Soon after having decided to start our own organic garden, we stumbled across the term permaculture. We found a number of books, courses, and workshops that aimed to give us an idea of the concept and make it easier for us to integrate it into our everyday lives and our garden. We are still in the process of educating ourselves in the world of permaculture, hoping to be able to design our garden in line with its principles. It is an exciting journey, and we would like to share with you a part of it in our blog.
So what exactly is permaculture? The term itself means something like “permanent agriculture”. The concept is based on looking at nature as the ultimate teacher: the idea is that if we humans take the time to observe closely natural patterns and ecosystems and try to imitate them, we ourselves could create sustainable, future-proof ecosystems - for example in our own garden. To achieve this, we can promote plant biodiversity (i.e. no monoculture), avoid all non-natural pesticides and fertilisers, and create habitats for beneficial insects (such as a small pond in the garden). In a nutshell, here's how we (as newbie gardeners) imagine a permaculture garden: definitely more than simply organic, and definitely a bit "wilder"!
Actually, the permaculture movement today extends far beyond the garden fence. Some of the central ethical principles of permaculture - such as people care, nature care, sharing and creating sustainable concepts - could easily be transferred to various areas of our professional and private life. They can reliably support our decision-making in today's fast paced world. Nowadays, there are even business consultants who support entrepreneurs in implementing the principles of permaculture. This can lead to results that are sustainable and cost-effective for the company - for example by implementing energy cycles, recycling by-products and using networks wisely.
If you are also curious about permaculture, you can learn a lot about it online, e.g. about the principles developed by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. The topic definitely remains exciting for us, also because of the role of bees in permaculture. Indeed, the little bee is a central protagonist in healthy ecosystems. We will share more about this in one of our next blog posts!
