By Mary ‘Klibs’ Dralle, for Let’s Talk Plants! October 2024.
Permaculture's Twelve Principles
Bill Molison, the father of Permaculture, said the original idea for permaculture came to him in 1959 when he was observing marsupials browsing in Tasmanian rainforests. Inspired and awed by the life-giving abundance and rich interconnectedness of this ecosystem. He told Toby Hemenway that he jotted this in his diary,
“I believe that we could build systems that would function as well as this one does.”
By the 1970s, Bill had teamed up with David Holmgren to develop and formalize what many of us around the world practice. Bill and Dave wrote Permaculture One: A Perennial Agriculture for Human Settlements, and it is our go to book.
At the heart of Permaculture are the Three Ethics from Bill Mollison:
• Caring for Earth
• Caring for People
• Reinvesting the surplus that this specific care will create
This takes agriculture to a level never heard of before, ethics when growing food in a sustainable system. When asked if permaculture is the same as organic farming, we will say that it is growing food at a far higher level. We take a look at the very big picture of how the entire process will impact the earth and humanity. And, while it is similar in some ways to Kosher gardening, it is not based on religious laws but Natural law.
In his book, Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, David Holmgren developed the Twelve Principles of Permaculture based on the Three Ethics.
They are as follows:
1. OBSERVE AND INTERACT - "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" - Margaret Wolfe Hungerford |
Because we work with Nature, many of us who practice permaculture will spend an entire year looking over the proposed site before breaking ground of any kind. There is the land itself and any slopes that may be utilized to grow food. Asking questions such as, is it really necessary to move large quantities of earth away from this site so as to have a big flat area for our garden?
In repurposing an existing landscape, what to keep and what to take out may need to be done on a sliding schedule in order to maintain established healthy soil. It takes Our Mother, The Earth, SEVEN years to grow one inch of topsoil. Therefore, careful consideration is used before removing any of it. Healthy soil is crucial and maintaining it is done with the addition of compost, compost tea, and mulch rather than using manmade chemical fertilizers.
Water, what is the quality, how is it sourced, and being utilized? Would it be better to use the existing terrain with minimal cuts to create swales, berms/basins on contour, which capture the rainfall and bank it in the soil there by watering naturally? This review can be ramped up by looking over contour maps at county offices and overhead photos to see where the water is stored naturally.
What is the sunlight pattern like to support the growth of trees, perennials and annual plants? Do all areas of the site get 6-8 hours of sunlight all year round? In areas of limited sunlight, perhaps they are used for applicable annuals in that seasonal light and to grow cover crops in the off season.
2. CATCH AND STORE ENERGY - "Make hay while the sun shines” John Heywood |
Energy has many forms, as mentioned in Principle 1, and the most important ones are earth, water, sunlight and air. When evaluating a site, it is necessary to look at all four in detail before beginning. Another energy to consider is heat for growing food in colder climates. A south facing greenhouse like the ones designed by retired mailman Russ Finch can be used in snow country. He is the owner and creator of the Greenhouse in the Snow, Alliance, Nebraska. He grows citrus, figs, and pomegranates in the snowy cold winter utilizing geothermal heat from Our Mother, The Earth and solar power to warm the soil that holds heat inside of the structure. While there have been instances where the greenhouses have collapsed after many years of use, it is possible to grow food in the cold without a lot of money spent on heating.
Photo from https://greenhouseinthesnowcanada.ca/
3. OBTAIN A YIELD - "No man can be wise on an empty stomach" - George Eliot
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When asked what the most important function of growing plants is, the answer is always to produce food for our local consumption. Ornamentals are nice to have on occasion; however, food production is the main goal of utilizing the energies of sun, water, air, and earth. This food can be for our families, neighbors and animals. Keeping food production local saves on fuel use, keeps our neighborhoods cooler with the shade and plant respiration, and cuts down on pollution as plants purify our air and water.
Of course, it is so important to know which plants are good food sources. For instance, those beautiful smelling roses are delicious to eat, and the rose hips are medicine with their high vitamin C content. That stinging nettle that pops up after a good winter rain is a great substitute for spinach. In fact, it is healthier than spinach. Those easy to grow nasturtium flowers are delicious when added to egg dishes. The flower buds can be pickled as well to use in place of caper buds!
4. APPLY SELF-REGULATION AND ACCEPT FEEDBACK - "The sins of the fathers are visited on the children unto the seventh generation" - Deuteronomy 5:9
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As permaculturists, we are always asking the question,
“How can we make the best better?”
This is done on a daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally and yearly basis. In addition to our questions, we get input from everyone, weigh it carefully, and proceed cautiously.
Here is an example of each one:
Daily questions could be, is there any little new bug on my plants and what solutions would best handle them, compost tea or garlic soap spray? Can they be picked off the plants and eaten by chickens?
Weekly review of the watering patterns ensures that all systems are functioning correctly and all plants are properly cared for.
Monthly evaluation of plant growth would reveal any areas of struggle and potential crop challenges.
Do a seasonal assessment of the overall plan on its ability to produce a bountiful harvest. Was enough grown to meet or exceed the need? Are there quantity adjustments required for next seasonal planting?
Yearly analysis would show if the effort put into the plan was worth the output of all foods that were harvested. Will it be necessary to spend time redesigning the layout? Did all systems work in harmony or are adjustments required?
5. USE AND VALUE RENEWABLE RESOURCES AND SERVICES - "Let nature take its course." - Lao Tzu |
As mentioned in Principle 1, permaculture relies heavily on compost, compost tea and mulch to maintain the soil all year long. If additional substances are needed, is there a good reliable plant source for the component? The soil may need a bit more nitrogen as the leaves on the plants are turning yellow. Should a commercial chemical solution be used, or do you add alfalfa pellets to the compost tea?
In an observation of your site, water retention is not as high as it could be. Do you add a bit more mulch or Perlite to hold more water? Perlite is a fairly accepted, seemingly organic, garden soil additive. However, the process to make it is not sustainable. The obsidian is strip mined from the earth, crushed into small particles and it is heated to very high temperatures so that it can hold the water. A better solution would be wool pellets! This wool is lower quality than what is needed to make sweaters and socks. In the past, it was thrown away. Now, it is made available for garden use. And, as it breaks down, it becomes nutrients for the soil. When it is first added to the soil, the lanolin in it will deter bugs. Over time, it breaks down and insects may come back.
It may take a bit of time to find better alternatives to popular chemicals; in the long run it saves our earth and us.
6. PRODUCE NO WASTE - "Waste not, want not" -Richard Edwardes |
Part of good garden design includes reviewing the “waste” that is created. How will it be processed within our system? Can it be added to the compost or fed to our animals so that they create another component for our compost? Or can it be made into a chair?
This may sound a bit silly. The questions above pertain to grapes, specifically. Let's take a look at what comes out of the plant. First, there is the fruit itself which can be eaten or turned into jam or wine. Then, there are the leaves. If they are whole and green without any brown spots, they can be used to make stuffed grape leaves. If there is a little damage to them, they can be fed to goats and the byproduct can be added to the compost. Then there is sending them directly to the compost if there are too many. Lastly, are there vines that are cut back at the end of the season? When green, they can be woven into many useful items like chairs or baskets.
The main point is how the total process will be handled so that there is no waste being sent away.
7. DESIGN FROM PATTERNS TO DETAILS - "Can’t see the forest for the trees?" - John Heywood |
After looking over the parcel to be developed, there is the grand plan of what is desired and the detailed plan of what is implemented. We use the Zone patterns to best lay out the plan. Looking at the spider web from Essence of Permaculture, the area in the middle is the main focus while moving to the outer edge is less involved. We move from Zone 1, areas that require daily tending, to Zone 5, which is left for wildlife to feed on instead of our food. All is based on the regular pattern in our day as it applies to the side.
The path that leads to the front door of the home, and is used daily, would be ideal for tender plants that need more attention in Zone 1. In Zones 2-4, plant in alignment with weekly, 2; monthly, 3; and experimental area, 4. These areas would have a detailed layout that would lend itself to the amount of time required for maintenance.
Plant an abundance of fruit bearing local natives on the edge of the property, in Zone 5, for wildlife as it is based on their existing diet. If fencing is used to keep critters out, put it on the ‘inside’ of the native plantings to create a barrier that encourages animals to stay away from your food and enjoy theirs.
8. INTEGRATE RATHER THAN SEGRE - "Teamwork makes the dream work" - John Maxwell. |
When thinking about this principle, it is more than having a lot of people to do the work. It is about ensuring that all systems are in place and functioning at capacity. From the human in charge to the tiniest of microbes working in the soil, does it work together smoothly and naturally?
Some people will read that a particular plant needs a lot of nitrogen, buy an over-the-counter product, and add it to the soil whether it is required or not. A natural way to attain nitrogen rich soil is practicing crop rotation. The cycle is as follows: leafy greens, followed by legumes, then root vegetables, and finally hungry flowering plants.
Another way to remember, Roots to Fruits, then Greens and Beans.
Each plant does its job creating a good growing environment by using up any “leftover” nutrients; adding a new source of nutrients and elements, such as nitrogen; and loosening up the soil to support the fruit producing plants like tomatoes. In the words of Benjamin Franklin (or was it Charles A. Goodrich?),
“A place for everything and everything in its place,” …
… especially when it comes to best garden practices.
In doing this, it uses a system-based method rather than adding a chemical additive just in case.
9. USE SMALL AND SLOW SOLUTIONS - "Slow and steady wins the race" - Aesop |
Much like the tortoise in the race to the finish line, it is best to make small adjustments along the way instead of blasting our gardens with strong fertilizers that may burn up the plants too quickly. We rely on systems of support as has been stated before, the standard go-to in Principle 1 of compost, compost tea and mulch keep the nutrients and, moreover, the neutral pH in the soil, at levels so that it can be healthy all of the time. Healthy soil creates healthy plants that can keep invasive insects away. If the soil needs amending consider sustainable compounds such as blood meal, bone meal, lime, kelp meal, rock dust, or rock phosphates as opposed to manmade chemicals.
10. USE AND VALUE DIVERSITY - "Don’t put all your eggs in one basket" - Miguel de Cervantes |
In a time where we have come to rely on modified seeds, a better way to grow food is with seeds from the previous year’s harvested heirloom seeds. For most of us, that may be a bit impractical and there are many companies from whom the seeds can be obtained. Rareseeds® from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds comes to mind. As we are located in San Diego, California, we have a seed producer who grows seeds to be used in agriculture Zones 9 and 10, San Diego Seed Company. With both of these companies, the diversity in their seed collection will work for whatever you choose to grow. As your skills and knowledge improve over time, seed harvesting from your garden can be done and used for future plantings.
While this article is geared to growing plants, this principle applies to animals as well. We have spent time in the last couple of generations shortening the growth time of our livestock and making them live on factory farms. Many are moving back to heritage breeds such as Berkshire pigs, Devon dairy cows, and St. Croix sheep, to name a few. Heritage animals are generally grass fed, parasite resistant and are best suited for climates from whence they originally came. They work well in restoring grassland when used for mob grazing as done in restoration agriculture.
11. USE EDGES AND VALUE THE MARGINAL - "Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson |
This quote is different from what Dave used in his book. Because we are talking about recreating a site, this one applies a little better. As we set up our permaculture plans, think about the spaces and where they meet.
First, there is the topsoil. A space filled with life that covers the earth and supports us in many ways.
Second, there are spaces along the bodies of water that separate land and water. This is the most diverse as transitioning from one growth media to another.
Last, there are spaces between the forest and the glen where both plant species thrive and support each other to create major biodiversity. In this case, the glen is preparing itself for the advancing trees.
As we apply this principle to any project, is there a way to make new paths and add more edge to the plan? Should the alleyways of the existing orchard be planted with food? Is there room under trees for guilds, under planting with supporting plants to increase fertility? These are some of the questions that can be asked and answered during development of the plan.
12. CREATIVELY USE AND RESPOND TO CHANGE - “Vision is seeing things the way they will be instead of the way they are” - based on Jonathan Swift |
When thinking about this principle, one person comes to mind, Mark Sheppard. He is a permaculture designer in Wisconsin who purchased a soggy cornfield many, many years ago. At his farm, New Forest Farm, he practices permaculture on a grand scale. He turned that land into a biodiverse chestnut farm.
His book, Restoration Agriculture: Real World Permaculture for Farmers is good to use when working on large scale farms. One practice he uses on his trees is SHUN, SHear Utter Neglect! The reason is that he wants only the strong to survive and reproduce. He is letting nature decide what is best for his forest and it really does work. Many said he was out of his mind to change the land back to trees except his trees produce a lot of food; more than commercially grown chestnuts. He used permaculture to change over an entire farm.
All of these principles really do work in changing our world back to the green viable planet she is. Permaculture is greening the Sahara with drought tolerant trees planted in fishtail swales; it restored the devastated soil on the Loess Plateau in China; and is bring vegetation back to the Dead Sea region in Jordan. While these principles are on a grander scale than the smaller plots used in previous articles, the principles still apply to small scale, too. Every little bit helps to heal Our Mother, The Earth; keeps people farming; and provides abundant food for all to share.
References:
1. Holmgren, David (2020). Essence of Permaculture. Melliodora Publishing. ISBN 978-0975078662
2. Hemenway, Toby (2009). Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture (2nd ed.). Chelsea Green Publishing. ISBN 978-1603580298
Until next time, keep those hands soiled,
~Mary
Mary 'Klibs' Dralle
Certified Permaculture Designer, The Dancing Raven Ranch & Retreat Center
Chef, Cookin' with Klibs Presents the Chemistry of Cooking,
Labyrinth Coordinator/Builder, The Wander-Full Labyrinth Walkers
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