What Is Permaculture? 10 Ways You Can Do It!
Permaculture is a conscious design process that creates sustainable agricultural systems by mimicking natural ecosystems. By incorporating principles of permaculture, individuals can foster a permanent culture that prioritizes earth care, people care, and fair share. This approach to land use and daily life not only promotes soil fertility and efficient energy use but also supports the resilience of natural ecosystems and human settlements.
“Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.”
- Bill Mollison, creator of Permaculture
What is Permaculture?
Just 10 years ago, the term “permaculture” was mostly unknown. Since then, the permaculture movement has drastically picked up steam, and it’s now quite common to hear the term buzzing around in gardening circles or conversations about sustainability. But what does it actually entail?
Permaculture is a design system focused on forming a harmonious relationship between people, plants, animals, and soil. Coined in 1978 by Australian ecologist David Holmgren and environmental psychology professor Bill Mollison, the word permaculture blends "permanent" and "agriculture" and has since evolved to mean both "permanent” and “culture."
Permaculture is meant to be a holistic approach to land design that works on not only restoring damaged land but also creating systems that provide for human needs indefinitely without destroying the earth's natural systems. It follows a series of ethics and principles that can be applied at any scale, from a small rain garden up to a multi-hundred-acre community development or farming project.
Although the term was coined somewhat recently, it is not a new system but rather a new word for an old way of being. Many practices upheld in permaculture have existed for centuries among societies across the world that have worked with nature rather than against it.
Permaculture speaks deeply to us here at Blacklotus as we strive to create ecological landscapes that are as sustainable as possible and embody principles of regenerative and resilient design. From permaculture landscape design to utilizing permaculture techniques in our landscape installations, we aim to landscape in a more sustainable way.
How Permaculture Benefits People
Many of us aspire to live a more just, environmentally connected life where people are healthy, communities thrive through trade and sharing with neighbors, and money and wealth is a source of empowerment rather than a measure of success. Permaculture aligns with this aspiration and offers the potential for food resiliency, community collaboration, and enhanced emergency preparedness, among others.
From an ecological perspective, permaculture gardens are havens for wildlife, such as birds, bees, and butterflies. Some systems of landscaping and farming often rely on excessive irrigation, chemical fertilizers, and other inputs, so by incorporating permaculture systems into the home, you’re working to reduce, if not eliminate, these inputs. This often results in creating less unnecessary work and more time in a person’s life.
Ultimately, there's immense fulfillment in creating a beautiful space in the land around us that also gives back and provides for you and your family's needs, all while protecting the natural world.
10 Ways You Can Implement Permaculture
There are many ways to incorporate permaculture principles inside and outside the home. From growing more food to building healthy soil, these all provide a host of benefits for not only the home but also the soul.
Build Soil Health
Building soil health is like laying a strong foundation for your house. It has been said that a good gardener feeds the soil instead of their plants. No-till gardening or low-till, no-dig gardening, sheet mulching, composting, vermicomposting with worms, and mulching with wood chips are all excellent ways to build quality soil health and have different contexts. The basic premise is to add as much broken-down organic matter in layers to your soil as possible, and over time, you will have something very diverse and beautiful! Methods and principles have to be adapted to the local area and a diversity of solutions does exist and should be encouraged.Harvest Rainwater
In light of the mounting challenges facing global water systems, harvesting and utilizing rainwater is one of the most effective ways we can all incorporate permaculture (especially in the PNW). There are many ways to harvest rainwater, from rain gardens to storing rooftop water in cisterns to shaping the earth through in-ground “earthworks” that allow rainwater to infiltrate the soil naturally. By capturing rainwater runoff from rooftops and directing it into storage systems such as rain barrels or cisterns, you can reduce over-reliance on municipal water sources while also allowing for groundwater to replenish. Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands & Beyond by Brad Lancaster is a great book to start for learning more about the benefits of and how to harvest rainwater.Incorporate Plant Diversity
Healthy ecosystems typically thrive with hundreds to thousands of different native species. Due to human impacts like deforestation and urbanization, most modern home sites are considered ecological deserts. By planting as diversely as possible with a heavy focus on native selections, and with plants that serve multiple functions, you can restore the land while providing for our food and shelter needs. Permaculture “guilds” are the groupings of several different perennial plants that serve multiple ecological niches, such as pollination, soil protection, fertilization, pest repellants, habitat nooks, etc. In an annual vegetable garden, a similar concept is companion planting, which enables us to strategically pair plants that mutually benefit each other, such as the Three Sisters method.Utilize Perennial Plants
In a similar vein to increasing diversity, a move to permaculture often involves the transition towards a large percentage of perennial plants. Thoughtful designs can and do incorporate annual crops and can also be used to heal the land. A useful book on this approach is “The One-Straw Revolution” by Masanobu Fukuoka in which perennial and annual crops are both grown on the same land in a regenerative way. In succession, annual plants are meant to heal disturbed sites through functions like rapid growth and soil stabilization. On the other hand, perennial trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowers not only live for much longer but also require far fewer inputs, making them regenerative choices for long-term land management. By embracing perennials, we can create resilient, thriving gardens with minimal intervention.Grow More Food
If by embracing thoughtful food production designs, we create gardens that thrive with minimal intervention while supporting our local ecosystem and food needs. This includes fruit trees and nut trees, perennial kitchen herbs, perennial greens, and perennial herbs for medicine. But this doesn’t mean that all the food we grow has to be perennial. Productive annual vegetable gardens can provide for many of your food needs, such as grains, legumes, greens, root crops, ferments, etc. Balancing perennial and annual crops allows for a diverse and resilient food system that can adapt to changing conditions and provide a continuous harvest throughout the year.Compost
Composting is like turning trash into treasure. A significant amount of food scraps end up in landfills, where they decompose anaerobically and release methane. One of the best feelings is taking kitchen scraps and yard waste and transforming them into black gold for your garden. This material can then be added in layers in the spring to new garden beds or in the fall to an existing bed that is getting ready to slow down for the winter. Compost is quite possibly one of the most precious resources for building soil quality and thus supporting life, so implementing composting systems throughout your organic gardening is one of the best ways to cycle resources. 3 tiered compost systems, compost tumblers, or single-standing piles are all great ways to get started. Also composting in place with methods such as chop and drop and allowing vegetative matter to break down on the soil surface is extremely useful and effective. It also takes a whole lot less time. For example after a crop is corn is harvested you can chop and cut down the stalks and leaves and scatter them on the soil surface. Let nature take it’s course and sometimes sprinkle a little aged animal manure on top and this will speed up the process.Cultivate Mushrooms
Cultivating mushrooms inside the home or outside in the garden is a super awesome way to make your site more diverse while also providing for food needs. Mushrooms also give back to the soil by breaking down organic matter and enriching it with nutrients, thus improving soil structure. Cultivating mushrooms starts with learning about what kind of mushrooms do well, given your site’s conditions. In our area, the ‘Wine Cap’ mushroom does very well when grown outside in the garden. Shitake, oyster mushrooms, and lion's mane can also be cultivated in logs outside and do well in a temperate climate.Sustainable Energy Practices
Many sustainable or renewable energy practices depend on the specifics of your site, personal circumstances, and local regulations. For land-owners looking to start from scratch and design their own home, there are many ways to make your house completely energy efficient, such as through green building such as straw-bale construction, cob homes, passive solar design, and heating practices like a wood stove. For those in existing houses, you can improve your energy practices by upgrading insulation, installing energy-efficient appliances, incorporating a composting toilet, and incorporating renewable energy sources like solar panels or wind turbines. The goal here is to utilize and cycle as much energy as possible. We should also strive to be understanding of a diversity of solutions and conditions and appreciate when others are making positive progress or just contributing to the public discourse. Forms of energy and ways of generating that energy has changed over time. Transitions take time and patience is required. Negativity and judgmental attitudes do not foster advancement in this area.Reduce - Reuse - Recycle: Produce No Waste
Produce No Waste is 1 of the 12 permaculture principles. This is hands down one of the most challenging aspects of living in modern society, but it is one of the most important because if we want to sustain and regenerate our planet for generations to come, we have to significantly reduce our waste production and find ways to reuse and recycle. Many argue that one piece of plastic does not make a difference, yet compounded to one piece for every 9 billion people living on the planet, the issue is now critical. At the home level, this means adopting practices such as composting organic waste, reducing or eliminating single-use plastics, and embracing a circular economy mindset where resources are reused and recycled whenever possible. Creative solutions are on the rise.Create Community
Permaculture is not just about plants...it's about people, too. We recognize that we can't do it all alone. Throughout history, many societies have thrived through collaboration and communal effort. At the home level, this means everything from tool libraries, seed and plant swaps, potlucks, neighborhood emergency plans, community gardens, and skill-share workshops, among many others. Here at Blacklotus, we find great pleasure in connecting with our community and also connecting with others. We believe we can create a more sustainable and resilient future for all by working together, sharing knowledge, and supporting one another.
Final Thoughts
Incorporating permaculture principles into your daily life and home gardens can lead to a more sustainable and resilient future. By embracing practices that mimic natural cycles and prioritize earth care, people care, and fair share, we can create productive and abundant systems into the future. This will go hand in hand with moving past outdated and harmful agricultural and societal practices that no longer meet the needs of the times we live in. Permaculture offers a regenerative approach to land use and community building, ensuring that we meet our needs while preserving future generations' resources.
