Permaculture.
In short, permaculture is permanent agriculture and permanent culture. Coined by Bill Mollison, it is essentially a consciously agricultural design that considers the ecosystems, creating a harmonious balance between people and the environment.
The design is made up of beneficial components that imitate nature's patterns. Rather than work against nature in a monoculture system, permaculture incorporates systems that function to benefit all life forms.
Every piece of the puzzle supports another.
Permaculture takes a need, such as water, and fits it in a system where it can show up as rain that is captured in a catchment system of roofs and piping; swales that lead to damns; purified for kitchen and bath; and grey water that is fed into a natural filtration system that irrigates.
Every piece is made to last.
Through design and observation, the idea is to bring the components together in order to build systems that will sustainably bring out good yields. Observation: organisms naturally work together. Permaculture is about learning why and mimic the interaction. An example: planting maize, beans and squash. Beans provide nitrogen for the soil. While squash vines covers the ground, making it hard for weeds to grow and provides a natural mulch.
Without healthy ecosystems the soil under our feet is lost or destroyed.
Geoff Lawton believes, that "
all life's problems can be solved in the garden." We at EcoVillage Project Kenya would like to prove him right.
