photo: fr.wikipedia.org
By J Russell Hart
Our society today is basically selfish and we rely on industry for our needs. We like fast food, throw-away goods and cheap fuel. None of this is sustainable and will eventually lead to a society that falls in on itself. But help is at hand; it is called permaculture.
Permaculture
is another way to look at the world and its resources. We'll look at
just what is meant by permaculture, the history of this conservation
movement and meet some of its originators and the future of
Permaculture. You may find that you are already applying some of the
basic tenants of this small but growing movement.
What does it Really Mean?
Permaculture,
as you may have guessed, is a contraction of the words permanent
culture. The idea being that we rely more on sustainable agriculture not
dependent on fossil fuels.
It will use local resources, smaller
more diverse crop planning, non-chemically dependent fertilizing, for
example.
Permaculture is a movement away from anything big and
industrial to the smaller and sustainable farms, encouraging more
interdependence with community members.
How Permaculture Began
It
all began in the '70s by a wildlife biologist and ecologist named Bill
Mollison of Australia. He saw the growing monster of the Industrial
revolution and its impact on our culture.
How this kind of culture
was bound to eventually cave in due to its monstrous appetite. Rather
than reacting in a negative way to this, he instead decided to take a
more positive approach.
By studying nature, he came to several
conclusions about how nature goes through sustainable cycles without the
benefit of man. Bill began to live and then to teach his philosophy.
Basic Steps of Permaculture
Another
man who has silently built up a following in this movement is Masanobu
Fukuoka. He believes that you should disturb the soil to an absolute
minimum. Seeds are planted right on the soil's surface and then lightly
covered with straw or other light mulch.
Weeds are trimmed before
the flower stage and allowed to become part of the mulch. This kills
unwanted vegetation without poison and gives a favorable soil in which
to plant. In time the soil becomes healthy and weeds and pests become
less of a concern.
You Mean Weeds are Good?
Ruth
Stout is another voice in this community. Her ideas about "no-till"
gardening have caused many to change their views about weeds and
weeding. Similar to Fukuoka, she purported to never need to weed but
allowed plants to grow together.
All vegetation, both "good" and
"bad," build the soil which leads to healthy crops which means less
pests. Once the soil is built weeding becomes as simple as flicking out
the weed. All without chemicals and pesticides.
Small Beginnings to - What?
From
its small, quiet revolutionary beginnings, it is apparent that
permaculture will have to be embraced to a greater or lesser degree.
Pollution due to industrial waste and mass transportation systems are on
their way down memory lane. It will cost too much to ship in food from
across the country so it makes more and more sense to buy food grown
locally or grow it yourself.
The basic philosophy of permaculture
is gradually gaining ground as people begin to understand its benefits.
Once thought to be something that only 3rd generation hippies were
interested in, it can now be seen in urban life as people have their
vegetable patch and throw the unneeded pieces and prunings back onto the
garden for mulch.
It is good to see that something so inherently useful
to society across the globe is having such a good impact on all our
lives.
A keen and active gardener the author of this article, Russell
Hart, had the good fortune to own ten acres of land on which to build
his garden.
As he progressed with the task of establishing the garden
property, and co-incidently having adopted the Paleo diet due to it's
basis being eating only natural foods (see http://www.paleodiet1.com
) he came across the permaculture concept. He immediately recognized
it's benefits, both for himself and his property and for the overall
benefit to society.
Learn more about Russell's approach to successful gardening by visiting http://www.creativegardeningtips.com
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