by Peter
(Australia)
Meg,
What is the basic distinction amongst permaculture, and sustainable gardening/farming?
Is a single sort of far more ‘organic’ than the other, and what is the primary advantage of permaculture?
For those of us that have to toil away at a day job, is the establishment of a permaculture regime on our vast tract of land (just below 3 ac) going to be a massively time consuming process, and what can we count on to be the yield for our efforts?
Cheers
Peter
PS Asking you is almost certainly faster than going by way of you whole website, and you must note that I did use the word ‘basic’ in the query. LOL.
(Just possessing a bit of a lazy morning, I am).
MEG: Hi Peter
Permaculture is a style program… Its about designing your production program to yield as considerably as achievable with as tiny direct work as possible to run it (after it is set up!). That means putting the appropriate element (be it chicken yard, plant, compost bin, wind turbine and so forth) in the correct spot to maximise the quantity of operate each and every does for you. Its about great old fashioned common sense. Starts with understanding the attributes of your land (slope, solar aspect, soil) and harnessing or diverting the forces acting on it (water, frost, wind, sun, fire) for greatest general benefit. Organic gardening is generally incorporated into Permaculture systems as it optimises the biological activity (which as a result functions for the overal productivity), although minimising inputs (eg. chemical compounds). Also essential is understanding the function every single element can do for you (eg. chickens can weed, fertilise, make compost, supply eggs, meat) and supplying what that element requirements to thrive (chickens need food, shelter, water, other chickens).
Sustainable farming typically incorporates Permaculture-like attributes (e.g. fodder shrubs for livestock, planted contour banks, windbreaks) but there is usually small consideration to systems design, or general efficiency, specifically with respect to operator energy.
Thats it in a nutshell
Meg