We hear increasingly more about permaculture in the media but what does this practice – acclaimed by many environmentalists – truly encompass?
Between life philosophy and gardening methods
Permaculture – or permanent farming – was theorized in the 1970 in Australia. It is hard to give it a precise definition because of how large a project it is: summarily, it is to live in harmony with nature and the human community. It farming declination consists in creating vegetable garden inspired from the operation of natural ecosystems, including on small urban surfaces. Each who practice permaculture must thus adapt to his/her own environment, using both traditional know-how and dated stemming from agronomic research. If permaculture aims to optimise productivity, though a particular care given to the ground – among other things –, it completely falls in line with a sustainable development logic.
3 basic principles for a permaculture garden
1. All hail diversity! Permaculture is not about growing vegetable exclusively. There is no such thing was weeds but only plants able to protect other species, nourish the soil, if not even end up in a salad or a soup. Other key word: interaction. Some plants are harmful towards one another, other bring each other natural benefits. Land management also focuses on variety: soil mounds, pond, hedges, trees, greenhouses, watering holes... interact so that fruits and vegetables grow in abundance.
2. Down with pesticides. Insecticides, herbicides and other fungicides are absent of this gardening method. The stake: ensure that the ecosystem created by the gardener knows how to defend itself against pests thanks to its biodiversity. The fauna and farm animals are very important because they are predators against plant bugs. For instance, hedgehogs love slugs and snails.
3. Goodbye ploughing. The soils never need to plough, and hand tools respect the life of the ground. However, as in nature, the soils are never left naked: they are covered with a layer of « mulch » protecting them and nourishing while limiting water evaporation and unwanted plant proliferation. This mulch essentially comes from the plot’s green or organic waste (green fertilizer, dead leaves, decaying plants, wood chips, compost, tops, peelings, animal manure…): nothing is lost, and everything transformed!