Lotty’s Garden

As a synthesis of my Permaculture education in January 2024, I developed a program that used permaculture principles to support the community. I was learning at Kibbutz Lotan in the South Negev, and we wanted to get the larger kibbutz-community onboard with the eco-programming for which the kibbutz is famous. My group agreed to help cultivate a culture of permaculture gardening at the Kibbutz we were staying in. We designed a new plan for the central walkway of the kibbutz that would engage the longterm members of the kibbutz in small activities to make them feel engaged, and we designed it to be fun and educational for the kids. Art and storytelling goes a long way in engaging people of all backgrounds to be invested in a project. We engaged a new gardening member in the kibbutz to invest his time so that when we left there would still be someone who would be able to put his time in, and we gathered support for the project overall.

Not explicitly a part of Lotty’s Garden, but this bike-powered laundry machine was a good example of a fun way to engage kids in permaculture programs on the kibbutz.