permaculture

[carolyn anderson <cschampagne@gmail.com>]

Lawrence, are you in SC?


On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 2:23 AM, Lawrence F. London, Jr. <
venaurafarm@bellsouth.net> wrote:

>
> How complex a design can be created for a site? Given those imposed by
> climatic region, i.e. desert as opposed to tropical rainforest, are
> there practical limits assuming offsite inputs, arbitrarily available
> within a radius of a day's drive from the site, are allowed?
>
> It seems to be there should almost be no limits. Organism populations
> evolving, succeeding and surviving within interacting, intersecting
> ecological niches on site could become quite complex in their diversity
> and contribution to overall site ecology and function.
>
> I was reading Mollison's Permaculture Designers Manual and discovered
> this statement:
>
>   "Energies enter a system, and either remain or escape. Our work as
> permaculture designers is to prevent energy leaving before the basic
> needs of the whole system are satisfied, so that growth, reproduction
> and maintenance continue in our living components.
>   All permaculture designers should be aware of the fundamental
> principles that govern natural systems. These are not immutable rules,
> but can be used as a set of directives, taking each case as unique but
> gaining confidence and inspiration from a set of findings and solutions
> in other places and other times. We can use the guiding principles and
> laws of natural systems, as formulated by such people as Watt, Odum and
> Birch, and apply  some of them to our consciously-designed ecologies."
>
> One of the easiest issues to understand is nutrient flow on a site, at
> least superficially. Once, for example, off site inputs such as
> natural sources of N, P and K and trace minerals are applied and
> absorbed by the system, what happens to nutrients generated on site,
> N, P and K & minerals again, through natural cycling and through
> extraction by organisms such as N2-fixing bacteria and legumes and
> fungi? How can this energy in the form of nutrients be conserved, used
> and retained on site? I think this provides a hint as to the complexity
> of a design that can be created and with, through the flywheel effect,
> even more complexity that can and may evolve with those living systems
> coexisting and coevolving on a site.
>
> I find this topic fascinating and will probably pursue it for many years
> to come. My years as a landscape designer and contractor has given me a
> taste of what this is all about. Ornamental plants can be difficult and
> challenging to establish on a site as some have narrowly defined
> cultural requirements and maintenance needs. Establishing diverse and
> robust populations of beneficial microorganisms can also be challenging
> as can be creating habitat for widely diverse species of wildlife that
> serve the needs of and are served by other on-site elements.
>
> The methods, tools and schemes available to a permaculturist seeking to
> develop a site are many, varied and powerful.
>
> I would welcome anyone else interested contributing to an ongoing thread
> on this topic.
>
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>