Permaculture: The art of being clever...

My father’s generation tinkered in their gardens and remarked on how “clever” nature was. But it took two Australian’s in the 1970’s, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, to record the systematic and harmonious way nature co-exists with itself and call the concept “Permaculture”. They were concerned the way modern farming methods required increasing levels of chemicals and machinery in order to produce food; the net effect being unsustainable for the planet. So they went to nature to find a better answer.

But what is it? “Permanent Agriculture” is a design science that develops solutions that are more harmonious, less wasteful, and both sustainable and resilient against external pressures. These principles are often applied in agriculture settings, but are increasingly being adopted by other modern systems.

So how do you apply Permaculture? The first step in applying Permaculture is to Observe. For example, observing the interaction of plants and animals in your garden through the cycles of Inputs and Outputs each one requires and produces.

Take a simplified example of Chickens and Apple Trees:

• Chickens need fresh air, a place to scratch and food (Inputs). In return Chickens eat bugs, produce manure, eggs and meat (Outputs).
• Apple Trees need fertiliser and pest control (Inputs). In return Apple Trees produce... Apples! (Outputs)

Enter Permaculture...

• Chickens need bugs to eat (Output) and Apple trees need pest control (Input).
• Apples trees need fertiliser (Input) and Chickens produce manure (Output).
• By letting Chickens roam in an orchard, we get eggs, meat, apples and avoid the need to apply chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
• Less wasteful; Harmonious; Sustainable; and Resilient.

Now take a large Datacentre full of computers bringing you the Internet. They require electrical power (Input) and produce web pages and large amounts of heat (Output). Steam turbines require heat (Input) and produce electrical power (Output). Voila! IT companies are now partnering with electricity providers to attach mini-steam turbines to Datacentres to capture the waste heat and turn it into electricity, reducing their overall requirement for the fossil-fuelled variety.

But I know what you’re saying “I live in Fiveways and don’t own a Datacentre, Chickens or an Orchard! So what’s the point?”

Some call it “no dig” gardening: putting the effort into planning your garden, so you benefit from the need for less backbreaking effort once it grows. Companion planting is one way of achieving this: Slugs love Lettuce, but they love Marigolds even more, so using Marigolds as a border around your bed of Lettuces can save you from that sinking feeling, when your Lettuces ‘disappear’ overnight.

Or apply Permaculture to this: We produce compost, more than we can use (Output). Our neighbours bring home bags of compost from the garden centre (Input). They grow great tomatoes (Output). The result? People sharing locally grown produce, saving on car journeys and building stronger links in our neighbourhood. Sustainable, harmonious and resilient, both for Local and Global communities.

Whilst the world is rapidly trying to simplify life, Permaculture thrives on the complexity generated by the numerous inputs and outputs of different eco-systems, social groups and processes. The more the merrier! The more joined-up a community is; the richer and more resilient it will become.

Tell me more! There are both weekend “Introduction to Permaculture” and two week “Permaculture Design” courses run locally, as well as Permaculture principles being discussed and applied in the local Brighton Transition Town movement. So get thinking, get involved, get clever.

http://www.brightonpermaculture.co.uk/

[The article, by Rob Gourdie, first appeared in the Fiveways Directory in February 2009]