Permaculture Design 1: A Detailed Explanation of Design Principles for Living in Harmony with the Land

Text / Zhou Miaofei

Permaculture was a set of concepts developed in the 1970s by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren of Australia, with the aim of designing sustainable living environments that save energy and carbon, are efficient, productive, self-sufficient, and interdependent with the environment.

It can be applied as small as the residents of an apartment building, as large as a farm, or even larger as the planning of a community. It combines principles from ecology, geography, agriculture, architecture, energy, and more, yet it is very humanistic, taking as its purpose loving the Earth, loving humanity, and sharing with others. Since its development, what is most distinctive is that it has a set of courses that teach people how to fish, hoping that everyone can be a designer and can design and create their own living environment, from a point to a whole surface, actively working toward a sustainable future.

Permaculture has several principles, and none of them involves profound theory; instead, they are simple common sense that "should be so by nature," yet they can improve today's complex "technological" way of life.

The following are several of its principles:

1. Connect the various elements within the environment: When designing a living environment, consider the characteristics of each element, connect them, and let them complement one another. For example, a farm will have a reservoir to supply water for the house and the vegetable plot. If it is placed at a high point above the house and the vegetable plot to supply water by gravity, it can save on a pump motor and electricity or fuel. Or place the chicken coop and duck house next to the vegetable plot, so plant residues from the vegetable plot can be conveniently tossed next door for the chickens and ducks to eat; when the vegetable plot needs fertilizer, it is also convenient to go next door to the chicken coop and duck house to scoop some up.

2. Each element has multiple functions: When choosing each element or deciding its location, it is best to combine multiple functions. For example, placing a pond on a farm can, besides storing water, also provide fish farming, duck raising, growing aquatic edible plants, cooling the air, ecological conservation, and many other functions.

3. Important functions are guaranteed by multiple elements: For example, plants grown on a large farm or in a community should be diversified. There should be trees, fruits, and vegetables, annuals and perennials, different characteristics such as drought tolerance and moisture tolerance, and functions such as providing food, feed, building materials, and green manure, and there should be harvests in all four seasons. In this way, the necessities of life can be guaranteed and independence achieved.

4. Efficient energy planning: The position and orientation of each element take into account the efficiency of energy, including human labor.

For example, plan the vegetable plot that requires frequent walking and careful care near the kitchen, so the homemaker can effortlessly and conveniently pick ingredients for three meals, while fruit trees and free-range chickens and ducks that need only occasional care can be planned a little farther from the residential area.

Wind, rain, sun, and water are the energies of nature, and in our design we consider measures that follow the forces of nature. For example, hedgerows can be planted on the northeast side to block the dry, cold northeast monsoon that blows in winter, while ponds can be dug on the west and south sides to cool the hot winds brought by the summer southwest monsoon and south wind, saving energy and creating a comfortable living environment.

Slope is also an important source of energy. Terrain, whether steep or gentle, has slopes that can be used, making it possible to plan the location of reservoirs and the direction of water flow, and to make the best plan for where water comes from and where it goes.

5. Use biological resources: Under today's energy crisis, we should further reduce dependence on machinery and petroleum and make more use of the resources of animals and plants. They are renewable, recyclable, and inexhaustible, and can be used to provide various necessities of life, such as firewood, fertilizer, biological pest control, weeding and pest removal, and soil and water conservation.

6. Cycle precious Earth resources and energy: Today's global trade model is the most resource- and energy-consuming. In permaculture design, materials are sourced locally as much as possible, and resources and energy are recycled. For example, kitchen waste can become fertilizer; used greywater can be used to irrigate vegetable plots and orchards, and so on.

7. Small and beautiful systems: At present, agriculture depends on machinery, petroleum, and chemicals to cultivate large areas. But energy will run out, chemicals have destroyed countless tracts of land, and precious forests have also been cleared for farming. Permaculture design focuses on small-scale, intensive, cooperative farming methods. In fact, observations in recent years have found that the total output of small farms is superior to that of large farms.

8. Accelerate the evolution of ecosystems: If a piece of abandoned land is not damaged by humans and is left to develop freely, low-growing plants such as wild grasses will first cover it, then nitrogen-fixing pioneer plants will begin to grow and improve the soil, and afterward more low-growing plants will follow, and then taller tree species will move in step by step. It may take several years or several decades, but eventually a stable, vibrant forest will gradually form. We can use several strategies to accelerate evolution, such as planting fast-growing tree species and nitrogen-fixing tree species, to restore the land and stabilize the ecology.

9. Diversification: Planting a diversity of plants can form a more stable ecology. Grow vegetables, fruits, and plants that provide nuts, oils, timber, and firewood, plus raise poultry, fish, and shrimp. Farmers can create sustainable farms, obtain enough food, be self-sufficient, and avoid the risks of single-crop farming.

10. Make use of edges: Watersides, the base of walls, and forest edges are all edges, places where different ecosystems meet and where species are most abundant, and they can be put to good use. For example, a circular pond of uniform depth is absolutely no match in benefit for a pond that has both deep and shallow areas, an uneven and multi-sided perimeter, and even a small island in the center. The pond's edges and center or different depths each have different small ecologies, where different edible plants can be grown, and fish and shrimp can also be stocked in the water. This in turn enriches the ecology and increases edible crops and sources of trade and income.

Permaculture is a theory of design that follows nature, gathers experience and wisdom from ancient and modern times and from home and abroad, and actively creates a friendly living environment.

Besides design principles and techniques, permaculture has two most important spirits: first, to redesign shortcomings into advantages. For example, when the land grows many new tree species on its own, most people will rush to cut them down, but in permaculture design the characteristics of these new tree species will be considered and their functions identified, so as to make the best combination with other elements. Second, permaculture design is lively and flexible and is humbly learning, so the living environment will evolve, and the permaculture design will also be revised and adapted.

The above are some of the design principles and concepts of permaculture.