Summing up Permaculture in a Few Short Paragraphs – Yikes!

I couldn’t begin to give you an in depth look at permaculture here in this blog; for that I urge you to follow the links in my previous post that will take you to several videos made by Geoff Lawton.  I also urge to you get your hands on a copy of Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway (most libraries have a copy).  But here’s a very condensed definition.

First, let’s think about what permaculture isn’t.  Let’s think about the majority of today’s gardens. We plant well tended and perfectly straight rows of veggies – all uniform in size and color.  We think it looks lovely and shows off all the hard work we’ve done.  A vegetable-devouring bug or a four legged varmint looks at it and thinks it’s an ‘all-you-can-eat’ buffet with a blazing neon ‘Welcome’ sign!  Next, think about our landscaping.  We turn our lawns into well manicured, neatly clipped and mostly useless landscapes.  We spray them with dangerous pesticides and we feed them with fertilizers from a bag.

Permaculture is just the opposite of all that.  It can be quite beautiful and charming but it’s certainly much more fluid in appearance.  But all by careful design.  Every plant is chosen for its ability to perform multiple functions – known as “stacking.”  Permaculture enthusiasts plant trees, bushes, vegetables and herbs that 1) feed people, 2) feed wildlife, 3) feed other plants, 4) provide products (like wood) for multiple uses, 4) provide structure and/or trellising for other plants, 5) provide habitat and 6) attract birds and beneficial insects.

They do this by layering what gets planted and by planting in Zones.  The seven permaculture layers go from the tallest trees down through vines and shrubs all the way to root crops that grow underground.  Instead of planting one strictly ornamental tree with acres of grass around it, they plant a fruit or nut tree that is pretty but that also provides food.  It’s pruned or else has a natural open canopy so light will filter down through its branches to smaller bushes planted below.  These bushes provide fruit for human and/or wildlife consumption.  Some of them will also fix nitrogen to help feed the larger tree.  Under the shrubs medicinal flowers, veggies and herbs peek out to capture enough sun.  A squash or an edible Maypop may vine up the large tree.  Well, you get the idea.

Permaculture Zones go from one to five with Zone 1 being the area closest to your house.  Zone 1 will contain those plants and structures that you are most in contact with.  Zone 1 may include an herb bed so you can quickly snip some while you’re cooking.  It may also contain a bird house so you can enjoy watching these amazing creatures as you pass by a window.  It may contain the garden beds that require the most weeding and/or watering.  You might even decide to locate a greenhouse there.

Zone 2 might be where your tool shed is.  Or you might put your greenhouse here.  Your larger garden beds would be located in Zone 2.  You might have a pond in Zone 2.  Zone 3 is where any cash crops would grow or where large animals are kept.  Zone 4 is the area that doesn’t require much care – you might have firewood growing in this zone.  Or you might have larger ponds here.  Zone 5 is considered the wild area that doesn’t really demand much care.  It’s a zone for wildlife, firewood and for just admiring nature.

Now I realize that it might seem necessary to have a large tract of land in order to practice permaculture but that’s not the case.  We live on just under half an acre.  I won’t really have a Zone 5.  The dense woods behind our property will serve as Zone 5 even though we don’t own it.  I can admire the deer that wander through and watch the wind blow through all the trees.  Our Zone 4 will be the branch that runs up either side of our little half acre. While I will tuck some useful plants along it’s edges, I won’t be making many changes.  And I have accepted that I will never have a pond or be able to cut my own firewood.  My cash crop (which you might not even need to have) will be the organic Microgreens I grow inside the house under grow lights.

But I think I can produce the majority of our food on this little half acre in what, for me, will be Zones 1 and 2.  We’re vegetarian so, other than some egg laying chickens, I won’t need space for meat producing animals or ponds to water them or fields to grow food for them.

I really think I can use this half acre to stack a whole heck of a lot of fruiting bushes under several dwarf fruit trees along with enough veggies and herbs to produce 80% of what we eat.

So, using the principles of permaculture, I am on an adventure to produce a half acre Garden of Eden that invites birds and beneficial insects.  A half acre that’s a riot of color, shape, texture and flavor.  Hold on to your hats cause here we go!