What are permaculture principles

Permaculture can be described as designing landscapes by replicating patterns that are found in nature that benefit man and the environment. The word permaculture is from “ permanent agriculture”. Bill Mollison and David Holmgren are the founders of permaculture. Permaculture designs can be used in various fields. They are more sustainable and benefit humans.

There are 12 permaculture principles and they can be used in any field. Be it having your own kitchen garden, building a house or starting a small scale business you can use these permaculture principles. Including these principles can help you to create sustainable permaculture designs.

Permaculture principles

1.Observe and Interact

Before planning a kitchen garden in your backyard, you must observe how much sunlight your backyard gets and how fertile your soil is. By oberving these small details you will know if your backyard is ready to become a kitchen garden or does it need some work. Observing these details can save a lot of time.

2. Catch and store energy

Setting up a rainwater harvesting facility in your home can help you to water your plants during summer. Having trees in your backyard will help recharge groundwater. Using leaves to mulch your plants helps reduce water usage. These leaves also enrich the soil and improve its fertility.

3. Obtain Yield

Make sure you plan your garden in such a manner that you can harvest fruits, vegetables and hebs. Seeing your garden yield healthy food can be fulfilling. Working in your garden improves physical health. By growing your own food you don’t have to visit the supermarket often.

4. Apply self regulation and accept feedback

It is normal to get upset when things go wrong in the garden. At times like these remain calm and carefully observe your garden and see what has gone wrong. Finding out what has gone wrong and making changes in your approach can improve your knowledge and help you to understand things better. You can also ask someone who has experience in gardening for suggestions or feedbacks.

5. Make use of renewable resources and services

You can use lots of resources to keep your soil and plants healthy. For example instead of throwing excess dry leaves into the trash you can turn the leaves into compost or you can use these to mulch your soil. If you have chickens in your home you can use manure and dry eggshells to make compost for your plants.

6. Produce no waste

There is no way one can produce zero waste but one can reuse and recycle things. You can use half broken containers to grow plants or make compost in it. Make sure you create closed loops in your garden. You can use kitchen scraps, dry leaves and manure to make compost that will feed your plants. Your plants will in turn give good yields.

7. Design Patterns to Details

Before you start a kitchen garden you must think about the big picture. In case you intend to have chickens in your garden, a base planning is needed on where you will keep the chicken coop. If you want to have a forest garden you can plan it in zones. You can grow vegetables and herbs close to your house so that you will have easier access.

8. Integrate rather than segregate

Instead of growing herbs, vegetables and flowers in seperate spaces, try growing them all together. Growing them together improves soil fertility, attracts pollinators and beneficial insects, repels unwanted pests and builds a natural ecosystem.

9.Use small and slow solutions

Solutions that are sustainable is better for the planet. An example for this would be to try planting companion plants and doing polyculture instead of spraying chemicals to get rid of insects and pests in your plants. These techniques do not work overnight and they take sometime, but they do not damage your soil.

10. Use and value diversity

Promoting diversity in kitchen gardens has lots of positive benefits and is more sustainable. Here is an article on the benefits of having a diverse garden.

11. Use edges and value the marginal

Instead of leaving the garden edges free, growing grass such as vetiver and lemongrass can help control soil erosion, repel pests and mosquitoes. You can also grow cover crops and flowers to keep soil erosion in check.

12. Creatively use and respond to change

Finally change is something that we cannot avoid. With climate change, extreme temperatures and resource depletion sustainable solutions is the need of the hour.