Okay, first, I am not an expert. I’m not even well versed. But I’m learning daily and there are many experts out there with degrees and/or years of experience that you can learn from. My favorite permaculture expert is Geoff Lawton and his videos are invaluable. The first one I ever watched was where he created an incredibly green and lush space in the middle of a desert that held nothing but lifeless, barren ground. Do yourself a favor and watch his videos. They will change your life.
For another great video go to www.backtoedenfilm.com and watch Paul Gautschi explain how he created beautifully productive spaces on bare rock and poor soil simply by observing how forests evolve. And my favorite reading material on the subject is a book called Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway.
So, I’m in excellent company even if I am a “newbie” at this. Permaculture is about designing systems that are built upon the relationships between the structures, the flora and fauna and the people on the land. In short, it means building a sustainable community, whether that community consists of one person on a tenth of an acre to a parcel of many acres with multiple dwellings where everything and everyone lives and grows in harmony with nature.
What would be more appealing – walking through several acres of nothing but neatly cropped grass or walking through the same acreage where bees buzzed among beautiful flowering plants? Where herbs and fruit trees produced tasty edibles and where birds flitted from one heavily fruited bush to the next? Would you be more captivated by a path that meandered around charming curves to reveal endless surprises of color, texture and sound or would you be more enchanted by marching down a long concrete sidewalk?
I hope to be able (eventually) to walk out my back door and stroll through an interrelated system where fruit and nut trees shade and protect delicate herbs; where vegetable plots incorporate flowers that not only look pretty but provide medicinal value. Where chickens peck the ground at my feet and help to control unwanted pests while providing eggs to eat. Where bees work to pollinate all the fruits and veggies while I wait to harvest some of the bounty they provide. Where a comfy log bench beckons me to sit in dappled shade and rest a spell. In short, I want this little half acre to show me how it must have been in that very first Garden of Eden.
