What is Permaculture?
What is permaculture?
In the "About' section of the farm website we describe Shire Hound Farms as a permaculture guided homestead. For many permaculture is an entirely new subject. For some permaculture is a deeply misunderstood concept. For others permaculture is deeply ingrained truth. In this blog post we will walk through a brief introduction to permaculture and provide some insight as to why we have chosen permaculture as our guiding philosophy at Shire Hound Farms.
The Beginnings
The term permaculture is a portmanteau of ‘permanent agriculture.’ While working as a lecturer in environmental psychology at the University of Tasmania, permaculture founder Bill Mollison, with the help of permaculture co-founder David Holmgren, developed what they would define as “the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems.” Harkening to many indigenous concepts, Mollison and Holmgren sought a life of “working with, rather than against, nature.” They outlined their ideas in two books, Permaculture One: A Perennial Agriculture for Human Settlements (1978) and Permaculture Two: Practical Design for Town and Country in Permanent Agriculture (1979) before Mollison authored the keystone text, Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual (1988) (PDM). The latter would be the foundation for Mollison’s Permaculture Design Course. As we will discuss in a future posts, due to the importance of social interconnectivity and action in permaculture, as discussed in chapter 14 of the PDM, the portmanteau is often cited as standing for ‘permanent culture’, of which agriculture is a key component.
Guiding Ethics
In the PDM Mollison outlines the permaculture prime directive, “The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children. Make it now.” Observing mankind’s wanton disregard for nature, Mollison outlined three ethics on which he based permaculture.
1. Care of the earth
2. Care of People
3. Setting limits to population and consumption
You will often hear these listed melodiously as Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share. Mollison designed the ethics to guide everyday actions in addition to any agricultural endeavors. Through a reciprocity with the diversity in nature we can develop interdependent, healthy, and productive communities which leads to sustainable and sensible behavior.
Principles (Holmgren)
With these guiding ethics in mind, Holmgren outlined as set of action oriented principles in the ecological design science. There are several versions of design principles that have been utilized over the years. Here we outline and comment on the twelve principles enumerated by Holmgren.
1. Observe and Interact.
Seek first the essence of the land. Observe the inherent identity of the ecosystem. Observe the interaction and effects of the seasons, sun, wind, and more. Success is dependent on the summative beneficial connections you can foster in the ecosystem.
2. Catch and Store Energy and Materials.
Utilize the energy, materials, and forces that nature provides. These may include water, solar energy, human productivity, and more. When possible, capture and store these when at peak abundance to use in times of need.
3. Obtain a Yield
Working with nature we seek to gain meaningful rewards. This may include tangible and intangible needs such as food, happiness, health, and more; but, keeping in mind permaculture ethics, do not overconsume.
4. Self-regulation and Feedback
Permaculture is truly an evidence-based design science. Implementing iterative loops allow us to understand our success and failure through observation and evaluation, therefore allowing us to create a better plan moving forward. Utilizing the iterative process discourages inappropriate activity and ensures well-functioning systems.
5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services
Capitalize on nature’s abundances to achieve our needs. Eschew finite and polluting energy sources. Strive to reduce consumption and dependence on non-renewable resources.
6. Produce No Waste
In our consumption and planned obsolescence driven society, this can be a tough one. We must strive to live a zero waste lifestyle. In the “reduce, reuse, recycle” sequence, reduction is the most important. Small consumer actions, when aggregated, can create pressure on corporations to rethink their actions.
7. Design from Patterns to Details
See the big picture first. We need to think holistically before we get lost in the details. This can be a tricky part of the design science as we often rush to implement a trendy new technique. Observe patterns in nature and society to inform design, adding details appropriately.
8. Integrate Don’t Segregate
Stability is the number of beneficial links in the system. Well-designed ecosystems utilize diverse components to create summative links which can establish partially self-maintaining systems which require less input. Eco not ego.
9. Use Small, Slow Solutions
Identifying leverage points allows us to make small and slow changes, which can be easier to maintain and often utilize local resources in achieving sustainable outcomes. When we design the smallest system necessary to meet our needs, we create scalable efficiency.
10. Use and Value Diversity
Diversity reduces system-level vulnerability to threats and fully utilizes the environment allowing components to perform multiple functions. These connected ecosystems can be partially self-maintaining and more resilient. Remember two is one, one is none.
11. Use Edges and Value the Marginal
The borders are where the most interesting interactions take place. In nature, ecotones are transitional areas between biological communities. These areas are the most ecological diverse and active. In society, translation of ideas, thoughts, and more at the societal borders lead to diverse, strong communities.
12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change
Change is the only constant. Permaculture has a keen eye on the future. Our positive response to chance through careful observation, followed by well-timed intervention will shape a sustainable future for our existence and that of our children.
While the founding ethics and principles are seemingly simple, the application can be easily mired in complexity, if we are not careful. Over time we will write further discussing the ethics, principles, patterns, and details of permaculture through the lens of Shire Hound Farms. I look forward to learning alongside my community as we continue our permaculture journey. I encourage you to take some time in quiet contemplation, maybe a nice stroll through nature, to consider how the ethics and principles might play in your life and community.
I received my permaculture design certificate through Cincinnati Permaculture Institute. The wonderful group of people there are achieving magnificent outcomes. Please check out their website for more information. https://cincinnatipermacultureinstitute.org/
Until next time,
Alex
Reference List:
Mollison B. Permaculture: A designer's manual. Tagari Publications; 1988
Holmgren D. Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability. Holmgren Design Services; 2002