The Permaculture Revolution

One of the more practical solutions to the problems that humankind faces, and we do have a lot of serious problems on planet earth, is a simple and elegant solution called Permaculture. In fact since its inception in 1978, the massive impact permaculture has had in helping to solve many of the world’s most serious problems, has been pretty awe inspiring.

Not only is permaculture a working solution, but also a comprehensive & complete solution. The word permaculture originally referred to "permanent agriculture", but was expanded to stand also for "permanent culture", as it was seen that social aspects were integral to a truly sustainable system. Permaculture has been applied to many aspects of life that encompasses not only agriculture, but also architecture, ecology, and economic systems.

The Permaculture Community is guided by 3 Ethics and 12 Design Principles, which are thinking tools that when used together allow us to creatively re-design our environment and our behaviour.

One if the interesting things about permaculture is there is no one science that encompasses the whole subject and it’s like a cross discipline between Biology and Agriculture. There are a number of focus areas including microbiology & agricultural sciences, but due to its holistic nature and possible focus areas like natural building, Seed Saving or Animal Care it could include a wide variety of subjects. Persons interested in permaculture can do a PDC or Permaculture Design Course, ideally one that follows the original certification course developed by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, plus includes layers of process and content that are appropriate to the local ecosystem.

This is truly an awesome space to be in, and has some exciting benefits for the budding permaculturalists. Be creative, and use your energy to heal the earth.

Work towards creating regenerative and abundant ecosystems, and be part of a community working towards creating a beautiful, healthy, plentiful and more conscious earth.

Permaculture provides occupational prestige by custom designing worlds for fauna, flora and humans. This is a very high level of design and involves long term planning and research. I like to think of it as being one of “Gods gardeners”.

Growing your own foods also has a number of amazing benefits. Firstly you get to choose to avoid Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and grow your very own certified organic heirloom seeds. You can also choose exactly what species of fruit or vegetable you would like to grow, and you can find your very favourite type of potatoes, corn or apples. Pick the very best ones to suite your individual tastes and palate.

We’re absolutely positive that the organic fruits and veg taste much better than their “Frankenscience” GMO counterparts. Your diet will have the very freshest, sweetest, juiciest and best tasting foods out there, and there is also something special and magical about consuming food that you’ve grown yourself.

The permaculture movement is growing at warp speed, and it’s thought that permaculture is the fastest growing non-commercial trend in the world today. Although with the growing costs and demand for food globally, it seems like farming foods and medicine can be a very profitable commercial venture as well. Although working in the garden sounds like a much better place to be than being caged in an office or factory, and has the added benefit of getting sun, fresh air and a healthy dosage of exercise while experiencing mother nature.

Permaculture uses a number of innovative scientific concepts and practises which seem revolutionary compared to conventional farming. One of these pioneering practises relates to soil and water management, by transforming the biological quality & potential of the soil by strict management of the water.

Most of the rain which falls on most properties, gets collected into the gutters and usually runs down into the drain, and is essentially wasted. By creating channels where the rainwater collects, and draining that water into storage tanks or straight into the vegetable gardens or food forests. By constantly feeding the soil and replenishing the moisture, creates conditions for abundant life by growing a population of micro-organisms, which are the foundation of a healthy ecosystem. Soil is protected and nurtured, and topsoil cultivated with natural biological organisms – natures little workers. This is almost the opposite way which traditional farms manage their important soil resources.

Another superb and ingenious idea, is to plant multiple crops on the ground instead of growing the traditional single crop. There are a number of benefits of rather using polyculture as opposed to monoculture methods. Energy is utilized more efficiently by making full use of available sunlight and soil by layering or stacking crops. If you had a crop which grows under the ground like potatoes or carrots you could utilize the sunlight above the soil to plant another crop like peas.

For example if you were plant chives near to your carrots, that combination helps to repel Aphids and Japanese Beetles. The concept of companion planting also works well because some plants push nutrients like nitrates into the soil, while other plants take nitrates out of the soil. So it would make sense to plant these plants near each other.

The focus of permaculture, therefore, is not on each separate element, but rather on the relationships created among elements by the way they are placed together; the whole becoming greater than the sum of its parts.

Permaculture design therefore seeks to minimize waste, human labour, and energy input by building systems with maximal benefits between design elements to achieve a high level of synergy. Permaculture designs evolve over time by taking into account these relationships and elements, and can become extremely complex systems that produce a high density of food and materials with minimal input.

The permaculture movement represents a “new way” for humanity to be abundant and self-empowered, and break the chains of our corporate enslavement. Permaculture is leading the way in showing us how to live an empowered and mindful lifestyle.

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References

Permaculture Principles Image

Permaculture Cartoon Image

Permaculture 7 layers Image

Companion Planting

Tasting Strawberry Image

Permaculture Educational Resources

Permaculture Resources

Permaculture Swale Image

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