Post on 11-Jun-2015
Paul Revere SchoolPermaculture Design
•Spanish immersion school•pre-K to 8th grade•470 students, 80 staff•Becoming a local neighborhood school
Visions & Goals
• Build community within and outside the school• Foster social awareness and responsibility for the
Earth• Vary the Learning Environment
o Bring the classroom outsideo Enable teaching art outsideo Environmental & Conservations studieso Social Awarenesso Science & Math
Visions & Goals
• Show students where food comes fromo Create food they can use in cafeteriao Students can take food homeo Get families more involved with growing
food• Support healthy eating
o Nutrition classes outdoorso Wean kids' palettes off processed foods
Esthetic Visions & Goals
• Beautify the school environment• Eliminate erosion at the upper school yard• Block the wind tunnel effect• Create more shade in areas with vegetation• Create warm and welcoming campus
Assessment - Area
Assessment - Area
Assessment - Area
Total Area: 1.75 acres
Assessment - Zones
Assessment - Zones
Assessment - Zones
Assessment - Water Sector
Assessment - Water Sector
Avg. Annual Rainfall (gallons)
Upper yard 350,000
Upper roof 232,000Lower yard 204,000
Lower roof 161,000Total 947,000
Eroding Soil at Terrace Level
Assessment - Solar Sector
Assessment - Wind Sector
Assessment - Resources
Passionate People
&Involved Community
Assessment - Existing Resources
• 10 galvanized metal horse troughs• $700 credit to Berkeley Horticulture• 75% of waste recycled or composted• A few water spigots• Commitment by school to hire a year
round gardening coordinator• Grassroots "Greening Committee"/ Slow
Food
children 4 - 10 years of age
• Small-scale water catchment
• Bamboo and vines for wind break
• Plant above groundo Avoid toxic soil / break up
asphalto Use horse troughs, bogs,
straw bales, potato towers
Strategy: Lower School
Lower School
Strategy - Water Catchment
• Divert rain spout, capture in 55-gallon drums (80K g.)• Elevate drums if possible, otherwise use bicycle pump
for kids to pump water to troughs• Main benefit: teach kids water is precious resource
Strategy - Bamboo and Vines
• Provide break for strong winds
• Grow next to and up fences• Will need irrigation until
established
Problem: Massive Winds
Wind Break Simulation
Strategy: Wind Break ~Bamboo & Vines
• Bamboo (Phyllostachys Rubromarginata, P. Myerri, P. Aurea, or Semi-Arundinaria Fastioso
• Clematis (Clematis hybrida, Clematis Paniculata• Climbing fig (Ficus Pamilia• Five Leaf Alba (Akebia Quinata• Confederate Jasmine (Trachelospermum
Jasminoides)• Burmese Honeysuckle (Lonicera Hilderbrandiana)• Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus Tricuspidata Lowii)
Strategy - Seasonal Horse Troughs• Fall and Summer planting schedule.• Create a plethora of activities for students.
Fall Planting• Trough 1: artichokes, borage, rosemary, nasturtiums,
carrots, peas, broccoli and cauliflower• Troughs 2 & 3: kale, onion, chamomile, collards,
lettuce, spinach, celery, cosmos daisies and snap dragons
• Trough 4: mustard greens, cabbage, peppermint, radish, turnips, snap pea, beets and garlic
Spring/Summer Planting
• Trough 1: Tomatoes, basil, oregano, parsley, carrots, celery, borage, nasturtium and petunias.
• Trough 2: The three sisters: beans, late corn, and squash, peas, parsley, amaranth and white geranium.
• Trough 3: cauliflower, celery, cucumber, chamomile, lettuce, kale, swiss chard, and collards.
• Trough 4: sunflowers, peas, ornamental flowers, pumpkins
Herb trough
• Basil, chevril, dill, lavender, peppermint, lemon balm, lemon verbene, oregano, parsley, sage, thyme, tarragon.
Straw Bale Planting
• Great for people with bad backs
• Wheelchair friendly
• Easy to maintain
• Retain water
Sample Straw Bale Curriculum
• Orient to receive full sun and set vertically
• Thoroughly soak
• Light fertilization every 1-2 weeks, water daily • Activity: Pull apart the bale, creating a small hole.
Add a little soil, place the plant. • What to Plant: tomato, pepper, beans, squash;
Ornamen-tal/medicinal: borage, basil, cilantro, parsley, nasturtium.
Potato PowerTowers
• Great class activity
• Set up 3-6 potato towers
• Love full to partial sun
Upper School
kids 10-13
Strategy - Upper School
• Control water flow and erosion o Islands or french drain in upper yardoEarthworks along edge of upper yardoTerrace slope to create amphitheater
• Bamboo and vines for windbreak
Upper School
Strategy - Islands or French Drain• Goal: Slow & sink water• Islands: Cut out blacktop squares and start with
gravel• Later add plants and border with rice bales• Alternately, french
drain diverts waterto cistern or storm drain
Strategy - Terrace Slope
• Terrace slope to stabilize erosion undercutting yard• Use terraces to create amphitheater seating and
outdoor teaching area
Strategy - Terrace Slope
• Three terrace levelso Retaining walls: wood/rebar or
concrete• Planting
o Thyme or ice plant ground covero Planters for class projects
• Seatingo Tree stumps or cobb crescentso Design needs further investigation
Strategy - Terraced Cobb Seating
Strategy - School-wide
• On-site composting and/or worm binso fun, ooey gooey teaching tool
• Expand rain capture to all available sitesocapture from upper blacktopocapture from roofs to cisterns
future planting areasgravity watering hoses
TimelineYear 1• Plant horse troughs, straw bales, potato towers,
bogs
• Assess water flow at upper school
• Begin planting bamboo and vine wind breakso requires some blacktop breakup along fences
• Create "islands" at upper school
Timeline
Year 1 or 2• Divert downspout at lower schoolyard• Begin composting or worm composting
Year 2 • Plant into "islands" at upper schoolyard• Continue planting bamboo and vines Year 3• Create terraces on the slope
Remaining Questions
• Observe water flow during a rain event
• What is the soil like under the blacktop where we propose to create islands?
• More observation of wind pattern to determine predominant direction.
pictures
Upper playground