The Rural Voice, 2019-06, Page 14 Permaculture is a term widely
attributed to two Australians, Bill
Mollison and David Holmgren, who
began moving the idea ahead in
Tasmania in the late 1960s and ’70s.
Holmgren in his book,
Permaculture: Principles and
Pathways Beyond Sustainability, laid
out 12 design principles which
include interacting with the
ecosystems around us, capturing and
storing energy, producing no waste,
embracing small systems that evolve
gradually and valuing diversity,
including marginal areas.
It’s a way to save the world really.
People can be engaged in food
production that doesn’t require a net
contribution of outside energy and
build the potential of their resource –
the soil – at the same time.
Over the past two decades, I’ve
attended various permaculture talks
in places like the Guelph Organic
Conference.
Often, however, it seems
prescriptive models are chosen and
attempts made to transfer them to an
unsuitable location with varying
degrees of success. An example is
the “keyline” theory of water
management which may have a place
in some locales but often appears to
be a fruitless exercise in shifting
earth.
Then there’s the way
permaculture is sometimes presented
– as a concept that’s new.
In actuality, permaculture is
something that was widely embraced
by the farming community well
before the term was coined. That
continues still, though most of
today’s agriculture is hurtling down
the destructive path of exploitation in
which dollars determine direction
rather than consideration for future
generations.
My family’s farm was one of
those places where the equilibrium of
the permaculture approach was once
embraced, though imperfectly.
There was an aerial photograph
taken around 1950 – around the time
my grandparents had acquired their
8N tractor. It shows the edge of a
woodlot and a series of small fields
devoted to pasture, hay and crops and
obvious signs of multiple livestock
species which I know included cattle,
hogs, poultry and horses.
There was also an orchard and
gardening area covering perhaps
three or four acres.
I’ve managed to continue the
family tradition of gardening, though
in a small way. It provides me with a
certain fluency in the language of
permaculture to chat with people like
Ben Caesar at Fiddlehead Nursery in
Grey County.
The Grey County farmer includes
annuals in his gardening effort but
focuses primarily on perennial plants
which he correctly recognizes as an
under-utilized resource. Making his
top 10 list are sorrel, sea kale,
10 The Rural Voice
Permaculture:
growing food and
building up soil
Jeff is a
freelance
journalist based
in Dresden,
Ontario.
Jeff Carter
Using Egyptian walking onions as
part of your permaculture garden
system allows you to grow food
and build up the soil.Bayfield
Recreational Sales
County Rd. #3 and Hwy. #21
Bayfield, Ont.
519-565-2500
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