Permaculture

 

Permaculture Design considers all aspects of various systems within an environment. It’s a way of combining edible landscaping, water, waste, beneficial insects, community, animals, energy and more, into a cohesive, functioning equation that creates resiliency. For an urban residence, this may come in the form of growing a combination of annual vegetables as well as perennial edibles, along with many other species that aid in the individual plants’ productivity. It may include a comprehensive gray water system, and a way of cycling waste streams so that waste becomes food for another species. For a rural homestead, Permaculture can offer a framework to help landowners understand how to organize their property into zones, raise healthy livestock, understand how to irrigate with minimal water, grow an abundant supply of edibles to last the entire year.

Permaculture Values (a sampling):

• Diversity as a path toward Resiliency
• No Such Thing as Waste
• Minimal work for Maximum Gain
• Observation before Action
• Learning from Patterns in Nature

Permacultural Features can consist of (but not limited to):

• Efficient Annual vegetable production (lettuce, squash, tomato, carrot, beets etc)
• Perennial edibles (berries, fruits, artichokes, rhubarb etc)
• Growing in Guilds (growing edibles alongside other plants that aid in plant health)
• Encouraging Pollinators and Beneficial Insects
• Livestock (Chickens, goats, rabbits, sheep)- integrating food & waste streams
• Catchment and Storage of Water
• Swales and Berms to absorb water for passive Irrigation
• Soil enrichment with minimal soil disturbance & labor