The Well-Rounded Permaculturist
General — by Michael Pilarski November 16, 2011
by Michael Pilarski, Friends of the Trees Society
So what is permaculture? What makes it different from: organic gardening? organic farming? sustainable agriculture? ecological agriculture? bio-dynamic farming? regeneration farming? forest gardening? Holistic Resource Management HRM? ecosystem restoration? sustainability? or natural building?
Permaculture is unique, yet at the same time includes all of the above. Permaculture is the design of sustainable human settlement. One of the most important things about permaculture is that it’s a synthesis of agriculture, ecology, and forestry. Permaculture is inter-disciplinary as will be outlined in this article.
Comments (7)Permaculture Featured on New York Times
General, News — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor July 29, 2011
We all know the world is looking for answers to very pressing questions — so it’s high time the mainstream media started to share them! As such, it’s great to see the following article on the New York Times website. Thanks to New York Times writer Michael Tortorello, and well done to Wayne Weiseman, David Cody, Scott Pittman and the many others involved in this piece:
As a way to save the world, digging a ditch next to a hillock of sheep dung would seem to be a modest start. Granted, the ditch was not just a ditch. It was meant to be a “swale,” an earthwork for slowing the flow of water down a slope on a hobby farm in western Wisconsin.
And the trenchers, far from being day laborers, had paid $1,300 to $1,500 for the privilege of working their spades on a cement-skied Tuesday morning in late June.
Fourteen of us had assembled to learn permaculture, a simple system for designing sustainable human settlements, restoring soil, planting year-round food landscapes, conserving water, redirecting the waste stream, forming more companionable communities and, if everything went according to plan, turning the earth’s looming resource crisis into a new age of happiness.
It was going to have to be a pretty awesome ditch.
That was the sense I took away from auditing four days of a weeklong Permaculture Design Certificate course led by Wayne Weiseman, 58, the director of the Permaculture Project, in Carbondale, Ill. — The Permaculture Movement Grows From Underground
As per the New York Times, "A version of this article appeared in print on July 28, 2011, on page D1 of the New York edition with the headline: Growing From Underground."
Comments (0)Bees Versus Elephants
Food Forests, General, Insects — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor July 17, 2011
Not too many permaculturists have to deal with problems as potentially destructive, and even deadly, as elephants. But, I have met some of these people in my travels (see here and here). For those around the world grappling with this oversized issue, here is some potential help born of good permaculture system observation:
Comments (0)A simple fence made from wood, wire and beehives can deter elephants from raiding farmers’ crops.
A pilot study in Kenya has shown that such fences reduce the number of raids by elephants by almost half.
The work is the culmination of previous research which showed elephants are naturally scared of African honey bees.
A much larger trial is now under way in the hope the fences will provide an elegant solution to years of conflict between elephants and farmers. — BBC
Permaculture: A Quiet Revolution – An Interview with Bill Mollison
General — by Scott London July 12, 2011
 Bill Mollison Photo Copyright © Craig Mackintosh |
Bill Mollison calls himself a field biologist and itinerant teacher. But it would be more accurate to describe him as an instigator. When he published Permaculture One in 1978, he launched an international land-use movement many regard as subversive, even revolutionary.
Permaculture — from permanent and agriculture — is an integrated design philosophy that encompasses gardening, architecture, horticulture, ecology, even money management and community design. The basic approach is to create sustainable systems that provide for their own needs and recycle their waste.
Mollison developed permaculture after spending decades in the rainforests and deserts of Australia studying ecosystems. He observed that plants naturally group themselves in mutually beneficial communities. He used this idea to develop a different approach to agriculture and community design, one that seeks to place the right elements together so they sustain and support each other.
Comments (12)A Couple of Rough Types: Talking to Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton
General, Society — by Ecofilms December 6, 2010
It’s very rare to see Permaculture founder Bill Mollison on video these days and a frank interview with Geoff Lawton and Bill together is probably rarer still. Whilst we were at the Permaculture Convergence held in Cairns this year we stumbled upon Bill and Geoff having breakfast together. So amidst all the breakfasting diners and noisy background we recorded this frank discussion with both men about Permaculture, students, teaching and the future of Permaculture in a troubled world.
I wanted Bill Mollison to introduce Geoff Lawton for the Permaculture Soils DVD and in typical larrikin style Bill decided to turn the tables on us and pretend he didn’t know who Lawton was. Here’s what we ended up putting as an extras segment on the Soils DVD that gives you a good glimpse into the hearts of both men. The title will become self evident if you watch the video all the way to the end.
I noticed on another permaculture website called Permaculture Planet a poll asking people to vote for which day should be celebrated as International Permaculture day? One of the choices was Bill Mollison’s Birthday. I voted for that choice but I have no idea what day Bill Mollison was born on. He was born in 1928 in Tasmania and is still going strong teaching Permaculture with Geoff Lawton around the globe as I write this blog. I believe they are currently teaching the students in Turkey. So here’s to Bill Mollison. Lets celebrate International Permaculture Day on his birthday – whatever that day is.
Comments (13)Interview: Bill Mollison on Permaculture and Ecosystems for the Future (1986 and sadly still current)
General — by Richard Alan Miller November 11, 2010
An interview conducted by Richard Alan Miller in 1986, submitted by Judith Goldsmith
About two months ago, Charles Walters, editor for Acres, USA, asked if I might not get interviews with Bill Mollison and Masanobu Fukuoka for future use in his paper. Both were to be speakers at The 2nd International Permaculture Conference, August 8-10 at the Evergreen State College, in Olympia.
This turned out to be a working conference, with more than 60 other presenters from all corners of the world. Masanobu Fukuoka is the author of The One-Straw Revolution (Rodale Press) and several other texts on natural farming. Many in the world now consider him the Master Farmer of Japan. I will share this interview with you in a later issue of HMR. Both these interviews, and the conference as a whole were “events,” and well worth the time.
Comments (4)Integrated Design
Building, Consumerism, Eco-Villages, Energy Systems, General, Land, People Systems, Retrofitting, Society, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Oyvind Holmstad October 6, 2010
Photo © Craig Mackintosh
Could it be useful sometimes to replace the name permaculture with something else, because some people have wrong associations with the word? I’ve heard people discussing this, but they didn’t come up with any alternative. Here I have a suggestion: “integrated design”.
In a way, permaculture principle eight – integrate rather than segregate – has become like my most precious jewel among the design principles. And in fact I think the value of this principle is inestimable. To integrate rather than segregate is the core of life, without which life cannot exist, and life has no meaning.
Luckily, permaculture is all about how to integrate.
Comments (9)Introducing the Permaculture Designers’ Manual, Chapter 2: Concepts and Themes in Design
General — by Jesse Lemieux
This is Part II of a series. Read Part I before proceeding.
Editor’s Note: This article series is by Jesse Lemieux of PRI Canada – who will soon be teaching a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course at PRI’s own Zaytuna Farm. Book now to secure your place on a course taught by a seriously good permaculture enthusiast, practitioner and teacher, as evidenced also by this developing article series!
This is the second in a series of fourteen introductory articles about permaculture — one for each chapter of Bill Mollison’s “Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual.” The series was originally initiated back in March of 2010. I only managed to finish and post the first before the Canadian PDC teaching season swept me away. With the fall slow down I am at the computer again and will get through as many of the remaining chapters as I can between now and November 21st when I start teaching a two week Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) at Zaytuna Farm this coming November. Through this series I will connect theory with practice, and share practical examples of permaculture in action.
As we understand from Chapter 1, permaculture is an ethical system of design that produces a stable and secure place for humans and all other living things. This second installment is about what inspires us and how the functions of natural systems inform the design process.
Why Learn Permaculture – for the Children and Ourselves
Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, General, Society — by Chuck Burr September 6, 2010
Permaculture is one of the only ways home for humanity. If one believes in modernism, industrial agriculture and better living through chemistry read no further. However, if you feel something is not right about the way we live, read on.
I have come to realize that it is because we have been taught from birth to be dependent on the system or civilization that we have lost our connection to our home—the land, nature and its cultivars. Simply, because we have no connection to the land we have no reason to take care of it or limit our numbers. The skills and relationships with even the most common plants is not given to us as children.
Comments (5)Permaculture “Your Way To Sustainable Living”
General, Society — by Geoff Lawton August 12, 2010
by Geoff Lawton, first published in Veritas Magazine.
Permaculture is a design science that applies design to the way humanity needs to supply itself with its requirement to live sustainably and in a way that actually enhances the environment. So, the principles of permaculture turn the footprint of humanity into the most beneficial footprint on earth rather than the most damaging footprint. And that’s how nature works.
Permaculture’s principles come from nature itself. So the principles of natural systems and ecosystems are the teachers of the principles of permaculture and in nature. There’s a continuous sort of balance in life, and all our traditional and symbols of heritage, symbolise balance.
Comments (6)Overlander TV’s 60-Minute Organic Farming Program
DVDs/Books, General — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor August 11, 2010
The video covers such diverse farming enterprises as organic cattle, sheep, poultry, pigs, grain, wine, fruit and vegetables. – overlander.tv
Click play. At the end of each segment, it’ll automatically move to the next.
60 minutes in total.
Decoding Pattern
Building, Energy Systems, Food Forests, General, Land, Plant Systems, Retrofitting, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Adrian Buckley July 31, 2010
The modern-day education system is almost entirely bent on creating an army of university professors and other specialists. We have been systematically trained to specialize, and as a result we approach problem-solving by studying parts of a whole, where the connections between them are commonly ignored.
Comments (15)The Food Nightmare Beneath Our Feet: We’re Running Out of Soil
Compost, Consumerism, Deforestation, Food Shortages, General, Rehabilitation, Soil Biology, Soil Conservation, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Structure — by Rhamis Kent May 1, 2010
It’s good to see someone from the American press shine a light on what is arguably the most pressing ecological issue facing us. It effects any and all aspects of environmental health and stability. Without significant efforts made to address the massive amounts of topsoil lost each year, all of our “environmentalism” rings rather hollow, I’m afraid.
The following article is highly recommended reading:
The Food Nightmare Beneath Our Feet: We’re Running Out of Soil
Further Reading:
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