systems.

Planting standard fruit trees, nut trees and bushes, and berry patches.

Exploring mushroom cultivation (for eating, and for use in bioremediation).

Exploring bioremediation for recovering land bordering the street.

Exploring micro-climates, and the use of vines as more than just food.

Building a diy wood shed.

Breaking up concrete and utilizing resulting urbanite in landscape design.

Exploring the options of micro-livestock.

There is enough land (it's amazing how much land 1/4 acre is, when you think about covering every square inch of it with forest gardens) and not enough time, so if interns would like to pursue projects of their own design, we most likely would be up for providing space, and possibly assistance. We're very happy with self-motivated people, but if someone is seeking guidance and teaching, we can try to provide that as well.

If you're interested in interning at the garden of zomba for 2009, give us an email at zombans at yahoo dot com.

carey