The Art of Living Permaculture Site

Venkatesh Dharmraj, along with Brecht Deriemaeker and Nick Tittle as consultants from the Surplus Permaculture Design team, designed to develop seven acres of degraded land that was offered by the Art of Living Foundation. The design was completed in July and implementation started in August. Venkatesh and his team have, over 90 days, applied the design and have already dug swales and ponds for water harvesting, raised garden beds, grown many fruit trees and support species, and built a bamboo and mud hut. The swales, he says, have started filling up the nearby ponds; the gardens have started yielding flowers, vegetables, and fodder, which are being supplied to the ashram; and the land already looks green.

“Now, the idea is to teach people and inspire them to take up permaculture to bring sustainable farming back to life”

More information: http://www.artofliving.org/in-en/breakthrough-sustainable-farming

In the video, the land is visible before and after the implementation and design. You can see the construction of the swales, contour gardens and the food forests. Thanks to the passion and dedication of Troy Johnson and Brian Newhouse, both Panya Project graduates, the implementation went very well.

Before..

After..