Great Basin Permaculture

Great Basin Permaculture co-founders Tiffany Whisenant, Peter Frigeri, and Jessica Penrod (two horticulturists and one permaculturist, respectively) created the nonprofit in an effort to educate Nevadans about sustainable food production, water conservation, and energy.

The non-profit’s 5,300 square foot permaculture learning garden is home to weekly workshops and walking tours that teach participants how the group uses rainfall to form sunken growing beds and swales, organic matter and nitrogen-fixing plants to improve soil, chipped Christmas trees to make mulch, and coffee grounds and food scraps to form compost. They also discuss how the plants selected for the garden are food producing and/or serve multiple purposes within the ecosystem, like mesquite trees, which add nitrogen to the soil, provide dappled shade, and produce pods that can be ground into a protein-rich flour. This approach allows GBP to spend the majority of their time harvesting versus replanting annual seeds.

The group also hosts discussions with thought leaders like Brad Lancaster, (a rainwater harvesting and water management expert) and a pancake breakfast in October featuring the food harvested.

To learn more about Great Basin Permaculture visit the website, follow them on Facebook or Twitter, and join their Meetup group to attend an event!