Tag Archives: personal permaculture
Permaculture Principle 12: Creatively Use and Respond to Change
Where is change happening in your yard – and in your life? The sun has been a primary change agent. When an old apple tree was struck by lightening and came down, we gained a sunny back yard and a … Continue reading
Permaculture Principle 11: Use Edges and Value the Marginal
Edges can be hard places to work with, but they present a lot of interesting opportunity and natural diversity. Continue reading
Permaculture Principle 9: Use Small and Slow Solutions
Small and slow solutions will be increasingly important in an energy-constrained future. Continue reading
Permaculture Principle 3: Obtain a Yield
This permaculture principle seems obvious, doesn’t it, but I find that it generates some of the most powerful questions I can ask as a gardener. Have I devoted too much of my garden space to plants that aren’t producing much … Continue reading
Permaculture Principle 1: Observe and Interact
I have to admit that I’ve done lots of interacting with my garden based on what I WANTED to see and not what was actually there to be seen. I can’t tell you how many times I tried to create … Continue reading
The First Permaculture Ethic: Care For the Earth
With only 1/10th of an urban acre, it’s pretty clear that the greatest impact I have on the planet and its resources is not as a gardener, but as a consumer. Like most Americans, I consume more than my fair share of the world’s natural resources in terms of food, water, minerals and fossil fuels. Every time I buy something, the permaculture ethic of care for the earth asks me to consider whether I really need it. Continue reading
Reflections on Two Seasons of Permaculture
Permaculture recognizes that the benefits we obtain from our environment cannot, for long, come at a cost to the natural world. Unlike a company or a country, a planet cannot run a deficit. The well simply runs dry. So permaculture principles guide human activity in a way that seeks abundant yields, that acknowledges limits,and that recognizes the need to provide inputs into the system to rebuild natural resources like the soil and water – and people. We’re part of the natural system, too. Continue reading
Personal Permaculture 2: Capture and Store Energy
This month’s permaculture principle is “Capture and store energy.” Since we’re looking at permaculture broadly, the conversation encompassed many different types of energy.
Moving the Conversation
I have become the administrator of the blog for Transition Longfellow. I am moving the pages of information about the discussion groups — personal permaculture and preparedness — to that blog. If you would like to participate in the ongoing … Continue reading
Personal Permaculture 1: Observe and Interact
During the first discussion of the Personal Permaculture group, after hearing the principles and ethics, people shared their thoughts about the principle of observation and interaction. A couple of things struck me as particularly important areas to pay attention to … Continue reading
