Seacoast NH Permaculture

The Colbroth homestead is a 2 acre parcel with a 1980s renovated house where Lisa moved in 2003. A programmer by trade, she became a gardener to fulfill her tendency to hoard - what better to hoard than food producing plants! She has converted 1/3 to 1/2 of her 2 acres into gardens and orchards. She appreciates having food she knows is safe and chemical-free, and sharing it with family and friends.

Lisa applied permaculture principles from video series such as Growing Back to Eden, Canadian Permaculture Legacy, Stefan Sobkowiak, Plant Abundance, The Weedy Garden, Edible Acres and others. She builds soil with horse manure and wood chips from her neighbors, similar in style to the Growing Back to Eden model.

For Lisa's first orcharding experiments she grabbed what she found at the big box stores, threw them in the ground and hoped for the best! Since then, she has researched for low-watering, disease resistant options. She discovered so many varieties not available in the grocery store. You will see pretty much any plant that will grow in our region, but adds "If you know of one I do not have, I would love to learn more and add it to my collection!"

Some of the plants you will see:
Trees: Cherry, apple, peach, Asian and European pear, plum, persimmon, hazelnut, medlar, mulberry, fig, nectarine, apricot, paw paw, almond, quince, jujube.
Bushes: honeyberry, raspberry (black, red, yellow, pink), blackberry, blueberry, black and white currant, gooseberry, ligonberry, cranberry, jostaberry, aronia, Nanking cherry, serviceberry, strawberry.
Vines: grape, kiwi
Perennial vegetables: asparagus, rhubarb, winecap mushrooms, Turkish rocket, hablitzia, honesty, pool caraway, bloody dock, good King Henry, mouse garlic, shisandra, sweet cicely, metichi garlic, Egyptian walking onions.
Nitrogen fixers: Siberian peashrub, goji berry.
Soil helpers: comfrey, mullein.
Pollinator plants: Milkweed, black eyed Susan, coneflower, Queen Anne's lace, etc...

COST: sliding scale of $10-30, payable at the event. No one turned away if unable to pay. Ideally bring cash or check!

About Seacoast Permaculture's Summer Garden & Homestead Tours: This event is part of the Seacoast Permaculture's Summer Garden & Homestead Tour series. Seeing what others are doing is a great way to get new ideas, learn new techniques and be inspired. The sites chosen are all in varied settings and different stages of development.

An interview with award-winning permaculture teacher and designer, Morag Gamble, and best-selling author, Jeremy Lent, discussing the urgent need to realign our patterns of meaning with the life-sustaining patterns of our planet to create thriving, regenerative cultures. ReGeneration Rising explores how regenerative approaches can help us collectively re-design our communities, cities, and economies, and create a thriving home for all on our planet.

To clarify - for these discussions, we watch/listen to/read material ahead of time and then discuss it. The authors or speakers are not joining us - we are talking about their work ourselves.

Building soil through hugelkultur and animal rotation are important skills. The health of our gardens, our food, and our planet all improve with these techniques.

This work party will involve moving material into place for expanding pasture and hugelkultur beds. It will not be very heavy lifting - more a many hands make light work setup! There will be a tour of areas previously created this way so you can see the results.

Please dress for work, including sturdy shoes, and bring work/garden gloves if you have them. Your own water bottle is a good idea, too.

COST: This series is an exchange of your working energy for the knowledge and skill building of our hosts. No payment is expected but your support is always appreciated!

Announcing Seacoast Permaculture Work Parties: experiential learning and mutual support events!

Over the years many have told us that they would welcome an opportunity for more hands on skill building. Books, videos, podcasts and classes are amazing, but to actually participate in the work is often the best learning experience.

We also believe that coming together to help each other with our projects is a great way to build community and support for the important work we are engaged in. It is also a joyful way to spend our time!

In 2025 we launch the program by gathering at three homesteads to learn how to build soil, to put a garden to bed for the winter and to plant garlic. These are some basic techniques that are the core of homesteading or garden management.

Come together to learn through doing!

Topic TBA

To clarify - for these discussions, we watch/listen to/read material ahead of time and then discuss it. The authors or speakers are not joining us - we are talking about their work ourselves.

Before we meet...

In our Permaculture Topics Discussions & Book Studies, we aim to expand our knowledge of topics related to permaculture and to have an ongoing series where members can connect to build our community. This series has a particular focus on "social/societal permaculture." Since Spring 2020, we've been especially engaging with topics such as: people care, story, right relationships, new economics, community resilience, honoring indigenous knowledge, strength in diversity, and forests & gardens as teachers.