Permaculture - more than organic gardening!

by Jesse Lemieux
Dec. 11, 2008

It is often the case that permaculture is mistaken for being just another form of organic gardening. This description is seriously lacking when considering permaculture and the influence it is having and can have in our rapidly changing world. “Permaculture is a design system for the harmonious integration of landscape and human habitat” (Mollison)...An organic garden is only one element, an important element, but only one in an infinite number of different elements that might make up appropriately designed human systems.  At the heart of good design are the functional relationships between elements and how they support each other. Permaculture is not about finding new and complicated high tech ways to support our present culture of waste and "protracted thoughtless labor."  It is about integrating: site, energy, social, and abstract components to provide for human needs by creating and recycling resources and energy without degrading local and distant environments.

An appropriate design first considers local conditions and then harmonizes developed systems with the local conditions to achieve that highest level of energy conservation possible.

Water
Access
Structures

This is the priority sequence of permaculture site design. By first designing water infrastructure (swales, dams, irrigation lines, diversion drains, irrigation ditches…) to harvest rainwater and store it passively throughout the landscape, we insure the fertility of the land and soil into the future. If water is stored, soaked and spread through the landscape we have made a great effort to preserve the health of the local ecology.  Once the water features have been determined we can design our access structures to harmonize with the water features.  All run-off from roads and trails is directed passively to water harvesting structures like swales and dams. The third step, structures, is now easy, as building sites will become obvious against the backdrop of designed access and water. This pattern of settlement development enriches the local environment through increased year round moisture, increasing the productivity of local soil conditions, often results in a surplus of energy as water stored in small earth dams up slope, and produces a designed ecology that supports and provides for the local inhabitant.

Energy Components
Technologies, Connection, Structures, Sources

When designing and establishing systems we must prioritize our investments first in structures and technologies that create energy, second that save energy and last that consume energy.  It is inevitable that we will spend energy to initially establish our habitat.  This is not a problem, so long as the designed habitat produces more energy over its lifetime than was initially spent.  All sustainable systems must provide their own energy needs and remove themselves from a dependence on distant sources.  “When the needs of a system are not met from within, we pay the price in energy and pollution.” (Mollison)

 When designing to the site-specific components the first priority is water, as water is an energy that can be put to great use.   Higher elevation rainwater storages (earth dams and tanks) should be designed into a landscape whenever possible.  This is done to provide gravity fed water for crops houses and other uses at lower elevations.  Swales are always planted to forest type ecosystems. Swales are ecosystem growing features.  The plants on the swale use water harvested to turn the suns energy into wood and foods, like nuts and fruit. The wood can be used to build and maintain structures, provide fiber and heat, for solar efficient homes, in high efficiency stoves. By first investing in the water structures we have created numerous energy storages in our settlement.

Social Components
People, Culture, Trade, Finance

Cooperation not competition is the key.  Presently my wife and I live on an apple orchard, together we contribute 40-50hr/week of our time and energy to the orchard.  We are not the owners. In exchange for our efforts, we get a roof over our heads, clean and healthful food from the garden, access to land for our own food production and a good community.  Assessing this arrangement from a purely financial perspective would neglect all other levels of wealth that we obtain from the relationship. Further more we can be assured that a significant proportion of our time and energy will stay within the systems on the farm.  If we were to have regular jobs, within the formalized economic system of distant capital and finance, most of our time and energy would inevitably by exported out of the local environment and economy.  By working to keep our time and energy cycling in the local economy through a none formalized systems of exchange: trade barter and cooperation, we work to ensure our efforts go towards building the health and security of our community. We reduce our need for monetary gain, as our basic needs of clean food, clean water, clean shelter and healthy community are produced through our basic day-to-day interactions.  
If we all make effort to provide some part of our needs through the local non-formalized systems of exchange we work to build the long-term security of our communities. The more we have invested locally the less susceptible we are to international fluctuation in trade and finance.

Abstract Components
Timing, information, ethics

Without an ethic or belief structure and actions in relation to survival on our planet, permaculture has no starting point. The basic permaculture ethic is as follows:
Care of the earth
Care of People
Return of Surplus to the above two ends (can also be understood as setting limits to growth)

Using the ethic as our sounding board, we can use all available information to design healthy communities and provide for those communities without degrading local and distant ecologies. In order to spread good design we must spread information to where it is need and assist others who are trying to learn. As much as we need to combat against a lack of information, we should guard against an over abundance of data. “Information is only a resource if acted upon” (Mollison). There is no better place nor time to act on the vast storehouse of information we have, we must get our hands dirty here and now designing and implementing sustainable systems.

It is only through the functioning connections between components that a complete and productive whole system design can be achieved. The designed systems must maintain and build the health of the local environment and work for its occupants, not distant sources of capital. This can only be achieved by analyzing the needs and products of various components and placing those components so they supply each others needs and best utilize the inherent patterning of the landscape and climate. Organic gardening is vital to any sound design, as we all have a right and responsibility to produce clean food, but it must be appropriately placed within the context of the whole systems design that is known as permaculture.

Jesse is presently residing on Denam Island riding out the short winter days with oyster gathering, garden prep for next spring and spending far to many hours in front of the computer. If you are interested to have Jesse do a design for you, teach a course in your area or answer a question of to please contact us.