Permaculture

Knowing I struggle to keep a pot plant alive, never mind the responsibility of a garden or dare I even think it - grow my own veggies - early this summer I decided it was time to get more practical and learn about permaculture!!! I spent 5 days on a beautiful organic farm in deepest Somerset at the foot of the famous Glastonbury Tor discovering the magic of permaculture. It is a vast topic, as endless as the land itself in its varying permutations. In the 1970's Bill Mollinson and David Holmgren first came up with ‘Original Permaculture’ and its principles such as stacking, diversity, succession and edges. This was followed a few years later by the wider philosophy of Design Permaculture and the key planning tools. KPT principles include zoning, scale, network and elevation. Then there is mulching, soil testing, base-mapping, observing and reading the landscape, forest gardens, urban gardening, the people stuff, active deep listening, nonviolent communication, energy, perennial vegetables, plants, the design process proper … and it goes on !!!

And yet Permaculture is as simple as remembering it is way to create an edible ecosystem. It's about growing stuff we and others in the ecosystem can eat. And let's be honest there are many people the world over growing plants and vegetables in ways that could be labelled as permaculture who have never heard of permaculture. Much of it is common-sense to those who hold a deep relationship to the land and the old-ways, particularly indigenous peoples.

Whilst taking a 5-day introductory course with Patrick Whitefield I picked up some real gems of advice that could be applied to all aspects of life.

Don’t take anything as dogma.
Learn the right questions to ask.
Take the principles and with wisdom apply them to your own situation.
Remember the map is not the land, design on the land.
Don’t do anything permanent, like planting trees, in the first 12 months.
LISTEN and OBSERVE, OBSERVE, OBSERVE and then OBSERVE some more !!!
Take your time.
Think ahead in the design.
Leave spaces.
DIVERSITY, DIVERSITY, DIVERSITY.
Take care of the people stuff.

Halfway through the course we spent an afternoon weeding Rob and Colm's pumpkin patch. The weeds were prolific. At first sight of the field it was hard to even see any pumpkins. Slowly and steadyly we pulled out the unwanted vegetation allowing the emergent pumpkins some breathing space and the warmth of the sun. As repetitious and back-breaking as weeding is, the benefits of hands-on work were immense. Not only could we see the results of all our efforts, we knew that in weeks to come beautiful pumpkins would be harvested. I loved the opportunity to learn by doing.

For anyone interested in studying with Patrick and Cathy checkout their website for more information http://www.patrickwhitefield.co.uk