permaculture

[Richard Morris <pfaf@scs.leeds.ac.uk>]

Hi All,
        A big me to regarding all the previous post.

At Plants For A Future we tend to shy away from using the term 
permaculture for several reasons:
        1) there are plenty of other terms which explain what we do
                better that permaculture: forest gardening, 
                woodland gardening, vegan-organic agriculture,
                ecological gardening, urban agriculture.
        2) The term Permaculture does not conjure up an image for
                those who have not heard it before. Its a term
                for the initiated only.
        3) There are some negative associations with the term.
                For those who prefer getting their hands mucky
                the emphasis on design can be a turn off. Theres
                also a big fuzziness in the question 
                "what is permaculture" how is it really different
                from organic gardening with a bit of thought.
                Throw in a bunch of hippy images and lack of mature 
                permaculture projects (in the UK at least)
                which are really working and you get a term to be
                avoided.
        4) No one involved with the project has got a permaculture
                diploma so I don't know if we really have a right to
                use the term.

I suppose that permaculture is really two things:
1)      A broad umbrella under which lots of ideas get thrown together.
2)      A set of design course.
For the first the Mollison debate does not really matter a jot. Its 
more an issue for the second but there's nothing to stop courses in
"Designing with Permaculture" or "a garden design based on permaculture
principles". How the trademark issue will affect the Permaculture
Association in the UK (or other national bodies) I'm not sure. It would
be nice to hear what they have to say on the issue.

While I'm in rant mode the movement does seem to be course heavy at
the moment. Are courses the only way that people are making a living
out of permaculture? (Watch this space for a an exciting range of
Courses at Plants For A Futures new demonstration gardens in Devon).

        Well that's enough rambling

                Rich

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