Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center Permaculture Project: Our First Meeting

We had our first meeting on Saturday. There were 8 of us that met with Narayana along with two other members of the community at the Center. Most of us came from the Oct-Nov Permaculture design course at Midwest Permaculture, but a couple were from the July course. It was good to meet some new people. (Someone please remind me to take a group picture next time)

Like Wayne and Mark kept repeating, we observed. There was a terrible snow/sleet storm here, but we all braved it (Tim and Zach rode their bikes over in it - bless them). As much as I hated being out in it, it was good for us to observe some of the worst conditions. After a couple minutes of looking around and observing, we all got to work and started the measurement. Andrea helped me measure the back wall (I'll be designing the back porch over the next couple weeks - to be posted soon); Thaddeus, Heather (Thaddeus's wife), Andrea, Tim, Zach, Scott and Phaedra (the latter two from the July course) worked on measuring the back yard open space and the garage.

After we were done, we went inside to warm up and have some lunch. After a brief Hindu prayer, we sat in a circle and ate lunch, it was delicious. During lunch, we all got a chance to discuss Narayana's vision for the space as well as ideas that we all started to have.

The project will include:

Back Porch - This will be the first phase of the project; construction will be completed before we begin our installation of the garden. In the city of Chicago, the code for back porches is quite strict. The porch as it stands now cannot be duplicated, due to it's long stairway without a landing. The code calls for us to break up that run, and make it a little wider, allowing for easier rear egress (exiting). Additionally, we will need to allow for the side setbacks to adhere to the fire code. We all think that the new design of the porch should be integrated into the back yard design. Possibly keeping the roof structure and removing the covering, turning it into a pergola. I just had an idea to remove the concrete pad underneath the porch so that we can incorporate that space into our design (maybe making it part of the meditation space.) Any comments? Ideas??
Water Feature - Narayana stated that it would be nice to have a water feature that would create some beautiful sounds and be a habitat for fish. Thaddeus will be working on this aspect of the project, possibly with one of Phaedra's friends. It's kind of vague right now, but as the idea becomes more concrete you'll be updated.
Meditation Space - An area for group meditation (possibly near the water feature?) I think this area will be discussed in our group session.
Hindu Shrine - The details for this space will be provided by a Hindu priest.
Front Parkway - This area has a couple plants currently, but we can use this space for efficiently. Scott will be working on this aspect. There was some mention about this space being unacceptable for edibles since it is exposed to a lot of automobiles. However, this space can be used as a butterfly habitat, growing flowers that can be used for ceremonies at the center. We could also use this space as an educational space, providing explanations about the integration of the practices of yoga and permaculture.