Bill Wilson and Midwest Permaculture

While I was away on vacation this past week, a well know permaculturist by the name of Bill Wilson came through Ypsi on a speaking tour. As I wasn’t able to attend, I asked a friend of mine named David Palmer, who was at the event, to share his thoughts. Following are his notes.

There are not many events in life that, when complete, you feel completely convinced that you need to plan to live your life in a different way; (Friday) night was one of those evenings for me. This was not a eureka moment, instead it was a nice columniation of my desire to be more self-sufficient, not relying on warehouses masquerading as grocery stores to sell me food, or as the case may be, franken-food, aka highly processed, genetically modified delights (thank you ConAgra & Monsanto).

I was lucky to grow up with a garden in my back yard. Being a renter, and moving almost every year, I have missed the relationship with my food for a long time. It might take a few years, but Bill Wilson’s presentation, an Introduction to Premaculture, planted a thought that will sit in the back of my mind until circumstances are right to engage this choice of lifestyle- if for no other reason than to have a farm market growing naturally in my lawn instead of paying someone else to grow food for me.

Bill Wilson is the Co-Founder of Midwest Permaculture, and he spoke to a group of about 70 people at the EMU College of Business Friday evening (24 July). This was the last of a series of four speaking events that took him to Ann Arbor, Flint, Detroit, and finally Ypsilanti. A wealth of information about Permaculture can be found on his website.

I’ll be honest, I had not ever heard of Mr. Wilson before attending his workshop last night. The event was sponsored by one of my favorite local organizations, Growing Hope, along with a number of other groups including the Southeastern Michigan Permaculture Guild. After his three hour class, however, I’m sure I’ll never forget him.

“Permaculture is a creative and artful way of living, where wastes become resources, productivity and yields increase, work is minimized, people and nature are all preserved and the environment is restored (even enhanced) – all by thoughtful planning and a respectful approach to life.”

Sounds pretty reasonable, eh?

Wilson gave several examples of developments that cooperatively created Permaculture gardens that sustain the entire community. Communities interested in maximizing their productivity and reducing their waste naturally segue to improving energy efficiency, seeking alternative ways to heat and power their homes and businesses, and start thinking more about why they waste energy on unnecessarily lighting the night sky.

In a practical sense, utilizing Permaculture it is possible to feed you and your family with fresh organic foods. Instead of having a sterile front lawn that you mow every week during the summer using a gasoline powered mower, which encourages water to run off into the sewer system. Instead you develop a front lawn that becomes a bountiful garden bearing fruit trees, vegetables and rain gardens. These changes are sustaining both to the body and spirit; not to mention nicer to look at than a sign that says, “pets and children should stay off the grass- recently treated with pesticides and fertilizer.” On his website, Wilson sites examples of people harvesting their gardens year round, even in cold climates.

It is no big secret that the world has reached its peak oil production. It is also no big secret that clean drinking water will be the liquid that future wars will be fought over as people and governments do little to ebb the affects of global warming. Permaculture is a way for an individual, or community, to retain water on the land and replenish aquifers, reduce one’s carbon footprint and indeed sequester carbon in new vegetation, and also to increase one’s personal security and stability in an economically unstable time.

Ask yourself, when gasoline is $4, $5, or $15, a gallon, how will you be able to afford lettuce, green beans and pears from Kroger or Hiller’s Market? We all know that food prices are directly related gasoline prices, after all it was not so long ago that gas was over $4 a gallon in the Ann Arbor metroplex and we all talked about how shocking it was to spend a lot more money shopping for groceries.

One of the reasons I have been attracted to volunteering for Growing Hope is that community gardens are one of the simplest and best ways to enhance community. A garden can be an anchor that revitalizes an entire neighborhood. In many cases neighbors meet for the first time, and build relationships they would have never had if not for the garden plot that brought neighbors together. Permaculture is the next logical step after building community gardens across Ypsilanti. There are known ways to easily turn abandoned parking lots into a sweet potato farms, and front yards into virtual farmer markets where 40+ varieties of fruits and vegetables can be harvested with relative ease.

Together we can build a lasting and sustainable community, one that is more shielded from the drama of state, national, and international economic cycles of boom and bust. With effort and time, the knowledge exists to work with the gifts that nature has provided us all- one garden, one lawn and one asphalt lot at a time.

David Palmer, who also shot the above photo of Wilson with Growing Hope’s executive director, Amanda Edmonds, is a newly-appointed member of the Growing Hope Board of Directors and is an active member of the community in Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County, and Southeast Michigan. For a copy of his notes from the Bill Wilson meeting, or to just say hello, you can email him at david.palmer76@gmail.com… I’m reading through his notes right now, and there’s some good stuff. I’m particularly interested in the references to the Enright-ridge Urban Eco-village in Cincinnati, OH… Oh, and I’ve traded a few emails with Bill Wilson, and it looks like I might be interviewing him one of these days for the site. So, if you have particular questions that you would like to have asked, just let me know.