Earthaven is an intentional eco-community less than an hour from Asheville which has been leading the way in Permaculture Design, Teachings and Nurserty Stock. We've agrigated these Earthaven Permaculture-related resources to make it easy for your to access them.
"... Permaculture is one set of principles we draw from in designing our community. We apply the permaculture principles organically and situationally. Permaculture is a set of techniques and principles for designing sustainable human settlements with plants, animals, buildings, and organizations—and especially the relationships between them. "Ecologically sound and economically prosperous" is how some describe a sustainable settlement.
" ' The core of permaculture design,' says Peter Bane, publisher of Permaculture Activist magazine, 'is the belief that all living beings and systems have intrinsic worth, that we each bear responsibility for our own lives and the lives of our children, that human life is inextricably embedded in the web of life which is the Earth, and that if we choose patterns of land use and technologies appropriate to these ethical precepts, we will have the best chance of surviving over generations in a world we'd like to live in.'
"A basic aim of Permaculture education is to stretch our minds to grasp the enormity of our cultural delusion – the delusion that life is possible without living fully one’s connection to Nature and to community" Patricia Allison
Disengage from consumer culture!
RECLAIM your BIRTHRIGHT
with
PERMACULTURE!
a design system, available to anyone, offering the possibility to disengage from consumer culture through practical design solutions which emulate natural patterns.
combining ancient wisdoms with modern scientific knowledge to form a set of ethics and principles for creating a joyful and sustainable culture.
a lifestyle and a worldwide movement with over 100,000 Permaculture Design Course graduates.
Useful Plants Nursery
".... is a small, permaculture based nursery specializing in useful, phytonutritional, food and medicine plants well adapted to our southern appalachian mountains and surrounding bioregions. Our plants are grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides at our nursery located at Earthaven Ecovillage. I believe that growing your own food and medicine plants is a vitally important strategy and practice for regaining control over our collective and personal lives, our health, and our individual and bioregional economic well being. Our nursery is dedicated to putting these beliefs into practice and truly creating 'Liberation through Abundance' as we serve your needs for healthy, useful landscape plants and work together to reweave the web of life..."
Discover the Bliss of Permaculture and Natural Gardening
"... This is my favorite Permaculture book so far. I've read several, but "Earth User's Guide to Permaculture" seems to have the most practical, hands-on information. It is presented in an easy to understand format, with exercises that will help the reader gain the necessary skills...."
"... explains how gardens can function as ecosystems, describes the basic
parts of an ecological garden (soil, water, plants, and animals), and
shows how to create backyard ecosystems through guilds. Guilds, the
author tells us, are groups of plants that function as an ecosystem to
provide products for humans, create cover and food for wildlife,
nourish the soil, conserve water, and repel pests..."
"...A forest garden is a food-producing garden, based on the model of a natural woodland or forest. It is made up of fruit and nut trees, fruit bushes, perennial vegetables and herbs. It can be tailored to fit any space, from a tiny urban back yard to a large rural garden.
A close copy of a natural ecosystem, it is perhaps the most ecologically friendly way of gardening open to us...."
Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape "...This book is a must for anyone who has every wanted to grow an edible garden. From cover crops to choosing apple tree varieties it's packed full of information. I only wish the author would write another similar book so I could buy it. I own most of the books written about edible landscaping and can say this is by far the best...."
Edible Forest Gardens
"...It's really amazing how much information the authors have compiled on
the subject matter they cover. Which, by the way, has to to with
creating forest gardens, but with so much more as well, and in
incredible depth.
These two books can provide one with material to study for a long time and be a reference source forever...."
"...This is an informative, short and cheap general introduction to permaculture, the design of sustainable living. It has been re-issued due to popular demand. Experienced British permaculture designer and teacher Patrick Whitefield explains how permaculture can enrich our lives in the city, on the farm and in the community...."
Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community ".... a proponent of permaculture, a sustainable way of landscaping inspired by natural eco-systems.... a nine-step plan to transform the typical wasteland of turf into a productive, environmentally friendly "paradise garden" bursting with edible bounty ...." "...What a breath of fresh air and a really inspiring, well thought out guide. Its a must read...."
Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn documents the first four gardens with personal accounts written by the owners, garden plans and photographs illustrating the creation of the gardens--from ripping up the grass to harvesting a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs...."
Perennial Vegetables: From Artichokes to Zuiki Taro, A Gardener's Guide to Over 100 Delicious and Easy to Grow Edibles
"Amazingly Well Written.... I think we face the real possibility of having to be largely self-reliant as many different global crises converge, water, oil, climate change, etc. The antidote to despair is getting busy and one of the very best core strategies is to plant perennial vegetables and do edible landscaping. As noted above, not only is this book very thorough and very complete, it will point the reader to seed, plant, and other resources to implement their ideas...."
Gardening With Native Plants of the South "....This is THE book to have on native plants of the Southern U.S. Easy to
read and informative, it helps both the novice and experienced gardener
alike.
--Theresa Schrum
2005 President, Georgia Native Plant Society..."
Gardening With the Native Plants of Tennessee: The Spirit of Place "... Anyone interested in the botanical history of Tennessee (or for that
matter, the surrounding states) will enjoy this exploration of the
common plants of the Volunteer State. Crisply written and easy to
understand, this delightful book should be a part of any nature library
- even if you are non-gardener like me! Margie's enthusiasm and love
for plants permiates every page and will leave the reader yearning for
his or her own spirit of place'..."
"... examines existing local food systems and ways to improve the availability and accessibility of food for city dwellers. It looks at methods to improve community-supported agriculture and cooperation between urban and rural populations. It explores what existing marketing and distribution structures can do to improve accessibility and what the emerging forms of food-distribution systems are, and how they can contribute to alleviating hunger in the cities. Finally, the book discusses the underlying structures that create poverty and inequality and examines the role of emergency food systems, such as food banks...."
A move toward more flexible, sustainable agricultural practices is increasingly being seen as the way to address or avoid environmental and economic problems associated with existing, predominantly intensive, farming systems.
"... There currently is no better reference for edible fruits & vegetables. There are 1000's of entries, each with cultural (growing) information, significant cultivars, and known sources for the plants. Truly a heroic accomplishment. ..."
"... provides a design proposal for a new kind of sustainable urban landscape: Urban Agriculture. By growing food within an urban rather than exclusively rural environment, urban agriculture would reduce the need for industrialized production, packaging and transportation of foodstuffs to the city dwelling consumers. The revolutionary and innovative concepts put forth in this book have potential to shape the future of our cities quality of life within them..."
"... If you want to start a business in the likeness of Oudolf I think this listing of plants offers a extensively comprehensive if not brute force method for doing so. Of course if one wants to design gardens of this complexity a few classes on art or design would definitely not hurt as design work takes training of the mind and eye and Piet's gardens are very complex...."
Click on each of the dozens of categories to the left to uncover what makes the Asheville area so vital, so intriguing and so, well, UTTERLY BLISSFUL!
Warren Wilson College's Native Plant Program "..an example of our commitment to environmental issues...."
Warren Wilson College's Green Walkabout
"...take a walking or solar-powered electric cart tour of Warren Wilson
College's sustainable campus practices. Visit the EcoDorm, the
LEED-designed Orr Cottage, the gardens, the recycling center. Learn
more about the farm and why it received the county's 'River-Friendly Farm Award'.."
North Carolina School of Holistic Herbalism
"... our hands-on weekend classes and labs are held at Soulflower Farm, thirty minutes from the small city of Asheville. Soulflower Farm is a model of sustainable living, with a handcrafted log cabin built from wood harvested on site, gravity fed spring water, solar power, and a large organic garden. This thirty-acre nature sanctuary has been free from any use of chemical pollutants for over twenty years. It is bordered by thirty more acres of preserved wilderness area.At Soulflower Farm, students learn beekeeping, apitherapy, organic gardening, and permaculture skills. We emphasize using common, local weeds, and harvest plants only where they are abundant, replenishing the source when appropriate. NCSHH’s weeknight classes are held at our holistic healing center in West Asheville. Just minutes from downtown, the center is home to our extensive herbal library, apothecary, a variety of practicing healers, and workshops throughout the year. We welcome you to call to arrange a visit."
"... The vision of Bountiful Cities Project is to enliven and empower self-reliance, cooperation, and a stronger sense of community through providing an opportunity to grow, harvest and eat fresh, local produce. We envision community spaces that serve as models for sustainability through organic food production, water conservation, ecological building, community celebration, and cooperative economics. This vision is becoming a reality at our two flagship gardens: a permaculture-based vegetable garden on Pearson Drive in Montford and the Dr. George Washington Carver Edible Park at Stevens Lee Community Center which is home to over 30 varieties of fruit trees and an under story of berries and medicinal herbs...."
George Washington Carver Edible Park
".. This Park is an urban orchard designed following permaculture principles that envision each element as a contributing part of the whole. You can find many species of fruit and nut trees in this park, ranging from apples, pears, and peaches to figs, cornelian cherry dogwood, and medlars. This space was first developed as the "Edible Park" by the group City Seeds when the Stephens Lee High School underwent renovation making it a community recreation center. What had been a debris pile following the renovation was transformed into a functional public space...."
The Pearson Drive Garden
"... is the Bountiful Cities Project's model garden. It encompases over an acre of land that produces edibles for the community. We grow a diverse selection of vegetables, including a wide range of greens and peas in the spring, tomatoes, squash, potatoes, and pumpkins in the summer. There is some vegetable production throughout the year, as we grow cold tolerant vegetables under row covers. In addition to the traditional garden vegetables, we grow wild greens, culinary and medicinal herbs, and some perennial vegetables, like the Jerusalem artichoke. Fruits grown at the Pearson Drive Garden include strawberries, raspberries, and apples..." Opportunities to volunteer: "...Our garden is not organized into individual plots that are rented out, as are some community gardens. Rather, the entire garden is community space. We balance the overall direction and vision for the garden with the projects that any single person might want to carry out in the garden. People are welcome to come to the Pearson Street Garden at any time - if you know your way around garden tasks, you can simply do what you like, in keeping with the overall vision of the garden. If you're a new gardener, you may want to start out by coming to a workday...."
Annual Permaculture Gathering
Annual SE Permaculture Gathering
at Celo, NC in August "... There are no specifically planned workshops or classes at this gathering- it's more of a family gathering than a conference. Instead, we create daily "affinity circles" through Open Space and get together in groups to talk about what most interests us. If you would like to offer a specific workshop please present your idea at the on-site Open Space planning session to be held Friday morning..." About an hour and a half from Asheville
Native Plant Nurseries which Supply Many of the Plants Used in Creating (or Re-Creating!) Permaculture in Western North Carolina
Carolina Native Nursery
"... a specialty grower of native woody ornamental plants and trees. We are currently growing over 90 different species with many cultivars. Please take a moment to review our Catalogue. We are located on 12 beautiful acres in Burnsville, North Carolina at 1126 Prices Creek Roadl....."
Elk Mountain Nursery
"... specializes in plants native to the Eastern United States. In addition to our native collection, we also have a number of hard to find Japanese Maples (hard to find at a reasonable price). We are one of the pioneer nurseries on the Web. Our Catalog has been online since 1996. Our nursery is located in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The long, cool growing season; coupled with a short, but intense winter; makes Asheville an ideal site for a nursery serving the Eastern United States. The nursery is in USDA Zone 6, allowing us to grow a wide variety of species adapted to both cooler and warmer areas...."
Meadowbrook Nurseries - We-Du Natives
"... Our specialties range from a wonderful selection of native plants to unusual plants to wonderful visits to our enchanting gardens.... We are constantly searching the plant world for new items to add to our existing plant pallet in our attempt to offer our customers many unique native and outstanding plants.... We have a beautiful lake with a walking trail surrounded by a wide variety of native plants for natural inspiration. Also, there are numerous trial beds and mature plantings throughout the nursery to give gardeners an idea of how our plants will look in landscape situations in color, mature size and growth habits. Located on the former Polly's Spout, we have a long heritage of entertaining folks. The nursery is located on the longtime recreation site for a natural spring and meeting area. The "Spout" is a longtime source of drinking water and has attracted a variety of visitors from the early settlers to the gold miners of the 1820's. Later in the 1920's, Polly Spout evolved into a recreation park that attracted picnickers from around the Western North Carolina area. Today, our property is rich in native flora with an outstanding variety of native plants along with many one of a kind collector plants, installed by plant enthusiasts over the years...." Located in Marion, about a half hour ride east on I-40 from Asheville
Mountain Mist Nursery
"... We are located in a green valley surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains. Our plant list consists of native azaleas, ferns, hostas and other shade loving plants. Visits to the nursery are welcome when you are in the Asheville, NC area.... Our goal is to supply shade and native plants not available at your local nurseries or big box stores. We try to do this at reasonable prices for our loyal customers and new gardening friends who may be placing their first order. Enjoy our online store, it is intended for those gardeners who appreciate native woodland plants...."
Reems Creek Nursery
"... is one of Buncombe County's oldest and most experienced retail garden centers. For over 20 years the folks at Reems Creek Nursery have been helping people beautify their surroundings with quality plants and services, in their homes and in their communities. Our large selection of trees, shrubs, fruits, perennials, bedding plants, native plants, houseplants, water plants & fish, pottery, fountains, organics, and gardening supplies are just waiting to make your garden brighter!..." In Weaverville at I-26 (19/23 N) and Monticello road
Sandy Mush Herb Nursery
"... cultivates 1950 culinary, tea, decorative and traditional medicinal herbs, flowering perennials, scented geraniums, dye and
Asheville Botanical Gardens Annual Plant Sale Features Native Plants
Asheville Botanical Gardens
hold an annual spring plant sale on the first Friday and Saturday in May. "...Featured at BGA's annual spring plant sale will be a wide variety of perennials, shrubs and trees from many regional nurseries and garden clubs as well as native plants from the BGA greenhouse. As always, emphasis will be on ferns and other native plants...." They also hold an annual fall plant sale on the second Saturday in September. Proceeds from both sales help fund the operation of the garden.
