If you are even slightly interested in the garden, you have certainly heard of permaculture? No, it is not permanent cultivation as the name might suggest, but a method that is shaking up organic gardening as we have understood it until now. Permaculture goes quite far in the techniques it advocates, including the most emblematic:no tillage, systematic mulching, perennials in large numbers. Want to know more?
Since October 5, 2015, you will find on newsstands the magazine The 4 Seasons of the organic garden , which publishes its special issue n°8, devoted to permaculture to help you get started. All the techniques of permaculture are reviewed and well detailed. You can also order it online at the Terre Vivante store.
In Normandy, the Bec Hellouin farm is a pioneer of permaculture since, in partnership with INRA for three years, it is in the process of demonstrating that a non-mechanized farm, working in permacultural organic market gardening, can create an activity full time on one hectare. Obviously, with permaculture, the model of agriculture respectful of the environment offering healthy and local products, in opposition to intensive and industrial agriculture, seduces, and like all new adventures it counts among its supporters some utopians who improvise "permaculturists" and trainers who are not yet really developed, not yet having the necessary perspective on the permacultural experience. Either way, they contribute to enriching the reflection.
If we wanted to sum up permaculture, we could say that beyond a set of techniques, it is a global approach that invites us to observe nature, to question the design of our garden and above all, to experiment... Major developments such as mulching, mounds, lasagna, mandala garden, aromatic spiral, fruit hedge, pond, greenhouse, rocket stove are part of an approach where design plays an important role, a compromise to be found between one's own desires and what the terrain allows or not so that the elements are consistent with each other...
The special issue tells the adventure of the garden-forest of Martin Crawford, one of the pioneers of permaculture, in England, but it also gives you a selection of species brought up to date by permaculture and interesting under the title their adaptability and their multiple functions:from perennial herbaceous plants to large trees forming the canopy, including bushy shrubs and lianas as well as large shrubs.
For those who would like to get started, the sowing techniques are well detailed:sowing in the ground with or without mulch, in mini-clods or in pots, then staggered or random planting... You will learn how to grow shiitake, this gourmet mushroom that can be grown on wooden logs.
Obviously, in permaculture, animals play an essential role so part of the special issue is devoted to them:they of course bring eggs, meat, honey, but we must also take into account the many services they can provide such as mowing. for example. Moreover, the construction technique of a chicken tractor is well detailed! This is also the case for making a Kenyan hive well suited to beekeeping in the garden.
The magazine The 4 Seasons of the organic garden acting as a reference and being particularly specialized in the field, you can trust the contact details he provides at the end of the special issue:you will find production farms, designers, training centers, places to live, gardens to visit …all of today's legitimate players who are as diverse as their cultures.
And don't forget that, very often in permaculture, the rule is to adapt to your land and choose the solution that works best...beyond the rules!
The 4 Seasons of the Organic Garden – Special Edition No. 8 – Getting started in permaculture – 116 pages – €7.70 – on newsstands October 5, 2015
