What On Earth is Permaculture Design?
Hello there, green thumbs and curious minds! Today, we’re diving into the fascinating universe of permaculture design. Now, hold on to your garden hats, because this isn’t your average gardening chat. We’re going to unravel the magic behind permaculture design, and trust me, it’s more exciting than finding a four-leaf clover!
What’s in a Name? The Essence of “Design”
Maybe you’ve never heard of permaculture, or maybe you have heard of permaculture but thought, “Hmm, sounds like a fancy way to plant carrots”? If so, you’re about to discover that its much, much more. Permaculture is like the wizard of the gardening world, but the real magic word here is design. Without “design”, permaculture is like a sandwich without bread – it just falls apart.
The Science Behind the Green
Permaculture design isn’t just about throwing seeds willy-nilly into the soil and hoping for the best. It’s a design science – think of it as architecture, but for ecosystems. It’s a methodical way of thinking about and arranging elements in your garden, home, or community to work with nature, rather than against it. It’s like being a DJ, but instead of mixing beats, you’re mixing elements of the ecosystem. Cool, right?
The Three Musketeers of Permaculture Ethics
Now, every great story has its heroes, and in permaculture, we have three ethical musketeers: People Care, Earth Care, and Return of Surplus.
- People Care: This is all about creating environments that support human well-being. Think of it as giving Mother Nature a high-five.
- Earth Care: Here, we’re talking about respecting our planet. It’s like throwing a love letter to the earth, saying, “Hey, I got your back!”
- Return of Surplus: Often mistaken as ‘Fair Share’, this ethic is about sharing the abundance. First, the yield from a plant feeds the system the plant is living in (such as itself and the garden plants and animals around it). Then it feeds the people working to protect and maintain the system, then it’s shared with others outside of the system. Imagine your garden is a bakery, where enough food is produced to feed every employee and every customer, and then some. At that point, every extra loaf of bread (or zucchini) is shared with others. It’s not just about being fair; it’s about making sure surplus doesn’t turn into waste or, worse, a pollutant. Ideally, in a well-designed permaculture system, nothing is wasted.
Closed-Loop Systems: Nature’s Recycling Program
In permaculture, we’re big fans of closed-loop systems. Think of it as nature’s way of recycling. Everything has a purpose and nothing goes to waste. It’s like a circle where every end is a new beginning. Leftover food scraps become compost, which feeds the plants, which then provide more food. It’s a never-ending, harmonious cycle, like nature’s own version of a group hug.
Bringing It All Together
So, there you have it – a peek into the green and groovy world of permaculture design. It’s not just about planting seeds; it’s about planting ideas. Ideas that can grow into sustainable, thriving ecosystems, right in your backyard. And the best part? You don’t need a green thumb, just a curious mind and a heart for Mother Nature.
With a little creativity and respect for nature’s principles, we can turn any space, big or small, into a thriving ecosystem. It’s about seeing the potential in the ordinary and making small changes that add up to a big impact.
“But isn’t that a lot of work?” you might ask. Yes, it can be—at least up front. But once the system really gets going, it’s far less work than most people put into their HOA ecosystems (with hedging parkways, dealing with Karen next door, watering on a strictly organized schedule, putting up with Karen next door, raking leaves, putting up with Karen peaking over your fence in a judgmental way, blowing grass clippings off you’re driveway, dealing with Karen’s complaints to the neighborhood council, buying your produce green and waiting for it to ripen, putting up with Karen’s “volunteer” weed-spraying of your favorite flower bed, garbage overloads of leaf and weed bags, putting up with Karen’s full-moon howlings (or maybe that’s her princess dog, who, after escaping her purse, is mournfully howling at the back door all night for having an accident in Karen’s Gucci), and mowing mowing mowing mowing mowing mowing… ahem… I think you get the idea). Once set up, most of the work of the well-designed permaculture system is harvesting—which, of course, is the funnest part of gardening anyway, right? 🍇 🍈 🍉 🍊 🍋 🍌 🍍 🥭 🍎 🍏
So Where Do I Start?
Well, let’s save the details of HOW to do it for future posts, but for now, just let that image marinate in your brain—a yard that pretty much takes care of itself, but provides you more food than you can possibly use on your own. Plus it looks like a great camping spot, complete with chirping birds and the occasional passing wildlife, the smell of fresh flowers and new green growth in the air. What more could you want?
And did I mention it’s probably the best way to do your yard for the overall environment? Forget trying to have a small carbon footprint. What if you could have a negative carbon footprint? Well, negative amount of impact, not negative impact 🤭. So like, if you’re doing this right, instead of not having a negative impact on the environment, your presence (by virtue of your yard) actually physically improves the environment, taking CO2 out of the air and making the ground in your community more fertile, lush, and healthy. What if you could do that?
The fact is, you can! So stay tuned…