16 Nov En Route

13 hours of travel allows plenty of time for reading. Here is my take on the book Jiva told us to read.

“Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture” was one of the first books to consolidate and bring to the public public eye the idea of permculture–a portmanteau of three words: permanent, agriculture, and culture. It is a wealth of knowledge centered on creating and balancing ecosystemic-gardens, that become less work and more bountiful with time. It covers a wide array of topics and tactics regarding edible home landscaping be they swales (methods of water absorbtion into the ground), chicken tractors, companion planting, hoogelkultur, and more. This is a book that I personally wish they made kids read in school because the philosophy behind permaculture is so sensible and graspable, and yet completely opposed to the current consumer-centric, single-use lifestyle presented to the western world as “progress.” I plan on adding the principles to my daily decision making processes.

1. Observe. Long and thoughtful observation rather than quick and thoughtless action

2. Make the smallest change for the biggest effect: understand the system you are working with well enough to find its “leveraging points” and intervene there, where the least work causes the most change.

3. Connect. Place elements in locations that create useful relationships and time-saving connections among all parts. The number of connections between elements creates a diverse, healthy ecosystem, not the number of elements.

4. Each element performs multiple functions.

5. Each function is supported by multiple elements.

6. Intensive, not extensive. Start at your doorstep with the smallest system that will do the job and build on your success. Grow by “chunking,” i.e. develope small systems or arrangements that function well, then repeat, with variations.

7. Optimize edge. The intersection of two environments is the most diverse place in a system and energy and materials with gather or be translated here. Increase or decrease edge as appropriate(i say the more the merrier-to a point)

8. Expect succession. Systems advance from immaturity to maturity, accept this, plan for ot. Or fight it, waste time and energy(jk dont).

9. Use biological and renewable resources. Usually living beings or their products–these things reproduce and build up over time, store energy, assist yield, and interact with other elements.

10. Get a yield. Design for immediate and long term yields. “You can’t work on an empty stomach.” Set up positive feedback loops to build the system and repay your investment.

11. Mistakes are tools for learning, problems can often be turned nto solutions.