We did it! Hurray!

We've all been busy over the past couple of days, working in groups to complete the survey, analysis and design for our assigned permaculture sites.  Then we had to design a presentation to show and tell an audience about the process we went through.

Now, one day after the official closing ceremony of the first Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course in Lebanon, I am proud to present the first batch of permaculturists graduating right here in Lebanon:

1st PDC Graduates in Lebanon
Saidoun (Jezzine caza), May 18-31, 2014

• Bassam Al Khawand
  
• Ghassan Al Salman
  
• Tony Chahine
  
• Jihad Chanehsaz
  
• Joey El-Khoury
  
• Dana El-Sayyed
  
• Maya Karkour
  
• Salim Khalil
  
• Sarah-Lili Yassine
  
• and myself, Alexis Baghdadi
  

What a fantastic group! Thank you for all your energy and enthusiasm; you made this an unforgettable adventure!

And to our wonderful instructors, Klaudia and Betty, we owe you so much and we really value your knowledge and your kindness. 

The permaculture seed has been planted in Lebanon!

Now the real work begins: to put the learning of permaculture and permaculture design into practice.

The Jlal at-Tormos organic farm proved to be a very interesting site to visit - and it gave us the chance to share a bus ride. It was an hour-long ride to Joun in the Chouf caza but it was well worth the trip.

Jlal at-Tormos is located on an arid slope that has seen extensive grazing and wildfires for a good number of years. Nestled inside a wind barrier of fir trees, Jacqueline Jreissati and Mostafa Sleiman have single-handedly regenerated the soil and planted different varieties of fruit trees and vegetables the organic way. The farm sends fruit and vegetable baskets to subscribers all year and constantly experiments with new varieties.

It was interesting for us to see some of the permaculture concepts we learned about being applied in this small spot. The famous "3 Sisters" guild of beans, corn and pumpkins was especially visible on many terraces. Betty and Mostafa traded recipes for promoting effective microorganisms as we made our way downhill to the farm's chicken coop.

After we got back to Saidoun and had a hearty lunch, we talked a little more about group dynamics and non-violent communication. We then returned to our assigned sites and continued mapping under a hot sun until dinner.

The evening was a very special one as we initiated a talking circle and really opened up to each other.

We now come to the bittersweet realization that we are three quarters into the course and we are really intent on making the best of the time we have left.

See you tomorrow.

We've all learned about the water cycle in school and we take it for granted, but we never imagined it could be fun to revisit it until today.

The day started under a hot beating sun until we "experienced" the water cycle with a meditation exercise that left all of us in awe. No sooner had we finished than we heard the rumbling of thunder in the distance and a light rain started falling. It kept drizzling well into the afternoon and gave us a unique chance to witness not the one but 2 rainbows that can rarely be seen together with the naked eye.

Klaudia and Betty explained Bill Mollison's 4 directives when it comes to water. The guiding principle behind these can be summarized in 3 words: Slow, spread, sink. They concern methods of reducing water waste and soil erosion (we soon found out water and soil are very intimately linked together), harvesting rainwater and moisture, and also using clean water both for our bodies and when releasing it back to the earth.

It was then time for our afternoon practical session with our friends from the village. Betty surprised us once again with exotic recipes using natural ingredients to encourage effective microorganisms in plants and in soils. Preparing these formulas turned into a treasure hunt around the village, looking for such things as green shoots, bran, chicken manure, coal, rice water and other unlikely ingredients.

And that effectively laid the groundwork for tomorrow's topic: soils.

Learning about permaculture zones turned out to be really cool! It felt like being a child again, looking over the map of a terrain and letting your imagination run free to decide the best place for all the exciting elements we can use in permaculture: the chicken coop, fruit trees, vegetables, the compost heap, the cattle, etc.

After we got a little carried away with designing our interactive 3D map and making grandiose plans, Klaudia helped us take a step back and put things into perspective with the mind-mapping technique. This came in handy when we started thinking a little more rationally about the design for a kitchen garden (Zone 1 in permaculture) and the types of vegetables, water harvesting systems and compost location we should have close to the house (Zone 0) in this zone.

Here, we should mention that we have been eating like kings since the beginning of this PDC thanks to the cooking skills and the kindness of Hoda (Em Rabih), a lovely lady from Saidoun who has made it her mission to fill our bellies with the best she can conjure in her kitchen.

So it is with sated appetites that we once again went back to our learning discussions and the subject of the afternoon: Integrated Pest Management (IPM). When you opt for IPM, you resort to a number of strategies that replace spraying when it comes to controlling pests. The starting point is having a healthy soil and healthy plants by providing enough natural nutrients and increasing crop diversity, and, ultimately, cooking up some liquid natural pesticides.

Our friends from Saidoun and nearby Rimat joined us again for Betty's interesting demonstration of natural pesticides. Her recipe consisted of dried chili mixed with garlic or onions in water. After 24 hours of maceration, this solution should be diluted in water and sprayed over the pests attacking a plant. Afterwards, Betty explained how to start seeds in pots or planters, as well as ways of preserving seeds and labelling them.

Tomorrow we'll go into more details about water harvesting and other garden aids.

The second day of the PDC revolved around the guiding principles in permaculture and becoming familiar with some of those principles such as microclimates, growth in succession, and cooperation among plants or between plants and insects in natural ecosystems.

Permaculture principles are guidelines that define a permaculture design that is respectful of all elements of an ecosystem. For that, it is essential to understand some basic notions of climate (long-term weather patterns), weather (daily or nightly changes in temperature and humidity levels). Betty was able to make what could have been a simple geography lesson into a really interesting and interactive session.

With permaculture principles in mind, Klaudia explained that designing plant or animal systems requires a specific  approach where, ideally, all needs are satisfied and all outputs are limited to positive effects. A famous example to illustrate this is known as the "permaculture chicken", but we had a chance to experience with implementing a permaculture design of our own by building a hot compost later on.

For the practical hot compost session, we were joined by a number of farmers and growers from Saidoun and the village of Rimat below it. This made for a series of challenging and entertaining Q&As during the entire session, which also helped PDC participants understand the needs of farmers, while demonstrating to them the positive outputs of hot compost. With the combined efforts of Betty, PDC participants and the villagers, we raised a cubic meter of dry organic material mixed with kitchen scraps and other green "waste", as well as chicken manure to help speed up the process. After watering our creation, we let it rest and will check up on it in four days' time.

We are looking forward to tomorrow and the rest of the course, so stay tuned to discover permaculture with us.

Today was the first full day of permaculture for all 11 participants in the first PDC ever organized in Lebanon.

We are blessed with a particularly inspiring group of participants for this first PDC, and the village of Saidoun was bustling with new positive energy as they made their way across its small roads all day.

This first day set the foundation for a lively and productive atmosphere with the help of our lovely instructors Klaudia Van Gool and Betty Khoury.

For today, the main task was getting into the permaculture mindset. Number one on the list was getting ready to expand our perception and our understanding of the interconnectedness between different elements in nature. The afternoon was largely devoted to a practical observation of a forest plot and becoming attuned to the natural flow of energy around us.  

 The initial impression today was one of excitement at being part of something new and somewhat overwhelming. Most participants have a fairly good idea about permaculture and some are even experts in related fields like agricultural engineering and environmental consultancy, but there's no telling what the road ahead has in store.