What is Permaculture

Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of rotracted & and thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system. - Bill Mollison.

  • 100 hours of thought and 1 hour of work.
  • Work is a failure in design

The Power of Myth

“Myths which are believed in tend to become true.” - George Orwell

Prime Directive

  1. Take responsibility for our own existance and that of our children
  2. We need to get our house and garden in order, so that they feed and shelter us.

Core Ethics

  1. care of earth
  2. Care of People
  3. Future care

Is sustainable Enough?

  • Degenerative
    • Reduces, destroys, or eliminates its own sources of energy and materials
  • Sustainable
    • Maintains, balances or sustains its own sources of energy and materials.
  • Regenerative
    • restore, renew or increases its own sources of energy and materials

Permaculture produces systems that ..

  • provide net positive calories
  • produce topsoil
  • increase fertility

Where do we look for answers?

Nature as a mentor

And to use something as elegant as a tree? Image this design assignment: Design somthing that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, makes comples sugars and foods, changes colors with the seasons, and self-replicates and then why don’t we knock that down and write on is? - William McDonough

The industrial System

  1. Source oil
  2. Industrial Agriculture
  3. Consumer
  4. Sink Landfill

The Ecological System

  • Source Sun
  • Networks (internet, antifragile)
  • Sink CO2

Two Types of Ecosystems

Avaliable solar energy Immature ecosystem

  • low diversity
  • Annual plants
  • Competition
  • Parasitism
  • Nutrient leakage
  • Export
  • Fast change
  • Water export by drainage

Mature ecosystem

  • High diversity
  • Perennial plants
  • co-operation
  • Mutualism
  • Nutrient Cirulation
  • On-site consumption
  • Slow change
  • Water export by evaportation

never selling anything off your land that can’t walk off your land. - farmers saying(wisdom) sick of killing things that want to live and trying to keep alive things that want to die. -farmers saying

“Everything gardens” - Bill Mollison

“The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of humans beings” - Masanobu Fukuoka

Do weeds exist? Tags #ecosystemecologypermacultureethicsparadygmsweedsnatives

References: Bill Mollison

Introduction to Permaculture

Introduction to Permaculture