permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

Agile permaculture: an introduction (part 1 of a series) - Spinster's Bayley
http://spinstersbayley.com/blog/agile-permaculture-an-introduction/

July 25, 2017 by Alex <http://spinstersbayley.com/blog/author/Alex/> 8
Comments
<http://spinstersbayley.com/blog/agile-permaculture-an-introduction/#comments>
Agile permaculture: an introduction (part 1 of a series)

As I mentioned recently
<http://spinstersbayley.com/blog/writing-permacultures-edges-margins/>,
I’ve been wanting to talk about Agile software development methodologies
and how they relate to permaculture – Agile permaculture for short – for
yearsandyearsandyears, and it finally seems like time to do so.

Over on Making Permaculture Stronger
<http://makingpermaculturestronger.net/>, Dan is making an inquiry into
permaculture design processes, and how much design is actually done up
front vs emerging as you go. Turns out, while the books and classes tend to
say “design up front” as the official process, in reality people tend to
start implementing before the design is finalised, and allow the final
stages to emerge
<http://makingpermaculturestronger.net/2017/02/07/on-the-relation-between-designing-and-implementing-in-permaculture-part-3/>
after the first steps are already in place.

The reasons for this are obvious when you think about it: a permaculture
property (be it a farm or a backyard or a community garden) is a complex
system with many interacting parts, not least of which are the humans that
use it. Over time, different issues may arise: a particularly dry summer, a
change in the price or availability of materials, a new member of the
household, an injury that stops you climbing ladders… and so, your plans
that you made up at the start may need to change.

On top of that, there’s the fact that we can sometimes be paralysed by
choice and find it hard to really make decisions about what we want. It’s
natural to say, “Let’s rough in the outlines and see how it looks, then
decide on the detail later.” Or, “Let’s start with the veggie beds outside
the back door, and think about the back paddock in a year or two.”