Permaculture?

Permaculture - Milkwooders Flickr

“Permaculture is defined as consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fibre and energy for the provision of local needs…more precisely I see Permaculture as the use of systems thinking and design principles that provide the organising framework for implementing the above vision”
David Holmgren ‘Pathways to Sustainability’ 2004

Sam and I have considered the idea of an organic, relatively self-sustaining garden that will feed us and offer enjoyment to both ourselves and the native wildlife for quite some time now. I had in the back of my mind the word “permaculture” but never really looked into it. After watching a DVD by Gardening Australia about Josh Byrne‘s permaculture garden (he’s located in Perth, funnily enough not too far north of where we’re based now – so a lot of what he had to say was particularly relevant to us) the other night it occurred to me… ‘This is exactly what Sam and I want to achieve!’. And so, when he got home I insisted that we both watch it together. And he agrees. The DVD really only scratched the surface of permaculture, I’m sure, since a small peek around the internet has proven that its quite a large topic. But I’ve never been one to shy away from learning new things, so I think I’m in for an enjoyable summer. I doubt we can really achieve all that much when the weather will be so horrid!

And the key factor for me right now, is learn as much as I can for free. Not simply to be cheap either. Why pay for something that’s meant to encourage people to get into it? Having a strangle hold on information can be counterproductive to getting other people to join your cause. When I’m well and truly satisfied that this is the way I want to go with our garden, then I’ll be perfectly happy to start taking courses, seeing lectures, etc etc.

Although I do plan to go visit Josh Byrne’s garden when he has an Open Day on November the 26-27.

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