What is permaculture?

A new year is always a good time to think about how to become more sustainable. So, let’s chat about permaculture. The term was coined in the 1970s, and simply means permanent agriculture. To take that definition a bit deeper, it is a system of agricultural and social design principles that simulate the patterns that can be observed in natural ecosystems. In fact, it is a creative design model that is based on whole-systems thinking.

When we think about any type of environment, we see a complex aggregate of nature – plants, animals and humans along with other aspects of our world that coexist and affect each other in a multitude of ways. When we believe permaculture is an important element of this environment, we adopt the ethics and principles that change us from being dependent producers to becoming responsible producers. Making this journey will build more resilience at home and at work and make us better able to prepare for an uncertain future with perhaps many different energy sources.

Depending on where we live geographically, our climatic conditions and available resources are different, but we can still approach permaculture holistically. The ethics of permaculture are earth care, people care and fair share. Join me in reviewing the guidelines that surround permaculture.

Permaculture is a philosophy. Within that philosophy it is important to take the time to engage with nature as it will give us insight into understanding what is happening in the system. It also should help us to embrace that in nature, there is no right or wrong but there is much variability and differences.

Another guideline is very much based in true gardener philosophy – make hay while the sun shines! What this means is that we have limited time to catch and store energy, so when resources are abundant it is important to collect these resources to utilize when they are not so available. Second, everything in nature and our lives follows patterns. It is important to observe these patterns and understand that the closer we get to something, the more distracted we are from the big picture. It is important to put things in the best place as the sum of a whole being is greater than the sum of its individual parts. Also, it is important to recognize that to instigate good change, intervention needs to happen at the proper time.

The next guideline is a really great thing to remember. None of us work well on an empty stomach! We need to ensure that we do get some immediate rewards as those truly useful rewards allow us to continue that journey to true sustainable life. Now in saying that, we also need to be selective in ensuring we reduce our natural tendency to consume and try to be less dependent on non-renewable resources. We cannot control nature in any way – not even with high technology and overuse of resources. Last but not least, a stitch in time saves nine. So timely maintenance and using what is available to us is always the best practice.

The final guideline is how important it is for us to discourage inappropriate activity if we wish to continue to function well. We need to be a self-regulating entity which responds efficiently to negative feedback as it is often very slow to appear. Diversity is always a great choice. Don't put all your eggs in one basket!

So, we hope that you take away some of these guidelines to not only embrace permaculture, but embrace quality of life. Move slowly but surely like the turtle and enhance diversity as well as all the appropriate decisions to make your path the right path!