What we’re about
Permaculture aims to regenerate healthy, productive landscapes and communities by consciously applying ecological principles to the design of human habitats. It is a theory, a mindset, and a lens for looking at the world in order to create a sustainable and just planet for all. Permaculture’s three ethics - Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share - and its twelve principles are used to design systems that create and foster healthy relationships. Through this discipline, each of us can take greater responsibility for ourselves and our world by developing life skills for sustainable living to become active participants and producers.
“Permaculture gives us a toolkit for moving from a culture of fear and scarcity to one of love and abundance.” -Toby Hemenway (permaculturist & author)
What we do: We build community, share ideas and learn how to move forward mindfully and in tune with the ethics of Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share. Through the Seacoast NH Permaculture Meetup and other partner organizations we bring people together by offering workshops, speakers, movies, discussions, swaps, potluck meals and other events.
"We don't know what details of a truly sustainable future are going to be like, but we need options, we need people experimenting in all kinds of ways and permaculturists are one of the critical gangs that are doing that." -Dr. David Suzuki (geneticist, broadcaster, environmentalist)
Our mission: Seacoast NH Permaculture Group empowers individuals and communities to work together to create resiliency through the use of Permaculture in the NH seacoast area and beyond. We inspire and teach each other by sharing skills, knowledge, and regenerative practices, nurturing our connections and celebrating our work.
“You cannot save the land apart from the people or the people apart from the land.” -Wendell Berry (farmer, environmentalist, author)
Land Acknowledgment: Indigenous cultures, past and present, have been an inspiration to our learning and the development of permaculture. To honor them and to deepen our connection to and understanding of the land we are living on, we share that the Seacoast of NH is the traditional ancestral homeland of the Abenaki, Pennacook and Wabanaki Peoples. We are grateful to them for stewarding this area so beautifully for thousands of years and continuing that work now. They invite us to join their efforts – see indigenousnh.com to learn more.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Food & Climate Panel: Beyond Carbon MarketsLink visible for attendees
Join NOFA-NH and Seacoast Permaculture for a panel discussion and Q&A that asks: if not carbon markets and other payment for ecosystem (PES) programs, then what would work to support farmers who responsibly care for our ecosystem while feeding people? A previous panel addressed issues with current carbon market and PES programs and the challenges of trying to monetize carbon sequestration or best ecological farming practices.
In this program, we welcome back our panelists to look at the alternatives we know work and ones being proposed that hold promise to truly support healthy growing practices. How we grow food has serious implications for the climate, biodiversity and human health. We need to make changes now, whether on our own farms or by supporting growers as they shift practices. There are solutions - let's talk about how to reach them!
Featuring:
Cat Buxton of Birch Forest Farm in Sharon VT runs Grow More, Waste Less, focused on community resilience built from the ground up. She works with Regeneration Corps to engage high-school-aged students, Upper Valley Apple Corps in planting free-for-the-picking fruit and nut trees, and is co-founder of the Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition.
Stephen Leslie is co-manager of Cedar Mountain Farm & Cobb Hill Cheese co., both located at Cobb Hill Co-housing in Hartland, VT. Stephen is a soil health advocate & farmer activist. He is a writer of numerous articles and two books on farming with draft horses.
Earl Hatley is a co-founder and Board President of LEAD Agency, Inc., a predominantly Native American grassroots organization in northeastern OK. LEAD Agency is a member of the Waterkeeper Alliance, and from 2003-2021 Mr. Hatley served as the Grand Riverkeeper. Earl currently serves as board member for Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition, and Rural Vermont, is a member of the VT Environmental Justice Advisory Committee and President of the board for Ottauquechee Water Protectors Association in Quechee VT.
Julie Davenson is a NOFA NH board member and served as the Executive Director of Stonewall Farm for 7 years where she transitioned the farm into an innovative demonstration HUB for regenerative agriculture. She trained in holistic management with the Savory Institute.
Caroline Gordon is the Legislative Director of Rural Vermont. She is engaged in changing the law so that sustainable farming practices become economically viable and wants to maintain farming in a way that increases communal participation and collaboration among producers.
COST: A donation of any amount is asked to support SP & NOFA-NH's work. You can sign up here then pay at https://www.seacoastnhpermaculture.org/ or by check to Seacoast Permaculture, 219 France Rd, Barrington NH 03825.
Learn more about our partner NOFA-NH (The Northeast Organic Farming Association of NH at https://www.nofanh.org/
- ONLINE Permaculture Topics: Making Permaculture Stronger with Cultural EmergenceLink visible for attendees
The Making Permaculture Stronger podcast speaks with Looby Macnamara, international teacher, practitioner and author. They discuss her latest book, Cultural Emergence: A Toolkit for Transforming Ourselves and the World, her work at The Applewood Permaculture Centre that she runs with her partner in Herefordshire, UK, and about her collaboration with Jon Young, deep nature connection mentor, on the Cultural Emergence toolkit and process.
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 listen to this interview (70 mins): https://makingpermaculturestronger.net/looby-macnamara-cultural-emergence/
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.
COST: Suggested donation of $5-15 at https://www.seacoastnhpermaculture.org/ . If you do not want to use paypal, we always take checks to Seacoast Permaculture, 219 France Rd, Barrington NH 03825. *We are not requiring you pay before signing up but there are limited spaces so please take your RSVP seriously.*
JOINING ONLINE: Our online programs are offered via Zoom. When you rsvp "yes" the Zoom link will become visible to you on this event page. Whenever you are logged in to your meetup account and come to this page you will be able to see it, click on it, or cut and paste it to get to the meeting. We will send you a message with the link through meetup, but your settings for your email or in meetup may mean it does not reach you, so *please remember to come to this page for access!*
The series will be facilitated by Seacoast Permaculture members who are involved in organic growing and homesteading, education and social justice movements. The facilitators will help the conversation move along, making sure everyone gets a chance to share. These are not formal classes but conversations shaped by the participants to help us get the most out of the material.
- NOFA-NH/SP Book Study Starts: Saying No to a Farm-Free FutureLink visible for attendees$10.00
This winter join NOFA-NH and Seacoast Permaculture for a 4-part Zoom book discussion of "Saying NO to a Farm-Free Future: The Case For an Ecological Food System and Against Manufactured Foods" by Chris Smaje.
We will meet every other Thursday, 7-8:30pm on Zoom: January 4, January 18, February 1, and February 15. There will also be an opportunity for us to talk with author Chris Smaje on Zoom at a date & time to be determined towards the end of our book study!
For our first meeting, please read the Foreward, Introduction and Chapter 1 (pages 1-32).
ABOUT THE BOOK: A defense of agroecological, small-scale farming and a robust critique of an industrialized future. Smaje challenges George Monbiot's portrayal of an urban, high-energy, industrially manufactured food future as the answer to our current crises. At the same time, Smaje presents his powerful counterargument – a low-carbon agrarian localism that puts power in the hands of local communities, not high-tech corporations. In the ongoing fight for our food future, this book will help you to understand the benefits of congenial, ecological living versus a dystopian, factory-centered existence.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Chris Smaje has coworked a small farm in Somerset, England for the last twenty years. Previously, he was a university-based social scientist. Since switching focus to the practice and politics of agroecology, he’s written for The Land, Dark Mountain, Permaculture magazine and Statistics Views, as well as academic journals. Chris is the author of A Small Farm Future, writes the blog at www.smallfarmfuture.org.uk and is a featured author at resilience.org.
COST/REGISTRATION: Register here for the whole 4 session series for only $10 per person. We will be grateful for donations beyond that at your discretion! If you do not want to use paypal, we always take checks to Seacoast Permaculture, 219 France Rd, Barrington NH 03825.
The series will be facilitated by Seacoast Permaculture & NOFA-NH members who are involved in organic growing, education and social justice movements. The goal of our book study is to expand our knowledge and understanding of organic farming, permaculture and food systems and to bring members together to build our community.
Our cosponsor is NOFA-NH - The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire (NOFA-NH) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated promoting organic, regenerative, ecologically sound farming, gardening, eating, and land care practices for healthy communities. We help people build local, just, and sustainable food systems. More info here: https://www.nofanh.org/
