Permaculture - "permanent agriculture" - started as a method of creating a sustainable abundance of food, while taking care of the planet. But it didn't stop there, and now it is a design philosophy for every human endeavour. Janice Murphy talks to permaculture teacher Peta Hudson.
The concept of permaculture was introduced to the world in a book by Australian ecologists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in 1978, and since Australia is where it all started, Peta Hudson's Aussie accent seems appropriate.
But the bubbly permaculture expert was actually born in India of British parents, though she grew up in Australia.
Self-employed as a gardener in the Blue Mountains, she took a Rosemary Morrow course in permaculture in 1991, later herself becoming a teacher.
Peta moved to Dunedin in 1999 and lives at Harwood, where she produces all her own vegetables and some fruit from her sandy -acre section.
She has run permaculture courses in Dunedin for several years and her particular interest is in producing food from small urban gardens.
"You don't need a big backyard," she says.
"You can grow food on a balcony, if that's all you have. You can use space creatively."
Peta says the size of each garden might be small but, together, urban food gardeners can have a big impact, producing fresh, organically grown produce that has not been trucked around the country.
Forget food miles and go for food metres instead.
But, as the annoying advertising jingle goes, "it ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it, that's what gets results".
Design
The key to permaculture is the design of your environment, whatever its size.
Your house is the highest-traffic area: everything comes and goes from there - water, food and waste.
So why place the kitchen garden away at the back of the section? On a dreary, rainy Dunedin day you won't want to traipse down there to make use of it.
Put pot herbs and vegetables right by the door, where you can easily pop out and get them.
Fruit trees, on the other hand, only need you a few times a year, so they can go further away.
The idea is to produce an environment that suits your needs and minimises the use of energy, yours included.
Togetherness
In nature, plants and animals work together to produce a rich, fertile environment, and there's no reason they can't do the same in an urban backyard.
For example, trees provide shade, fruit, leaf litter to enrich the soil, and shelter for birds which sleep in the branches at night, their droppings fertilising the trees.
Permaculture elements should also be multipurpose.
This could mean keeping hens to convert your garden surplus and kitchen waste into eggs and meat, as well as manure for the garden.
Plant a guild (mutually beneficial grouping) such as beans, corn and zucchini together: the beans fix nitrogen for the corn, which provides stakes for the beans, and the zucchini shades the soil, keeping it moist.
Diversity
Aim for as much diversity and variety as possible.
Different plants have different nutrient requirements.
Placing the right species together, you can fit a lot into a small garden without depleting the soil.
Use plants of different shapes and heights together, to get in even more.
Mix food plants with plants that attract beneficial insects.
Don't think vegetable garden, think ecosystem.
Water
Water is an important part of the design.
Instead of letting rainwater pour down the drain, why not put it in a tank and store it? When water restrictions come in, your garden won't suffer.
But it won't suffer much anyway, if you apply another permaculture fundamental: mulch.
Lots and lots of mulch to build up the soil and help keep water from evaporating.
Getting started
Above all, don't fight nature. Peta advises that you look carefully at your section. There might be damp areas, good for blueberries, or hot dry parts ideal for aromatic herbs.
Find out what likes the conditions and plant it there. The more planning is done, the less work is needed later.
For example, Peta says, you might plant deciduous trees where the wind will blow the leaves on to your garden, meaning you don't need to rake them but can leave them as a mulch.
Less money will be needed, too, as you will buy less fertiliser and fewer chemicals.
Peta suggests starting small, so any mistakes will be small ones.
And she recommends a permaculture course as a good way to learn the basics, meet people and share ideas.
• To learn more
A quick google of "permaculture" produced more than 1.2 million hits.
Here are just a few of the worthwhile sites. -
www.permaculture.org.nz
www.holmgren.com.au
www.tagari.com
home.howstuffworks.com/lawn-garden/professional-landscaping/alternative-methods/permaculture.htm
For a Dunedin point of view, email Peta Hudson on peta@gaiamoana.org.nz.
• Ethical approach
These three things are equally important in permaculture:
Care of the Earth: make sure not to damage natural systems.
Care of people: meet people's needs so they can have a good quality of life.
Fair share: limit our own growth and consumption so there is enough for everybody. Give away surpluses.
