permaculture

[Judith Hanna <jehanna@gn.apc.org>]

Tottenham, where I live, used to be a village on the Lea Valley, north of
London. It's now been swallowed by the megalopolis, and is a densely
built-up multi-racial inner city area. This means 60% black male
unemployment (20% adult male unemployment overall), one of the most heavily
trafficked and therefore most polluted High Roads in the city -- over
100,000 vehicles a day. Poverty means poor housing stock, high crime rates,
people on the edge. 

What does it mean for doing permaculture? Where do you start? How much do
you try to take on? 

Start with Zone 0/1: 
Home is a three-bedroom brick-built terrace (row) house, built by a local
Quaker anti-slavery campaigner about 1860-70. We (husband and I, no kids)
bought it winter 1994. Back garden is 15ft by 30ft, and now features a
pond, cherry tree, pear tree, three minarette apple trees, red currant and
black currant, two blackberry ramblers, and a mixture of
self-seeding/perennial flowers, herbs and vegetables. With such a small
plot, most of our weeds now are either edible (chickweed, nipplewort,
fat-hen, garlic mustard) or ornamental (columbines, foxgloves,
forget-me-nots, celandine). It's been written up in Permaculture and
Organic Gardening magazines and the Permaculture Plot directory, featured
in the Daily Mail tabloid newspaper ("Women who grow their own") on on a
cable TV "Secret Gardens" show.
 
Zone 2? We also have an allotment, about 7 minutes walk away, on a former
railway alignment. Its a very relaxed site -- no old chaps trying to
enforce 'rows of onions and cabbages' but a mixture of women, families and
other cultures fairly tolerant of patches of natural neglect. Our plot
stands out because it is the one with a pond -- others enjoy coming along
and seeing how the tadpoles, pond skaters etc are getting on. 

Because I didn't grow up in this country (but in Australia), I enjoyed
learning the local weeds, most of which have centuries of lore associated
with them. We get scarlet pimpernel, shepherds purse, speedwell, horehound,
dead-nettle, and of course, nettles. We've just taken on being paperwork
secretaries for the site's new allotment association, formed in response to
the council (the site owner) cutting the post of allotments officer and
allotments budget. 

Beyond Zone 1/2
In cities, the most abundant resource -- and the greatest challenge -- is
people. That is what characterises city as environment. And permaculture
'peoplecare' theory so far doesn't seem to have got firmly to grips with
this challenge -- however, this seems an area where UK permaculture is
setting a lead.

My first deliberate step in getting seriously to grips with local
permaculture was to go part-time -- basically, buying back 2 days a week
for what economist James Robertson calls 'own work'. Looked at in these
terms, 'own time' is an expensive luxury. 

Previously, I'd worked for about 15 years as a 'save the world' campaigner,
first on nuclear disarmament, then on transport and environment, then
editing the UK's professional transport and land-use planning fortnightly
news magazine. The last involved working in a macho 'competitive'
commercial business -- and I decided the money wasn't worth the hassle. I
realised that the things I wanted out of life needed time to spend on them,
not money. (I was fortunate, of course, to be in the position where this
was a choice). These days, my mortgage-paying job is head of policy with
the National Centre for Volunteering, lobbying to get the Government to
recognise the value of what people do unpaid simply because they believe it
is worthwhile. This seems to me an important permaculture objective -- and
would fundamentally shift economic policy.

What of my 'own time'? First off, I tried the obvious permaculture thing of
setting up a community garden project in the Old School grounds owned by a
local church -- and found it needed more work to make it viable than I
could put in (also written up in Permaculture magazine). Basically, people
are far more complicated and frustrating to deal with than plants! While
that project was encountering obstacles, I got involved with various
interesting and useful projects and networks. These days, I've managed to
cut back to just six. Briefly:

1) Haringey Agenda 21 community steering group -- the local follow-up to
the Rio Earth summit, supposed to be 'all sections of the community working
together for sustainable development.' Current priority is raising funding
for core staff and a resource centre base.

2) London 21/Sustainable London Trust -- new network to create
communication links between projects, individuals and groups working on the
range of sustainability activities in different areas of London.

3) Local Friends of the Earth -- useful bunch of campaigners who back up
HA21, and do the hard protest while HA21 CSG is playing a constructively
supportive partner role

4) LETSlink London -- working with the long-term volunteer co-ordinator to
help her design a properly resourced and funded framework that doesn't
leave her taking on the whole burden, and helps others work with her
without either side feeling guilt-tripped. Ie, getting a viable fundraising
proposal that empowers her and will help her work effectively, not get in
her way. Plus informal links with both local LETS schemes.

5) London Transport Users Committee -- statutory watchdog body, rather
old-fashioned and top-down in the way it works. With the first elections
for the new Greater London Authority (ie, city government) now underway,
particular opportunity to get it working in a more open and inclusive way,
and to get sustainability objectives (as well as social inclusion,
accessibility, equity) built into its priorities. 

6) London Transport Activists Roundtable -- because I reckoned an active
link was needed between this umbrella group of active campaigning
organisations and LTUC, I've taken on being it. Only way to make it happen
for now.

On the back burner at present are working with the London permaculture
network and  Permaculture Assoc (Britain).

Hope you find something of interest in that overview. 

Judith Hanna
Judith Hanna
jehanna@gn.apc.org
15 Jansons Rd, Tottenham, London N15 4JU