Permaculture – A Revolution of Abundance
(A Permaculture blog for dummies)
“Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple”
- Bill Mollison
Through four fruitful sessions over the course of 2 months my eyes were opened to the poetic depth and simplicity of Permaculture with Kate Curtis, a dear friend with generous amounts of knowledge and experience in the field. The four sessions were a wonderful combination of theory and practical, learning at an alternative school – Heartland, a school of self sufficiency that mirrors the principles of permaculture.
I’ve always thought of Permaculture as merely companion planting, which is planting food and support plants next to each other for a fuller, diverse harvest - AKA the opposite of monoculture which promotes planting and growing only one crop. I can picture the father of permaculture Bill Mollison turning in his grave at my naivete on the topic. Although I am sure he is happily decomposed and dancing with the microbes in the soil, his legacy spreading the knowledge. By the way soil and composting are vital components to a creative living garden. Thank-you Bill. Although Bill and David Holmgren were the co-pioneers of the permaculture movement, traditional tribes like the Khoi San for example, were walking the lands naturally living the principles of permaculture for many centuries before.
Perma means permanent and culture includes caring for the whole of a culture via these foundational values: ‘Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share’. With the boom of capitalism and industrialization, not only have people suffered but so has the earth. This is not news to us as climate change and the current crisis is constantly being revealed in mainstream media. To implement a permaculture design in your household may not be an option, but an actual necessity in the near future. The good news is that you can start where you are, with what you have, through observation (an important starting point of the 12 principles of Permaculture). During the course, I delighted in the way Kate gently guided us towards understanding Permaculture from an inside-out approach – brainstorming what we think it might be alongside the principles. Through this guidance we created our group definition of permaculture:
“a tool to design resilient, life-honouring eco-systems that connect people and place. This includes gardens, food production and extends to economics and social systems” - Heartland, September 2022.
I say Permaculture is deep yet simple because it is inherent in our nature to do what we can with what we have, our ancestors did it for us to be here. If you landed up stranded on an island, you’d do what you need to survive without necessarily thriving. What I enjoyed about exploring the principles of permaculture is that they don’t only encourage survival but also abundance. Believing in scarcity is an internal program that feels crucial to untangle ourselves from – this takes a huge amount of trust, listening, change and more, depending on each individual. I’m far from a doomsday kind of person but I can’t deny that we’re in a bit of a checkmate with our survival: sustaining the norm which is in huge debt and isn’t working, trying to pay off the debt in outdated ways and creating more debt or as some may say – Karma.
The point of all of the above is not to scare but to empower. Looking closely into Permaculture as a tool for positive systems design can do just this and like Bill Mollison said, “the solutions remain embarrassingly simple”. With a dose of humility, there’s no need to be embarrassed for too long though.
Kate holds a steady enlivening space of learning. Her purpose and passion for the earth inspired me to immediately get into action. This was supported by her way of weaving information in such a fashion that was easy to digest and integrate into my current reality. In summary, I enjoyed learning about the value in revitalising the soil along with the importance of mulch – something modern gardening got very wrong! Creating a compost bed and making compost tea was a joy (and super easy!) to make as a group. With Kate’s broad expertise we got to find out more about creating guilds and food forests that engage long term vision for our descendants. One of my favourite tools to walk away with was the Three Sisters Garden Plan – check it out, you can implement this anywhere to grow food quickly, supporting the soil and your tummy. Knowing where your food comes from, producing no waste and understanding energy is what permaculture comes down to for me. The beautiful part is that as you engage with the principles and the earth, the way you do things becomes a mirror, resulting in invaluable life lessons for your soul – are you ready? If not, get ready!
Kate runs Green Hearted, an NPO committed to supporting local communities through food gardens, workshops and reconnecting people with nature. She has had over 10 years of experience living and learning on the lands of Spain, India, Thailand, Australia and her home, South Africa. I highly recommend learning and participating with Kate.
Check out her upcoming local courses and get in touch: