Practicing Permaculture In April a flash mob style permaculture group got together at my house to transform part of the front yard from grass to a growing area. With the guidance of David Homa of Post Carbon Designs, we layered leaves, seaweed, coffee grounds, cardboard, and compost to cover the grass, give the soil good nutrients, and help prevent weeds. The layers were covered in rich compost and wood chips. 

 David leads workshops in permaculture technique and also designs, creates, and installs raised beds, swales, herb spirals, and urban landscape designs like rooftop gardens with the idea of maximizing small space yields. Check out Post Carbon Designs facebook page to see hoop houses and lawn scapes and even chicken houses David builds.

 With the help of about a dozen "strangers" who showed up to learn and work, we turned the front yard from grass to gardening space in about 2 -3 hours! This summer I used potted plants such as hummingbird attractors as additions to t…