What is Permaculture? In a nutshell, we suppose you could call it a sustainable landscape. However, the Permaculture Garden is so much more than this. Like nature, it is not a static place. There is vitality, movement, and a sense of life that acts responsibly. There is a heavy emphasis on perennial food production, and the creation of a space that is not only beautiful, but also functional in a way that supports both nature, and our own personal needs as humans. It is a solution to producing more local food in our communities, without creating a footprint.
Permaculture gardens use natural plant communities as their models. In New England, White Pine, Birch, & Oak forests are common. A Permaculture garden based on that model might use Pine Nut & Oak trees with edible acorns. In place of the common wetland Filbert, one might incorporate an edible Hazelnut. Based on natural plant communities, each plant plays a role in supporting other plants into a self sustaining cycle.
Permaculture will be a garden that will also support our children and grandchildren without exhausting the land or having to truck in amendments and fertilizers that can pollute our water and wildlife. The ecological gardener has the ability to design using the best features of wildlife gardens, vegetable gardens, and fine floral and ornamental gardening, in a way that integrates humans as a part of nature.
In a world where technology grows faster than the speed of the bittersweet vine, we hope to maintain a sense of balance between nature and the modern world. They can work together as one. We can only hope that our permaculture gardening will function as a form of educational muse for those who already enjoy nature.
Nature does not change, although the way of viewing nature invariably changes from age to age. No matter the age, natural farming exists forever as the wellspring of agriculture.
– Masanoubu Fukuoka The One straw Revolution