The permaculture movement is a global, grassroots movement that’s been around for decades.
It’s based on the idea that we can create sustainable communities by mimicking natural ecosystems, and it focuses on design principles and methods to help people build self-sufficient systems for growing food, energy independence, water conservation, building materials and more.
Permaculture design is all about working with the environment instead of against it. By doing this, you can grow your own food in an urban setting with minimal resources allowing you to live off-grid or even create a source of income from selling produce.
| Takeaways |
|---|
| Permaculture is an agricultural and farming system that emphasizes natural and sustainable practices. |
| Permaculture can help reduce carbon footprint and promote biodiversity. |
| Agroforestry is a land-use system that combines trees, shrubs, and crops for sustainable and eco-friendly farming. |
| Practicing permaculture in your backyard starts with observing your surroundings and using natural methods of gardening. |
| Permaculture is a scalable practice that can be implemented on any scale. |
What Is Permaculture?
Permaculture is a design system that integrates ecological processes and principles to create sustainable human habitats. In other words, it’s a set of design principles that aims to create self-sustaining ecosystems.
Permaculture isn’t just a specific style of gardening or landscaping but rather a holistic approach to creating functional systems in which humans can live sustainably on the earth. It sees the world not as resources you can extract from it, but as an interconnected system in which all life plays its part.
It’s important to remember that what makes permaculture such an exciting concept is that it allows for infinite creativity and possibility within its framework—one person’s garden may look completely different from another’s, yet both are built upon similar principles (and are therefore both self-sufficient).
Building a sustainable future is possible with permaculture. Learn about the incredible benefits of permaculture gardening and see how you can take a step towards a greener tomorrow.
Why Go Permaculture?
Permaculture is a way of designing human habitats that mimics nature. It’s a way of living that uses the natural patterns and systems found in nature to create food, water, shelter and energy and also builds social systems that foster community involvement.
Permaculture has been around since the 1970s, but it has recently seen a surge of popularity because it offers practical solutions for creating sustainable communities.
The word “permaculture” comes from permanent agriculture; this refers to making your garden or farm resilient enough to stay alive through weather extremes so that you can grow fruits and vegetables during times when other gardens have failed due to drought or other conditions that limit crop growth.
The basic idea behind permaculture is simple: we need to create our own food supply so we don’t have to rely on corporations or government subsidies (which are usually provided by companies with political agendas).
Benefits of Permaculture
| Benefits | Description |
|---|---|
| Sustainability | Permaculture promotes self-sustainability and a closer connection with the environment. |
| Eco-Friendly | Permaculture practices reduce carbon footprint, promote biodiversity and protect ecosystems. |
| Health and Nutrition | Permaculture produces fresh produce that is nutritious, organic, and free of harmful toxins. |
| Financial Benefits and Cost Savings | Permaculture can help save money by reducing waste, minimizing expenses and boosting yields. |
| Permaculture Brands and Products | Many brands offer permaculture-related products and services, including food, gardening tools, and natural remedies. |
The Three Ethics Of Permaculture
Permaculture is a philosophy that focuses on creating systems that are self-sustaining and have low impact on the environment. The three ethics of permaculture are:
- Care for the Earth
- Care for People
- Return of Surplus.
Permaculture can transform your life by helping you create an ecologically friendly lifestyle. See how it did the same for others in our article about how permaculture transformed lives and start your transformative journey today.
The Twelve Design Principles of Permaculture
Observe and Interact. The best way to understand the system you’re in is to observe it, but don’t wait until you’ve done all your research before starting to make changes. Start small, test out your ideas, and make adjustments as needed.
Catch and Store Energy. If you can capture energy from one source (like sunlight), use it (to grow food), and then store that energy for later (in a battery), all the better! This principle applies in many forms, whether you’re talking about solar panels or nutrient-rich soil.
Obtain a Yield: As long as we’re talking about “yields,” let’s talk about this one for a second. According to permaculture designer Toby Hemenway: “Yield is a measure of how much actual fruit comes from all the effort put into producing it.”
Basically: Get things done! Use those resources! Make sure they are being used efficiently by creating systems that encourage them to do so while maintaining their integrity at all times.
Observe and Interact
When you observe, notice and take note of what is happening around you, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.
But if you can learn to slow down, ask questions and try to understand why things are happening the way they are—you can start taking action by experimenting with different solutions.
Learn To Observe And Notice: Observing your environment is all about learning how to slow down so that you can see what is going on around you.
This means looking at what’s present in nature and seeing how each part interacts with other parts of nature (and with humans).
When we observe we also need to notice how things change over time too as well as pay attention when something new appears or disappears from our environment because these changes may mean something important has happened in our surroundings.
Ask Questions: By asking questions about things which may seem obvious or simple for others but aren’t for them yet; this will help them develop their own understanding about their environments better than just telling someone ‘what’ should happen instead of why something happens like this instead of another way.”
Learning permaculture is easy with our beginner’s guide. Check out our step-by-step guide to permaculture gardening and see how you can start your own sustainable garden.
Obtain a Yield
A yield is a measure of how much fruit, food, or other product your land produces. For example, if you want to grow bamboo shoots in your garden but are not sure how many shoots can be harvested from each rod of bamboo (which typically has 100 shoots), then you need to figure out how much yield there is per rod of bamboo.
In contrast to productivity which measures how much energy is used in producing a product yields are always positive numbers and reflect what can be taken from the system without depleting it or causing harm.
Maximizing Yields in Permaculture
| Methods | Description |
|---|---|
| Companion Planting | Companion planting utilizes mutually beneficial relationships between plants to maximize yield. For instance, planting beans and corn together benefits both plants as beans fix nitrogen in the soil and corn depletes nitrogen. |
| Crop Rotation | Crop rotation involves regularly rotating crops within a plot to prevent soil depletion and maximize yield. A common rotation pattern is “Luxuriant – Exhausting – Leguminous – Restorative” where a leafy crop, an intensive vegetable, a bean, and a resting crop are rotated over a period of four years. |
| Polyculture | Polyculture is a system where multiple crops are planted within the same plot, aiding each other’s growth, and maximizing yield. For instance, polyculture can include planting corn, beans, squash, and sunflowers within the same plot. |
| Permaculture Guilds | Permaculture guilds are groups of plants that are planted together within a plot to create a self-sustaining ecosystem. Each plant plays a role in the growing environment, for instance, nitrogen fixation, shade tolerance, and pest control. An example of permaculture guild is the “Three Sisters” guild, comprised of corn, beans, and squash, which serve as the structure, nitrogen fixer, and ground cover/pest control plant, respectively. |
| Aquaponics | Aquaponics is a system that combines hydroponics and aquaculture to create a sustainable fish farming system. The nutrient-rich fish waste is used to fertilize plants grown hydroponically resulting in a highly efficient crops yield and a nearly closed-loop system. |
| Composting | Composting is a method of recycling organic material. Composting involves breaking down food scraps, leaves, straw, and other organics into a nutrient-rich soil amendment known as compost. Adding compost to soil increases the soil’s fertility and structure, providing the necessary nutrients for healthy plant growth and high yield. Many household kitchen waste composting systems are available and easy to use, like the ‘Vermicompost system’ that uses worms to rapidly decompose food scraps. |
| Beekeeping | Beekeeping can result in double yield by the crop itself and bee’s honey, wax, and pollination services. Beekeeping is compatible with most permaculture systems and can be easily integrated into other systems such as orchard, gardens, and forest plantations. Local beekeeping suppliers like ‘Mann Lake Honey’ or ‘Brushy Mountain Bee Farm’ can provide high-quality beekeeping equipment and bees. |
Apply Self Regulation and Accept Feedback
Self-regulation is a way of managing your own behavior. It means being able to control your emotions, thoughts and actions. You can do this in two ways:
By changing how you think about things. For example, if you had a bad day at work or school, instead of dwelling on the negative aspects of it, try thinking about all the good parts that happened throughout the day as well.
By changing what you do with your time (and money). If you’re watching too much TV or playing too many video games during the weekdays when you could be studying or working out at the gym then maybe it’s time for some self-regulation!
The same goes with spending too much money on things like clothes and food when there are better things out there that could make life easier/more fun/etc…
Even with small spaces, it’s possible to create beautiful and eco-friendly gardens with container gardening. Our ultimate guide to container gardening for small spaces has everything you need to know to start your own container garden.
Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services
Permaculture is an ethical system that emphasizes the use and value of renewable resources and services in order to create sustainable communities.
This means that you can use resources that are naturally occurring in your area, like rainwater or sunlight, rather than relying on non-renewable energy sources like gas or electricity.
It also means valuing these resources as much as we do the things we buy at stores. Producing your own food is an excellent example; if you were to compare the amount of water used for growing vegetables in a greenhouse versus growing vegetables outdoors, there would be a significant difference between how much water was consumed by each method.
Produce No Waste
It’s important to note that when you’re producing no waste, you can’t just throw things away. That means that if your home produces food scraps, they will need to be composted or mulched (put into the ground).
Another way of dealing with food scraps is making an underground worm farm where they feed on the organic matter. If you’re not interested in this method and prefer to keep your worms above ground, then vermicomposting may be right for you.
There are many ways for humans to live without creating waste: drip irrigation systems are another one of them!
Drip irrigation systems require less water than traditional methods because it only irrigates what needs watering. Water catchment systems can also help reduce the amount of water needed and save money too!
Bring the beauty of the outdoors inside with indoor gardening. Our indoor gardening 101 guide has all the tips and tricks you need to start your indoor garden and brighten up your space.
Design from Patterns to Details
The patterns of permaculture design are the key to success, sustainability, and resilience. They are also the basis for successful designs.
Patterns are an important part of permaculture. Permaculture uses a system of pattern identification and replication that allows you to create sustainable and resilient systems by observing nature itself. The same principles that work in nature can be used by humans in their own designs!
Integrate Rather than Segregate
This principle is about more than just integrating with nature. It’s about integrating with your life and other people, too—and creating connections where there were previously none.
Integration is a process of making connections between things that were previously disconnected.
For example, when you integrate chicken coops into the design of your garden beds, they can provide shelter for the chickens while also keeping pests away from plants.
And when you integrate chickens into your garden bed design, they can provide fertilizer for weeds like clover or dandelion greens that are already growing there instead of having to purchase expensive soil amendments like composted manure or worm tea (which cost money).
Use Small and Slow Solutions
Permaculture designers use small-scale solutions to achieve goals. This means using tools that are available locally, inexpensive, or easy for the local community to use.
For example, instead of importing water from far away sources or piping in water from other regions, take advantage of rainwater harvesting techniques and use low-tech methods like reforestation and rain gardens.
Use and Value Diversity
To create a resilient environment, you must value diversity in your design. The more diverse your system is meaning it includes plants from different parts of the world that were grown under different conditions the less likely it will be affected by pests or disease.
You can also use companion planting as a strategy for growing multiple types of crops together in one space; this way you can provide nutrients for each type while keeping pests at bay because they won’t know where all their favorite snacks are hiding!
Finally, don’t forget about biodiversity: when designing an area consider whether there might be any habitats nearby (like wetlands) which could provide additional benefits if included into your system; these areas might even attract pollinators who would help increase fruit yields over time!
Use and Value Diversity
Diversity is a key principle of permaculture, and it can be applied to all aspects of your garden. For example, having different plants and animals in your garden increases options for food production.
If one plant fails or gets eaten by insects, it leaves open space for others to grow instead. Diversity also means that you don’t have to rely solely on humans to work the land; if you use animals and insects in your permaculture design, they will help with weeding and pollinating plants while providing nutrients for soil regeneration.
Of course, not all plants are created equal some do better in some conditions than others! So when designing a permaculture system (or choosing which plants to include), think about what each plant needs from its environment sunlight? Water? Space? Wind protection?
Use Edges And Value The Marginal
Edges are the transitional zones between two different habitats. They’re often the most productive areas in a landscape, and they’re where you can find the most interesting and useful plants.
Edges are also where diversity is highest; a study of forest edges by the University of Wisconsin showed that they support more species than either interior or open forest land.
This is because edges provide resources that both types of land don’t: for example, both light and shade tend to be found in greater amounts at edgier locations (if you’ve ever been under a tree’s canopy or on its edge, you know what we’re talking about).
Likewise, nutrients from one kind of habitat spill into another here maybe because there’s less litter accumulation along these margins which means that edges often host an abundance of nutrient-rich plant life like mushrooms or berries.
Creatively Use And Respond To Change
Permaculture is all about learning to creatively use and respond to change, which is one of the hardest things to do.
In order to be a successful permaculturist, you have to be able to adapt in an ever-changing world. You have to be flexible and willing to try new things. A good rule of thumb is: if it’s not working, then stop doing it until you figure out how it can work better.
This doesn’t mean that everything should always stay exactly the same—in fact, quite the opposite! Permaculture teaches us that change can happen at any moment, so we need our mindsets ready for anything at any time (think “seesaw”).
And since we’re all different people with different needs and desires, this can only happen if we let go of some control over what happens around us–the best way I know how describe this would be through saying that it’s ok for something unexpected but potentially wonderful (and even miraculous)
Adventure into your life without knowing which direction it’ll take or where exactly along its path will end up being reached after following those steps until reaching your goal.
Conclusion
That’s a lot of information, but if you take it one step at a time, it should be easy to understand. With that in mind, here are some things you can do next:
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources on permaculture that you might find useful:
Agroforestry 101: Everything You Need to Know: Learn about agroforestry, a land-use system that combines trees and shrubs with crops and livestock to create a more sustainable and eco-friendly method of farming.
Permaculture 101: The Basics: This article covers the fundamental principles of permaculture, including how to create sustainable and regenerative ecosystems, conserve natural resources, and minimize waste.
Permaculture 101: Discover the basic principles of permaculture and learn how to create a thriving garden using natural methods that nourish the earth.
FAQs
What is permaculture?
Permaculture is an agricultural and farming system that emphasizes natural and sustainable practices to create self-sufficient ecosystems and communities.
What are the principles of permaculture?
The principles of permaculture include creating regenerative and sustainable ecosystems, using natural and renewable resources, minimizing waste, and producing food in a way that is both environmentally and socially responsible.
What are some benefits of permaculture?
Permaculture offers a range of benefits, such as promoting self-sustainability, reducing carbon footprint and pollution, promoting biodiversity and ecosystem health, and producing nutritious and fresh food.
How can I start practicing permaculture in my backyard?
To start practicing permaculture in your own backyard, you can begin by observing your surroundings, following permaculture design principles, using natural and organic methods of gardening, and choosing plants and produce that are well-suited for your climate zone.
Is permaculture scalable?
Yes, permaculture is scalable and can be implemented on any scale, from small backyard gardens to large commercial farms and even entire communities.
I’m Hellen James, and I’m an urban farmer and blogger. I’ve been growing food in my backyard for years, and I love sharing what I’ve learned with other people who want to start farming in their own yards.