The term organic gardening has been around for decades. When I was a teenager, my father had a hobby garden, and he practiced organic gardening. He subscribed to Organic Gardener Magazine and adhered to the principles of the practice.
Fast forward several decades, and the term permaculture is now coming to the forefront. It’s been around for a while, but in light of accelerated climate change and the existential crisis we now face on this planet, the practice of permaculture farming has become critical to our very survival, not just as a human species, but for all life on our planet.
So… organic gardening and permaculture gardening. Is there a difference between the two, or are they one and the same practice?
Organic gardening does not use chemical pesticides and fertilizers. It relies on natural supplements, such as compost, leaves, worm castings, and beneficial microbes to nourish the soil. Companion planting helps to keep pests at bay, and crop rotation and cover crops contribute to the health of the garden environment.
Permaculture is short for permanent agriculture. The practice of permaculture gardening uses organic methods, but it goes far beyond the scope of organic gardening. It’s a set of design principles that take the entire ecosystem into consideration, using nature to foster balance, renewal, and sustainability. It integrates the environment of the garden with that of the home, community, and planet, so it has a deeper and more far-reaching environmental impact on the earth.
Shop at Bootstrap FarmerPermaculture gardening allows us to meet human needs while caring for our planet. The practice is based in capturing and using renewable energy sources, and producing abundance, while at the same time, practicing self-regulation.
It’s a self-contained, sustainable system that focuses on closing the nutrient cycle with the use of food scraps, animal manure, dead leaves, rotting wood, and other vegetation, things that are continually available within the system, as well as rainwater that is harvested and used to feed the crops.
The cycle progresses from plants, to table, to food waste, to animal waste, to plants again. For example, kitchen scraps go into the compost pile to feed worms. The worms provide castings to fertilize the soil, which they also aerate to help produce build healthy roots. The produce scraps eventually become compost again.
The practice builds humus in the soil, which leads to better water retention and greater nutrient availability for plants, which translates to better nutrient value in the food that is produced.
Another aspect of permaculture is bringing the forest to the garden. In other words, planting trees to create forest areas near the garden can improve the overall ecosystem. Trees provide shelter in the form of shade and windbreaks for livestock. Some trees, such as nut and fruit trees, provide additional nutrition for livestock and humans. Trees also benefit the crops by controlling water flow and breaking up hardened soil to make it easier for more tender crops to grow. They also provide shelter for beneficial wildlife who are part of the natural ecosystem.
Another piece of the permaculture puzzle is the practice of using native plants. Gardeners decide on what to grow depending on what works best for the local environment. They tailor the plants to the climate, rather than try to force plants to thrive in an environment that’s not natural for them.
These are just a few of the fundamentals of permaculture. There is so much more to the practice. I hope this brief overview piques your curiosity and helps you have a better understanding of what we must do as a species to heal the planet and bring all living beings back into balance to thrive and live in harmony.
Chelsea Green Publishing – the leading publisher of sustainable living books since 1985.###
