permaculture

["Marsha Hanzi" <hanzibra@svn.com.br>]

Graham-- thank you for a most important point, obvious, but sometimes gets
lost in the details..

Marsha

----- Original Message -----
From: Graham Burnett <gburnett@unisonfree.net>
To: permaculture <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2000 8:50 PM
Subject: What makes Graham's allotment 'Permaculture'? (was Re: keyhole
beds)


>
> >
> > Yeah.  The trouble is, then you get people telling you that permaculture
is
> > "all theory" and demanding to see some concrete
> > data/examples/recipes/whatever.  If you don't provide these, everything
you
> > say is dismissed as "impractical", or your level of "real world"
experience
> > is questioned.
>
> I describe my allotment (UK) as 'Permaculture', but there's not much that
differentiates it from a
> standard 'organic' allotment in many ways- I use techniques that are
appropriate for my situation-
> bed systems, perennial plants in the form of fruit bushes & herbs,
recycling urban waste & junk in
> useful ways (plastic bottles used as cloches, irrigators, bird scarers,
etc), shed built out of old
> scrap timber found on skips (or 'dumpsters' as I believe our US
counterparts call them), old baths,
> bits of tubing & plumbing etc used for water harvesting/irrigation, pond
dug & flowers planted as
> pest predator attractants, comfrey grown as liquid feed, etc, etc, etc...
So do many of the other
> organic (and even non organic) plot holders who have never heard of the
'P' word. I've largely
> rejected (at least for the last couple of years) PC 'holy cows' like no
dig/sheet mulch beds 'cos
> in our current damp conditions they are nothing but slug- party venues,
they love 'em, and from the
> rate they multiply under mulch, they find 'em a total turn on too! Also,
as I no longer have
> motorised transport, importing sufficient mulch material is no longer
practical... So what makes my
> allotment 'Permaculture'?
>
> I'd say because it fits into a broader system/design of trying to create a
more sustainable urban
> lifestyle, being vegan, tying in with activities like promoting Local
Agenda 21 and community
> building, being part of the LETS system, supporting local organic food
outlets & farmers markets
> rather than supermarkets, living without a car, creating green space and a
wildlife friendly
> environment in a city (well, town actually), being a good place to take my
kids or drink a beer and
> generally developing awareness and taking some degree of responsibility
for some of the production
> of the food that my family eat. I'm by no means self sufficient in food
from my allotment, but some
> years I grow quite a bit of veg, others less. i've got a full time job,
and a family of four kids.
> At the moment due to circumstances I'm in, my allotment is far more about
being a therapuetic place
> to chill out than trying to maximise (quantifiable) yield. In fact in
terms of potatos or onions or
> carrots or gooseberries grown, my 'outputs' are probably much less than
'conventional' plots. But
> in OVERALL 'yield' terms, what I get out of my allotment is imeasurable.
Relaxation, fresh air,
> observation, wisdom,  socialising, spotting a frog amongst the beans....
>
> So when i'm asked to show off what makes my plot so 'different', I can't
really 'cos where it's
> 'different' is more about the 'invisible structures'.
>
> Personally i feel there is a bit of a misnomer about at the moment in that
many people seem to be
> looking to measure outputs of 'permaculture systems' in purely
numerical/quantifiable terms in
> order to prove that 'permaculture' is a viable alternative to
'conventional' practices- this makes
> the mistake of seeing PC as a bunch of techniques rather than a design &
ethical philosophy... As
> Judith points out in her posting, what works in one situation would be a
total mistake in another,
> techniques that are appropriate in the outbacks of Australia or home
gardens of Kerala are bound to
> be irrelevant in 'Cool temperate' (read damp, windy & miserable) UK...
>
> The question 'is permaculture sustainable?' is to me a tautology-
Permaculture is BY DEFINITION
> about utilising the techniques and systems that do work and are
sustainable for future generations
> in your particular locality...
>
>
> Last words to Sylvia, Site Manager at Westcliff Land Cultivation Society
Allotment Site( in
> reference to guess whose plot...); "Huh. Permaculture he calls it. Bloody
mess I call it...."
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Graham Burnett
> 35 Rayleigh Avenue
> Westcliff On Sea
> Essex, UK
> SS0 7DS
>
> South East Essex LETS
> http://pages.unisonfree.net/gburnett/
>
>
>
>
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