Permaculture: The Ultimate Lazy Gardening Technique for Maximum Harvest!
Gardening not have be hard or time consuming – especially with permaculture! 🌱💚 If you're new to gardening or a seasoned green thumb, permaculture is an innovative design system making gardening more energy efficient, promising and eco-friendly. The idea is straightforward: if you mimic how nature does things you can create self-sustaining systems that require very little meddling. In this post we’ll cover what permaculture is and the main principles of permaculture, and at the end of the post I’ll even teach you how to do it with almost no effort at all—and who doesn’t want to help their garden grow, and not sluice around anymore stinkin’ sweat, right? 🌿
What is Permaculture?
Originally formulated by Australian ecologists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in 1974, permaculture, which means agriculture for permanent culture, is a design philosophy of living that works with the natural environment to develop sustainable food-growing, home-building, and community-building systems. The word “permaculture” is a shortened compound of “permanent” and “agriculture” (or “culture”), and a cheeky riff on the notion of designing perennial, sustainable food systems based off the natural world. 🌏
The ultimate goal? Because we want a system that is low inputs, zero waste, maximum output. Call it lazy planting — bang for your harvest, with minimal horticultural effort. 🌾💪
Core Principles of Permaculture
-
Multi-functionality of Elements 🔄
It is in permaculture where a given element in your system should serve more than one purpose. For example:
-
The fish pond A pond may also be used for the storage of water that is employed in a plant, for the treatment of effluents from a sewage treatment plant or as a decorative feature.
-
In one square meter, you can grow lots of different herbs from here to here (drought resistant) to here – way down here – you could plant rosemary, (drought resistant) at the top and mint at the bottom!
-
Everything is Connected 🌍
One of permaculture's guiding principles is that stuff in your garden should do double-duty. For example:
-
Garden + Chicken Coop: Chickens eat scraps, poop = compost, fewer aching muscles for you.
-
Rain Barrels + Trellis: Detour rainwater into barrels for use in watering vine crops (like cukes or peas) that shade the barrel and slow down evaporation.
-
Layered and Zoned Design 🗺️
Not only will you save time, energy, and resources, but by maintaining a garden arranged in zones based on how frequently you’ll need to visit each area, you’ll be more likely to work in the garden and maintain it. Such as, higher-maintenance plants (the veggies) near the house for easier tending, while the lower-maintenance (the fruit trees) are the furthest away.
-
Zero-Waste Cycle ♻️
“From a permaculture point of view there is no waste — everything’s got a secondary life or a second use:
-
Kitchen discards become dirt-strengthening compost.
-
Old wood can be made into garden fencing or carpentry mulch.
-
Cardboard boxes can even function as a weed blocker beneath garden beds.
-
Maximizing Edge Effects 🏞️
Things exist on the border where two places meet (like on the edge of the water, or the edge of the land). Permaculture works with these zones by creating systems that do some functions well for as many plants and animals as possible. Fish, aquatic plants and even edible plants like water chestnuts can flourish around a gently curved edge.
Here are some Relaxing Gardening Ideas Everyone Can do:
Heavy Mulching:Say Goodbye to Soil Turning and Soil Tilling! Just layer grass clippings, kitchen waste, newspaper and crushed fall leaves, and you will have an instant soil feast. You amend the soil and it gets better and better and there is no need to continue fertilizing! 🌱✨
Keyhole Gardens A keyhole garden can yield a large variety vegetables and fruits, and do so in a small space. When you plant on a turning bed, you are cutting work and pushing work space, since wheeling no longer applies, down.
Free-Range Chickens: There are more chickens than just laying eggs! By letting them roam in your backyard, they can help with weed eating, bug killing and organic compost making. This is nature on your side!
How Do You Do It Even More Easily?
If you’re looking to go that one step further and do less maintenance, then you might be drawn to something like a composter. With an electronic composter, you can turn your kitchen scraps into compost in hours, not months, and get a steady supply of fertilizer for your garden without all the back-breaking labor of turning piles.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
-
How can I begin a permaculture garden?
Begin by planning your space! Zone your garden, mulch it, plant an interconnecting web of native species. You’ll add features later, ponds or chicken coops, to complete the cycle.
-
Is it possible to permaculture in a small (apartment-like) space?
Absolutely! Start small with containers for herbs, a vertical garden for vines and houseplants. Permaculture is brilliant: It can be squeezed into almost any space!
-
How does permaculture support sustainability?
Permaculture seeks to minimize waste, conserve resources, and become a self-reliant community built on the design of natural systems. And it’s a strategy that doesn’t just help fight climate change — it also makes sense for local food production.
-
What is the benefit of permaculture?
-
Low-maintenance gardening 🌿
-
Increased biodiversity 🦋
-
Sustainable food production 🌱
-
Waste reduction ♻️
-
How can I compost easily?
Buying an electric composter is a great option. It also breaks down organic material into compost for you to use to feed your garden.
Conclusion
New to growing vegetables or searching for a hassle free method to grow your own produce? When you obey the laws of nature and establish a garden that tends to itself, you get a high-yield garden without a lot of work. And for those who want to really kick back on the green front, a composter will help you recycle waste and also fertilize your garden.
Start lazy man’s gardening with permaculture today, and reap the abundance of your garden! 🌻🌿
Full Citation: Mollison, B., & Holmgren, D. (1978). Permaculture One: A Perennial Agriculture for Human Settlements. Tyalgum, Australia: Transland. Link to Book
