The philosophy behind permaculture is one of working with, rather than against, nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless action; of looking at systems in all their functions, rather than asking only one yield of them; and allowing systems to demonstrate their own evolutions. (Definition via TPRI.)

It's really kinda cool.
May 25th
8:25 AM

Wild Farming - Wikipedia

The agricultural technique known as “Wild Farming” is a growing alternative to “factory farming”. Wild farming consists of planting crops that are highly associated and supportive to the natural ecosystem.[1] This includes intercropping with native plants, following the contours and geography of the land, and supporting local food chains.[2] The goal is to produce large crop yields, while still promoting a healthy environment. Wild farming is a backlash against the dominance of factory farming. Up until the mid 20th century, agicultural crop yields relied on natural inputs such as rainfall patterns, natural soil resources, recycling of organic matter, and built-in biological control mechanisms.[2] Currently, agricultural practices have been conventionalized to include large monocropped fields and use of synthetics: pesticides and fertilizers. Avoiding the conventional farming practices, wild farming adopts many practices from sustainable agricultural systems such as agroecologypermacultureforest farming, and greywater systems. The four basic guiding principles of the wild farming movement are:

1. Direct managers to develop long-term vision for future of landscape

2. Basic recognition of ecosystem processes.

3. High value on biological diversity.

4. To consider the quality of life of the community as well as the self.

May 6th
8:29 AM
Via

Happy International Permaculture Day!
Feliz Internacional Permacultura Día! 


livingwind
:

Why permaculture? Geoff Lawton speaking on behalf of National Permaculture Day, May 6th 2012. 

April 7th
2:11 AM
"The tragic reality is that very few sustainable systems are designed or applied by those who hold power, and the reason for this is obvious and simple: to let people arrange their own food, energy and shelter is to lose economic and political control over them. We should cease to look to power structures, hierarchical systems, or governments to help us, and devise ways to help ourselves."
—  Bill Mollison
March 2nd
2:10 PM

Vote for Permaculture!

The garden that I (and a thousand others, with the help of Ryan Harb), put into UMass Amherst is up for an award! Please give your votes to UMass so that Permaculture gets a chance to go to Washington and recieve national attention!!

https://campuschallenge.uservoice.com/forums/148562-campus-champions-of-change-challenge/

(Submitted by moontrinesun)

February 24th
12:26 AM

Permaculture Leaf Shredding

The situation: We have an over-abundance of oak leaves every Fall. We have a shortage of good topsoil on this rocky Ozark hilltop year-round. How to use one problem to solve the other? Why, chickens of course.

12:08 AM

Grand Designs - Ben Law and The Woodsman’s Cottage:

In this monumental documentary, the famous British woodsman Ben Law is covered as he plans and executes the development of the wooden house of his (and monay others’) dreams. Build entirely of wood that he himself has husbanded, on land that he has cared for, this represents the culmination of a lifetimes work and acheivement in modern environmentalism.
You can find Ben on his website here, if you’re interested in learning more.
February 23rd
1:03 AM

How to run a PERMABLITZ:

Adam Grubb founded Permablitz as part of a crew of Melbourne permaculturalists in 2006. Since then, Melbourne Permblitz has delivered many, many successful permablitzes in the greater Melbourne area, and the concept of Permablitz has spread to Sydney, Adelaide, Alice Springs, Darwin, Canberra, Tasmania, Bega, the Sunshine Coast, California, Montreal, Istanbul and Uganda.

So what is a Permablitz?

Permablitz (noun): An informal gathering involving a day on which a group of at least two people come together to achieve the following:

- create or add to edible gardens where someone lives
- share skills related to permaculture and sustainable living
- build community networks
- have fun

Permablitzes are free events, open to the public, with free workshops, shared food, where you get some exercise and have a wonderful time. To be defined as a permablitz each event must also be preceded by a permaculture design by a designer with a Permaculture Design Certificate. 

The network runs on reciprocity, and in order to qualify for a permablitz you usually need to come to “3 or so” first, although there can be exceptions in this case.

February 22nd
1:21 AM

Six steps to create your own organic permaculture garden: Natural News.

Info on:

  • Choosing a location
  • Selecting plants
  • Making a home for your plants
  • Feeding your plants
  • Watering your plants
  • Protecting plants from pests
12:29 AM

Vegan Permaculture - An Introduction.

Underpinning all permaculture systems are fundamental ethical values around caring for the earth and its peoples, as well as the fair and just distribution of resources - To me these fit well with the vegan philosophy of compassionate living. But is animal-free permaculture actually possible? Of course not – neither would it be desirable. For example, how would we fence out the earthworms that build our soil and maintain its fertility, or the bees that pollinate our fruit trees and vegetables, and why would we wish to? In fact, we actively design in features that are intended to attract wildlife – Ponds for frogs, toads and dragonflies, and flowering plants to bring in the ladybirds and hoverflies that are essential to maintaining healthy productive ecosystems. What we don’t include are those ‘system components’ that perpetuate exploitative relationships with our non-human earth co-citizens, such as pigs, goats and chickens, whose primary function is the production of meat, milk and eggs.

(Click through to read the entire article.)

February 16th
1:17 AM