Permaculture is a holistic philosophy which is best known for its radical ‘no dig’ policy with gardening. However, permaculture is not just about gardening it aims to create a full circle or production where there is no waste. Waste is perceived to be an un-realised resource. For instance, food scraps can be fed to chickens which turn into chicken poo which can be used to fertilise the land. In the permaculture system what is usually seen as waste becomes a resource worthy of exploiting. It is also a system which believes in sustainability. When these production cycles are closed circles they are completely sustainable and reduce the amount of work required. Therefore, sustainable energy resources are utilised to provide energy.
What is Permaculture?
Design is paramount to the permaculture philosophy as it is possible to design a self-sustaining system which does not need any ‘work’ input once it is established. For instance, not only is sustainable energy technology used but design would be used to heat a house such as building the house slightly underground or painting a wall black etc. In an ideal world one would observe the land for a year to see its strengths and weaknesses so that the design optimises the strengths and fixes the weaknesses of the land to effectively build housing, gardens and water systems.
If permaculture is applied correctly ‘work’ should be minimal; even the work involved in harvesting should be minimised by planting things which need harvesting often closer to the house. When the ‘no dig’ policy of mulching is applied correctly weeding becomes a thing of the past as does fertilising.
The two key things to remember when applying it to your home are that waste is an un-tapped resource and work is a failure of design which should be improved upon.