Natural Farming and Permaculture-an essay introduction

At Caretaker Farm since the beginning of my time there in 1989 I have tried to follow the natural farming recommended and practiced by Masanobu Fukuoka-his book the One Straw Revolution which I read in the early 1980s  had a huge impact on the way I thought about and interacted with nature.

 Later I discovered Permaculture with its design planning system using zones and organic methods. As a result I  use a combination of both methods in what I am trying to create on Caretaker Farm in NZ.

In this essay I will describe and explain permaculture as I understand it after having attended a two week Permaculture Design course in the north of New Zealand back in 2005 and have implemented on Caretaker Farm, Whangateau, Aotearoa(NZ). 

Permaculture was developed by two Australians, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, as a response to pollution of the soil, water and air; the increasing reduction of non-renewable resources; the continued loss of animal and plant species and; exploitive and destructive economic systems.

By using knowledge of plant, animal and social systems, old wisdoms and skills in combination with modern technology and ideas, permaculture was created. 

Permaculture requires the user of its system to firstly observe natural systems in their immediate environment . 

It's design approach uses the inherent qualities of plants and animals in combination with the natural characteristics of landscapes and structures to produce a sustainable life-supporting system.  The Permaculture design used in agriculture aims to produce more human and animal food than is generally found in nature by creating a cultivated ecology.

This photo is of a winter garden space where I used the Fukuoka "seed ball" method of planting. 

Seed balls (clay, shredded mushroom, compost, seegrass, blood n bone and ash mixed with wormwater into small balls) were thrown in rows on the ground where the summer grass had been cut and allowed to dry and die off.  

The seed used for planting was organic and after harvesting in the spring some of the plants were left to go to seed disappearing under summer grass regrowth but once the autumn clearing of the grass took place new small vegetable plants were found starting to push their way out of the soil to grow again over the winter. 

The opposite photo shows the same spot in the summer when the harvest had well and truly disappeared in the summer grass.

For three years this garden re-sprouted (new plants grew again themselves from fallen seed) after each summers grass cut and provided many leaf vegetables over winter for our Caretaker Farm household.  There grew kale, lettuce, silverbeet, mesclun, mizuna/mibuna,  beetroot, cabbage, and sprouting broccoli. 

The wwoofers clearing the grass space each year in the Autumn couldn't believe that small vegetable plants were hidden and appearing at the base of the grass by themselves from fallen seed. 

There are many definitions of Permaculture. Earlier definitions talk about permanence within agriculture, while more recent definitions concentrate on sustainable human settlements. 

One definition taken from Bill Mollison and Rena Mia Slays book "Introduction to Permaculture" states: "Permaculture is about designing sustainable human settlements. It is a philosophy and an approach to land use which weaves together micro-climate,  annual and perennial plants, animals, soils, water management and human needs into intricately connected productive communities." 

The ethics of permaculture are: Care for the earth, Care for people, Distribute surplus, Reduce consumption.

The core of permaculture is design.

It is also about using what you have in a closed system hence the use on Caretaker Farm of native wood planted and grown on the farm now used for garden edges in raised bed growing.

The following two photos-opposite and below-show a space at the start and once the herbs and plants have grown-biodiversity is the key.

In Permaculture the design is about making a connection between things and ensuring that through the design things are put into the right places so that connection can be made. Examples include locating your culinary herb garden close to the kitchen so there is easy access to the herbs needed for cooking. 

Another example is to locate where possible dams and water tanks above the house and garden so that gravity rather than a pump is used to direct the flow of water. 

A garden is located near a chicken coop so that garden refuse is collected on the way to the coop and chicken manure is easily shovelled over the garden and so on.

Permaculture can work no matter what size property you are dealing with. 

The following principles are inherent in any permaculture design and apply in any climate and on any scale. These principles have been taken from various disciplines such as ecology, energy conservation, landscape design and environmental science and can be briefly outlined as follows.:

-Relative location -this is where each element is placed in relationship to another so that they assist each other;

-Each element has many functions;

-Each important function is supported by many elements;

-There is efficient energy planning by using zones and sector planning;

-Emphasis is on using biological resources rather than fossil fuel resources within the design;

-Energy recycling of fuel and human energy to take place on the site;

-Use and acceleration of natural plant succession in order to establish favourable sites and soils;

-Diversify species in order to produce a productive interactive system;

-Use of edge and natural patterns within the design plan.

When designing for a particular site you need to list or place onto a plan all the physical features that pertain to that site. List all the elements that are needed, including the physical elements, materials, social resources, plant and animal resources.

There are books like Introduction to Permaculture, Permaculture A Designers' Manual that contain drawings which illustrate what has been described. 

On Caretaker Farm there were already elements such as buildings, water tanks, fences, certain large trees or plants resulting from the designs created in the 100 plus years the land had been farmed by other owners before me. 

Lack of financial resources for the first 15 years or more of living at Caretaker Farm meant that I had to adapt my design for the property around these already existing elements. 

I was unable to pull everything down and start again. Instead I recycled spaces and adapted my "design" with the knowledge that in the future some things could change and that there were spaces on the land that were clear palates for creating future gardens and animal and human living spaces. 

It is important when you move onto a site to do nothing for a period of time and instead take note of all the incoming energies from the sun, wind, light and rain. This means that in the design plan by acknowledging the sources of energy that drive the system you are then able to manage that energy in the best possible way and thereby minimise damage. This is probably the hardest thing to do when taking on a site. My advice is to start growing perennial seedlings, trees, herbs and flower plants in pots that can then be transplanted later into the places that you determine in your future design plan.

Rushing to plant means mistakes are made and things get placed where they should not be due to wind, water drainage, sun overload, soil issues that you have not accounted for in the seasonal changes that take place over a 12-month period on any site. 

When placing an element within the site plan it is important to locate it somewhere where the element has a positive effect on another element.  

An example is the placing of a greenhouse in close proximity to a chicken house as the chickens can provide manure and heating for the greenhouse and the greenhouse provides food for the chickens.

Another example is the use of companion planting whereby certain plants support other plants within a garden space. In the picture above you can see a huge diversity of plants in a supportive system.

An element must be placed so that it performs at least two or more functions. For example a tree providing shelter, firewood and soil stabilisation.  By assuming that everything is of some use (the problem is the solution) the placement of elements is decided through careful observation of the site and its features, however the development of an interactive system with complex elements takes time to evolve.

Permaculture uses a zoning system to determine the placement of various elements. The zoning system starts with zero-the house. It is the centre of activity. It has to suit the occupants needs and has to be designed and built to use the least energy.

Zone 1 is the most intensively used area-the herb spiral, the vege garden, nursery, greenhouses and chicken house.

Zone 2 is mostly orchard and necessary small animals needed for orchard management-eg-pigs and ducks.

Zone 3 contains bigger fruit and nut trees, less managed animals like cows, sheep and semi managed birds like turkeys and geese and perhaps some woodlots for firewood.

Zone 4 is barely managed and semi-wild system less designed than evolved.

Zone 5 is wilderness left alone for native bush, habitat for native animals, a place to observe, learn and mediate. Here humans are visitors not managers.

This photo shows the beginning of a garden-the site has been cleared and old tyres and recycled bricks form the shape of the garden space. 

Here I have used egg-carton trays to help suppress unwanted weed plant growth. Also they are useful for putting seeds in the indents and covering with soil to create good plant spacing. 

This area of the land was a wasted "junk" space previously 

The photo opposite shows the above space after plant growth in the next season. Flowers and herbs initially have been planted to help create the soil so that in future seasons a vegetable garden can be planted in this space. 

In the Permaculture design zones can be any shape and sometimes blur into each other. Also landforms and site access dominate the design. Zoning is decided by the number of times you visit an element, structure, plant or animal. Always start small and work out through the zones.

Permaculture also makes use of guilds. Guilds are made up of a close association of plants and or animals-a sophisticated kind of companion planting.

There is more to Permaculture than this wee introduction covers but hopefully it has peaked your interest and you will look for more information on this design system which can be used not only on 

farms but in architecture, office design and even teaching plans used in classrooms.

In this picture opposite recycled bricks have been used to separate plant vegetable and herb spaces.

The soil has been created. Compost, mycelium, clay, leaves and other organic material including sticks and branches all go into making the necessary soil for plants to grow.

On caretaker farm several gardens have been created by using primarily felled tree branches, sticks and leaves along with roadside slip clay.

The plants are placed on this material in degradable pots made of paper, or in egg cartons and they find their own way to root and grow as the material around them slowly rots and composts.    

The picture below shows the beginning of a food 

forest planting. The cardboard is used to suppress the kikuyu grass which covers this site.

On Caretaker Farm kunekune pigs and chickens were used to clear whole areas of the farm of kikuyu grass since it was choking newly planted fruit trees and was difficult to mange without using sprays. The use of the animals was an effective organic method to control such invasive grasses and plants in large spaces on the property.  

We have used Kanuka (a native tree in NZ) to build raised bed gardens and create the garden design space on Caretaker farm as it is freely available and has a long lifespan as a barrier. 

The photo on the left shows a new garden space using Kanuka to create the frame of the garden spaces-it is flexible and strong. The same material is used as pegs to hold the frame in place.

Kanuka is the tree and Manuka is the shrub. Both can produce honey and have medicinal properties. 

The next photo on the right show the bottom entrance to the farm.   Note the diversity of plants.

When this property was purchased in 1989 there were only 20 trees on the whole 20 acres. 

As a long-standing farm in NZ terms it was a grass desert and the prior owner kept milking goats who had eaten every plant they could reach including plants like blackberry and gorse. 

Natural agriculture and Permaculture principles used on the property with no sprays or poisons at all have restored the land to a biodiverse oasis for all life. The farm is an example of what is possible on land that is degraded and derelict of life if the design is there and nature is allowed to rule.   

Permaculture Reference Materials:

If you wish to know more I suggest reading the free pamphlets as can be found at the following site:  http://www.barkingfrogspermaculture.org/PDC_ALL.pdf   

These pamphlets are based on the 1981 Permaculture Design Course given by Bill Mollison at The Rural Education Center, Wilton, New Hampshire, USA. Elizabeth Beyor, without compensation  transcribed the tape recordings of the course and subsequently edited the transcripts into 15 pamphlets-they are available online and their use is encouraged.

Books:

• Earth User's Guide to Permaculture. Rosemary Morrow and Rob Allsop. Kangaroo Press, NSW Australia. 2006 (2nd ed.). 164pp.
• Introduction to Permaculture. Bill Mollison and Reny Mia Slay. Tagari Publishers, Tyalgum, Australia.1991. 198pp.
• Permaculture One: A Perennial Agriculture for Human Settlements, 3rd Edition. Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. Tagari Publishers, Tyalgum, New South Wales, Australia. 1987.127pp.
• Permaculture Two: A Practical Design for Town and Country in Permanent Agriculture. Bill Mollison. Tagari Press, Stanley, Australia. 1979. 150pp.
• Permaculture: A Designer's Manual. Bill Mollison. Tagari Publications, Tyalgum, Australia. 1988. 576pp.
• Getting Started in Permaculture. Ross and Jennifer Mars. Candlelight Trust, Hovea, Western Australia. 1998. 96pp.
• Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. David Holmgren, Holmgren Design Services, Australia, 2003, 320pp.