What is Permaculture?

Frequently I am asked to explain what permaculture is.  Good question!  Explaining permaculture succinctly is like trying to explain Buddhism.  Both are 'kinda philosophies' to live by.  Neither can be surmised with one sentence.

Permaculture literally means "permanent agriculture". When you type "What is permaculture" into google, you get a lot of complicated and very wordy phrases which collectively make you more confused.  Here's some examples:

"Combining the best of natural landscaping and edible landscaping, permaculture aims for a site that sustains itself and the gardener. The ultimate purpose of permaculture is to develop a site until it meets all the needs of its inhabitants, including food, shelter, fuel, and entertainment".

"Permaculture is an innovative framework for creating sustainable ways of living.  It is a practical method of developing ecologically harmonious, efficient and productive systems that can be used by anyone, anywhere."

Errrr, what?  The easiest single quote I found to grapple with is this:

"Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labour; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single product system".  - Bill Mollison.

Maybe some history will help explain a bit.  In the early 1900's Dr. King, former chief of the Soil Division of the US Department of Agriculture, went to Asia to find out how farmers in China could farm the same fields for thousands of years without applying artificial fertilizer.  He learned about how they used the principles of permaculture such as building soils, sharing the abundance and waste reduction to maximise their farming and lifestyle.  King then brought these ideas back to North America.

But even with all those quotes and information; how do you do it? Here's some examples of what it looks like on a practical level on Laurica Farm. 

Some plants promote growth of other plants or repel bugs/diseases.  It seems logical then to plant these 'friends' together to aid growth and as an alternative to artificial fertilizers or insecticides.  An example of this companion planting was something we read about First Nations people doing.  They planted corn, peas and squash together.  The corn provides a structure for the peas to grow up.  The peas put nitrates into the soil that benefits the other plants, and the squash crowds out the weeds.  Seems sensible, right?

Things like salad like shade.  Again, we embrace logic and the resources we have here.  Instead of planting them in straight lines and prescribed beds, plant them near trees.  You get fertile soil under trees as the leaves fall on it all Autumn and decay all winter into a natural compost.  No human effort required.  Once you have observed the land for a while, you can plant your shade loving produce in the appropriate place under the canopy.

We're planning a food forest.  I won't try and describe this in detail, here's a self explantory diagram:

The herb spiral here is another practical example of permaculture practice.  The spiral has it's history rooted in Mayan culture.  The design also creates microclimates allowing you to plant a diverse range of herbs in a variety of positions(sunny, sheltered and shady). In a typical garden bed or pot, all plants are grown on the one level, so the growing conditions are the same. This design offers you multiple options in a compact space.

I talked in an earlier post about agriculture not being sustainable.  As an example, the idea of using fertilizers that have been made elsewhere and transported to our farm seems a ridiculous resource-laden practice. And using fuel & time to plough a field in a tractor seems silly when it can be done by a couple of pigs for less money and you get free, organic fertilizer and bacon as bi-product.  Generally, you can only till a patch of land for 7 years before you have 'killed' it and need to add resources.  So why do it?

Permaculture teaches you landscape design and management that promotes building and protecting the soil for us and for future generations.  We'll manage the grazing of the animals here and plant winter cover crops that we can mulch into the land as opposed to sourcing it off-site.  The chickens are great assets in composting.  Our compost bin is in their run.  I empty compost into it.  They scratch through it everyday, eating what interests them but turning it over everyday.  Saves us the effort.

These are just a few examples, but the focus is on putting less in and getting more out.  By getting more out we are also able to share the abundance.  We do this by selling some of our produce at reasonable prices but also by supporting the food bank.

Recently, I had to explain permaculture to a group of children.  I did this by turning the language into child-friendly wording.  I'm glad I did, it really helped me too.  Put simply, the ethics read like this:

• Earth Care

• Fair share

• People Care

Easy!  When I took the complexity out of the principles, they seemed quite manageable.  They don't embrace everything that permaculture stands for but were easier to grasp:

• Build thing up - give something back to the earth and to people

• Look after things; protect agricultural land for future generations

• Save some for later

• Plan - mistakes are ok but better on paper

• Observe and interact - let nature lead you

• Turn problems upside down; find solutions

• There is a lot to share!

• Small changes have a big effect

• Include a bit of everything

• Produce no waste, use what you have
  

Permaculture is not just about how we farm, it's about how we choose to live.  For me, it's about making farming easier.  If you change your perspective and let your environment guide you have instead of pre-determining what you want to grow, nature will do the job for you.  It's also very much about sustainability, intuitive approaches, building communities, embracing tradition and protecting the future. 

Has that cleared anything up for you?  At least next time someone asks you what permaculture is, you'll might have a couple of quotes on hand!

Tiki happiness

Goodness, I’m tired.  And I’ve managed to aggravate a shoulder injury.  But don’t turn away now; this is not a whiny ‘I’m working so hard’ post because I FEEL GOOD.  Something has happened for all of us this week to dispel fears and enthuse us.  I’ll try and encapsulate some of those things but for those of you expecting a high-integrity, agriculture related write-up, call back in a couple of weeks…maybe.

Firstly, let’s talk about aesthetics of the farm.  Remember the adult swing set I talked about that we’ve poured blood, sweat and tears into?  Well, that is almost finished and it’s evolved. Not only does it look amazing but it’s a real triumph to our recycle, reduce, reuse lifestyle.  It can no longer be referred to as an adult swing set though.  When Ian made the benches that were intended to swing, he made them so sturdy that they were too heavy to swing from the frame.  His solution….to roof the frame.  But then another issue;  the benches would hang over behind the frame if they were swinging and Ian’s OCD senses started tingling.  The benches will now be fixed to sit flush with the frame.  We had prepared 6 benches for the octagonal frame leaving 2 sides to hang hammock chairs from, but with the roof the whole thing started to look more like a Tiki hut, and so it obviously needs a bar.  That very week, the fridge at Ian’s office died a death.  Ian reclaimed it of course.  It’s currently lying on its back, raised off the floor being clad in wood.  We will fill it with ice and people can put their drinks inside.

Some of you might have an idea of a Homesteader in your mind and think that a Tiki bar is not an essential part of the lifestyle.  So let me explain why I am pleased with it.  I am happy because it’s a nod towards our intention to enjoy this land.  If you’re working hard then there has to be some rewards.  This Tiki hut is an enabler for relaxation, reward and social gatherings.  I feel it’s an achievement because it looks awesome.  When you drive along the road, it’s the Tiki hut that grabs your attention.  But it’s not intrusive, we chose to paint it and kind of bark colour as it sits next to the trees and the roof is clad in cedar coloured shingles.  It complements the landscape.  But here’s the real homesteading achievement.  The structure is approx. 18ft wide and 15ft tall.  I estimate the total cost of building it to be around $400.  Not bad for something that size!  Had we purchased new materials we think it would have cost around $5000.  Not only that but we have had the experience of bartering and utilizing volunteers.  I will post some photos next week when it’s completely finished.

The next thing that has made me feel good is a conversation with my friend Kirstin.  She asked me how I was dealing with the bugs and animals as I talked about snakes, spiders, frogs, coyotes and alike.  How have I come to terms with these things?  Well, it’s been like an extreme desensitization program.  What can you do when you’ve invested everything into a home?  I can’t walk away and move in to a condo downtown because there’s too much wildlife.  I still let out an involuntary squeal when I see a snake but you just have to plough on (no pun intended).  It’s become more of an annoyance than a fear and that happened real quickly because it had to.

The final thing on my quest for happiness this week came courtesy of the tractor.  Up until now I have found it difficult to tell people "I’m a farmer".  I feel like such a fraud and opt for less intimidating alternatives, like “oh, I’m just a Homemaker”.  This week I completed an unquestionably farm related activity.  I tilled the back field for the fruit bushes and created a huge compost heap.  Even as I was doing it I felt embarrassed every time our neighbours (real bona fide farmers) were in the field.  I imagined them sitting around laughing about us as they wondered what the heck we were doing.  Anyway, we tilled the patch of land once, and then I moved the entire top layer of grass and soil to a neat compost heap that will eventually go back on the same patch of land.  Then I tilled 3 more times, and you know what, it looks great.  I’d even go as far as to say it looks professional!  And so now I’m over it.  I have something to show that I can farm.  I have a patch of tilled land and some chickens, in a coop.  We also have plans now for the veggies, the orchard,  the poly tunnels and the duck pond. Not much, but a start.  I even have a Tiki bar to show that I can enjoy farming too.  Bet our farming neighbours don’t have a Tiki bar.

So to conclude this post, confidence is growing, friendships with new neighbours are developing, epic social gatherings are taking place, volunteers have been fed, food has been preserved, we're having fun, and non-invasive, environmentally sensitive, organic architecture is happening.  Sounds to me like we are rocking this gig.