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Permaculture Ethics and Principles
Permaculture is embedded with an agreed upon ethical framework. This makes it radically different from subjects such as organic gardening, alternative technology or agroforestry where the ethos is implicit rather than explicit. The ethics were originally presented in Mollison’s “Permaculture: A Designers Manual”. While maintaining the basis of the ethics, the following segment elaborates on them with respect to others who have explored and refined the basics into deeper expressions. Therefore, while the basis is retained, the individual expression is unique.
Ethics of Permaculture
Permaculture Ethics guide us towards good decisions by providing a systemic checklist. The goal of this checklist is to be useful without creating damage. However, these ethics are not unique to Permaculture, and can be found, albeit stated in different terms, throughout many of the world’s wisdom traditions.
1. CARE OF THE EARTH-Permaculture Systems must ensure that all life continues and prospers.
Permaculture systems do not harm the functional basis of existing natural systems. Permaculture systems regenerate and balance negatively impacted systems.
2. CARE OF THE PEOPLE- Provision for people to access those resources necessary to their existence.
Permaculture systems encourage humans to access and share those resources needed for their balanced ecological presence.
3. SETTING LIMITS TO POPULATION AND CONSUMPTION- By governing our needs, we can set resources aside to further the above principles.
Permaculture systems do not exploit, over-use or otherwise damage the natural systems & elements which benefit the whole of creation. Furthermore, Permaculture designers understand limits and capacities of functional systems and do not indulge in designs that exceed them.
4. BASIC LIFE ETHIC- We recognise the intrinsic worth of every living thing.
Permaculture systems reflect the basic life ethic by assuming value is inherent in existence, and that elements of systems (ie., species, landforms, and other phenomena) may function for the benefit of the biosphere without human knowledge of their function or benefit.
1) Elements of the CARE FOR THE EARTH ethic include:
Protecting and purifying Land, Air and Waters: to not pollute, or introduce disruptive elements into systems. To balance those systems which have been disrupted.
Conservation of Biodiversity: To respect the right to life and existence of all natural creation. To refrain from impeding the right to life of all beings.
Restoration and conservation of ecosystems, habitats and soils: To reinstate natural ecosystems which have been eliminated, damaged, or marginalized. To blend the need of people with the need of other living beings so that no beings are extirpated, damaged, or marginalized.
Recycling and pollution reduction: To view ‘waste’ as a valuable resource for further balanced industry. To create no waste. To mine abandoned resources and re-assert their value.
Conservation of energy and natural resources: To be mindful and aware that ability to use resources is not a license to use resources. To use resources prudently. To minimize consumption. To encourage fecundity. To value others lives before ones own.
Appropriate Technology: To use local and low embodied energy material and methods. To use technology to resolve imbalances and restore dynamic balances and complexity in the biosphere.
Prudent and Necessary use: To leave any natural system alone until we are, of strict necessity, found dependant on engaging with its energy and materials. To adapt and implement Permaculture ethics and principles.
2) Elements of the CARE FOR THE PEOPLE ethic include:
Health and Well-Being: To provide for the physical nourishment and longevity of all people. To allow for self determination and autonomy of all people.
Nourishment from Good Food: To assure that all people have access to viable land, seed stocks, cultivation practices and technology which are suited to their landscape, physical needs and cultural sustainability. To collectively and communally own food production and distribution. To eat locally grown, fresh and in season foods.
Lifelong learning: to value learning as a goal unto itself. This includes academic, spiritual and social education for so long as a an individual or culture persists. To involve knowledgeable people and rely on experienced elders.
Right Livelihood and Meaningful Work: To honor self determination among disparate cultures. To identify and practice whatever methods of livelihood bring fulfillment and integrity to oneself while not impinging on another’s right to practice the same..
Embracing Culture and Community: To acknowledge and celebrate differences amongst peoples, nations and cultures. To enliven individuals with passions for other elements of the Care for the People ethic. To recognize we are all together, though we are not all the same.
Open Communication: to support and endow the ability to freely and peacefully discuss, dialogue and communicate about experiences and feelings. To make place for and practice deep listening and speaking of personal truths in a way that engenders peace and harmony among all concerned.
Trust and Respect: To believe and be believed when one hears or speaks from personal experience or feelings. To allow for, acknowledge, and honor differences of opinion and expression. To strive for consensus and harmony with others.
Co-operation and Networking: To honor and support cooperative efforts aimed at manifesting these elements. To seek connections which increase the viability and integrity of these efforts. To share knowledge, materials and methods which exemplify Permaculture ethics.
3) Elements of the LIMITING POPULATION AND CONSUMPTION ethic include:
Personal Responsibility: To recognize that acting in a beneficial manner provides a clearer statement in favor of mutuality than telling others to behave in a beneficial way. To make contributions wherever one can for the benefit of the whole. Not to seek recognition, but to strive for good deeds.
Footprint Minimization: To understand energy and materials pathways which we engage, and consciously minimize consumption patterns. To deeply investigate all assumptions about what is necessary for humanity to flourish. To engage and make stable our spiritual and cultural expressions of humanity. To allow this stability to inform our choices regarding materials and energy use.
Population Limits: To understand that the earths capacity to sustain living things is directly influenced by the collective actions of humanity. To understand the global basis of limiting factors and to create populations which do not harm, damage, marginalize or extirpate other biological populations. To refrain from exceeding or denigrating the material basis of life which is found in the bio-geo-chemical systems that support the biosphere and thus humanity.
Principles of Permaculture
Permaculture principles are a globally adaptable set of considerations which guide the development of holistic design. They are largely interdependent on one another, meaning that when one principle is realized others begin to become evident, and, conversely, when one is rejected others are diminished. Some of them were mentioned in the Introduction to the Stewardship covenant. A more complete, but by no means exhaustive list is located below. These principles are an evolving and living observation of ways in which nature’s fecundity reinforces itself, maintaining integrity even amidst apparently chaotic dynamism. Beyond that, many of these principles are useful for the design of non-biotic systems, such as machines and economies. A thoughtful and protracted observation of the principles as enacted in and by nature will often lead to profound insights about system patterns that can be applied universally. Therefore, it is often said that the first three principles are observe, observe, and Observe. However, we will list that only once on the following list. After the list are points of clarification for each item.
1. Protract your thoughtful and intuitive observation process.
2. Utilize relative locations and access/association by proximity.
3. Each element performs multiple functions.
4. Each function is supported by many elements.
5. Practice energy efficient planning.
6. Use biological resources and functions.
7. Systemic energy cycles should be looped.
8. Plan Small-scale intensive systems and link them.
9. Understand and practice native plant succession and stacking.
10. Polyculture, the diversity of species, is the basis for productivity,
stability and integrity.
11. Whenever appropriate, maximize "edge" within a system.
12. Observe and replicate natural patterns.
13. Pay attention to relative scale and scalar distortions.
14. Attitude is everything.
15. A system is limited only by the energy, time investment and imagination of the designer.
1. Protract your thoughtful and intuitive observation process.
Protraction means to expand. When designing a system one will benefit both themselves and the system by spending time in contemplative observation. By familiarizing oneself with various approaches to understanding (ie., cognitive, logical, analytical, rhetorical, poetic, meditative, etc.) the ability to exact comprehensive systemic design is vastly increased. However, this is but the first step. Observing the relative placement and associations which the planned system will be proximal to, and imagining and exploring potential allocthonous affects of the surrounding systems on the planned system is also important. Next, energy and material streams that will be produced by the system, and their effects on nearby systems, as well as ripple effects on those farther away must be considered. Finally, with all these considerations, one should still “sleep on it” for in the silence that follows such discussions with nature many secrets are told.
2. Utilize relative location and access/association by proximity.
Relative locations simply means planning desirable material and energy exchanges. For instance, gardens, because of the relatively high disturbance level of the soils and the needs of vegetation growing therein, often require nutrient inputs. Compost is a rich nutrient source; therefore it makes sense to keep composting systems near garden areas. If one uses composted manures, it follows that animals with desirable manures should also be kept near the gardens.
Access/association by proximity means to place and use elements and functions in associations which minimize labor needs. The animals mentioned above may be ‘tractor’ animals; ie., pigs, chickens, and other animals which make a habit of digging, scratching or otherwise turning soils. These animals are therefore useful to the garden between crop rotations as they turn, aerate, and fertilize the soils during the progress of their daily activity. In nature we see this in plant associations, such as mychorizal associations on conifers which both increase the conifers nutrient uptake, but also provide a home for the fungus reliant on the sugar production of the tree’s photosynthesis. This kind of mutualism is a model for relative location and access/association by proximity.
3. Each element performs multiple functions.
As outlined in the previous section, a single element, such as the chickens, perform multiple functions. Fertilizing, aerating, and to some degree acting as pest control by nature of their dietary habit, chickens tend to a variety of tasks that may otherwise be left up to chance or industrial processes that clearly denigrate and harm natural systems. Choosing another element, a kiwi tree for instance, we can identify shade, soil stabilization, animal fodder and human nutriment, windbreak, insectaria and cover for beneficial predacious birds as potential functions. Therefore, placing this kiwi near our garden- probably to the north side (assuming we’re in the northern hemisphere), where the shade will not inhibit vegetable growth in the garden, we now have a place where we can comfortably view the efforts of our days work over cold pint of beer. Meanwhile, beneficial insects buzz around us, and kiwis ripen- kiwis which we and the chickens will happily nibble.
4. Each function is supported by many elements.
The desirable function of controlling undesirable insects is performed by many elements. The voracious birds who watch the garden from the cover of the kiwi are one element who perform this function; the chickens are another. Around the perimeter of the garden are a number of logs and piles of loose stones; here lizards and snakes take shelter. These feast on the slugs, seed eating mice and other creatures who may otherwise decrease the productivity of our little plot. Furthermore we have planted association of plants which act as biological deterrents. Chives arm our borders against leaf cutting invaders, while daffodils and allium species, particularly garlic, are of some use in deterring moles- as are snakes. Borage deters potato worms and attracts honey bees. Marigolds deter most undesirable insects, but like daffodils, attract slugs. Those rock piles full of snakes can put a dent in slug populations, but a surefire method of preventing horrible slug disasters is silicate- fine ground sand- mixed deeply into the soils around the most targeted plants. This mineralizes the soil while deterring slugs by creating an abrasive surface. Another fine option is the spray bottle of ammonium. Not only does it kill slugs, but mixed right (not to hot, lest it burn) it delivers nitrogen straight into the plants which it is sprayed on. The function of ‘garden pest’ control is best managed by many elements, only a small portion of which are mentioned above.
5. Practice energy efficient planning.
Redundancy has certain benefits. Utilizing relative location and access/association by proximity is energy efficient. So is designing for elements which support multiple functions, and for functions that are supported by multiple elements. In all of the above situations, the energy needed to arrange the system is primarily capital, or startup energy. After this the needed input, both in terms of materials and time, is minimized by the associative powers of the elements and functions. The practice of energy efficient planning is a beneficial redundancy. By re-viewing the integrity of interdependent principles in this manner we may begin to see how bolstering one means all are benefited, and that when one is decreased, all are diminished. Ultimately the principles do not stand alone, but are integrally united. From this perspective we can glimpse holistic design, while our system of chickens and pigs and companion planting is a small system, it is endlessly complex. The conditioning of the soils, the relationships of the animals to the plants across seasons, the role of the garden in the context of the larger farm activity… it all points to another principle just a bit down the road…
6. Use biological resources and functions.
The above outline offers many examples of biological resources and functions and how they can be incorporated into a garden system, but anyone who has gardened or observed ecosystems for any length of time knows that the above offers only a notion of the complexity that occurs in functional systems. However, the above is adequate for displaying the point. Biological resources and functions are, in the long run, more efficient- that is, contain lower embodied energy while having a much lower potential for distressing ecosystems than conventional systems such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Biological resources are as productive (and often more productive) than industrial or synthetic resources when observed from the perspective of lifetime energy cost comparisons. In short, it takes slugs to perpetuate snakes and carriage beetles, but it takes money to perpetuate slug bait. And, as I once heard Sam Bullock quip, “You haven’t got too many slugs. You’ve got too few ducks!”
7. Systemic energy cycles should be looped.
This is another way to say that “waste=resource”. In ecosystems we can follow an energy stream and observe the number of times one elements waste becomes energy for another. Even in our simplified garden we see the discrete circuit of “ manure compost kiwi chicken fodder manure…” the result of the chickens waste is a vital fecundity. Though this particular example is logistically possible, ultimately we face two challenges in grounding this energy loop. The first is ensuring that the energy does not stagnate (ie., compost that is not distributed) and second, building complexity so that multiple feedback loops are created- elements supporting multiple functions, and multiple elements for each function. Each time we add complexity we must return to the first principle of observation, and particularly note where looping occurs or can be encouraged. In this way the system does not loose energy and face immanent collapse, but loops it, creating an efficient, self cycling energy stream. An example of this type of collapse can be observed in modern oil agriculture, which uses vast amounts of oil for every pound of food produced- a lb of beef may involve as much as 300 gallons of oil!. Because the oil is neither an internalized or renewable element, it is inherent in the system that it will collapse. Looping energy cycles allows systems to generate endurance by effectively eliminating waste.
8. Plan small-scale intensive systems and link them.
At this point the nature of this exercise may begin to be clear. The above garden plan outlines a few simple elements of a small scale yet intensive system. Embedded in this system are multiple balancing mechanisms for any reasonable eventuality. By stacking small scale systems like this adjacent to one another- for instance, the addition of pond system next to the garden, and a orchard system near those, the systems become elements of a system which function at a larger scale. This mimics niche ecologies and scalar ecologies in nature, where even in vast plains small depressions or knolls have just enough of a difference in climatic variance to become habitat for species not common in adjacent areas. By planning in this small scale fashion, and by planning linkages, we reinforce natural patterns in the landscape and build resilience into our design.
9. Understand and practice native plant succession and guilds.
Plants native to an area are evolved to forebear and prosper in the climatic conditions that persist in that area. While global climate change will doubtlessly have some effect on this we cannot discredit the millennia and eons of genetic memory and habit of the plants that have evolved in our locale. By comprehending the successional stages of the native landscape we are able to use natives to manipulate- either expanding, pausing or contracting- the successional cycle. This means we can either create viable shade quickly and with little or no negative impact, or we can create open spaces in the same manner. By understanding the native guilds we can accelerate or pause a succession where it will be of most use to the larger design goals. Using natives as cornerstone species for these functions of compression, acceleration and pause will ensure that should we, as designers, be removed from the picture that the result will be a return to the native ecosystem succession.
10. Polyculture and diversity of species is the basis for productivity, stability and integrity.
A polyculture is a designed association of mutualist or synergistic plants. Companion planting , such as the “three sisters” –maize, legumes and curcubids- is a microcosm of poly culture. Guild planting begins to address issues of polyculture, as it seeks to align multiple companion sets in synergistic arrangements. Polyculture goes a step further: recognizing the mutually beneficial effects of companion planting and guilding, polyculture is a system that synergizes guilds. For instance, we may have an apple-allium-comfrey guild set in close proximity to a willow-watercress-arrowroot guild. By guild, we mean that these three are the predominant species of the guild, but that many other species are planted along with them. The proximity of these guilds may be several meters distance, but that is not a concern to the bee who happily moves back and forth pollinating and feeding from each of the flowering plants, nor is it an issue to the water which the willow drafts from the ground store to feed the pond used to water the apple-allium-comfrey guild during the dry seasons. Development of this kind of complexity begins to truly mimic nature in its vitality, stability and fecundity.
11. Whenever appropriate, maximize "edges" within a system.
It is often, though not always, useful to maximize edge in the systems we design. Edge creates an interplay between two areas where inhabitants of either area may mix and exchange energy. We can think of edges as natures market place, where energy and material are exchanged in the dance of growth and decay, life and death. Remember the Kiwi? Think of it as an edge. Bordered to the rear by a forest and the fore by a garden, it provides a place for the hungry birds to observe the open space where the forage- and to do it without exposing themselves to predators who might be waiting for them to be exposed. Other edges include the rock piles where the snakes live around the perimeter of the gardens, and the ‘shores’ of our pond where animals come to sip water. Maximizing edge means to create convolutions- a circular pond 30 feet across has about 95 feet of ‘edge’. However, if we build several 10 square foot chinampas (a pile of brush loaded with soil) intruding into the pond about 3 feet, so that there are maybe 8 of these convolutions, we will actually increase the edge by nearly 50 feet. Going much further than this will eliminate the pond and there will be no edge, so it behooves one to discern where the systems edges are. The amount of change a system can withstand before loosing its stability is a critical part of understanding limitations of the ‘maximize edges’ principle, and worth extra attention so as to prevent destabilizations.
12. Observe and replicate natural patterns.
Yet another way to insure success of the message by means of redundancy! This time lets look at it from a different perspective. Global climate change is going to affect us all. Here in the Pacific Northwest we are likely to see a general warming trend, as with much of the globe, but owing to the nature of the pacific oceans influence on weather patterns we are likely to see a change in the rain regime as well. This wont be an instant change, but a slow one which toggles between higher volume and more intensive rain fall through the winter and spring months, and longer, if not quite so dry summer and fall drought period. While I am not a climatologist, several years of contemplating weather trends has led me to settle- for the present at least- on this eventuality. So I find my self asking what changes this will make on the constitution for the forest diversity in the region. Douglas fir will doubtless remain ubiquitous, as will alder. Western red cedar will continue to thrive. The real change in forest composition related to global climate change will, in my estimation, be one of what else will thrive here and how will the change resulting from introductions of new species cause forest composition to evolve. While the western Hemlocks may not like the change much, I suspect they will do alright in niches; moving into their place in a slow march north we are likely to find redwood, sequoia, madrona and oaks wherever soils permit. The natural patter of plant distribution responds to climate. Owing to this observation, I’ve planted several redwoods and sequoia around the property. The oldest, a sequoia, is 17 years old and well over 40 feet in height. The tree simply loves it here. Again, once we understand succession, we may either pause, accelerate or compress it. In this case I have chosen to accelerate it. By copying the diversity of a region with the weather patterns and climate that I suspect will be developing here over the next three decades, I seek to ensure that the biotic force so well endowed in this landscape is not diminished. While I suspect the Douglas fir will be fine, I have concerns, and I feel valid ones, over the future of hemlock. Suited to colder and rain that is more ‘drizzly’ than ‘downpouring’, I suspect it will seek a different niche in which to thrive as the global climates move to a new stable state. Anticipating that, I have observed and replicated a natural pattern of colonial succession.
13. Pay attention to relative scale and scalar distortions.
Referencing global climate change again we’ll examine relative scale and scalar distortions. While the overall global trend will be one of warming, that is one scale. To assert that every place will experience a temperature rise of exactly 4-8 degrees Fahrenheit is simply ludicrous. Locales are affected by a multiplicity of influences ranging from landforms to oceanic currents to solar exposure to coastal proximity, etc. for instance, if the gulf stream shuts down, as some oceanographers have suggested, Iceland, Greenland and northern coastal Europe may remain stable or even cool down based on average annual temperature, while New York City, affected simultaneously by a halted stream and global temperature increase, may warm up by an average of 8 or 10 degrees. One scale of expressing the change in the climate falls apart in two completely different ways at regional scales. The variety of contributing factors at these scales is different than the factors acting out at a global scale. The same holds true with our garden example. The annual vegetable garden will need to receive vast amounts of water compared to the orchards. If we judge relative water use for the property based on the annual vegetable garden we will end up calculating figures that would likely drain the site aquifers in the scramble to irrigate. Yet if we only consider the forests hydrology needs, we may determine not to water anything at all. Relative scale and scalar distortions should always be considered when developing, designing and observing ecosystem interactions. Forgetting to make adjustments for the effects of these distortions can lead to misinterpretation of interactions and functions which lead to time and energy lost- and that is not a coherent looping of systemic energy flows.
14. Attitude is everything.
Identify where surpluses are, even if they seem insignificant. Having an idea of where a resource is that you don’t need is better than no idea about where one is that you do. Keep your goodwill handy. Being able to keep a frame of positive reference has often been the sole source of strength for those in dire situations. Practice this positivity daily, and it becomes a second nature. Always look for the benefit of a circumstance, and always look to offer benefit from your circumstance. Other attitude adjustments: Waste=Resource. Problem=Solution. Disadvantages=Opportunities. Weeds=Dynamic Accumulators. Remember to check in with yourself and others, and keep it in mind that Gratitude is the Attitude.
15. A system is limited only by the energy, time investment and
imagination of the designer.
Malthus theorized that food supplies would run short of population demands by the mid 19th century. His static formula for determining this rightly noted that he geometrics of population growth would outstrip the arithmetic of food production. For a combination of reasons that Malthus could not have foreseen, this theory proved false. This is not to say that food supply won’t be outstripped by population, but that, within certain parameters, humans can radically affect the systems they rely on for this food. Since the advent of the industrial age, perhaps 200 years, the energy, time and imagination that has kept agricultural productivity abreast of population growth has focused on means of increasing produce with the mind of feeding people. However, more production capacity has resulted in more people have been born. Though this does not play out in a direct food-birth equation, it does result in having once again reached a systemic limit. The food ‘bubble’ went up before the population ‘bubble’, and the population bubble went up highest not where food was grown (North America), but where it was distributed to- Africa, SE Asia, and South America. We are now facing a global denigration of the very agricultural systems which were artificially propped up using oil, irrigation, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and GE crops.
The same imagination that allowed us to expand the production capacity of landscapes by altering their nutrient loading cycles, irrigation, and so on will allow us the opportunity to work with the effects we have solicited. Use of swales, layered plantings, and fungus have already proven effective in re-cultivating land that has been salted by irrigation in Gaza. In closing this section, I will simply point to a web page which may be the best example I can offer of the synergistic effects of these methods. While a complete breakdown of the science and academics is not available, the tangible results of turning a salt crusted desert into an oasis with little more than a bulldozer to trace keylines, and a few well place colonial trees should offer even the most skeptical hearts and minds a bit of hope for those who employ the above principles.
Permaculture is embedded with an agreed upon ethical framework. This makes it radically different from subjects such as organic gardening, alternative technology or agroforestry where the ethos is implicit rather than explicit. The ethics were originally presented in Mollison’s “Permaculture: A Designers Manual”. While maintaining the basis of the ethics, the following segment elaborates on them with respect to others who have explored and refined the basics into deeper expressions. Therefore, while the basis is retained, the individual expression is unique.
Ethics of Permaculture
Permaculture Ethics guide us towards good decisions by providing a systemic checklist. The goal of this checklist is to be useful without creating damage. However, these ethics are not unique to Permaculture, and can be found, albeit stated in different terms, throughout many of the world’s wisdom traditions.
1. CARE OF THE EARTH-Permaculture Systems must ensure that all life continues and prospers.
Permaculture systems do not harm the functional basis of existing natural systems. Permaculture systems regenerate and balance negatively impacted systems.
2. CARE OF THE PEOPLE- Provision for people to access those resources necessary to their existence.
Permaculture systems encourage humans to access and share those resources needed for their balanced ecological presence.
3. SETTING LIMITS TO POPULATION AND CONSUMPTION- By governing our needs, we can set resources aside to further the above principles.
Permaculture systems do not exploit, over-use or otherwise damage the natural systems & elements which benefit the whole of creation. Furthermore, Permaculture designers understand limits and capacities of functional systems and do not indulge in designs that exceed them.
4. BASIC LIFE ETHIC- We recognise the intrinsic worth of every living thing.
Permaculture systems reflect the basic life ethic by assuming value is inherent in existence, and that elements of systems (ie., species, landforms, and other phenomena) may function for the benefit of the biosphere without human knowledge of their function or benefit.
1) Elements of the CARE FOR THE EARTH ethic include:
Protecting and purifying Land, Air and Waters: to not pollute, or introduce disruptive elements into systems. To balance those systems which have been disrupted.
Conservation of Biodiversity: To respect the right to life and existence of all natural creation. To refrain from impeding the right to life of all beings.
Restoration and conservation of ecosystems, habitats and soils: To reinstate natural ecosystems which have been eliminated, damaged, or marginalized. To blend the need of people with the need of other living beings so that no beings are extirpated, damaged, or marginalized.
Recycling and pollution reduction: To view ‘waste’ as a valuable resource for further balanced industry. To create no waste. To mine abandoned resources and re-assert their value.
Conservation of energy and natural resources: To be mindful and aware that ability to use resources is not a license to use resources. To use resources prudently. To minimize consumption. To encourage fecundity. To value others lives before ones own.
Appropriate Technology: To use local and low embodied energy material and methods. To use technology to resolve imbalances and restore dynamic balances and complexity in the biosphere.
Prudent and Necessary use: To leave any natural system alone until we are, of strict necessity, found dependant on engaging with its energy and materials. To adapt and implement Permaculture ethics and principles.
2) Elements of the CARE FOR THE PEOPLE ethic include:
Health and Well-Being: To provide for the physical nourishment and longevity of all people. To allow for self determination and autonomy of all people.
Nourishment from Good Food: To assure that all people have access to viable land, seed stocks, cultivation practices and technology which are suited to their landscape, physical needs and cultural sustainability. To collectively and communally own food production and distribution. To eat locally grown, fresh and in season foods.
Lifelong learning: to value learning as a goal unto itself. This includes academic, spiritual and social education for so long as a an individual or culture persists. To involve knowledgeable people and rely on experienced elders.
Right Livelihood and Meaningful Work: To honor self determination among disparate cultures. To identify and practice whatever methods of livelihood bring fulfillment and integrity to oneself while not impinging on another’s right to practice the same..
Embracing Culture and Community: To acknowledge and celebrate differences amongst peoples, nations and cultures. To enliven individuals with passions for other elements of the Care for the People ethic. To recognize we are all together, though we are not all the same.
Open Communication: to support and endow the ability to freely and peacefully discuss, dialogue and communicate about experiences and feelings. To make place for and practice deep listening and speaking of personal truths in a way that engenders peace and harmony among all concerned.
Trust and Respect: To believe and be believed when one hears or speaks from personal experience or feelings. To allow for, acknowledge, and honor differences of opinion and expression. To strive for consensus and harmony with others.
Co-operation and Networking: To honor and support cooperative efforts aimed at manifesting these elements. To seek connections which increase the viability and integrity of these efforts. To share knowledge, materials and methods which exemplify Permaculture ethics.
3) Elements of the LIMITING POPULATION AND CONSUMPTION ethic include:
Personal Responsibility: To recognize that acting in a beneficial manner provides a clearer statement in favor of mutuality than telling others to behave in a beneficial way. To make contributions wherever one can for the benefit of the whole. Not to seek recognition, but to strive for good deeds.
Footprint Minimization: To understand energy and materials pathways which we engage, and consciously minimize consumption patterns. To deeply investigate all assumptions about what is necessary for humanity to flourish. To engage and make stable our spiritual and cultural expressions of humanity. To allow this stability to inform our choices regarding materials and energy use.
Population Limits: To understand that the earths capacity to sustain living things is directly influenced by the collective actions of humanity. To understand the global basis of limiting factors and to create populations which do not harm, damage, marginalize or extirpate other biological populations. To refrain from exceeding or denigrating the material basis of life which is found in the bio-geo-chemical systems that support the biosphere and thus humanity.
Principles of Permaculture
Permaculture principles are a globally adaptable set of considerations which guide the development of holistic design. They are largely interdependent on one another, meaning that when one principle is realized others begin to become evident, and, conversely, when one is rejected others are diminished. Some of them were mentioned in the Introduction to the Stewardship covenant. A more complete, but by no means exhaustive list is located below. These principles are an evolving and living observation of ways in which nature’s fecundity reinforces itself, maintaining integrity even amidst apparently chaotic dynamism. Beyond that, many of these principles are useful for the design of non-biotic systems, such as machines and economies. A thoughtful and protracted observation of the principles as enacted in and by nature will often lead to profound insights about system patterns that can be applied universally. Therefore, it is often said that the first three principles are observe, observe, and Observe. However, we will list that only once on the following list. After the list are points of clarification for each item.
1. Protract your thoughtful and intuitive observation process.
2. Utilize relative locations and access/association by proximity.
3. Each element performs multiple functions.
4. Each function is supported by many elements.
5. Practice energy efficient planning.
6. Use biological resources and functions.
7. Systemic energy cycles should be looped.
8. Plan Small-scale intensive systems and link them.
9. Understand and practice native plant succession and stacking.
10. Polyculture, the diversity of species, is the basis for productivity,
stability and integrity.
11. Whenever appropriate, maximize "edge" within a system.
12. Observe and replicate natural patterns.
13. Pay attention to relative scale and scalar distortions.
14. Attitude is everything.
15. A system is limited only by the energy, time investment and imagination of the designer.
1. Protract your thoughtful and intuitive observation process.
Protraction means to expand. When designing a system one will benefit both themselves and the system by spending time in contemplative observation. By familiarizing oneself with various approaches to understanding (ie., cognitive, logical, analytical, rhetorical, poetic, meditative, etc.) the ability to exact comprehensive systemic design is vastly increased. However, this is but the first step. Observing the relative placement and associations which the planned system will be proximal to, and imagining and exploring potential allocthonous affects of the surrounding systems on the planned system is also important. Next, energy and material streams that will be produced by the system, and their effects on nearby systems, as well as ripple effects on those farther away must be considered. Finally, with all these considerations, one should still “sleep on it” for in the silence that follows such discussions with nature many secrets are told.
2. Utilize relative location and access/association by proximity.
Relative locations simply means planning desirable material and energy exchanges. For instance, gardens, because of the relatively high disturbance level of the soils and the needs of vegetation growing therein, often require nutrient inputs. Compost is a rich nutrient source; therefore it makes sense to keep composting systems near garden areas. If one uses composted manures, it follows that animals with desirable manures should also be kept near the gardens.
Access/association by proximity means to place and use elements and functions in associations which minimize labor needs. The animals mentioned above may be ‘tractor’ animals; ie., pigs, chickens, and other animals which make a habit of digging, scratching or otherwise turning soils. These animals are therefore useful to the garden between crop rotations as they turn, aerate, and fertilize the soils during the progress of their daily activity. In nature we see this in plant associations, such as mychorizal associations on conifers which both increase the conifers nutrient uptake, but also provide a home for the fungus reliant on the sugar production of the tree’s photosynthesis. This kind of mutualism is a model for relative location and access/association by proximity.
3. Each element performs multiple functions.
As outlined in the previous section, a single element, such as the chickens, perform multiple functions. Fertilizing, aerating, and to some degree acting as pest control by nature of their dietary habit, chickens tend to a variety of tasks that may otherwise be left up to chance or industrial processes that clearly denigrate and harm natural systems. Choosing another element, a kiwi tree for instance, we can identify shade, soil stabilization, animal fodder and human nutriment, windbreak, insectaria and cover for beneficial predacious birds as potential functions. Therefore, placing this kiwi near our garden- probably to the north side (assuming we’re in the northern hemisphere), where the shade will not inhibit vegetable growth in the garden, we now have a place where we can comfortably view the efforts of our days work over cold pint of beer. Meanwhile, beneficial insects buzz around us, and kiwis ripen- kiwis which we and the chickens will happily nibble.
4. Each function is supported by many elements.
The desirable function of controlling undesirable insects is performed by many elements. The voracious birds who watch the garden from the cover of the kiwi are one element who perform this function; the chickens are another. Around the perimeter of the garden are a number of logs and piles of loose stones; here lizards and snakes take shelter. These feast on the slugs, seed eating mice and other creatures who may otherwise decrease the productivity of our little plot. Furthermore we have planted association of plants which act as biological deterrents. Chives arm our borders against leaf cutting invaders, while daffodils and allium species, particularly garlic, are of some use in deterring moles- as are snakes. Borage deters potato worms and attracts honey bees. Marigolds deter most undesirable insects, but like daffodils, attract slugs. Those rock piles full of snakes can put a dent in slug populations, but a surefire method of preventing horrible slug disasters is silicate- fine ground sand- mixed deeply into the soils around the most targeted plants. This mineralizes the soil while deterring slugs by creating an abrasive surface. Another fine option is the spray bottle of ammonium. Not only does it kill slugs, but mixed right (not to hot, lest it burn) it delivers nitrogen straight into the plants which it is sprayed on. The function of ‘garden pest’ control is best managed by many elements, only a small portion of which are mentioned above.
5. Practice energy efficient planning.
Redundancy has certain benefits. Utilizing relative location and access/association by proximity is energy efficient. So is designing for elements which support multiple functions, and for functions that are supported by multiple elements. In all of the above situations, the energy needed to arrange the system is primarily capital, or startup energy. After this the needed input, both in terms of materials and time, is minimized by the associative powers of the elements and functions. The practice of energy efficient planning is a beneficial redundancy. By re-viewing the integrity of interdependent principles in this manner we may begin to see how bolstering one means all are benefited, and that when one is decreased, all are diminished. Ultimately the principles do not stand alone, but are integrally united. From this perspective we can glimpse holistic design, while our system of chickens and pigs and companion planting is a small system, it is endlessly complex. The conditioning of the soils, the relationships of the animals to the plants across seasons, the role of the garden in the context of the larger farm activity… it all points to another principle just a bit down the road…
6. Use biological resources and functions.
The above outline offers many examples of biological resources and functions and how they can be incorporated into a garden system, but anyone who has gardened or observed ecosystems for any length of time knows that the above offers only a notion of the complexity that occurs in functional systems. However, the above is adequate for displaying the point. Biological resources and functions are, in the long run, more efficient- that is, contain lower embodied energy while having a much lower potential for distressing ecosystems than conventional systems such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Biological resources are as productive (and often more productive) than industrial or synthetic resources when observed from the perspective of lifetime energy cost comparisons. In short, it takes slugs to perpetuate snakes and carriage beetles, but it takes money to perpetuate slug bait. And, as I once heard Sam Bullock quip, “You haven’t got too many slugs. You’ve got too few ducks!”
7. Systemic energy cycles should be looped.
This is another way to say that “waste=resource”. In ecosystems we can follow an energy stream and observe the number of times one elements waste becomes energy for another. Even in our simplified garden we see the discrete circuit of “ manure compost kiwi chicken fodder manure…” the result of the chickens waste is a vital fecundity. Though this particular example is logistically possible, ultimately we face two challenges in grounding this energy loop. The first is ensuring that the energy does not stagnate (ie., compost that is not distributed) and second, building complexity so that multiple feedback loops are created- elements supporting multiple functions, and multiple elements for each function. Each time we add complexity we must return to the first principle of observation, and particularly note where looping occurs or can be encouraged. In this way the system does not loose energy and face immanent collapse, but loops it, creating an efficient, self cycling energy stream. An example of this type of collapse can be observed in modern oil agriculture, which uses vast amounts of oil for every pound of food produced- a lb of beef may involve as much as 300 gallons of oil!. Because the oil is neither an internalized or renewable element, it is inherent in the system that it will collapse. Looping energy cycles allows systems to generate endurance by effectively eliminating waste.
8. Plan small-scale intensive systems and link them.
At this point the nature of this exercise may begin to be clear. The above garden plan outlines a few simple elements of a small scale yet intensive system. Embedded in this system are multiple balancing mechanisms for any reasonable eventuality. By stacking small scale systems like this adjacent to one another- for instance, the addition of pond system next to the garden, and a orchard system near those, the systems become elements of a system which function at a larger scale. This mimics niche ecologies and scalar ecologies in nature, where even in vast plains small depressions or knolls have just enough of a difference in climatic variance to become habitat for species not common in adjacent areas. By planning in this small scale fashion, and by planning linkages, we reinforce natural patterns in the landscape and build resilience into our design.
9. Understand and practice native plant succession and guilds.
Plants native to an area are evolved to forebear and prosper in the climatic conditions that persist in that area. While global climate change will doubtlessly have some effect on this we cannot discredit the millennia and eons of genetic memory and habit of the plants that have evolved in our locale. By comprehending the successional stages of the native landscape we are able to use natives to manipulate- either expanding, pausing or contracting- the successional cycle. This means we can either create viable shade quickly and with little or no negative impact, or we can create open spaces in the same manner. By understanding the native guilds we can accelerate or pause a succession where it will be of most use to the larger design goals. Using natives as cornerstone species for these functions of compression, acceleration and pause will ensure that should we, as designers, be removed from the picture that the result will be a return to the native ecosystem succession.
10. Polyculture and diversity of species is the basis for productivity, stability and integrity.
A polyculture is a designed association of mutualist or synergistic plants. Companion planting , such as the “three sisters” –maize, legumes and curcubids- is a microcosm of poly culture. Guild planting begins to address issues of polyculture, as it seeks to align multiple companion sets in synergistic arrangements. Polyculture goes a step further: recognizing the mutually beneficial effects of companion planting and guilding, polyculture is a system that synergizes guilds. For instance, we may have an apple-allium-comfrey guild set in close proximity to a willow-watercress-arrowroot guild. By guild, we mean that these three are the predominant species of the guild, but that many other species are planted along with them. The proximity of these guilds may be several meters distance, but that is not a concern to the bee who happily moves back and forth pollinating and feeding from each of the flowering plants, nor is it an issue to the water which the willow drafts from the ground store to feed the pond used to water the apple-allium-comfrey guild during the dry seasons. Development of this kind of complexity begins to truly mimic nature in its vitality, stability and fecundity.
11. Whenever appropriate, maximize "edges" within a system.
It is often, though not always, useful to maximize edge in the systems we design. Edge creates an interplay between two areas where inhabitants of either area may mix and exchange energy. We can think of edges as natures market place, where energy and material are exchanged in the dance of growth and decay, life and death. Remember the Kiwi? Think of it as an edge. Bordered to the rear by a forest and the fore by a garden, it provides a place for the hungry birds to observe the open space where the forage- and to do it without exposing themselves to predators who might be waiting for them to be exposed. Other edges include the rock piles where the snakes live around the perimeter of the gardens, and the ‘shores’ of our pond where animals come to sip water. Maximizing edge means to create convolutions- a circular pond 30 feet across has about 95 feet of ‘edge’. However, if we build several 10 square foot chinampas (a pile of brush loaded with soil) intruding into the pond about 3 feet, so that there are maybe 8 of these convolutions, we will actually increase the edge by nearly 50 feet. Going much further than this will eliminate the pond and there will be no edge, so it behooves one to discern where the systems edges are. The amount of change a system can withstand before loosing its stability is a critical part of understanding limitations of the ‘maximize edges’ principle, and worth extra attention so as to prevent destabilizations.
12. Observe and replicate natural patterns.
Yet another way to insure success of the message by means of redundancy! This time lets look at it from a different perspective. Global climate change is going to affect us all. Here in the Pacific Northwest we are likely to see a general warming trend, as with much of the globe, but owing to the nature of the pacific oceans influence on weather patterns we are likely to see a change in the rain regime as well. This wont be an instant change, but a slow one which toggles between higher volume and more intensive rain fall through the winter and spring months, and longer, if not quite so dry summer and fall drought period. While I am not a climatologist, several years of contemplating weather trends has led me to settle- for the present at least- on this eventuality. So I find my self asking what changes this will make on the constitution for the forest diversity in the region. Douglas fir will doubtless remain ubiquitous, as will alder. Western red cedar will continue to thrive. The real change in forest composition related to global climate change will, in my estimation, be one of what else will thrive here and how will the change resulting from introductions of new species cause forest composition to evolve. While the western Hemlocks may not like the change much, I suspect they will do alright in niches; moving into their place in a slow march north we are likely to find redwood, sequoia, madrona and oaks wherever soils permit. The natural patter of plant distribution responds to climate. Owing to this observation, I’ve planted several redwoods and sequoia around the property. The oldest, a sequoia, is 17 years old and well over 40 feet in height. The tree simply loves it here. Again, once we understand succession, we may either pause, accelerate or compress it. In this case I have chosen to accelerate it. By copying the diversity of a region with the weather patterns and climate that I suspect will be developing here over the next three decades, I seek to ensure that the biotic force so well endowed in this landscape is not diminished. While I suspect the Douglas fir will be fine, I have concerns, and I feel valid ones, over the future of hemlock. Suited to colder and rain that is more ‘drizzly’ than ‘downpouring’, I suspect it will seek a different niche in which to thrive as the global climates move to a new stable state. Anticipating that, I have observed and replicated a natural pattern of colonial succession.
13. Pay attention to relative scale and scalar distortions.
Referencing global climate change again we’ll examine relative scale and scalar distortions. While the overall global trend will be one of warming, that is one scale. To assert that every place will experience a temperature rise of exactly 4-8 degrees Fahrenheit is simply ludicrous. Locales are affected by a multiplicity of influences ranging from landforms to oceanic currents to solar exposure to coastal proximity, etc. for instance, if the gulf stream shuts down, as some oceanographers have suggested, Iceland, Greenland and northern coastal Europe may remain stable or even cool down based on average annual temperature, while New York City, affected simultaneously by a halted stream and global temperature increase, may warm up by an average of 8 or 10 degrees. One scale of expressing the change in the climate falls apart in two completely different ways at regional scales. The variety of contributing factors at these scales is different than the factors acting out at a global scale. The same holds true with our garden example. The annual vegetable garden will need to receive vast amounts of water compared to the orchards. If we judge relative water use for the property based on the annual vegetable garden we will end up calculating figures that would likely drain the site aquifers in the scramble to irrigate. Yet if we only consider the forests hydrology needs, we may determine not to water anything at all. Relative scale and scalar distortions should always be considered when developing, designing and observing ecosystem interactions. Forgetting to make adjustments for the effects of these distortions can lead to misinterpretation of interactions and functions which lead to time and energy lost- and that is not a coherent looping of systemic energy flows.
14. Attitude is everything.
Identify where surpluses are, even if they seem insignificant. Having an idea of where a resource is that you don’t need is better than no idea about where one is that you do. Keep your goodwill handy. Being able to keep a frame of positive reference has often been the sole source of strength for those in dire situations. Practice this positivity daily, and it becomes a second nature. Always look for the benefit of a circumstance, and always look to offer benefit from your circumstance. Other attitude adjustments: Waste=Resource. Problem=Solution. Disadvantages=Opportunities. Weeds=Dynamic Accumulators. Remember to check in with yourself and others, and keep it in mind that Gratitude is the Attitude.
15. A system is limited only by the energy, time investment and
imagination of the designer.
Malthus theorized that food supplies would run short of population demands by the mid 19th century. His static formula for determining this rightly noted that he geometrics of population growth would outstrip the arithmetic of food production. For a combination of reasons that Malthus could not have foreseen, this theory proved false. This is not to say that food supply won’t be outstripped by population, but that, within certain parameters, humans can radically affect the systems they rely on for this food. Since the advent of the industrial age, perhaps 200 years, the energy, time and imagination that has kept agricultural productivity abreast of population growth has focused on means of increasing produce with the mind of feeding people. However, more production capacity has resulted in more people have been born. Though this does not play out in a direct food-birth equation, it does result in having once again reached a systemic limit. The food ‘bubble’ went up before the population ‘bubble’, and the population bubble went up highest not where food was grown (North America), but where it was distributed to- Africa, SE Asia, and South America. We are now facing a global denigration of the very agricultural systems which were artificially propped up using oil, irrigation, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and GE crops.
The same imagination that allowed us to expand the production capacity of landscapes by altering their nutrient loading cycles, irrigation, and so on will allow us the opportunity to work with the effects we have solicited. Use of swales, layered plantings, and fungus have already proven effective in re-cultivating land that has been salted by irrigation in Gaza. In closing this section, I will simply point to a web page which may be the best example I can offer of the synergistic effects of these methods. While a complete breakdown of the science and academics is not available, the tangible results of turning a salt crusted desert into an oasis with little more than a bulldozer to trace keylines, and a few well place colonial trees should offer even the most skeptical hearts and minds a bit of hope for those who employ the above principles.
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