PermacultureDesigns for a Thriving World

Ben Kessler Laughing Crow Permaculture

What is Permaculture?“A new buzz-word for an old way of living.” – Jude Hobbs

“[A] design system for creating sustainable human environments. On one level, permaculture deals with plants, animals, buildings, and infrastructures (water, energy, communications). However, permaculture is not about these elements themselves, but rather about the relationships we can create between them by the way we place them in the landscape.” – Bill Mollison & Reny Mia Slay

“A system only becomes permaculture when its design is shown over time to produce no harm to any other system and touches every aspect of our lives.” – Graham Bell

Enduring and Resilient rather than Permanent

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Permaculture!

4Urban Forest Garden, Holyoak, MAphotos by Jonathan Bates

Permaculture in Action

Year 1 Year 3

Year 0

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Beyond SustainabilitySustainable: Capable of being sustained.

Sustain 1. to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure. 2. to bear (a burden, charge, etc.). 3. to undergo, experience, or suffer (injury, loss, etc.); endure without giving way or

yielding. 4. to keep (a person, the mind, the spirits, etc.) from giving way, as under trial or affliction. 5. to keep up or keep going, as an action or process: to sustain a conversation. 6. to supply with food, drink, and other necessities of life.

- Random House Dictionary• Alternatives:

Thriving, Bountiful, Vibrant, Verdant, Vivacious, Healthy, Abundant, Elegant, Resilient, Complex, Wonderful, Beautiful

Yahatidom: “Being a part of the cause of its goodness.”

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Design Process1. Observation– What is already here?

• 2. Interpretation– What does it mean?

• 3. Design– What can we do with it?

• 4. Implementation– Do it!

• 5. Assessment– Did it work?

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1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

Yard Rehabilitation in a Day, Pomona, CA courtesy of Scott Kleinrock

Observe & Replicate Natural Patterns

Work with, rather than against nature.

“Protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor.” – Bill Mollison

Design intensive vs. labor intensive

“We go to the forest to learn.” – Bill Mollison

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Spheres & DomesBalance

Eggs, Stars, Cherries, Circle Gardens, Geodesic Domes, Radiolarians

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PolygonsPacking & Cracking

Honeycombs, Mosaics, Cracked Mud, Corn Kernels, Ice Crystals

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SpiralsGrowth

Hurricanes, Mollusk Shells, Fiddleheads, Herb Spirals, Spider Webs

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BranchesCollection & Dispersal

Feathers, River Deltas, Blood Vessels, Parking Lot Traffic

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WavesRhythm

Sand Dunes, Hummingbird Flight, Berms & Swales, Heartbeats

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Overbeck JetFlow

Mushrooms, van Karman Trails, Jellyfish, Wind Turbulence

Utilize Edges

“The edge is where the action is.” – Scott Kleinrock

Ecotone: The transitional area between two adjacent communities of organisms. Ecotones tend to be the most ecologically diverse places in the landscape.

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Intestinal Villi Meanders on the Swanson River

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B^b^m ’Cha Mangroves

Maximum Edge!

Slow the Flow

Catch, store, and use everything before it has degraded to its lowest energetic state

Create as complex a path as possible from source to sink

Store water high on the landscape

Introduction to Permaculture Bill Mollison & Reny Mia Slay

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Yields & Needs

Tomato/Tomatl Solanum lycopersicum

Yields NeedsFull Sunlight, Water, NPK, Micronutrients,

Warm Soil, Protection from Herbivores, Mycorrhizal Partners, Slightly Acidic Soil pH, Well-drained Soil, Structural Support, Love

Delicious Fruit, Spatial Demarcation, Mulch, Dense Verdant Foliage, Pest Protection for

Brassicas and Gooseberries, Companionship for Basil and Nettles

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GuildsA Guild is made up of a close association of species clustered around a central element, usually a plant or an animal. This assembly acts in relation to the element to assist its health, aid in management, boost yields, or buffer adverse environmental effects.

Corn, Beans, Squash & Mullet

Mullet remains dug into soil at planting to boost nutrients. Corn provides structural support for the Bean vines. Beans provide Nitrogen for the Corn and Squash. Squash acts as a living mulch for the Corn and Beans. Food waste fed to Mullet.

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GroundcoverLiving Mulch, Walking Surface

Shasta Daisy Chrysanthemum superbum

Clumping

Thyme Thymus vulgaris

Creeping

Houttuynia Houttuynia cordata

Vining

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Dynamic AccumulatorsSoil Aeration, Nutrient Accumulation, Shade

Sequestration of Environmental Toxins

Comfrey Symphytum officinaleStinging Nettle

Urtica dioicaKale Brassica oleraacea

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Nitrogen FixersNitrogen Fixation

Alder Aldus sp.

Clover Trifolium sp.

Lupines Lupinus sp.

Root Nodules on Soybean (Glycine max) roots

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InsectariesPollinator Attraction, Aesthetic Prettification

Calendula Calendula sp.

Fennel Foeniculum vulgare

Queen Anne’s Lace Daucus carota

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Food

Tea/Medicine/Insectary

Food/Medicine/Insectary courtesy of Connor Stedman

Ground Cover/Nitrogen Fixer

Polyculture Design

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Food/AromaticPest Confuser

GroundCover/Medicine/Fertilizer/Insectary/BeneficialHabitat

Food courtesy of Connor Stedman

Food/Insectary

Food/Medicine/Insectary

Polyculture Design

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Plants in the Landscape

Forest Garden Hedgerow

Silvopasture Coppice & Standard Alley Cropping

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Plants in the Landscape

Companion Planting

Keyhole Garden Intercropping Herb Spiral

Accelerate SuccessionStack functions in time and space

To enable a cultivated system to evolve toward a long-term stable state, we can construct a system, carefully planning the succession of plants and animals so that we can receive short, medium, and long-term benefits.

“Place is a verb.” – Jeanette Armstrong

Introduction to Permaculture (2004) Bill Mollison & Reny Mia Slay

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Humans are a Keystone Species• Like beavers and elephants, humans deform, reform, and

transform their environment

• “There’s a learning curve in all phases of design. There’s an unlearning curve in how we relate to our habitat - cultural views of humans and nature as separate.”

– Connor Stedman

• “We must make treaties with the land - and keep them.” – Farrell Cunningham

• As permaculture designers, we are building relationship with our role as major actors in the landscape.

Resource Mapping• Building Materials

• Craft Materials

• Gleaning

• Community Gardens

• Food & Bike Co-ops

• Food Not Bombs

• Feral Edibles

• Vacant Lots

• Town Dump

• Knowledgeable Folks

• Elders

• Firewood

Print ResourcesIntroduction to Permaculture - Bill Mollison & Reny Mia Slay

Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability - David Holmgren

Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture - Toby Hemenway

Growing Food in the Southwest Mountains - Lisa Rayner

Tending the Wild - M. Kat Anderson

Gathering the Desert - Gary Paul Nabhan

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Thanks toTyrone LaFay

Connor Stedman&

Scott Kleinrockfor words and pictures

Contact Informationbkessler@gm.slc.edu

laughingcrowpermaculture.wordpress.com