What is Permaculture? I found it a little hard to narrow down and define on my own, so I got a little help from Wikipedia which defines it as follows: An approach to designing human settlement and perennial agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in natural ecology. It involves looking at each element in the landscape in terms of needs and outputs in order to create a self-sufficient system. So for example, looking at the soil and determining what nutrients it needs to provide for healthy plant growth, and figuring out how we can input these nutrients back into the soil through on-site composting of un-used plant material.
One thing that I find really amazing about the Permaculture ideology is that not only can it be applied to the farm setting, but it also incorporates looking at the design of entire communities and even cities, in terms of inputs and outputs. The idea is to create self-sustaining communities that make people happy and engaged, letting natural systems do most of the work for us. With a Permaculture designed garden, one organizes natural systems and other creatures to do the most of the work on their own, mimicking that which happens in nature. Instead of pushing against nature, nature is helping to pull. This approach saves a lot of work and energy in food production, and eliminates waste.
The world is based around relationships, and Permaculture incorporates natural relationships as well as human relationships. In fact, there is no differentiation between humans and nature, as we are all part of the same system.
I strongly believe that one of the most radical and subversive things that we can do is grow our own food, escape from the expensive food industrial complex, and connect more with the food that sustains us. If we have the ability to grow our own food it makes us more secure, and we are able to live with less fear.
To me, living on the farm is not an escape from the world but a more real engagement with it. It is about establishing deeper connections with the resources of the Earth, the wind, rain, sun, and soil, as well as the vital resources of human ingenuity and love. It is about learning the ancient wisdom of our ancestors and connecting this with new forward-thinking ideas. It is about learning to live more authentically and consciously with each new day.
I am excited to become a part of the community at Lost Valley, and hope to convey my experiences and knowledge learned on the farm through this blog, to share with my family and friends.
“Within a Permaculture designed system, wastes become resources, productivity and yields increase, work is minimized and the environment is restored”
-Bill Mollison, Permaculture founder
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