Perhaps you’ve heard the term “permaculture” before, but what is permaculture? Most simply defined, permaculture revolves around the idea of growing and gardening in the most mutually beneficial, natural way possible while minimizing labor and maximizing output. By “natural,” we’re not just talking about
“organic,” what we’re really saying is that the planning, layout, and
maintenance of the garden closely follow how a natural system would progress. This is quite in opposition to how the majority of our current food system is run in the United States; this system is known as “monoculture,” which generally speaking consists of single crop production over vast areas, heavy machine usage, heavy pesticide and chemical usage, and of course a strong dependence on fossil fuels to maintain these systems and get food products to their destinations. Permaculture promotes the antithesis of just about everything in monoculture, and in doing so promotes a healthier and more sustainable food process for all of the biological systems that coexist on Earth. These ideas
may seem like they are geared for large-scale systems, but in reality
permaculture is all about the small-scale intensive gardens, just like those we
run in our backyards! So let’s take to heart some of the incredible lessons permaculture can teach us. For example, do you have a pest problem in
your garden? Instead of dosing plants with chemicals that might eventually make you sick too, why not include some flowers to attract beneficial insects and distract detrimental ones? Or if your pests come in the larger variety
of deer, the planting some buckwheat on the edges of your property will provide
a treat for them that they would much rather eat than your garden’s lettuce. Just a few of the other concepts swirling in the permaculture ideology include mulch and compost, understanding microclimates within your yard, edge and building usage, seed saving, water reclamation, and of course the overall use of a strong biodiversity to create and maintain a healthy ecosystem.
For more on
permaculture:
http://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/what-permaculture-part-1-ethics
