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Introductíonto PpnvrAcrJLTIJRE Bill Mollison

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T:e conrentsof this book and the word PERMACULTURE O are copyright. Apart form any fair .:eiling tor the purposeof privatestudy,research,criticism.or review permitted under the Copyright ,\,'r.no part of this book may be reproducedby any processwithout written permission from the :u L'iisher.

T\GARI PUBLICATIONS Publishersfor thePermacultureInstitutesince 1979 -r1 Rulla Road SistersCreek,Tasmania,7325Australia wwwltaqari.com International phone:61 3 6445 0915 Internationalfax: 61 3 6445 0944

.{uthor:Bili Mollison Cover; Kate Feain & Wayne Fleming Cover photo:Craig Worsley Illustrators:Kate Feain, Giri Mazzella, JanetMollison. CatherineWorsley. Claire yerbul Lar -out:Reny Slay \ational Library of Australia C . r t a l o g u i n gi n- - p u b l i c a t i o n Bibliography. Inciudesindex r s B \ 0 9 0 8 2 2 80 8 2 . Permaculture I S,.i Renr'.IL Title

Printedin Australiaby: STAR PRINTERY, Erskineville,NSW 2043

Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: PERMACULTURE PRINCIPLES 1.1 Introduction 1.2 RelativeLocation 1.3 Each ElementPerformsMany Functions I.4 Each ImportantFunction Is Supportedby Many Elements 1.5 Efficient Energy Planning 1.6 Using Biological Resources 1.7 Energy Cycling 1.8 Small-ScaleIntensiveSystems 1.9 AcceleratingSuccessionand Evolution 1.10 Diversity 1.11 Edge Effects 1.12 AttitudinalPrinciples 1.13 Referencesand FurtherReadins CHAPTER 2: BROADSCALE SITE DESIGN . 2.1 Introduction 2.2 IdentifyingResources 2.3 Landform (Topography) 2.4 Climate and Microclimate 2.5 Soils 2.6 Water 2.7 Siting ImportantInfrastructure 2.8 Desrgn for Catastrophe 2.9 Referencesand Further Readins CHAPTER 3: PATTERN UNDERSTANDING 3.1 Inrroduction 3,2 Patternin Nature 3.3 Patternin Design 3.4 Referencesand FurtherReadins CHAPTER 4: STRUCTURES 4.L Introduction -Iemperate 4.2 The House 4.3 The Tropical House 4.4 The Drylands House 4.5 Plant Houses 4.6 Waste Resourcesfrom the House 4,7 TechrrologicalStrategies 4.8 Referencesand FurtherReadine

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CHAPTER 5: THE HOME GARDEN 5.1 Introduction 5.2 GardenLayout 5.3 The InstantGarden 5.4 The Urban andSuburban PermacultureGarden 5.5 Cold Area GardenDesign 5.6 TropicalGardens 5.7 DrylandGardens 5.8 ReferencesandFurtherReading

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CHAPTER ó: ORCHARDS, FARM FORESTRY & GRAIN CRoPs 6.1 6.2 ó.3 6.4 ó.5 6.6

Orchards StructuralForests Grain and Legumes Crop Systems On-Farm Fuels Commercial Systems Referencesand Further Reading

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CHAPTER 7: ANI}ÍAL FORAGE SYSTEMS & AQUACULTURE 145 7.L Introduction 146 7.2 TnneI Animals 149 7.3 Poulul' Forage Systems 155 7,4 Pig Forage S1'stems 158 7.5 Goats 158 7.6 PastureCrops and Large Animal Forage 7,7 Aquacultureand Wetlands 7.8 Referencesand FurtherReading

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CHAPTER 8: LRBAN AND COMMUNITY STRATEGIES T7L 8.1 Grou'ing Food in the City (Village t72 Homes) Areas 8.2 Planned Suburban L7Z 8.3 Communitl'Recycling 174 8.4 Communiti'Land Access 175 8.5 Communitv Economics 8.6 Ethicai Investment 8.7 The PermacultureCommunity APPENDICES PermacultureInstituteProfile Biographies PermacultureDesisn CertificateCourse Resources Tagari PublicationsProflle Other Books SAMPLE DESIGNS INDEX

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Preface I grew up in a small village in Tasmanra. Everythingthatwe neededwe made.We made our own boots,our own metalworks;we caught fish, grew food, made bread. I didn't know anybodywho lived therewho hadonly onejob, or even anythingthatyou could defineas ajob. Everybody worked at severalthings. Untillwas about28,Ilivedina sortofdream. I spentmostof my timein thebushoron thesea. I fished,I huntedfor my living. It wasn't until the 1950sthatI noticedlargepartsof the s)'stem in which I lived weredisappearing.Fish stocks startedto collapse. Sea*'eedaround the shorelineshad thinnedout.Large patchesof the forestbeganto die. I hadn'trealiseduntii then thatI had becomevery fond of them,thatI u as in love with my country. After many years as a scientist with the CSIRO Wildlife Survey Section and with the I began TasmanianInlandFisheriesDepartment, political industrial and to protest againstthe systemsI saw were killing us and the world aroundus.But I soondecidedthatit wasno good persisting with opposition that in the end achievednothing.I withdrewfrom societyfor two years;I did not want to oppose anything everagainand wastemy time.i wantedto come b a c k o n l y w i t h s o m e t h i n gv e r y p o s i t i v e , somethingthatwouldallowusali toexistwithout the wholesalecollapseof biological systems. In 1968I beganteachingat theUniversityof Tasmania,and in I974,David Holmgren and I jointly evolved a frameworkfor a sustainable agriculturalsystem based on a multi-crop of perennialtrees,shrubs,herbs (vegetablesand for which I weeds),fungi, and root Systeníls, coined the word "permaculture".We spent a lot of time working out the principles of garden. andbuildinga species-rich permaculture This culminated,in i978, in tlrepublicationof Permaculture One.

was mixed. Public reactionto peÍTnaculture was professional outraged, The community because\Á'e\^'elecombining architecturewith biolo-er',agriculturewith forestry,and forestry r,rithanrmalhusbandry, so thatalmosteverybody r,r'ho themselvesto be a specialistfelt consrdered a bit oftended.But the popularresponsewas rerv diiterent.\lanv peoplehad beenthinking along the sarnelines. They were dissatisfied u ith a_criculture andwere rs it rs nou'practised, l o o k i n g t o u a r d s m o r e n a t u r a l ,e c o l o g i c a l svstenrs. A s I s a r rp e m r i c u l t u rien t h e 1 9 7 0 si,t w a sa b e n e f i c i aal s s e n r b i lo I p l a n t sa n d a n i m a l si n r e l a t i o nt o h u m e n s e t l l e m e n t sm. o s t l y a' i m e d self-reliance, andcornntunrty touardshousehold andperhapsas a "commercialendeavour"only arisingfrom a surplusfront thatsvstent. However, permaculturehas come to mean in thehousehold. morethanjustfood-sufficiency Self-reliancein food is meaninglessunless people have access to land, information,and financial resources.So in recent years it has come to encompass appropriatelegal and for land includingstrategies financialstrategies, access,businessstructures,and regional selffinancing.This way it is a wholehumansystem. By I976,I was lecturingon permaculture, andin 1979Iresignedfrommy teachingposition and threw myself at an advancedage into an uncertainfuture.I decidedto do nothingelsebut to tryto persuadepeopleto build goodbiological systems.I designedquite a few properties,and existedfor a while by catchingfish and pulling of a standard potatoes. In 1981thefirstgraduates permaculture designcoursealsostartedtodesign permaculturesystemsin Australia. Today there are over 300,000 such graduates throughouttheworld,all involvedin someaspect of environmentaland social work. Bill Mollison

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are sialeiui to the largenumberof studentsand practicingpermaculturalists from all over tlrc sorld uho over the yearshave experimentedwith plant species, desigrec propenies.,*ritteninformativearticles,set up permacultureorganisations in ::eir o\rr snrcs and countries,taughtother students,and who have all helped ::.ie pan of üe eanh a betterplace to live, not only for our children,but for us now.

ACCESS TO INFORMATTON \íaterial in this book is accessedthroughthe chapterand sectioncontents rTable of Contents).Main subjectsare listedin the Index.A list of the common and Latin namesof plantsusedin this book and a glossaryof a few uncommonly-used words are locatedat the back of thebook, alongwith the Appendices,containingan extensiveplantspecieslisti;'rg anda directoryof permaculture addresses andresources.

TREE TITHE Each volume of Introductionto Permaculturecarriesa surchargeof 50Éwhich is paid by Tagari Publicationsto the PermacultureInstitute.The Instituteholds these funds in trustfor tree-planting, and from time to time releasesmonies to selected groupswho are activein permanentreafforestation. In this way, bothpublishersand readerscan havea clearconscienceabouttheuseof thepaperin thisvolume,orin any book publishedby Tagari Publications.

C O N V E N T I O N SU S E D Seasonsanddirections:So thatthetextandfiguresareusefulandreadablein both thenorthandsouthhemispheres, thewords"sun-side"or "sunwards"or"shade-side" "polewards" or areusedratherthannorthandsouth.The symbol belowis usedin the illustrationsto indicatethe sun direction-

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Introduction

Permacultureis a design systemfor creating sustainablehumanenvironments.The word itself is a contraction not only of permanent agriculture but also of permanentculture, as cultures cannot survive for long without a sustainableagriculturalbase and landuseethic. On one level, permaculturedeals with plants, animals, buildings, and infrastmctures(water, energy, communications). However, pennaculture is not about theseelementsthemselves, but ratherabout the relationshipswe can create betweenthem by the way we place them in the landscape. The aim is to create systems that are ecologically-sound and economically viable, which providefor theirown needs,do notexploit or pollute, and are thereforesustainable in the long term. Permaculture uses the inherent qualities of plants and animals combined with the natural characteristicsof landscapes and structuresto produce a life-supportingsystem for city andcountry,using the smallestpractical area. Permaculture is based on the observation of natural systems, the wisdom contained in traditional farming systems, and modern scientific and technological knowledge. Although based on good ecological models, permaculturecreatesa cultivatedecology,which is designedto producemore human and animal food than is generally found in nature. Fukuoka, in his book The One Straw Revolution, has perhaps best statedthe basic philosophy of permaculture.In brief, it is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protractedand thoughtful

observation rather than protracted and thoughtlesslabour; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions,ratherthan treatingelementsas a single-productsystem.I havespoken,on a moremundanelevel,of using aikido on the landscape,of rolling with the blows,turningadversityinto strength,andusing everythingpositively. The other approachis to karatethe landscape,to try to make it yield by using our strength,and striking many hard blows. But if we attack nature we attack (and ultimately destroy)ourselves. I think harmony with natureis possible only if we abandonthe idea of superiority over the natural world. Levi Strauss said that our profound error is that we have always looked upon ourselvesas "mastersof creation",in the senseof being above it. We are not superiorto other life-forms; all living things are an expressionof Life. If we could seethattruth,we would see that everything we do to other lifeformswe also do to ourselves.A culturewhich understandsthis does not, without absolute necessity,destroyany living thing. Permacultureis a s)'stemby which we can existon theearthby usingenergythatis naturally in flux and relatively harmless,and by using food and naturalresourcesthat are abundantin sucha way thatwe don't continuallydestroylife on earth. Every technique for conserving and restoringthe earthis alreadyknown; what is not evident is that any nation or large group of peopleis preparedto makethechange.However, millions of ordinary people are startingto do it themselves without help from political authorities.

Wherever we live, we should start to do something.We can startfirst by decreasingour energy consumption-you can actually live on407oof theenergyyou arenow usingwithout sacrificinganythingof value.We canre-fit our houses for energy efficiency. We can cut ourvehicleuseby usingpublic transportation and sharingwith friends.We can saveu'ateroff our roofs into tanks,or recycle greyu'aterto rhe toilet systemor garden.We can a.lsobeein to takesomepartin food production.Thi s doesn'r meanthatwe all needto gIow our o\Á'npot3lreS. but it may mean thatwe will buy themdirectlr' from a personwho is alreadygro*'in g poratoes r e s p o n s i b l y .I n f a c t , o n e w o u l d p r o b i b l rd o g;oupin betterto organisea farmer-purcirasing the neighbourhoodthanto gro\\ F,o:3r(Fs.

is regardedas a commodityinvolvesa shiftfrom a l o w t o a h i g h - e n e r g ys o c i e t y , t h e u s e o f land in an exploitative and destructiveway, and a demand for external energy sources, mainly provided by the third world as fuels, fertiiisers,protein,labour,and skills. Conventional farming does not recognise and pay its true costs:the land is mined of its fertilityto produceannual grain and vegetable crops; non-renewableresources are used to supportyields;theland is erodedthroughoverstockingof animals and extensiveploughing; land and waterare pollutedwith chemicals. When the needsof a systemare not met from q'ithin the system,we pay the price in energy consumptionand pollution.We can no longer afford the true cost of our agriculture.It is

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ELEMENTS OF A TOTAL PERN,IACULTUREDESIGN

In all permanent agricultures, or in sustainable human culture generally,the energy needs of thesystemareprovidedby thatsystem.Modern crop agricultureis totallydependenton external energies.The shift from producrivepermanent systems(wheretheland is held in common),ro annual,commercial agricultuleswhere land )

killing our world,and it will kill us. Sittingat our back doorsteps,all we needto lrve a goodlife liesaboutus.Sun,wind,people, buildings,stones,sea,birdsandplantssurround us. Cooperationwith all these things brings harmony,oppositionto them brings disaster and chaos.

I PERMACULTUREETHICS Ethics are moral beliefs and actions in relation to survival on our planet. In permaculture,we embrace a threefold ethic: careofthe earth,careofpeople, and dispersalof surplus time, money, and materials towards theseends. Care of the earthmeans care of all living and nonliving things: soils, species and their varieties, atmosphere,forests,micro-habitats, animals, and waters. It implies harmless and rehabilitative activities, active conservation, ethical and frugal use of resources,and "right livelihood" (working for useful and benef,rcial systems). Care of the earthalso implies care of people so that our basic needs for food, shelter, education,satisfyingemployment,andconvivial human contact are taken care of. Care of people is important,for even thoughpeople make up a small paÍt of the total living systems of the world, we make a decisive impact on it. If we can provide for our basic needs, we need not indulge in broadscale destructive practices againstthe earth. The third componentof thebasic "care of the earth" ethic is the contibution of surplus time, money,and energy to achievethe aims of earth and people care. This means that after we have takencare of our basic needs and designedour systemsto the bestof our ability, we can extend our influence and energies to helping others achieve that aim. The permaculturesystemalso has abasic lift ethic, which recognises the intrinsic worth of every living thing. A treeis somethingof value in itself, even if it has no commercial value for us. That it is alive and functioning is what is important. It is doing its part in nature: recycling biomass, providing oxygen and carbondioxide for theregion,shelteringsmall animals, building soils, and so on. So we see that the permaculture ethic pervades all aspects of environmental, community, economic and social systems. Cooperation, not competition,is the key.

Ways we can implement the earthcare ethics in our own lives are as follows: . Think about the long-term consequences of your actions. Plan for sustainability. . Where possibleusespeciesnativeto the area,or thosenaturalisedspeciesknown to be beneficial.The thoughtlessintroduction of potentiallyinvasive speciesmay upset naturalbalancesin your home area. . Cultivate the smallest possible land area.Plan for small-scale,energy-efficient intensivesystemsratherthanlarge-scale, energy-consuming extensivesystems. . Be diverse,polycultural (asopposedto monocultural).This provides stability and helps us to be ready for change, whether environmentalor social. . Increasethe sum of vields: look at the total yieldof thesystemprbvided by annuals, perennials,crops, trees,and animals. Also regard energy saved as a yield. . lJse low-energy environmental (solar, wind, and water) and biological (plant and animal) systems to conserve and generateenergy. . Bring food-growingback into thecities andtowns,whereit hasalwaystraditionally beenin sustainablesocieties. . Assist people to become self-reliant, and promotecommunityresponsibility. . Reafforesttheearthandrestorefertilitv to the soil. . Use everythingat its optimum level and recycle all wastes. . See solutions,not problems. . Work where it counts (plant a tree where it will survive; assist people who want to learn).

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Permaculture Principles

speciesfor a productive,interactive system. . Use of edge and natural patternsfor best effect. There are two basic stepsto good permaculture :e sign. The first deals with laws and principles ::at can be adaptedto any clirnatic and cultural :ondition, while the second is more closely 'ssociated with practical techniques,which :hangefrom one climate and cultureto another. The principles discussed in the following rages are inherentin any permaculturedesign, in any climate and at any scale. They are seiected from principles of various disciplines: ecology, energy conservation, landscape design,andenvironmentalscience,andare,briefly, as follows: . Relative location: every element (such as house,pond,road,etc.)is placed in relationship ro anotherso that they assisteach other. . Each elementperforms many functions. . Each important function is supportedby many elements. . Efficient energy planning for house and settlement(zones and sectors). . Emphasis on theuseof biological resources over fossil fuel resources. . Energy recycling on site (both fuel and human energy). . Using and acceleratingnatural plant succession to establishfavourablesites and soils. . Polyculture and diversity of beneficial

The core of permacultureis design.Design is a connectionbetweenthings. It's not water,or a chicken, or the tree. It is how the water, the chicken and the treeare connected.It's the very oppositeof what we aÍetaughtin school. Education takes everything and pulls it apart and makesno connectionsatall. Permaculturemakes the connection,becauseas soon as you've got the connection you can feed the chicken from the tree.To enable a design component(pond, house,woodlot,garden,windbreak,etc.)tofunction efficiently,we mustput it in theright place. For example, dams and water tanks are locatedabovethehouseand gardenso thatgravity ratherthan a pump is used to direct flow. Home windbreaksare placed so thatthey deflect wind but do not shadethe house from the winter sun. The gardenis placed betweenthe houseand the chicken pen, so that gardenrefuse is collected on the way to the pen and chicken manure is easily shovelledover to the garden,and so on. We set up working relationships betu'een each element.so that the needs of one element

. The inputs needed by one element are supplied by other elementsin the system;and . The outputsneededby one elementareused by other elements(including ourselves).

arefilled by the yields of anotherelement.To do this, we must discover the basic characteristics of any element,its needs,and its products (see Box). The elementsin a typical small farm might include: house, greenhouse,garden,chicken pens, water storage tank, compost pile, beehives, nurseryarea and pottingshed,woodlot, dam, aquaculturepond, windbreak, barn, tool pasture,hedgerou', shed,woodpile,guest-house, worrn beds, and so on. These can be moved about,on paper, until they are working to best advantage. In thecaseof everyelement,we can baseour linking strategiesto thesequestions: "Of whatuse aretheproductsof thisparticular elementto the needsof otherelements?" "What needsof this elementare suppliedb1' otherelements?" "Where is this element incor.rpatibleu'ith otherelements?" "Where doesthis elementbenefitotherparts of the system?" It is bestto startwith themostimportantnode of activity (e.g.the house,or even a commercial centresuchas nursery,free-rangechicken farm, aquaculture,etc.).For things to work properly, we must rememberthat:

EACHi..,ELEMENT...1P-ER EOR .i.i.iii. :,:,,:::::i:,:,:::,it:::::::::::::i:iii:i:iii:i:iiiiiiiiiiirliiiiiiiiiiitii.,FUNC Each elementin the systemshould be chosen andplaced so thatitperforms as many functions as possible.A pond can be used for irrigation, u ateringlivestock, aquatic crop, and fire control.It is alsoa habitatfor waterfowl,a fish farm, and a li-ehtreflector(Figure 2.8). A dam wall functionsas a road, a firebreak,and a bamboo productionarea. We can do the samewith plants.Simply by selectinga useful speciesand puttingit in a particularpiace u'e can useit for one or moreof the following purposes: animal forage windbreak privacy fuel erosion control trellis wildlife habitat fire control climatic buffer mulch soil conditioner food

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