Section 1 - You And Your Site
Personal Details
Name: David Belliveau
Email: davidbelliveau@gmail.com
Choose Your Site
What kind of property are you designing on?
Your Land
Someone Else's Land
Public Property
Other (Specify)
Identify Your Client's Brief
Describe the intended use of the property, i.e., the design brief provided by the client:
A small business to propagate and raise perennials, such as fruit & nut trees, bushes and other perennial plants appropriate for installing in permaculturally designed properties.
A 6 meter x 63 canal/chinampa for raising fish and freshwater plants would be nice.
Two swales on front lawn to grow fruit & nut trees & bushes to be used for cuttings & seed.
Several greenhouses and hoop houses will be constructed on the paved area to the north and west of the existing building for propagating and raising seedlings.
A greenhouse attached to the southern side of the building.
A place for raising rabbits could be located on the east side of the property between the building and the channel.
The southern part of the building would be utilised for training and information sessions for permaculture students.
The northern part of the building would be utilised for storing equipment, tools, and supplies.
A suitable amount of the parking area would remain for student and customer parking.
This property will primarily serve: (Select One)
An Individual
A Family
A Business
Other (Specify)
Identify the level of food self-reliance required:
The goal will be to meet _______________ needs on site (Select One)
All
Most
Some
Few
None
Specify the Client's Priorities (rank 3-5 specific needs or goals in order of importance.
Ability to propagate a wide variety of perennials.
Effective at softening winter's cold and summer's heat.
Efficient layout for managing nursery.
Secure premises for fire, theft.
Representative of permaculture practices
The client values visual privacy:
Not At All
Very little
Some
A Lot
Total Seclusion
It was not mentioned (go ask them now)
The client has specific dietary restrictions affecting the design:
No grains, limited spices. The client manages ulcerative colitis by eating simple foods.
The client has specifically requested that the design provide:
A place to raise freshwater fish and aquatic plants. A canal/channel with food growing trellis is desired. Possibly covered in a hoophouse when it gets cold or year round if possible/reasonable or deep enough to keep fish alive and allow a nice place to skate.
A swale or two to grow nursery stock for cuttings and seed.
The ability to raise trees for transplant that have tap roots.
Productive windbreaks where possible.
An attached greenhouse on the southern wall of the building.
Plenty of storage for rainwater from the roof of the building and proposed structures.
An outdoor washing/processing station that saves waste water and waste for compost and/or fish & poultry feed and/or watering trees and plants.
Safely place a biochar production facility with sufficient room for feedstock, fire safe production zone, and a safe and secure storage facility for produced char.
Rabbit and compost area.
Low input system for feeding rabbits and fish. Fodder? Insects?
Snow management system.
Winter hardy nursery hoop houses.
Top bar bee hives.
Mosquito reduction
No lawn to mow.
What structures exist on site that we will not be designing and placing as part of the design? (list as appropriate).
What drives, roads, paths, or other access exist on site that we will not be changing or placing as part of the design? (list as appropriate with brief description if appropriate).
There's 2,774 square meters of paved parking that will remain. At least 50% will be utilised as a solid base for greenhouses/hoop houses. Some of the driveway will have speed bump style additions placed to channel water to the swales on the front lawn.
A part of the pavement will remain untouched and used as parking for students/customers.
We will be designing and locating: (select all that apply)
Home(s)
Outbuilding(s)
Fence(s)
Earthworks
Water Storage
Roads/Paths/Access
Non-visible hydrological solutions
Other (please specify)
Client Notes
Known advantages, resources, or limitations: (list as appropriate)
I have a cousin who runs an excavating company who will help out for a reasonable price. I get plenty of branches for the biochar part of the business. This area is limited in the number of nursery businesses/farms. There are orchards, dairy operations, poultry operations, but none that I know of that are operating using Permaculture design or principles.
What is the largest limitation or obstacle related to this site that will need to be overcome as this design is implemented? (Provide the single example, followed by a paragraph summary explanation of details and preliminary solutions)
Winter. The period between the first frost and the last frost can last up to 8 months or as little as 4 months. It's unpredictable. The amount of snow can range from about 1 metre total to 10 metres a season. Blizzards are not uncommon, bringing high winds and substantial snowfall. One blizzard in 1992 dumped 161 centimetres over a 3 day period.
A section of the property needs to be set aside as a snow dump. The best candidate is all along and over the canal.
What specific skills, abilities, or resources does the client personally bring to the situation, if any? (list, or brief paragraph)
I've operated heavy equipment, driven all vehicles except semis, worked carpentry and concrete construction when I was younger. I was the founding developer of a $250 million wind farm. I have GIS skills, project management skills, environmental assessment skills, and have experience communicating with government agencies for program funding, contract negotiations, government land procurement and leasing. Not a farmer, but a gardener whose garden gets better every year.
This client's familiarity with Permaculture is: (select one)
Low
Medium
High