The garden’s first steps into permaculture
I’m just here for the mud therapy
I was going to open with…”Let’s be honest the garden doesn’t have to do the work, I do” but that’s a whopping lie and pretty arrogant to boot. The whole idea of permaculture is working with nature and if I can’t appreciate the effort my garden is putting in for me then I should probably hang up my gardening gloves now.
If I could find them.
Gloves can be useful, especially when you’re cutting back prickly Rosa Ragusa or wrangling courgettes, they’re surprisingly vicious, but for the most part I find them an inconvenience and they get in the way. For me it’s about feeling the soil and the seeds in my hands, when I’m digging out weeds I need to be able to feel the roots. Doing that in gloves would be like trying to do yoga in wellies.
Did you know there’s a special kind of bacteria in soil that actually boosts your mood? According to science, yes science, mycobacterium vaccae, is like the Prozac of the plant world. Maybe that’s why I love Tough Mudder’s so much.
Back to Permaculture.
In the first Roots & Ramblings post we looked at what it is and to risk being boring, I will repeat myself!
In a nutshell, permaculture is about working with nature instead of fighting against it like some sort of garden dictator. It’s less about planting things I like and hoping for the best and more about creating a little ecosystem that will mostly take care of itself. HARD graft in the short term (1-5 years) while things establish and much reward in the long term.
Instead of being on an endless hamster wheel of watering, weeding, digging and getting it all wrong, permaculture is about figuring out what plants like to grow together, how to keep the soil healthy and letting nature do it’s thing. You don’t need a huge plot to incorporate the principles into what you do either, whether you have a window sill, allotment or yard, I’m hoping you’ll find something useful in what I share so you can also create a little self-sustaining corner in your life.
The 12 Permaculture Principles
by David Holmgren, co-developer of permaculture practice.
Let’s get more specific, permaculture is design system rather than a set of rules. The principles inform each other and you of what your next steps might be.
Observe and interact – By taking time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation.
Catch and store energy – By developing systems that collect resources at peak abundance, we can use them in times of need.
Obtain a yield – Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing.
Apply self-regulation and accept feedback – We need to stop inappropriate activities to ensure that systems can continue to function well.
Use and value renewable resources and services – Make the best use of nature’s abundance to reduce our consumptive behaviour and dependence on non-renewable resources.
Produce no waste – By valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste.
Design from patterns to details – By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we.
Integrate rather than segregate – By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other.
Use small and slow solutions – Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes.
Use and value diversity – Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.
Use edges and value the marginal – The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse, and productive elements in the system.
Creatively use and respond to change – We can have a positive impact on inevitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time.
Ref: https://kukuapermaculture.org/permaculture-principles/
Where to start?
Well that’s easy, we start with the first principle, Observe & Interact - understanding what we’re working with. Whilst the principles aren’t numbered, you’ll notice that I have added numbers, just for ease of reference as we work our way through. I imagine they aren’t numbered because there is no order, it’s a constant cycle of observation, action and feedback, a continuous loop if you will.
1. Observe and interact
Happily the first step isn’t about planting, digging or doing, it’s just sitting back and watching. How does the sun track? Where does the wind blast through? How does water move across the land?
In our case, on a stormy day the wind can get up to 100mph (we tend to stay indoors) and during winter is often around the 40-50mph mark. You know it’s windy when the Lyness to Houton service is cancelled which was more than I would have liked last winter! Our ¾ acre is on a slope, with the house at the bottom but there are flatter bits and possible potential for a boggy area/pond. We have a hedgerow of Rosa ragusa which divides the garden & provides a bit of shelter in the field next door where most of our tress live.
This is also a great opportunity to get familiar with the soil, it’s only a small plot, by farming standards, one patch might be sandy while another holds onto water like it will never be seen again - that’s mostly what I’m dealing with.
Next steps:
Measure out the plot & create a rough sketch of the area
Log weekly weather reports, inc. wind direction + daylight hours
Keep an eye on the changes to the fauna (animals), which birds are visiting, are the caterpillars and bumble bees still out etc.
Notice any new plants popping up, is anything flowering?
Carry out simple at home soil tests
Drink tea, lots of
Catalogue my kitchen garden seeds and making a plan for autumn sowing in Doug
There’s something comforting about knowing that nature has its own systems in place and that I’m here to tune in and leverage what we have rather than trying to control it. So, for now, I’ll be watching, listening and probably having a few conversations with my garden moth caterpillar colony. Who knows, maybe they’ll be able to tell me a thing or two.
And if you’re wondering how to get started in your own garden/corner, now is the perfect time. We’re nearing the end of the harvest and things are dying back making it easier to observe the natural cycle of your garden, yard, or window box, whatever it is you have.
Which areas and plants have done well and which have struggled? How is the soil? Does it drain well or not? Were there any particular areas that got a lot of pests? I try to sacrifice at least one brassica to cabbage white and one other plant to greenfly because they are impossible to keep on top of.
Start by keeping a note what you see and the changes that are happening and let me know how you get on.
Weather log:
Week commencing 16th September
Daylight hours: 12h16 - 7:15am to 7.17pm - Sunday 23rd September, the autumn equinox.
From the autumn equinox I will record the shortest day and then as we we start to see the days really lengthen after the spring equinox I’ll start logging the longest day.
Max: 20℃; Min 8℃ - we had the last 3 days of summer & it was utterly glorious.
Max wind: 11mph. They lie, it’s been breezier than 11mph for sure!
Rainfall: not much!
Some haar conditions.
The haar is a coastal fog and happens when cold sea air meets warmer air from the land, causing the moisture in the air to condense into a thick fog. This then rolls onto the land as a chilly mist that can last from hours to days.
Data from https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/@2643297/historic - I need to find a better source.
I like the approach and not getting in nature’s way but more complementing it. It actually reminds me of Vita and Harold’s approach to Sissinghurst, in which the further the garden was from the house, the wilder it got. I have a wonderful picture I found of the Nuttery in spring/summer, in which the visitor walks on a carpet of flowering growth. It’s magical.
Great tips. Love this earth first approach. Gardening is wonderful and humbling.