Health, Hope & Happiness
Permaculture is a design system, and within that system are a multitude of techniques and strategies that we can use. Which ones we use to build a garden will depend on many things: where we live, what our climate is like, what we want to grow, how much space we have, and the list goes on. Continue reading “Permaculture garden design ideas for every situation”
I think the most beautiful thing you can grow in your yard is a vegetable garden. Some people prefer well-behaved roses or hydrangea, or neatly clipped hedges, but that’s not for me. A vegetable garden can be as beautiful as the fanciest of landscape designs. And, it has the added benefit of actually being useful. Imagine that. Continue reading “How to design a small garden, permaculture style: The Herb Spiral”
Learning how to design a permaculture garden can be as simple or complex as you want, or need. In this article, I want to walk you through the basics of designing and building a quick permaculture garden, so you can get planting right away. Spring is just around the corner! Continue reading “How to design a permaculture garden in your backyard”
Each element in a permaculture garden serves a purpose – at least one purpose – and as permaculture gardeners it is up to us to learn to recognize that purpose and put it to its best use. Continue reading “Design a permaculture garden: a look at all the elements”
The permaculture vegetable garden I currently have is a much smaller endeavor than the first one I built. And while the first garden had plenty of sun, this garden has a lot of shade. The half-acre property where I live is surrounded by very tall trees, and a hill to the south, with a house on it; and there was really only one place that made sense to put the garden. Continue reading “Introducing my permaculture vegetable garden 2020”
In the world we live in now, space can be at a premium. Cities around the world are more and more crowded. Apartment dwellers want to ‘do’ permaculture, but feel their hands are tied. Continue reading “Permaculture: Doing what you can, where you are, with what you have”
Change can be fun and exciting! A new city, a new school, a new job – the possibilities for fun and adventure are endless. In permaculture, we learn that change is inevitable, and if we learn to go with the flow not fight against it, our permaculture designs will be much more fluid and resilient.
Change can be hard. And when things go differently than we expected them to, it can throw us for a loop. But we can learn to treasure these changes as learning experiences – and we might be amazed by what we learn, and how adaptable we can be. Continue reading “Permaculture Principle #12: Creatively use and respond to change in your permaculture designs”
Here’s another permaculture principle that some have a hard time getting the idea of. Edges. What’s so special about an edge, and what can it do for my permaculture garden designs? Continue reading “Permaculture Principle #11: Use edges and value the marginal – permaculture garden designs”
“Diversity isn’t involved so much with the number of elements in a system as it is with the number of functional connections between these elements. Diversity is not the number of things, but the number of ways in which things work.”
~ Bill Mollison
Diversity is the party planner of a permaculture system. She makes sure that no matter what happens, that party is going to be a hit. “The more the merrier!” is her motto. Continue reading “Permaculture Principle #10: Use and value diversity; the more the merrier”
“Jump in with both feet!”
That’s a sentence that has applied to me more times than I care to calculate. I have had a tendency to do a considerable amount of leaping before looking in the past. But I’ve matured since then. Continue reading “Permaculture Principle #9: Use small and slow solutions, for good permaculture design”
