Genesis Permaculture

PREVENTION OF CANCER. 5–10% of all cancer cases are due to genetic defects and the remaining 90–95% are due to environment and lifestyle.

Key fact: the vegetables, fruit, grains and meat we eat today have far less nutritional value than they did years ago following a constant practice of tilling, biocides and industrial fertilizers. This compromises the soil microbiology and without this relationship of. microbes, bacteria, and plants, the nutrient levels collapse and the soil continues to degrade.

Soil Microbiome Health

As the authors discuss, plant–soil–microbe interactions play a critical role in the growth, development, and overall health of plants, which can be disrupted with environmental contaminants like petrochemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. When mixtures of pesticides are used, this “drives the microbial community toward a composition dominated by pesticide-degrading or resistant ‘opportunists’ and ‘specialists,’” the researchers report, which can lead to even higher applications of pesticides and accelerated soil nutrient loss. They continue, explaining: “The functional loss of nutrient-cycling genes can disrupt key ecosystem services by reducing soil fertility, plant nutrient availability, and microbial resilience. Over time, these changes may affect carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions, and overall ecosystem stability.”

Adding to Wide Body of Science, Study Finds Pesticides Impact Bacteria and Overall Soil Microbiome Health - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog Healthy soils depend on a healthy soil microbiome, with beneficial organisms like bacteria providing key ecosystem services.

The Edmonton Permaculture Guild is honored to be offering a Permaculture Design Certification Intensive program this summer July 19 to August 1st.

This is a fully immersive residential program located at the Change Center, 1 hour west of Edmonton. This 130 Acre Retreat is located near Gainford, AB along the Pembina River.

All Meals and accommodation included.
Field Trips, Special Guest Speakers, Hands on experience designing and installing Permaculture features. All course materials plus a lifetime membership to Kenton's Attainable Sustainable Student Portal.

Our PDC is one of two residential PDC intensives being offered in Canada. It is thought to be the gold standard in PDC education as not only do you cover the material, you live it, and breath it for two weeks with your classmates sharing class time, meals, and the enjoyment of nighttime discussions sitting around the fire. Those classmates are going to remain with you for years to come and be your biggest cheering section.

We are offering a reduced rate for early registration. Do you have additional questions? Do not hesitate to reach out.

The Edmonton Permaculture Guild
PDC Committee
https://edmontonpermacultureguild.ca/permaculture-design-course/

Clay Soil
Albertans rail against the cursed clay soil but did you know, they actually possess so many benefits 🌿

Clay soil and how it helps us grow healthy nutrient rich vegetables?

Alberta’s clay soils—common across much of the prairie region—can be very beneficial for growing nutrient-dense vegetables when they are managed properly. Several soil science factors explain why.

1. High Nutrient-Holding Capacity
Clay particles are extremely small and have a large surface area with negative electrical charges. This gives clay soils a high cation exchange capacity (CEC), meaning they hold onto positively charged nutrients such as:
Calcium (Ca²⁺)
Magnesium (Mg²⁺)
Potassium (K⁺)
Ammonium nitrogen (NH₄⁺)

Because these nutrients bind to clay particles instead of washing away, vegetables have a steady reservoir of minerals available to them. This can support stronger plant growth and higher nutrient density.

2. Mineral-Rich Parent Material
Much of Alberta’s agricultural soil formed from glacial till and sedimentary deposits left after the last ice age. These materials contain weathered rock minerals that release trace elements over time, including:
-Iron
-Zinc
-Manganese
-Copper
-Boron
These trace minerals contribute directly to the nutritional quality of vegetables.

3. Moisture Retention
Clay soils retain water much longer than sandy soils. During dry periods, this stored moisture allows plant roots to continue accessing water and dissolved nutrients. This is especially helpful in regions with variable prairie rainfall.

4. Stable Soil Structure
When clay soils are improved with organic matter—compost, aged manure, mulch, or cover crops—they form stable aggregates.
This creates:
-better aeration
-improved root pe*******on
-active microbial life

Healthy soil biology helps convert minerals into plant-available nutrients, improving vegetable quality.

5. Support for Soil Microbiology
Clay particles also protect beneficial microbes and organic compounds by binding them to their surfaces. This helps maintain a long-lasting soil food web, which contributes to nutrient cycling.

✅ In short: Alberta’s clay soils act like a nutrient bank—holding minerals, moisture, and microbial life that support the growth of nutrient-rich vegetables.

The trade-off: Clay soils can also be challenging because they may:
- compact easily
- drain slowly
- warm up slowly in spring

But with good practices—raised beds, compost, mulch, and a practice of no till—they can become extremely productive.

As a permaculture practitioner, I prefer working with clay soils.

The easiest way to build a garden bed in clay soil is by building up! Lay down a good layer of pure black topsoil from a reliable supplier (no sand please). Make your beds completely level. Lay down pathways alongside with a good layer of mulch. (I prefer wood mulch.) Try not to leave your soil exposed as it becomes dried out, weather beaten and inert. Cover with broadleaf vegetation, mulch, leaf litter, dried lawn cuttings.

Mulched pathways really help to maintain moisture in your growing beds. Each time you water or it rains, the mulch absorbs this moisture and slowly wicks into the raised garden bags.

One of the best tools that you can invest in is a broad fork. You can use a broad fork each spring and fall to bring aeration into your garden Beds, without disturbing the soil structure and microbiology.

Use cover crops as an aid in maintaining soil coverage. You can plant legumes that will fix nitrogen, grasses to build biomass/roots, and broadleaves that cool the soil and scavenge nutrients. These living mulches, like rye, clover, and radishes, enhance soil organic matter, water infiltration, and biodiversity, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers.

Final note on building healthy soil. If your fertilizer is a neon color, this is not recommended for your garden. They are synthetic, highly soluble fertilizers. They carry several ecological and soil-health risks.
These are the main concerns gardeners and soil scientists often raise:
Soil Biology Disruption
Healthy soil depends on microorganisms, fungi, and earthworms. Highly soluble synthetic fertilizers can:
- Reduce populations of beneficial soil microbes
- Suppress symbiotic fungi such as Mycorrhiza
- Shift soil ecology toward bacteria that thrive on chemical nitrogen

Over time, this weakens the natural nutrient cycling and reduces long-term soil fertility. Always try to use Natural and organic fertilizers. 🌿

Michael Victoria Moore

Genesis Permaculture Design for Sustainable Food Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable and regenerative human environments. It draws on many disciplines and connects them together to create a design system as closely related to a self-managing ecosystem as possible. As a Permaculture Designer and Teacher my goal is to create hea...

Happy to see Alberta hosting an immersive Permaculture Design Certification Program this summer.

The Instructor for this year's Intensive is Kenton Zerbin, a Canadian born Permaculture teacher who studied with Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton and has been teaching Permaculture and PDC Programs Internationally since 2013.

Check it out!

Permaculture Design Course 2026 | 72-Hour Certification Get certified in permaculture design at our two-week residential course near Edmonton. Hands-on training, all meals included, and post-course mentorship.

Wow! So excited to see a Permaculture Design Certification Intensive taking place in Canada!

The 10 Day Program will be held at the gorgeous Change Health Center located 1 hour West of Edmonton on a 120 Acre property alongside the Pembina River.

All materials, Accommodation and Food included.

Check this out!

Permaculture Design Course 2026 | 72-Hour Certification Get certified in permaculture design at our two-week residential course near Edmonton. Hands-on training, all meals included, and post-course mentorship.

A gorgeous chicken coop design! This fellow does good work. Check out his rainwater harvesting system from the main house - stellar!

Chicken Coop Tour - Rainwater harvesting, Solar, DIY Feeder, ... and more! Today I'm taking you on an updated tour of my DIY Chicken Coop build. I talk about the construction, rainwater harvesting and watering system, clean out doo...

https://edmontonpermacultureguild.ca/permaculture-design-course/

We are witnessing a withdrawal in our society of the need and urgency to address climate change!

It's not drought that causes bare ground! It's bare ground that causes drought!

Amazing work and even more Amazing Results 🌿

Homepage Commonland restores landscapes through the 4 Returns Framework. Get involved to help achieve global sustainability goals.