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PERMACULTURE 101
From Theresa

Permaculture gardens are ecologically sound, 
and so provide habitat for wildlife as well as food for humans.
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Our side yard has a wildlife pond (the rocks in the lower photo are the edge), many edible and medicinal plants, and a swing that lets us enjoy it all.
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Bumble bees sleeping under our Bee Balm flowers, dawn, 2013. Bee balm can also be used to make tea.
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This garden in our back yard has comfrey, chives, violets, and a wild strawberry patch, as well as many beautiful flowers, such as the anemones below.
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I waited a long time to own a house (I was 39) and one of the main reasons I wanted to be a home owner was so that I could finally begin gardening. I had what may have seemed like some pretty lofty goals, to provide an easy-maintenance food and medicinal herb garden for us, while creating ecologically sound wildlife habitat. I expected gardening to be a gentle pastime that brought me more into harmony with Nature and Her cycles.  Instead, I discovered that conventional gardening is more about controlling Nature: making certain plants grow where and how you want them to, and killing everything else. 

I wanted to garden in a way that is more natural.

I discovered a book in a gardening display at our local library called Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway.  It caught my eye because Gaia is one name for our planet, known to some as a loving, Mother Nature like-Goddess.  The blurb on the back of the book said that it was a guide to home-scale permaculture, which is:

“…a gardening system that combines the best features of wildlife habitat, edible landscapes, and conventional flower and vegetable gardens into a self-renewing landscape that lets Nature do most of the work.”  

I was so excited when I discovered this book! It was exactly what I wanted to create in my tiny yard (our lot is under 1/8 of an acre). It led me to an entirely different kind of gardening philosophy. I'd like to share some of permaculture's great ideas with you, that I first learned from Gaia's Garden.

Permaculture 101 includes:
  • 3 Principles of Natural Ecosystems:  
    Every Organism has its Niche
    Biodiversity
    Succession
  • The Problem with Lawns:  
    Do they work with Nature?
    3 Ways to Get Rid of Lawns (e.g., sheet mulch)
    What if you need to keep some of your lawn?
  • Permaculture Design Principles:  
    Zones, Keyhole Beds, Herb Spirals
  • What & How to Plant: No tilling, no bare ground, attracting beneficial insects, food from perennials, growing multipurpose plants, creating plant guilds & food forests.

Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition
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Copyright 2020 by Theresa & Rob Berrie