Periodically there are advantages to being a blogger.
I fell in love with these stunning Permaculture Playing Cards and was about to buy myself a pack on Amazon when I remembered that I knew the guy who made them.
So I emailed Paul Wheaton, the founder of Permies.com, and said, “Hey, before I buy these gorgeous Permaculture Cards, you wouldn’t have an extra deck kicking around you’d wanna send me as a review copy? Wouldja, wouldja?”
I hear back from him: “Twelve decks will be to you on Tuesday.” (Paul is like seven feet tall and sometimes I think that makes him want to go bigger with everything he does.)
“What the hell, Paul? I mean, a huge thank you, but I don’t really need a dozen decks of cards!”
“So give some away if you want.”
And so here we are. I’m keeping two decks for myself, which leaves ten decks of Permaculture Playing Cards to give away, courtesy of Permies.com.
Perma-wha?
You’ve heard of Permaculture, surely. This work-with-nature, systems-design-approach to growing (and, according to some practitioners, life), is working its way towards mainstream.
Thanks to books like Gaia’s Garden and The Vegetable Gardener’s Guide to Permaculture and the popularly of practical, accessible techniques like hugelkultur and keyhole gardens, more and more gardeners are incorporating aspects of permaculture in their garden.
I, myself, am Perma-curious. My garden is not designed top-to-bottom according to permaculture principles but as I find out how effective the practical techniques are, I move in that direction.
And that’s where these Permaculture Playing Cards come in. The deck of cards is a whimsical way to make “bite-sized” bits of permaculture accessible to people who aren’t quite ready to commit to, say, the 500+ pages of intense study required by Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual.
The cards are stunningly beautiful. I know I keep harping on that, but for real – the artwork and design is simply inspired. The cardstock is thick and will wear well and the size is nice for holding.
Each card has something notably important to Permaculture on it: key people, techniques, plants, animal husbandry techniques and more. Surrounding the image on each card are little facts about that Permaculture concept. It’s just enough to suck you in and make you want to read your deck of cards and go on and learn more, but not so much that the cards become unusable as actual playing cards.
Oh yeah – did I mention you can actually play poker with ’em? Cool.
I think these things are great on multiple levels – as art, as education, as subtle propaganda for a better world. Highly recommended as a gift for your favorite Perma-curious or Perma-fanatic people.
Enter To Win A Deck of Permaculture Playing Cards
To enter to win one deck of Permaculture Playing Cards leave a comment on this blog post telling me what you like most about Permaculture, or (if the whole concept is a bit new to you) what about Permaculture you are most interested in learning.
Ten winners will be selected at random. Contest closes this Saturday, December 14th, at 6 pm PST so that I can mail the cards out to the winners next Monday. If you are a winner you will be notified be email. You have 24 hours to claim your prize. Sorry to be so strict but we are on a holiday timeframe here. Contest open to addresses in the United States only due to shipping. Sorry international readers.
Good luck!
Related Permaculture Stuff…
Permies.com – Huge resource for Permaculture enthusiasts. The forums are extensive, helpful and well-moderated so they stay that way. For more info on the Permaculture Playing Cards, check out this thread on Permies.
Half-Assed Hugelkultur – my post on attempting this funny-sounding Permaculture garden-bed-building technique. Foot-for-foot my hugels typically out-produce my traditional beds with watering four-six times a summer.
Permaculture Playing Cards on Amazon.com – Check out reviews, see what other people have to say.
The Vegetable Gardener’s Guide to Permaculture: Creating an Edible Ecosystem, by Christopher Shein – A fairly recent release focusing on Permaculture basics and how to apply the Permaculture concepts to a more traditional garden. I particularly recommend this book to beginning urban Permaculturists. It has great design and a modern layout.
Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, by Toby Hemenway – a slightly more technical, but still very accessible look at Permaculture at the gardener’s scale.
Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual, by Bill Mollison – for the hard core student of Permaculture. This is considered the classic text of Permaculture, but I wouldn’t personally recommend it as your first text on the subject unless you are pretty NerdCore about gardening.
All images in this post courtesy Paul Wheaton / Permies.com.
0
Yes please…
What a great way to play and teach my 2 kids new things.
I am sure we will benefit from that playing time a lot too.
Thanks a lot for bringing this great idea
I think permaculture is amazing because its a simple step individuals can take to improve the well being locally as well as globally.
what I love about permaculture is that there is always something new to learn. its rewarding to see the garden sustaining itself
Beautiful cards!
Permaculture is a concept that I’ve always been aware of, but I haven’t really delved into the details. Now that my backyard garden is expending every year, I’d like to learn how to incorporate design ideas into what I’m doing (rather than the haphazard method I’ve used so far). I know I’m already doing a few things, but they could be done better with more knowledge and purpose.
Hugulkultur!!
I like learning how things work together and trying to create a healthy balance within the garden.
The term permaculture is pretty new to me and I’m still not entirely sure what it means, but I’m turning my little suburban lot into a bit of a homestead: fruit, veggies, compost, fermenting, DIY skin care and cleaning products, etc. If that counts, then count me in!
I like that you can live in your food, and the interrelationship of the whole system.
I am just learning about permaculture but have been enjoying that it shares similarities to holistic management, which I studied as part of my Animal Science degree. I am hoping to implement some of the principles in my garden that will begin this coming spring.
I’ve been an organic gardener since before I was born. That’s because my mom, born in 1920, grew up truly understanding our interdependence with nature. I was taught to love the land, to cherish and take care of it. Permaculture is something I’m interested in learning more about. Just discovered your blog tonight and hope to read more in the future. Really good.
Permaculture is one of, oh, I dunno…a gazillion things we’re studying in an effort to find the right planning/management approach for our farm. (Along with no-till, rotational tilling, and our own attempt at grand-scale, 1.5 acre hugelkultur beds.)
I tell our market customers all the time that my crunchy side loves the benefits of permaculture, no till, and similar concepts/methods. But in truth? The whole thing really speaks to my inner lazy ass. 😀 I love the idea of having/growing more on our farm, without necessarily having to ‘work’ more in the long run (or buy big equipment…I like having a table full of veggies & fresh breads at market and STILL being able to say we don’t own a tractor.)