This is the book that I started with when I decided that permaculture was something I wanted to know more about. At first glance it felt a little like been back at school with a text book (which it is I guess) but if it’s something you’re interested in, then all good.
His no-nonsense, direct approach to the topic, I think, is great. It’s all practical, down to earth knowledge that anyone can implement in their backyard garden (young or old). He includes, at the end of each chapter, a ‘further reading, reference, resource’ list and the appendix includes a ‘useful permaculture plants’ section to help you get started.
I’ve since bought, Permaculture: A designer’s manual
What’s inside:
1.) Permaculture principles
2.) Broadscale site design
3.) Pattern understanding
4.) Structures
5.) The home garden
6.) Orchards, farm forestry and grain crops
7.) Animal forage systems and aquaculture
8.) Urban and community strategies
To give you more of an idea of what Introduction to Permaculture
1.) Permaculture principles
“A philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labour; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating elements as a single-product system.”
- Elements serve many functions
eg. When placing a plant, structure or animal, it should serve as many functions as possible. If you happen to have chickens: they would provide manure for the pond (which in turn would provide nutrients for the aquatic animal and plant life) and when let into the orchard, would provide a good pest control and weeding service (in return the orchard provides a food source; insect, fruit, nut). - Good energy planning
Planning your zone areas for energy efficiency eg.
Zone 1: water tanks, herb garden, glass house
Zone 2: small fruit orchard, poultry sheds
Zone 3: main crop area eg. potatoes, larger veg.
Zone 4: rivers, pastures - Using biological resources to do the work and for energy efficiency
eg. Ducks for weed control instead of lawnmowers, green manures eg. Comfrey instead of nitrogen fertilizer - Small scale intensive systems
eg. Creating food guilds, also known as food forests. Placing your plants so that all benefit as a whole, placing according to their size, whether they are climbers or shade plants; for instance an acacia tree provides shade and nitrogen, comfrey would be an under canopy shrub for weed control and mulch, nasturtiums for groundcover and beans which climb larger shrubs or trees. - Edge effects
“By noting how edges trap materials in nature, we can design to take advantage of the natural drift of materials or energies in our system.”
eg. Creating a dam with a few islands in and around water: the point where an edge of an island and the water meet would have an edge of reeds which provides feeding for fish from the water side and shelter for ducks from the land side. Other edge examples would be: land/water, crop/orchard, estuary/sea.
2.) Broadscale site design
“By observing the landscape we draw inspiration from the survival strategies followed by natural systems, and imitate them using species of more direct use to us.”
- Observation
Understanding sun, wind, fire and flood paths/directions in order to place structures and vegetation. eg. At fence lines, where birds have perched, droppings on the ground below provide nutrients for plants to start growing. - Climate and microclimate
Paying attention to topography, winds, water masses, structures, soils and vegetation. - Soil management
eg. Improving soils by adding organics, changing the pH etc. - Water
Storing and distributing by way of swales, dams and tanks.
3.) Pattern understanding
“In a natural landscape, each element is part of the greater whole, a sophisticated and intricate web of connections and energy flows.”
If we can spend more time observing nature, we’ll see patterns everywhere (a spiral in a seashell, the rings of a tree, the gentle flowing curves of a sand dune) – I guess you could call nature one great geometric pattern with a variety of smaller patterns making up the whole. My favourite chapter as I’ve developed an interest in sacred geometry over the last few years.
- Pattern in nature
A tree is used to demonstrate the system into which all basic patterns in nature fit. - Pattern in design
Understanding how we can apply pattern in the way we design in order that it flows and works efficiently. eg. in very dry areas, villages along a river system, would be placed or found in a zone where there is good water run-off for storage and sediments for growing food.
4.) Structures
“Although permaculture may seem to be labour-intensive to start with, it is not a return to peasant systems of annual crops, endless drudgery, and total dependence on human labour. Rather it focuses on designing the farm (or garden, or town) to best advantage.”
- House design
Looking at the temperate, tropical, drylands and plant house. A few examples:
- This idea, which I’d love to create: a bathroom greenhouse. Picture having a shower while surrounded by a small jungle. A pebble bed keeps plants moist and it can all be attached to an existing bathroom.
- Dried and partly compacted sea grass is a low fire risk insulation for walls and roofs.
- A trellis on all walls in hot climates provides a cool air source. - Using waste resources from the house
- Technological strategies
eg. Insulated box cooker, low pressure sodium lamps for long lasting energy conserving lights. Refrigeration/food drying: solar food dryer. Water conservation: low water shower nozzles.
5.) The home garden
“The American lawn uses more resources than any other agricultural industry in the world. It uses more phosphates than India, and puts on more poisons than any other form of agriculture. If we put the same amount of manpower, fuel and energy into reforestation we could reforest the entire continent. A house with two cars, a dog, and a lawn uses more resources and energy than a village of 2000 Africans.”
- Layout
Placing of food areas that are visited often eg. Your herb garden/herb spiral can be found outside your back door, whereas your potato and bean beds would be a bit further from the house. A few designs shown: keyhole beds, creating a living windbreak barrier hedge, trellis varieties, creating your own tyre pond. - Instant garden
No digging or weeding to get going, it’s a matter of sheet mulching. - Apartment/flat/city gardening
Even if space is limited and you don’t have a garden; you can still grow your own food by way of containers. - Designs for cold area, tropical and dryland gardens
6.) Orchards, farm forestry and grain crops
“In any forest we should leave a section that is not managed. We are able to contemplate nature here, and to learn about ourselves in the natural world. Those of you who have been alone in a forest for a long time – more than five weeks – know that you can totally lose your identity as a human being. You can’t distinguish yourself from the trees, from the animals, or from any other living thing there. You become simply a part of all life.”
- Orchard design
Placing elements to complement one another. eg. Intercropping: citrus trees under taller trees as they can withstand shade while the under storey can be used to grow green manure crops. Attracting animal life into the orchard by placing small ponds here and there (this will attract frogs which will control insect and pest populations). - Structural forests
Timber crop, firewood, hedgerow barriers. - Grain and legume crop systems
No dig, broadcasting the next crop seed into the maturing crop. - On farm fuels
eg. Fuel as methane, and trees that are sugar producing (these convert to alcohol to produce liquid fuels). - Commercial systems
eg. Selling unusual seeds, providing craft supplies.
7.) Animal forage systems and aquaculture
“The problem is the solution: we are the problem, we are the solution. Turn constraints into resources. Mistakes are tools for learning.”
- Placing animals
Observing their characteristics, needs and products in order to incorporate into your design eg. rabbits, pigeons, ducks, bees - Aquaculture and wetlands
Design of ponds for home and commercial use. eg. In Asia, pig and chicken houses are built in such a way over the pond, that manure falls through the slatted floors into the water, providing fertilization.
8.) Urban and community strategies
“People who force nature force themselves. When we grow only wheat, we become dough. If we seek only money, we become brass; and if we stay in the childhood of team sports, we become a stuffed leather ball.”
- Growing food in the city, planned village/townhouse homes, community recycling, community land access, ethical investment
How I’ve benefitted by learning more about permaculture:
- I’ve overcome my garden/food gardening/plant reluctance as I felt overwhelmed. I didn’t know where to
- Growing your own food doesn’t have to be a time consuming and expensive exercise: it’s not necessary to have to buy so much stuff, you realize that you don’t actually need it (if you’re correctly mulching/feeding/companion planting etc. then you’re doing well already). Your plants will be healthy both from a feeding and pest prevention point of view.
- Built my own herb spiral: planted herbs from seed and from seedlings.
- Planted my own vegetable beds from seed.
- Become more aware of nature, appreciating that every living part is needed (one part isn’t seen as ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than another): slowing down and enjoying the outdoors, observing life at grass level (you’ll be surprised how ‘alive’ grass is, all those ants moving about), really ‘seeing’ the beauty in a flower or leaf, truly appreciating the smell of a lemon blossom…learning to just be.
“To become a complete person, we must travel many paths, and to truly own anything we must first of all give it away. This is not a riddle. Only those who share their multiple and varied skills, true friendships, and a sense of community and knowledge of the earth know they are safe wherever they go.
There is no other path for us than that of cooperative productivity and community responsibility. Take that path, and it will change your life in ways you cannot yet imagine.”
You can get Introduction to Permaculture
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