Embracing Permaculture

Permaculture is not just for gardeners.  Just a little post here on what it's all about...  Pioneered by many, namely David Holmgren and Bill Mollison (Permaculture One, 1978), Permaculture is a set of design principles that mimics the ingenuity, resourcefulness and connectedness of Nature.  It is a list of considerations that are as relevant to planning an edible garden as they are to planning a sustainable house, economy, education and even government system.  I first learned about permaculture when I attended the University of Guelph Annual Organics Conference.  Since then, I've been on a path of deepening my understanding of it.  My first vegetable garden, for example, was very limited in what I grew, in straight rows, and a place where insects were seen as intruders.  I've come some way, now opening the doors to beneficial insects, letting things grow where they may (especially all the volunteer plants from using open pollinated seeds), and looking to build relationships: companion planting, shade and weed reduction, as well as growing foods that my family loves to eat so that we are ultimately connected to it.  Here are the 12 Design Principles of Permaculture:

More more excellent information, visit Holmgren's site: 

http://permacultureprinciples.com/

An excellent resource for the home scale permaculturalist is a book called Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway.