Permaculture is a design philosophy that is commonly applied to gardening, but which can also be applied to larger systems: businesses, educational endeavors, and other life work. In this class, we cover the personalities behind and basic principles of permaculture, introduce resources for learning more in the Portland area, and discuss how permaculture can be applied across disciplines. Folks who have earned or are pursuing the Permaculture Design Certificate or have done self-study in permaculture are welcome; this is a very basic class, but there will be time for all participants to share their experiences with and thoughts about p’culture.

1. January 2012
© Independence Gardens LLC
Download the handout
that goes along with
this slideshow!
h p://bit.ly/yIAjsr
Permaculture
Independence Gardens
Portland, OR
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

2. What We’ll Cover Today
Preview
Got Questions?
Topics We’ll Cover
• Permaculture: de nition
Please ask as we go along.
• Permaculture: origins
• Permaculture: vocab
• In gardens
• Beyond gardens
• Examples
• What YOU can do with
permaculture
http://www.acari-rn.com.br/permaculture.htm
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

3. What is it?
• Design philosophy
– Hard work now means less work later (but don’t put off harvesting something)
• Ethics
– Care for people: humans are part of natural systems
– Care for earth: natural systems keep us all alive
– Return the surplus (also “fair share”): limit consumption to ensure that all have
access to resources to provide for themselves
• Principles (via Toby Hemenway)
– Observe. Connect. Catch and store energy and materials. Each element performs
multiple functions/each function is supported by multiple elements. Make the least
change for the greatest effect. Use small scale, intensive systems. Use the edge effect.
Collaborate with succession. Use biological and renewable resources. Recycle energy.
Turn problems into solutions. Get a yield. e biggest limit to abundance is creativity.
Mistakes are tools for learning.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

4. Where did it come from?
• Bill Mollison (
that’s him with his wife )
&
http://
greenconnections.wordpre
ss.com/2010/10/01/bill-
• David Holmgren ( mollison-the-ultimate-
strategist/ & http://
www.weeklytimesnow.com
.au/article/
2009/08/05/100145_count
that’s him with his ry-living.html
harvest )
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

5. Key concepts: Zone
• Bullseye
– Zone 0: self/household
– Zone 1: most visited,
intensive use
– Zone 2: semi-intensively
managed
– Zone 3: commerce/farm/
semi-public
– Zone 4: minimal care/
public
– Zone 5: unmanaged/
“wild”
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

6. Key concepts: Sector
• Oh well
– External
in uence on a
site or
situation
– Cannot
control it, so
must design
around it
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

7. Key concepts: Guild
• Relationship
– Group of
plants that
perform
distinct and
mutually
bene cial
functions
– Most famous
example is
the “food
forest” http://climatelab.org/Permaculture
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

8. Key concepts: Edge
• Maximize the edge
– e intersection of two
environments
– e most diverse place in
a system
– Where energies and
materials accumulate
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

9. Permaculture in the garden
• “Close to home”
• Native plant backbones with
edibles integrated
• A place you want to spend
time
• Inviting to other bene cials,
off-pu ing to those you want
to stay away
http://www.satoridesigns.net/?p=482
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

10. Beyond the garden
• Health & well-being
– Body = garden
– Everything in relationship
• Living spaces
– Green building
– Natural building
– Re-urbanizing
• Business
• Stuff & things
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

11. Example 1
• Who: two-busy-person and a big dog household in SW PDX
• Goals: create low-maintenance native garden space; grow food
• Process: collaborative whiteboard design, zone mapping
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

12. Example 2
• Who: young couple in NE PDX
• Goals: use existing garden space for edibles; plant rest in natives
• Process: base mapping, calendaring, bed-by-bed schedule
2009 Planting Plan
Prepared by Independence Gardens LLC
h p://www.IndependenceGardensPDX.com * IndependenceGardensPDX@gmail.com
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

13. Example 3
• Who: 4-person family & their pets new to long lot in Woodburn
• Goals: food production, play space for two boys
• Process: base mapping, plant ID, invasive removal, timeline
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

14. Next steps for you!
• Good design requires spending
time in your garden space
• If you’re not going to actively
manage a space, design for that
• Design and implementation take
time, so make time for both parts
• Evaluate...& prepare to re-evaluate
• is is a process and a journey, not
a solution or a destination
• Finally, a good design will push
you in the right direction, but
won’t change behavior
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

15. Questions?
Tuesday, January 31, 2012