Permaculture

During our travels, we visited and worked on a few farms practicing permaculture. We have carried their design principles to our plot in Virginia. They provide a helpful compass, an alternative to the mindset of control and separation.

Folks often ask us “What is permaculture anyway?” Funny you should ask. I wrote up this introduction as part of a collaborative Gardening Handbook project:

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Permaculture is shorthand for “permanent agriculture” or “permanent culture.” To be permanent, a system must reinforce itself, repurposing waste as resources instead of depending on finite external inputs. For inspiration, permaculturists look to the diversity, stability, and resiliency of natural ecosystems.

The term came into use in the 1970s, though the principles have been embodied in indigenous cultures for as long as human cultures have existed.

Permaculture carries three central tenets:

Earth Care
People Care
Fair Share

And twelve design principles:

Observe and Interact. To work with nature rather than against it, we must first humble ourselves to the task of careful observation. Before disrupting a natural system, we must first understand its needs. We develop a relationship with the land to find our niche.

Catch and Store Energy. We can better harness the energy already in the system to depend less on external sources. Catch water at the top of the hill rather than having to pump it back up. Use stones to catch solar energy during the day and release their warmth on those chilly nights.

Obtain a Yield. To be sustainable, we must fulfill our needs, too.

Apply Self-regulation and Accept Feedback. Humility is required. We will never fully understand natural systems.

Use and Value Renewable Resources. We use bamboo for structural support around the garden rather than buying metal stakes.

Produce No Waste. Close the loop. Turn waste into resources and problems from one area into solutions for another. We reuse our cardboard as groundcover and mulch in the spring.

Design from Patterns to Details. Start with the vision for the forest. And then plant the tree.

Integrate Don’t Segregate. Natural systems integrate all parts into a cohesive whole. We design for harmonious relationships instead of painstakingly separating crops from “weeds” and “pests.”

Use Small and Slow Solutions. When we rush into big changes, we often forget to observe and interact, to the detriment of ourselves and our surroundings. 

Use and Value Diversity. As with all twelve principles, this applies to both human cultures and natural systems. People, animals, and plants thrive in diverse systems.

Use Edges and Value the Marginal. Where one form slides against another, a creative tension flourishes. The edges are often the most biodiverse and productive—wetlands, tide pools, estuaries, the transition from woodland to grassland.

Creatively Use and Respond to Change. A natural system is dynamic. To thrive, we must always be adjusting to changing conditions.

The beauty of permaculture is that its principles can be applied to everyday life. Farming hundreds of acres is not a prerequisite.

Consider “Use Small and Slow Solutions.” To further the tenets of Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share, an end goal could be to increase biodiversity in residential neighborhoods. The small and slow solution of not mowing lawns can be more effective and have fewer risks than a big and fast solution like importing exotic species. (The only thing further from permaculture than industrial agriculture is the American Lawn. Industrial agriculture also creates vast poisoned monocultures, but at least it obtains a yield.)

Organic agriculture may be identified by the absence of specific inputs when growing food, whereas permaculture is purely a set of design principles. When applied to land, permaculture designs typically incorporate a “Zones of use” concept. We section the pieces requiring the most human maintenance to be closest in space and time to our presence.

For example:

Zone 1. Nearest to our daily routines, for the components needing our frequent attention. Grow herbs in the window box outside the kitchen. Grow annuals most susceptible to pests or diseases along a front walkway for easy inspection.

Zone 2. Close enough to keep an eye on. Good spot for a chicken run and a compost heap.

Zone 3. Moving toward the more self-maintained. We can design for clusters of fruit and nut trees that may be visited more infrequently but still need to be easily accessed.

Zone 4. Minimal intervention. This could be where trees are coppiced for firewood or wild leeks are harvested.

Zone 5. All permaculture designs account for a wilderness zone free from human intervention.

With our growing awareness of human-caused mass extinctions, plastic oceans, and climate refugees, it is natural to wonder if more-than-human life would be better off without us. Permaculture reminds us of what we didn’t know we’d forgotten—that humans can be as integral to systems of life as bees, bluefin tunas, and redwood trees.