PERMACULTURE &

FOREST GARDENING

Mediterranean Garden Society, Italy 2015-10-09

Annemiek van Moorst

gardening with nature not against it

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why change is needed

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continuous increase in CO2 and other gases cause the greenhouse effect and climate change

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deforestation

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polar ice melting at alarming rate

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oceans acidify, warm-up, sea levels rising

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California's worst drought in 1,200 years

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Up to 60 percent of Syria's land and 1.3 million people are affected by drought in Syria

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agricultural malpractice: monoculture, pesticides, loss of top soil

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http://naturedesignsjohnfranci.com/videos/

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and we eat too much meat - ‘cow-spiracy'

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Culture change

Consumption culture “I am what I buy”

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Renewable energy culture “I am what I save and protect”

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–Bill Mollison

“Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the

solutions remain embarrassingly simple”

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Permaculture is...

• The conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive systems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of the landscape with people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way

• Permanent (agri)culture

• Founded by Bill Mollison in 1974Cofounders: David Holmgren, Geoff Lawton (students)

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Permaculture is...

• The best way to fight climate change, erosion, protect nature and biodiversity in a productive setting…

• Forest gardening may be the best choice for gardeners like us...

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Forest gardening is…

• A low-maintenance sustainable plant-based food production and agroforestry system based on woodland ecosystems

• A prehistoric method of securing food in tropical areas

• In the 1980s, Robert Hart coined the term "forest gardening" after adapting the principles and applying them to temperate climates

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My favs

Martin Crawford Sepp Holzer

Masanoku Fukuoka Gilles Clément Paul Gautschi Paul Stamets

lizard orchid himantoglossum hircinum

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Martin Crawford ‘Creating a forest garden’

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https://www.agroforestry.co.uk

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Sepp Holzer ‘Holzer’s permaculture’

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http://youtu.be/J3iGa539a4M

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Masanoku Fukuoka ‘The one-straw revolution’

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Gilles Clément Le jardin en mouvement

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Paul Gautschi ‘Back to Eden’

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Paul Stamets ‘Mycelium running’

https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_s

ave_the_world 26

rebuild natural capital

Care for the earth

Care for peoplefair share

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observe & interact

catch & store energy

obtain a yield

self-regulate & accept feedback

use & value renewable resources& services

produce no waste

design from patterns to detail

integrate rather than segregate

use small and slow solutions

use and value diversity

use edges & value the marginal

creatively use & respond to change

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Care for the earth

Care for peoplefair share

Permaculture: ethics and design principles

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Care for the earth

Care for peoplefair share

observe & interact

creatively use & respond to change

catch & store energy

produce no waste

obtain a yield

Self-regulate & accept feedback

use & value renewable

resources& services

design from patterns to detail

integrate rather than segregate

use small and slow solutions

use and value diversity

use edges & value the marginal

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the seven layers of a forest garden31

sassafras albidum

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siberean pea caragena arborescens

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fuchsia magellanica

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russian comfrey symphytum x uplandicum

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elephant garlic allium ampeloprasum

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groundcover raspberry rubus pentalobus

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hardy kiwi actinidia arguta

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five-flavour berry schisandra chinensis

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Tips & Advice

• Make an overall plan but 'le jardin en mouvement': adjust

• Mulch with wood chips, straw, weeds, grass clippings, gravel

• Make your own compost (or throw kitchen waste directly on ground)

• Do not dig, let worms and microorganisms do the work for you

• Do not fill plant holes with anything other then original soil

• Choose plants that fit your conditions

• Minimise weeding: start loving some…

• Observe and learn

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Help Italy change

• Start in your own garden

• Spread the word…

• Questions?

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THANK YOU!

buckwheat fagopyrum esculentum

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