Thank you to everyone around Maine who has offered to host an open house or other events for 2016 Maine Permaculture Day!  This is a distributed and decentralized way to share some of the things that are happening in the Maine permaculture world with each other and those who are curious.

Maine Permaculture Day is August 20th!

If you are new to permaculture, perhaps do a bit of reading before heading out! Remember that permaculture is a design method and set of strategies that expresses itself differently on every site!  And it’s also important to note that one permaculturist’s aesthetics can be different than the next…so even if something looks too “tidy” or more “wild” than you might prefer, there is still probably some great learning for you in that site!

If you’re in Southern Maine, don’t forget to join us for some social time and a screening of “Inhabit” at the Urban Farm Fermentory in Portland Saturday evening!

IMPORTANT FOR VISITORS:

1. Please know that this is not a “manicured garden tour” type of event! These are often working landscapes and works-in-progress.  Your hosts may be only a year or two into implementing a 5 or 10-year plan for their site.  The idea here is to stimulate connection and conversation.  What are the goals of the site? What elements are supporting that?  What has worked well?  What was challenging?  What was surprising?
2. In some cases, event hosts and organizers have given parking guidance for you to follow (in the directory listings if applicable).
3. The open house hosts may or may not have their bathrooms available for use so the best practice would be to attend to those needs prior to arriving at someone’s place.

Click here for a printable directory of open houses and events (sorted by zip code).

Click here for a smartphone formatted web page .

2016 Maine Permaculture Day DIRECTORY – SORTED BY ZIP CODE

Activities & Open Houses as Reported by Hosts

Caroline Rose
Open House
From 9:00:00 AM to 2:00:00 PM
63 Woodlawn Avenue
Kittery, Maine 03904

Phone: 207-475-2969
Email: Caroline.Rose3904@gmail.com

A look at the early stages Permaculture design being implemented on 1/10 of an acre: chickens, food production, composting, redefined zones for a more urban setting. Event includes a walk through the neighborhood and a discussion on how interpersonal connections can support resilience and foster a community-wide sense of security.

Site features: Tree Crops, Rainwater Collection, Livestock, Composting (any kind), Green or Natural Building Techniques, Swales and/or Other Earthworks, Annual Veg Production, De-Paving Techniques, Natural Play Spaces, A Drawn Design for the Property (or some of the property), Shrub Crops, Vertical Growing, Foraging Systems

Deborah Ganster
GreenFleece Farm
Open House
From 9:00:00 AM to 1:00:00 AM
576 Emery’s Bridge Rd (note – follow the actual numbering, not GPS)
South Berwick, Maine 03908

Phone: 207-676-9886
Email: djganster@yahoo.com

GreenFleece Farm Open House
We have been integrating permaculture design ethics and principles for 6 yrs

Site features: Tree Crops, Perennial Vegetables, No-Dig Methods, Season Extension Methods, Renewable Energy, Livestock, Beekeeping, Hugelkultur, Composting (any kind), Green or Natural Building Techniques, Swales and/or Other Earthworks, Annual Veg Production, A Drawn Design for the Property (or some of the property), Shrub Crops, Vertical Growing, Foraging Systems, alternative forages, labyrinth, natural wool dyeing

Parking is available along the fields close to the entrance gate, a gravel road.

Jesse McAvoy
Libby Farmden
Open House
From 10:00:00 AM to 5:00:00 PM
35 Libby Avenue
Westbrook, Maine 04092

Phone: 207-228-4444
Email: jesseam@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/libbypermablitz/

Libby Farmden Open House
We have .46 acres that over the course of three years has been transformed from 100% lawn to a productive food forest and garden. There are now many fruit trees, a growing hazelnut hedge, and the beginnings of an apple espalier. We have a flock of chickens, and a family of ducks. There is also a natural pond that we dug three years ago, with fish and frogs (and sometimes ducks) inhabiting it. We have hugelkultur, keyhole beds, and companion planting.

Site features: Tree Crops, Perennial Vegetables, No-Dig Methods, Rainwater Collection, Water Features, Mushroom Production, Livestock, Forest Gardening / Food Forest Techniques, Hugelkultur, Composting (any kind), Annual Veg Production, Shrub Crops

There is plenty of street parking directly in front of the house, and down the street as far as need be.

Dawn York
Urban Farm Fermentory
A film screening or evening event
From 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM

200 Anderson Street
Portland, Maine 04101

Maine Permaculture Day – Social Hour, Potluck and INHABIT Film Screening at UFF

Saturday, Aug 20, 2016, 5:30 PM

Urban Farm Fermentory
200 Anderson Street Portland, ME

18 Permies Went

Join us to celebrate Maine Permaculture Day with a late afternoon/early evening potluck and social hour (5:30 to 7:00) followed by a screening of INHABIT: A Permaculture Perspective (featuring a bunch of local permies!).This event is co-hosted by The Resilience Hub and our friends and neighbors at the Urban Farm Fermentory here in East Bayside.So…

Check out this Meetup →

Evening Social Hour & Film Screening (Inhabit)
Join us to celebrate Maine Permaculture Day with a late afternoon/early evening potluck and social hour (5:30 to 7:00) followed by a screening of INHABIT: A Permaculture Perspective (featuring a bunch of local permies!).

Feel free to park at Resilience Hub and walk over

Laura Mailander
Cultivating Community
From 11:00 to 2:00 PM
Eastern Promenade
Portland, Maine 04101
https://www.facebook.com/events/151525858617345/

Sheet Mulching the Community Garden
Join Cultivating Community and Portland Food Co-op to generate a huge amount of people power to create new community garden spaces on the Eastern Prom!

Carol Karlsen

Open House
From 9:00:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Self guided tours are best, though Dave Homa and I will be available to answer questions and plant identifiers will assist visitors who wish to know the range of plants in the garden.

26 Caleb Street
Portland, Maine 04102
Phone: 899 0686
Email: ckarlsen@umich.edu

Permaculture Open House, Urban Food Forest. Featuring fruit and nut trees and bushes, including peach, pear, elderberry, and hazelnut; arbors planted out with grapes, hardy kiwi and schisandra, multiple planting beds with hoop houses; a small pond with water plants; and both perennial and annual vegetables. This property benefited from the talents of many, most notably permaculture designers Dave Homa, Heather Foran and Sarah Bostick and 24 community members who planned and implemented a permablitz on the property in July, 2013.

Site features: Tree Crops, Perennial Vegetables, No-Dig Methods, Season Extension Methods, Rainwater Collection, Water Features, Forest Gardening / Food Forest Techniques, Composting (any kind), Annual Veg Production, A Drawn Design for the Property (or some of the property), Shrub Crops, Vertical Growing

Street parking is plentiful, two city buses stop half a block away on the corner of Caleb and Congress Sts, and assistance can be arranged for anyone who requests it.

Elaine G McGillicuddy
Open House
From 11:00:00 AM to 2:00:00 PM
I’ll be on hand to chat with visitors and show the things that didn’t turn out that well, e.g. Cinnamon Vine (though it’s still growing) and the kiwi arbor (No kiwi yet) They can also see the chicken coop, not in use now, but I’d like to “rent it” to someone interested.
62 Avalon Road
Portland, Maine 04103

Phone: 207.653.7004
Email: ebmcgillicuddy@gmail.com
elainemcgillicuddy.com

Scroll one third of the way down here, on my website, to the section entitled “Permaculture”: http://www.elainemcgillicuddy.com/about/about-us/ Eight hyperlinks lead to the Portland Maine Permaculture website where photos were uploaded of past work parties and past open houses held here. This link offers exactly the information I want to share.

Site features: Tree Crops, Perennial Vegetables, No-Dig Methods, Season Extension Methods, Rainwater Collection, Renewable Energy, A Drawn Design for the Property (or some of the property), Shrub Crops

Avalon Road is a street without sidewalks. Simply park where you can without blocking neighbors’ driveways.

Sally Moon
Open House
From 9:00:00 AM to 3:00:00 PM
We will be onsite to answer questions but tours are casual and can be either self guided or guided.
98 Wellington Road
Portland, Maine 04103

Phone: 207 232 6578
Email: lunabride@gmail.com

Backyard Rain Garden open house house
Our residential yard is the product of a permaculture design by David Homa, which was implemented with the help of many friends in the community during a perma-blitz. Our goals included dealing with water flooding our back yard, expanding our living space by creating outside dining and seating areas, installing gutters and rain barrels as well as growing food. It is a work in progress but we are excited to share it with others.

Site features: No-Dig Methods, Season Extension Methods, Rainwater Collection, Water Features, Swales and/or Other Earthworks, Annual Veg Production, A Drawn Design for the Property (or some of the property), Raingarden or other stormwater re-use

On street parking is available. If folks need to park closer they are welcome to use our driveway.

Aaron Parker
Edgewood nursery
Open House
From 9:00:00 AM to 2:00:00 PM
There will be guided tours at 10:00 and 1:00, each lasting 1-2 hours depending on level of participation / interest, feel free to come late or leave early from the tour.
4 Cruston Way
Falmouth, Maine 04105

Phone: 207-653-2065
Email: rustic_live@yahoo.com
https://www.facebook.com/EdgewoodNursery/

Edgewood Nursery Open House and Guided Tours
Stop by and see our 9 year old forest garden, featuring over 100 species of edible, medicinal or otherwise useful plants. Also tour the nursery where 30-40 species of edible / useful plants are available to purchase, some of these species are not available anywhere else in the state (a few nowhere else on the continent).

Site features: Tree Crops, Perennial Vegetables, No-Dig Methods, Season Extension Methods, Livestock, Plant Propagation / Nursery Techniques, Forest Gardening / Food Forest Techniques, Hugelkultur, Composting (any kind), Swales and/or Other Earthworks, Annual Veg Production, Shrub Crops

Limited parking available at the end of the driveway, but feel free to park anywhere along the right hand side coming down the driveway.

max boudreau
winslow farm
Open House
From 9:00:00 AM to 5:00:00 PM

291 gray rd
falmouth, Maine 04105

Phone: 207-807-0000
Email: max@winslow-farm.com

We are working on a farm-community scale permaculture project. Some of the many elements include food-forest farming, perennial guilds, mulching and minimal tillage.

Site features: Tree Crops, Perennial Vegetables, No-Dig Methods, Season Extension Methods, Water Features, Mushroom Production, Livestock, Beekeeping, Plant Propagation / Nursery Techniques, Forest Gardening / Food Forest Techniques, Composting (any kind), Annual Veg Production, Shrub Crops, Crops Grown for Market, Foraging Systems

plenty of parking. Landscape with diverse terrain.

Geri Gajewski

Open House
From 9:00:00 AM to 1:00:00 PM
40 Kaler Rd
South Portland, Maine 04106

Phone: 207-749-9331
Email: gerig59@gmail.com
We have lived at residence 3 years. Front yard has been transformed from lawn to garden for herbs and flowers for pollinators. A permablitz event last summer added rain barrels for water collection, raised beds for vegetables, season extension bed and green “room” with beginnings of perineal fruit and vegetable production. Approx 1/3 acre lot. Permaculture techniques: Sheet mulching, water conservation/collection, berms, companion planting, season extension. We use heat pump and wood for heating sources.

Site features: Perennial Vegetables, No-Dig Methods, Season Extension Methods, Rainwater Collection, Renewable Energy, Composting (any kind), Swales and/or Other Earthworks, Annual Veg Production, A Drawn Design for the Property (or some of the property), Raingarden or other stormwater re-use

Parking on the street. Uneven grade and downward slope to back yard. Not handicapped accessible.

Scott Vlaun
Center for an Ecology-Based Economy
Open House
From 10:00:00 AM to 2:00:00 PM
26 Whitman Street
Norway, Maine 04268

Phone: 520 0575
Email: scott@ecologybasedeconomy.org
www.ecologybasedeconomy.org

Community Garden and Food Forest Tour
CEBE will be teaming with the Alan Day Community Garden to offer informal tours of both the Community Garden and the Community Food Forest

Site features: Tree Crops, Perennial Vegetables, No-Dig Methods, Season Extension Methods, Rainwater Collection, Renewable Energy, Forest Gardening / Food Forest Techniques, Hugelkultur, Annual Veg Production, A Drawn Design for the Property (or some of the property)

Please park on the street outside the garden

Scott Vlaun
Center for an Ecology-Based Economy
A film screening or evening event
From 7:00:00 PM to 8:30:00 AM

447 Main Street
Norway, Maine 04268

Phone: 520 0575
Email: scott@ecologybasedeconomy.org
www.ecologybasedeconomy.org

The Promise of Permaculture: Presentation and Discussion
CEBE Executive Director Scott Vlaun will present a slide show entitled “The Promise of Permaculture for Maine’s Western Foothills” providing an in-depth look at the climate and resource challenges ahead and how permaculture principles can be applied to finding ecological solutions. An open discussion will follow. Light refreshments will be served.

Site features:

Park behind Fare Share Food Cooperative

Scott Vlaun
Moose Pond Arts and Ecology
Open House
From 12:00:00 PM to 4:00:00 PM
Green Building and Forest Management tour at 2pm
35 Moose Pond Rd
Otisfield, Maine 04270

Phone: 520 0575
Email: scott@ecologybasedeconomy.org
www.moosepondarts.com

Moose Pond Permaculture Open House
Open House of a 2 acre site transitioning from a market garden to perennial polyculture. Green Buildings and Solar Power.

Site features: Tree Crops, Perennial Vegetables, No-Dig Methods, Season Extension Methods, Water Features, Renewable Energy, Mushroom Production, Livestock, Forest Gardening / Food Forest Techniques, Hugelkultur, Composting (any kind), Swales and/or Other Earthworks, Annual Veg Production

Park along dirt rd when you see the field on the right.

Claudia Lowd
The Permaculture Inn
A workshop or other educational event
From 10:00:00 AM to 12:00:00 PM
We will be discussing and designing an outside rain water shower and possible cistern 10 am. We are also discussing the do and do not of the d-i-y solar system that will be redesigned and reinstalled September 2017
42 Mill Street
Orono, Maine 04473

Phone: 207-949-5106
Email: Claudialowd@gmail.com
Living applied permaculture lifestyle
We will be designing an outside shower and cistern system, pruning the basket willow, using the outdoor pizza oven and more

Site features: Tree Crops, No-Dig Methods, Season Extension Methods, Water Features, Renewable Energy, Mushroom Production, Hugelkultur, Composting (any kind), Green or Natural Building Techniques, Annual Veg Production, Natural Play Spaces, Compost Tea Making, A Drawn Design for the Property (or some of the property), Shrub Crops, Raingarden or other stormwater re-use, Vertical Growing, Foraging Systems

Plenty of street parking with very short walking, garden sitting available or four steps up to a covered porch

Jesse Watson
Midcoast Permaculture Design
Open House
From 10:00:00 AM to 2:00:00 PM
We’ll break for lunch at noon, so bring a dish to share or a bag lunch if you’re in the neighborhood around that time!
168 west meadow rd
Rockland, Maine 04841

Phone: 691 1605
Email: midcoastpermaculture@gmail.com
midcoastpermaculture.com

Midcoast Permaculture Open House
Come see an evolving permaculture design applied to a residential site on a southeast facing slope within spitting distance of downtown Rockland. Some of the forest gardens are approaching six years old and include trees, shrubs, herbs and poultry systems. Mainly focused on perennials with an edible jungle aesthetic. We will also have on display goal articulation statements, the design for the property and examples of other design work from our porfolio.

Site features: Tree Crops, Perennial Vegetables, No-Dig Methods, Season Extension Methods, Rainwater Collection, Water Features, Livestock, Forest Gardening / Food Forest Techniques, Hugelkultur, Swales and/or Other Earthworks, A Drawn Design for the Property (or some of the property), Shrub Crops, Raingarden or other stormwater re-use, Foraging Systems

Park in the driveway if there is room, otherwise park along the road. The site is hilly, so may be somewhat challenging if participants have mobility challenges.

Gale Davison

A film screening or evening event
From 10:00:00 AM to 8:00:00 PM
Screenings are time specific. Symphony of the Soil at 10am. In Transition 2 at 1pm. Inhabit at 4pm. How to Cook Your Life at 6:30pm. There is about one hour between screenings to allow for some brief discussion and eating brown bag provisions.
25 Eustis Parkway
Waterville, Maine 04901

Phone: 207-861-1695
Email: galedavison@me.com

Four Movies. Come to all or come for one. Symphony of the Soil at 10am. In Transition 2 at 1pm. Inhabit at 4pm. How to Cook Your Life at 6:30pm.
Participants will learn how a PDC graduate’s thinking has evolved since initiating her journey with Permaculture in an urban environment and with a desire to seek out the Earth’s priorities in her design. I’ve been exploring Shamanism since March 2016 and incorporating divination into my inside and outside designs. A divination search for a sacred vortex on my property led me to surprising results. An area with only air and stone. No vegetables in most of my yard. No other fruit trees but apples. The homework to consider my view has been expanded to include intentional sound. I will offer four movies to screen which cover three of my favorites from the PDC course and How to Cook Your Life which adds Zen and social permaculture considerations. Limit 6 people per showing. Please RSVP.

Site features: Composting (any kind), Spiritual spaces

Park on the street in front of my house. My driveway is short and traffic is fast. Two cars would fit on the lawn to the left of the driveway for people with mobility challenges. Two steps to enter front door.

Nick jackson
Jackson ReGenerational Farm
Open House
From 9:00:00 AM to 2:00:00 PM

881 lincolnville rd
Belmont, Maine 04952

Phone: 207 702 1705
Email: jacksonregenerationalfarm@gmail.com
Facebook.com/jacksonregenerationalfarm

Jackson Regenerational Farm Open House
Open house and garden tour

Site features: Tree Crops, Perennial Vegetables, Water Features, Livestock, Composting (any kind), Swales and/or Other Earthworks, Annual Veg Production, Raingarden or other stormwater re-use, Crops Grown for Market, Foraging Systems

Park on grass near garage

Erica Buswell and Scott Giroux
Co-efficient Farm
Open House
From 9:00:00 AM to 2:00:00 AM
We’re happy to give tours at anytime visitors stop by and plan to be available to do so at an point during the course of the open-house.
106 Bog Hill Road Extension
Searsport, ME, Maine 04974

Phone: 207-323-6833
Email: ericabuswell@gmail.com
Co-efficient Farm Open House
Visitors are welcome to stop by and see the evolving implementation of our permaculture homestead, including our orchards, sugarbush, annual gardens, fowl, recreational trails, and off-grid solar-powered utility systems. Erica obtained her Permaculture Design Certificate in 2015 and we are happy to provide tours and talk with folks about how the principles of permaculture have informed our goals and future plans for our homestead.

Site features: Tree Crops, No-Dig Methods, Season Extension Methods, Rainwater Collection, Water Features, Renewable Energy, Mushroom Production, Composting (any kind), Annual Veg Production, Natural Play Spaces, A Drawn Design for the Property (or some of the property)

GPS and google maps won’t get you here unless you are certain to include the “extension” part of the address mentioned above. Visitors are welcome to park anywhere along the edge of our driveway. Anyone with mobility challenges can give us a call for more specific instructions about where to park for better access.

Nyla Bravesnow
Many Hands Farm
Open House
From 9:00:00 AM to 2:00:00 PM

269 Files Hill Rd
Thorndike, Maine 04986

Phone: 207-568-3261
Email: dragonfly9indigo@gmail.com
manyhandsfarm.weebly.com

Many Hands Farm Open House
Many Hands Farm is a small family farm/homestead on 8 open acres of beautiful sloping fields. The farmers’ intention is to steward the land using permaculture and biodynamics with an open-hearted awareness of the community of people, plants, animals and nature spirits on this little patch of earth. They grow a diversity of mostly open-pollinated, heirloom varieties of vegetables; fruit and nut trees; medicinal, tea and culinary herbs; and many edible flowers. They raise Nigerian dwarf dairy goats, American Guinea hogs, Welsh Harlequin and Ancona ducks, Buff geese, heritage breed chickens, and Mini Rex rabbits who collaborate with some pretty active worms to make the best compost on the planet!

Visitors may take a comprehensive tour of the many permaculture gardens, which demonstrate such techniques/principles as sheet mulching, hugelkultur, edible landscaping, terraced farming, working with the elementals (nature spirits), beauty, harmony and healing. Also see animals, unique cabins and outbuildings that all use a small footprint to create beautiful and highly functional spaces, the bunny/worm composting system, biodynamic compost windrows.

The farm stand will be stocked with vegetables, flowers, berries, eggs, goat cheese and pickles. Also for sale: fresh wood-oven-baked sourdough bread, Nyla’s herbal remineralizing toothpaste, rose petal bead malas and herbal teas.

Site features: Tree Crops, Perennial Vegetables, No-Dig Methods, Season Extension Methods, Rainwater Collection, Water Features, Livestock, Plant Propagation / Nursery Techniques, Forest Gardening / Food Forest Techniques, Hugelkultur, Composting (any kind), Green or Natural Building Techniques, Swales and/or Other Earthworks, Annual Veg Production, Natural Play Spaces, Compost Tea Making, Shrub Crops, Green/Living Roof, Crops Grown for Market, Vertical Growing, Foraging Systems

our homestead has a slope and many dips. It is difficult to tread if one is in a wheelchair or crutches…but not impossible. There are parking signs.

With enormous gratitude, I share the list of  some of the auction items that will be on offer for our Urban Winter Family Solstice Soiree (coming up this evening at 5:30!)

All proceeds go to support the 2016 Permablitz season.  We are hoping to extend our work into more neighborhoods in Greater Portland, especially where many people who rent their homes may not have had a chance to install their own food gardens yet!

Please support permablitzing, food security and more by making a generous bid!

If you want to read the full details on these wonderful items, please visit our online bidding preview page.  You can even place some online bids up until 5:30 pm today!