Permaculture Basics 1c

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Permaculture

Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the conscious designand maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems whichhave the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural

ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape andpeople providing their food, energy, shelter, and othermaterial and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Withoutpermanent agriculture there is no possibility of a stable socialorder. (Bill Mollison).

Presentation by

Ezio Gori (Buzz)

Project Management &

Sustainable Development Consultants

www.permaculture2012.co.zaCell : +27 83 300 23 85, Email : [email protected]

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http://www.permaculture2012.co.za/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.permaculture2012.co.za/


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Evolution fromContemporary Agricultureto a Permanent form of

Agriculture, hence

Permaculture

A 3 to 8 year Transition Period tochange over from ContemporaryAgriculture to Permaculture.

replacing animal forage grains

with tree crops

increasing forest cover

adopting low to no tillage onremaining croplands

retrofitting the house forenergy conservation

producing some (if not all) fuelon the farm.

Bill Mollison, Permaculture:A Designer's Manual,

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Evolution from ContemporaryAgriculture to a Permanentform of Agriculture, hence

Permaculture

Annotations to the bar graph:Accounting the costs of farming

1. Cash Accounting:

Bar 1: Income from total product on thefarm.

Bar 2: Cost of producing that income in real

erms nc u ng su s es .

2. Energy Accounting:

Bar 3: Electricity, oil, fertilizers,pesticides, firewood, etc.

Bar 4: Energy produced, eg. Firewood, foodcalories.

3. Environmental Accounting:

Bar 5: Soil loss, includes loss of humus andmineral nutrient loss.

Bar 6: Efficiency of water use and soil waterstorage.

Bar 7: Pollution produced.


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Evolution from ContemporaryAgriculture to a Permanentform of Agriculture, hence

Permaculture

Annotations to the bar graph:Accounting the costs of farming

4. Conservation Accounting:

Bar 8: Genetic richness in crops andlivestock.

Bar 9: Soil life (biomass).

Bar 10: Forest biomass and wildlife richness.

Bar 11: Loss to pests.

5. Social Accounting:

Bar 12: Employment on farm.

Bar 13: Food quality produced.

Bar 14: Human and environmental health.

Bar 15: Life quality as right livelihood.


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The story of an

Industrial Egg


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The story of a

Permaculture Egg


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Foundations ofPermacultureDesign

EarthcareCare of all living things,

animals, plants, water, land andair.

Permaculture as a desi n s stem is

FairsharesLiving within ones means and

distribution of surplusresources and skills to achieve

Earthcare and Peoplecare.

PeoplecareProviding for peoples basicneeds, and, promoting selfreliance and responsibility.

PermacultureEthics

based on natural systems. It isabout working with nature, notagainst it not using naturalresources unnecessarily or at arate at which they cannot bereplaced. It also means usingoutputs from one system as inputsfor another (vegetable peelings ascompost, for example), and sominimising wastage.

The fair shares part of thepermaculture ethic brings earthcare and people care together. Weonly have one earth, and we have toshare it - with each other, withother living things, and with futuregenerations. This means limiting

our consumption, especially ofnatural resources, and working foreveryone to have access to thefundamental needs of life - cleanwater, clean air, food, shelter,meaningful employment, and socialcontact.

as people, not just the world we livein. It works on both an individual anda community level. Self-reliance, co-operation and support of each othershould be encouraged. It is,however, important to look afterourselves on an individual level too.Our skills are of no use to anyone ifwe are too tired to do anythinguseful! People care is also about ourlegacy to future generations.

www.permaculture.org.uk7
http://www.permaculture.org.uk/http://www.permaculture.org.uk/


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The problem is the solution

It is how we look at things thatmakes them advantageous or

not, or, as Bill Mollison oncesaid, You havnt got an excessof slugs, youve got a duckdeficiency.

Work with nature not against

"Life is cooperative rather thancompetitive, and life forms of verydifferent qualities may interact

beneficially with one another andwith their physical environment."

"(Permaculture) is a philosophy ofworking with rather than againstnature; of protracted andthoughtful observation ratherthan protracted and thoughtlessaction.."

Permacultureattitudes

Minimum effort formaximum effect

For example, when choosing adam site, select the area

where you get the most waterfor the least amount of earth

moved.

Everything gardens

Everything living thing'gardens' or modifiesit's environment

Traditionally, yield is thought of as quantity ofmaterial output (eg, amounts of potatoes, grain,etc) calculated against resources or effort putin, but theres no reason why we cant widen ourdefinition to include information, lessonslearned, experience, the health benefits ofexercise and being outdoors, or even just plainfun... Within a permaculture design, we willconstantly be finding new niches to utilise, newbeneficial guilds, learning new techniques, tryingout fresh ideas, be gathering knowledge. Bycomprehending and copying natural systems, wecan develop techniques in order to consciouslymultiply such opportunities


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Permaculture Design Principles

Energy Efficient Planning

Zone planningElevation planningSector planning

Resource PlanningMultiple functionNatural energyBiological resource

Design PlanningRelative locationMicroclimateMaximise edgeSuccessionDiversity

Pattern

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Energy Efficient PlanningZone planningElevation planningSector planning


Zone One: The Home Garden

Regular daily visits.

Within 6 meters or so of the house, in Zone 1, should be placed those elements that require closeobservation, frequent visiting, high work input or continual complex techniques.

The aim of Zone 1 is to yield household self-sufficiency and climate control for the home. Zone 1 isalso the first Zone that should be developed on your site.

And so, elements such as rainwater tanks, the lemon tree, other dwarf or espalier-grown multi-graftfruit trees, chicken laying boxes, small ponds, culinary herbs, worm farm for recycling of householdwastes, intensive, fully mulched vegetable beds of quick growing annuals, seedling raising areas, andsmall, quiet domestic animals like fish, rabbits and pigeons can be kept very close at hand within thehome garden.

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Zone Two: The Home Orchard

Attended every few days.

Zone 2 is a little less intensively managed. Suitable elements toplace here are spot mulched home orchards, longer cyclevegetables, main crop beds (for trading), and forage ranges for

closely managed livestock such as poultry and milking goats orcows.

Since they are visited daily for milking, feeding and supervising,the livestock and poultry shelters of Zone 2 often adjoin Zone 1.

This Zone may be extended along frequently used paths throughmore outlying zones.

Zone Three: The Farm

Attended weekly to monthly.

Broader scale commercial crops, andanimals raised for trade, along withnatural trees, dams, windbreaks and

barns belong.

This area is managed with soilconditioning, green manure crops andmanure from Zone 2.

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Zone Four: Managed Forest

Attended infrequently

Hardy, self-care forests and woodlots thatare visited infrequently for wood collection,log harvest and wild harvest belong in farflung corners of the property, and can actas buffers to protect Zone 5 wildernessareas.

It may also be used occasionally to pastureanimals.

Zone Five: Wilderness

Visited occasionally for recreation andappreciation

This is the component of the site leftfor nature.

It comprises natural forest and nativeremnant and rehabilitated flora andfauna and can be linked to the homegarden by a wildlife corridor extension.

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The Suns Energy

The sun takes a different path across thesky during winter and summer, thereforeassess summer sun sector and winter sunsector.

Efficient home and site design takesadvantage of this seasonal sun movementby capturing winter sun and excluding it in

The Energy of Fire

Some site elements such as roads,stone walls, pig runs, dams, and fireretardant plants in wind breakarrangements, fodder systems andorchard areas can be arranged onyour site as a barrier to the firedanger sector to slow or block fire



summer.

Wind Energy

Site elements such as hedgerows, foddersystems, buildings and forests can beused as barriers to divert or blockdamaging winds. Similarly they can be

arranged on your site to divert them towhere they can benefit the site: towardswind turbines, or across ponds forevaporative summer cooling.

Assess wind direction of ;- hot summerwinds, cooling summer winds, cold winterwinds, katabatic air flows.

your home.

Site components that increase therisk of fire, such as eucalyptwoodlots, native vegetation areas, haylofts and pine trees, should be sitedaway from central Zoneinfrastructure, and themselves beshielded from the fire sector by fireretardant barriers.

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Permaculture DesignPrinciples



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Wind energyMicro-hydro

Moon Phases

Biodigestor Solar energy

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Permaculture Design PrinciplesResource PlanningMultiple functionNatural energyBiological resource

Composting

Mulching

Vermiculture

Mycorestoration

Biodigestors

Ecological sanitation

Reedbeds


Mycelium webs,Paul Stamets

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PermacultureDesign

Principles


Pattern


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PermacultureDesign

Principles


Pattern

Bill Mollison, Permaculture: ADesigner's Manual,

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PermacultureDesign

Principles


Pattern

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

Plot 1 root crops pulses potatoes brassicas

Plot 2 brassicas root crops pulses potatoes

Crop Rotation


Plot 3 potatoes brassicas root crops pulses

Plot 4 pulses potatoes brassicas root crops

First Year Planting

root cropscarrots,

parsnips,beetroot,salsify,etc.

brassicascabbage,

savoys,cauliflower,broccoli,sprouts,turnips

potatoespotatoes,

celery,leeks,etc.

pulsespeas,

beans,onions,shallots

Permanent CropsHerbs, asparagus, rhubarb, etc.

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Permaculture Design PrinciplesDesign PlanningRelative locationMicroclimateMaximise edgeSuccessionDiversity

Pattern

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PermacultureDesign

Principles


Pattern

Bill Mollison,Permaculture:A Designer's

Manual,24


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Foundations ofPermacultureDesign

EarthcareCare of all living things, animals,

plants, water, land and air.

FairsharesLiving within ones means and

distribution of surplus resourcesand skills to achieve Earthcare and

Peoplecare.

PeoplecareProviding for peoples basic

needs, and, promoting selfreliance and responsibility.

PermacultureEthics

Minimum effortfor maximum

effect

Work withnature not

against

The problem isthe solution

Everythinggardens

Unlimited yield




Design PlanningRelative locationMicroclimateMaximise edgeSuccessionDiversityPattern

attitudes

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DaveHolmgrens

Permaculture

r n c pe s

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First steps to your Permaculture Garden

Mulching Composting

Mycelium running

Organic seed exchange

Planting diversity

erm cu ure Rainwater harvesting with

swales & vetiver grass

Create microclimates

Grey water recycling

Form your PermacultureGuild Group

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Permaculture Basics 1c

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