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Design Cover Sheet

Title of Design Dates of Design Design Brief
Brook End January 2011 Present (On-going, incremental design)

In December 2010 I moved in with my Mum (Michele) and her partner, Ian, to Brook End a 4-acre family smallholding near Street in Somerset. In 2012 we were joined by Ians 92-year old mother, Barbara. This design documents my design process, from my full year of observation and surveying, to the dedicated design work undertaken with the family to explore how we can optimise our resilience on multiple levels. The brief of the design is to design a smallholding for family resilience at every level, growing food, medicine and fuel while enhancing biodiversity and beauty, as well as working for regenerative livelihoods and community benefits. Background to Brook End: The land is diverse with an old orchard, woodland, stream and pond, as well as a 2-acre field. There are 7 greenhouses and a polytunnel as well as intensive vegetable and herb gardens.

How this design meets the Assessment Criteria: Demonstrating Design Skills Overview of Design Process
This design process is structured using the SADIE model Survey, Analysis, Design, Implement, Evaluate. However in undertaking this very-long term design I have developed my own design process, which better describes the work I have been undertaken. This is illustrated by the flowchart image below:

In terms of SADIE, in summary the design process has involved: Survey Creating field maps through measuring & surveying Collating information from maps e.g. historical maps, OS/promap data Collating information from background research Undertaking a full cycle of observations Holistic surveying (see website for more information) Design Questionnaires PASTE Analysis Analysis Zone & Sector Analysis (for the whole site & individual designs) Applying permaculture principles Spirals of erosion

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Functions, systems, elements analysis (Orchard, Field Design) Web of connections (Brook End Orchard Design) McHarg Exclusion Method (Pollytunnel placement) PA Yeomans Scale of Permanence Random Assembly Design Whole-site designs

Water Management - existing sources of supply, watershed boundaries & flow patterns, flooding, puddling & ponding areas, potential pollution sources, erosion & other observations Water Management possible sources of supply, storage, permaculture approaches, WET systems, design decisions for Brook End Sewage Management Overview, design questions, compost toilets, urine harvesting, design decisions Biodiversity Plan Overview, biodiversity goals, species lists, recommended practices Harvesting, processing & storage Preserving methods, equipment needed, applying permaculture, design decisions Community Outreach Food & medicine, camps & gatherings, earth-based spirituality, permaculture demonstration, growers cooperative, learning & education Brook End Business Ideas Mind Map Brook End Business Planning Mind Map Polylivelihood Design Earth Dragon ltd, Brook End Edibles, Wild Heart Herbals & Wild Heart Permaculture all different business design ideas for Brook End

Kitchen garden

Base Map of this area Permaculture Kitchen Gardens Characteristics, zone analysis, tools & strategies, design aims, design decisions Designing for Nutritional Diversity Overview, foundations of a healthy diet, catch & store energy, wild foods, nourishing herbal infusions, the role of leafy greens, vitamins & minerals Brook End Vegetable Patch Rotation Zone 1 Species List

Greenhouses

Field Map Greenhouses Indoor Ecosystem Management Overview, bioshelters, purposes of indoor ecosystems, indoor ecosystem dynamics, examples Indoor Ecosystem Management Design factors; diversity, gas exchange, fertility, watering, functions, light, energy

Medicine Garden

Designing for Medicinal Resilience Design aims, skills & knowledge, resources, yields Designing for Medicinal Resilience continued Spring, summer & autumn, herbal antibiotics, traditional medicinal plants in Somerset, wildcrafting ethics Picture of original medicine garden design

Overview of Herbs grown at Brook End

Orchard Design

Permaculture Orchards Overview, forest gardens, examples of orchard re-designs, aims for the Brook End orchard

The Orchard re-design at Brook End was undertaken by a group of Permaculture Diploma Apprentices in May 2011 as part of a support weekend led by Aranya. As the host I participated in this design through acting as the client answering group questions, supporting with surveying and so forth however I can not take credit for the design decisions made or suggested. You can read my account of the weekend here. You can see a picture of the final design here. Witchhazel Wildwood, one of the participants of the weekend wrote up the design to use towards her Diploma, and she has kindly let me provide a link to this work here for anyone more interested in the Brook End Orchard. See the design here. Field Design Aranya also returned in 2012 for a second design supportive intensive that took place at Brook End. Once again as a host I participated in the design process as a client and also supported the surveying process. You can read my write up of the weekend here. Below are links to other elements of the design process:

Mindmap overview of field design process Picture of site survey Field Base Map Random Assembly exercise as part of design process Field Functions Analysis Field Final Design

Implementation See photographs & links on website Evaluation See evaluation below See links to columns documenting & reflecting on design & implementation at Brook End

Use of Permaculture Ethics, Principles & Theory

See final design report. In summary: Observe & Interact full year of observations undertaken, holistic surveying, design questionnaires & on-going active listening, extensive research & reading to inform decision making Catch & Store energy rebuilding natural capital through planting trees, building soil & fertility. Rainwater harvesting, compost toilets, composting & design to save personal energy & time interacting with the site Obtain a Yield vegetables, fruits, medicinal herbs, social yields, spiritual yields, community yields through events & community use, livelihood creation Apply self regulation & accept feedback regularly reviewing where we are at as a family with our design implementation, checking in, designing self-regulating systems for example beneficial planting guilds to reduce disease and so forth Use & value renewable resources & services honouring passive functions of the

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ecosystems we are part of e.g. soil biota, designing structures for the long haul, making the most of on-site and recycled materials Produce no waste making use of all our outputs, trying to plug any spirals of erosion, composting Design from patterns to details placing Brook End its wider political, economic, ecological and social contexts and engaging in community outreach, taking a wholesite view before making design decisions Integrate rather than segregate each function served by many elements, e.g. food is from kitchen garden, orchard, pollytunnel and so forth, to ensure we are more resilient Use small & slow solutions designing and implementing the design at Brook End at a realistic and sustainable pace! Designing smaller subsystems in detail as and when and working out from Zone 0 Use & value diversity huge planting diversity but also diversity in our tasks that we engage in/sharing labour, and varying our own interests so Brook End is not single source of satisfaction/purpose/livelihood Use edges & value the marginal optimising edges at all scales in our systems, both Brook End itself and subsystems within it e.g. Kitchen Garden, also embracing local edge for example Glastonburys alternative streak Creatively use & respond to change designing for long term resilience, thinking about succession and aging in ourselves and the land Earth care developing small scale intensive systems designed to optimise biodiversity and regeneration, reducing our ecological impact, increasing our resilience, supporting our community to learn earth care practices People care supporting our family to be more resilient, healthy (optimum nutrition, herbal medicine, exercise), happy & fulfilled, and financially resilient. Supporting our community with food & medicine and creating opportunities for people to learn land-based skills and see the value in design Fair shares optimising land use/small scale intensive systems, creating community connections, using the land for community organising events that can help challenge inequalities e.g. for example the Radical Herbalism Gathering David Holmgrens Principles Functions, systems, elements analysis Random Assembly PASTE (Plants, animals, structures, tools, events) analysis Design Questionnaire PA Yeomans Scale of Permanence Applying ecological principles Bill Mollisons permaculture principles Goal setting McHarg Exclusion Method Web of connections Spiral of Intervention Zone & Sector analysis

Ethics

Design Tools & Techniques Used

How this design meets the Assessment Criteria: Learning from, and developing your permaculture practice Effectiveness of Design & Design Outcomes
Personal & Professional Outcomes: Massive sense of achievement Have definitely experienced an internalising of the design process

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Feel closer to Mum & Ian through feeling I am making our long-term ambitious vision tangible and achievable. Personal productivity enhanced. Body of design work uploaded online for my Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design portfolio.

Outcomes for Brook End: Detailed designs for several subsystems of Brook End Detailed design work for whole-site decision making e.g. water systems Time, money & energy saved through design process (rather than implementing unthought-through ideas that waste time/money) Physical design outcomes including, but not limited to: o Path & edging creation for Kitchen Garden o Large compost system & bins designed & built o Increased biodiversity throughout site o Increased diversity of produce grown & harvested o Medicine Garden built, masses of outputs in terms of medicine such as dried herbs, oils, tinctures, medicinal vinegars and so forth, as well as learning/teaching example o Leylandii hedge removed o Pollytunnel built & planted o Beds created around greenhouses o Comfrey patch & biodiversity strip near pollytunnel created o Fruit cage constructed o Orchard trees mulched o Summer house kitchen built o Compost toilets built o Willows coppiced & other trees/hedges pruned o Car park constructed o Herb drying shed constructed o Several events hosted including permaculture workshops, courses & the South West convergence, oak dragon camps, the radical herbalism gathering and more. o Brook End website www.brookend.org.uk o Becoming a LAND Learner Centre with the Permaculture Association

Evaluation Summary

What went well: Communication between the family everyones openness and energy and supportive participation in the design process The depth of the design process & how much thinking/detailed thought has gone in to each of the design sections so far The clear practical implementation and manifestation of our familys ideas and design decisions The ability to take our time & embrace a full year of observation That we are not financially dependent on Brook End at present which reduces the pressure on the design work and creates a more sustainable implementation pace Having support and feedback from both my Diploma Tutor, Steve Pritchard, who supported me with a Design Support Tutorial, as well as Valerie Seitz from Gaia University who gave me extensive feedback on my work as part of my BSc work. What was challenging: The sheer volume of work necessary in terms of researching, surveying, making decisions, costing things out and then actually putting the design decisions into practice! It can be very exhausted if not done with care and a small and slow

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solutions approach. Differing priorities within the family and how we develop and use the land, for example the size of events we are comfortable with. Financial resources to implement design ideas Resource limitations through us all needing to balance work and design investment at Brook End with other paid work, interests, community organising, social time and so forth Coming to acceptance that the design is going to be a long term process and an overall polished design that I was craving is unlikely and not the best format for design decisions that we need as a family, as we are making decisions incrementally over time

What I would have done differently: Uploaded design work straight after creating a large body of design work Blogged more about my experiences, especially my reflections, so that I had better documentation of my design and implementation work over time

Costings Summary
I tried at the beginning of this design to track spending on the design implementation, however it proved ineffective as a system as there are simply too many outgoings and different people investing in Brook End to track spending effectively. In future designs I will design a system from the start to record receipts and encourage people to note their spending. In terms of the design, money was spent on printing (about 25) and books and resources for the design research (over 150 during my diploma). All the knowledge I have accumulated over studying should also be accounted for, as this has greatly contributed to the design.

Learning Pathway Reflections

This design has supported me to become more empathetic with other clients, and more realistic in my suggestions as I know how much hard work is involved in implementing a design over the long time. During this design work process, a light bulb switched on for me when I realised the design isnt about the drawing at all. It is about the work, sweat, caring intent and passion to create a lifestyle that is truly sustainable in a landscape that is regenerating. I know now the design isnt the finished A3 print out, its the process. Each of the A3 summaries I have created about various systems at Brook End have been a major learning journey within themselves. Hours spent pouring over books, looking through course notes, searching online and then walking the land in the pouring rain. This design process has also made me realise that as much as I am emotionally engaged with Brook End, my heart lies in ending animal oppression and I know a lot of work lies beyond these hedgerows. However I can evaluate the role of Brook End in my life and design my future in a way that the problem is the solution can Brook End offer a way to support my external goals e.g. working to end animal agriculture? Through this work I now see that it can and that it doesnt have to be one or the other, Brook End is integrated into my pathway and heart for good. Reflecting on this has made me value what role Brook End does play in my life: o Its an emotional sanctuary, a centre for recharging o Is the way to reduce my costs of living o Is the absolute centre of my earth based life & pathway o Is the source of nourishment on multiple levels o Is the centre for my livelihood creation abundance awaits!

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o Is a way that I can actually achieve my social change goals, meaning I can work less allowing more time for social organising. Hence the problem is the solution.

How this design meets the Assessment Criteria: Applying permaculture in your own life
This design opportunity has allowed me to embrace a right livelihood. This design process has supported me to optimise my project management skill sets and improve my own time management. This design has helped me to create a more resilient and ecological life for myself through: o Growing more of my own & my familys food o Growing nearly all of my & my familys herbal medicine o Generating firewood o Saving money & water through rainwater harvesting and the composting toilets o Traveling less as more of my social & livelihood needs are met through Brook End o Being more connected to the land which then influences all of my lifestyle decisions to live a more ecological life.

How this design meets the Assessment Criteria: Applying permaculture to your work and projects
Assessment categories engaged with through this design: Site Development o Through designing and working on my own site, creating a working demonstration of permaculture in action. Art, Media, Culture and Communications this design has been disseminated via my website, referenced in various articles and shared with apprentice-peers at events. Dissemination o My design work on Scribd has received over 10,000 views o I have shared my design journey with Positive News through my Permaculture column o I have written various articles referencing Brook End, including for Growing Green International and Permaculture Magazine o I have used Brook End as a site for introductory permaculture workshops & other educational activities o I have blogged about Brook End through my website which receives thousands of hits o I have disseminated my design work around Brook End through the Gaia University community via my online portfolio o Created a brookend.org.uk website