My friend Todd recounted to me a story about my dad a couple of years ago. “What the #%*&! is Permaculture?” he asked Todd. Todd’s response, though humorous lacked a certain sense of accuracy. “In my case it’s when you get the farm paid off,” Todd replied. “I’ve lived in temporary-culture my whole life.”
Well, it is a fair question I suppose. What IS permaculture? And in the spirit of many questions answered on the subject, I’ll give the stock answer: It depends.
A Brief and Very Incomplete History
To start at the beginning, Permaculture was coined sometime after 1974 by free thinking Tasmanian Bill Mollison and his plucky sidekick, er.. research partner, Australian, David Holmgren. Together they co-authored Permaculture One: A Perennial Agriculture for Human Settlements in 1978. In this book, a mere 127 pages in fact, they describe a system of agriculture, primarily perennial, which they espoused was possible in areas not typically thought of as productive arable land.
The beginnings of permaculture seem to have been heavily influenced by the works of J. Russel Smith (Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture), P.A. Yeomans in his works about landscape and water (most prominently Water for Every Farm – Yeomans Keyline Plan), and held commonality with the writings of Masanobu Fukuoka (One-Straw Revolutionary: The Philosophy and Work of Masanobu Fukuoka).
In 1979 Mollison founded the Permaculture Research Institute (PRI) and authored Permaculture Two: Practical Design for Town and Country in Permanent Agriculture. In this volume, Mollison is still describing permaculture as “permanent agriculture,” but begins delving into more of the social complexities that were encountered in his studies and which began to appear in his interactions with followers. At some point David Holmgren went on about his way for the most part and disappeared from the limelight for several years. Bill however, with his type A personality brought permaculture into the world full force. He began teaching Permaculture Design Courses (PDC’s) and in the early 1980’s his students were going out into their own locales and creating their own permaculture designs, and with it their own techniques philosophies. Up until this point Mollison had considered permaculture to be an answer to problems associated with environment and agriculture. It soon grew past that. Bill went on to publish Permaculture – A Designers Manual in 1988, and Introduction to Permaculture in 1991.
As time progressed Mollison began to transition permaculture from its original meaning of “Permanent Agriculture” to a more widely accepted “Permanent Culture.” This was in part because he had learned through personal experiences and feedback from his students that the same principles applied in nearly every walk of human existence. I have not read all of Mollisons’ early works in their entirety so i am unaware when precisely the Prime Directive of Permaculture, or the Three Ethics came into play, but they were well in use by 1988 when Permaculture – A Designers Manual was put to print. Permaculture, through the directed use of thousands of practitioners had begun to take on a life of its own, morphing and changing, splintering and branching organically into philosophies and ideas that Bill never intended and in some cases vehemently disagreed with.
Mollison personally taught thousands of students, who then went on to teach thousands more. In 1997 Bill handed control of the PRI over to Geoff Lawton and went into retirement. Bill passed away in September 2016 at the age of 88. Bill Mollison influenced millions of people all over the globe and left a legacy that continues to grow in his absence. However, if you were raised in North America, especially the US, permaculture and Bill Mollison probably haven’t come across your radar. This is why people still ask what permaculture is.
Designs, Designs, Everywhere Designs
Permaculture revolves around the design. In Bill’s original 72 hour PDC curriculum, in order to pass the course and receive the design certificate the student must submit a design of a piece of property, real or imagined, with some specific criteria. The student must take into consideration the directions of the compass and how they relate to the angles and directions of the sun. They must factor prevailing wind. They must address the climate. They must ask, what does the person truly want to do in this space? Is it there to grow food? Is it there for simple enjoyment or meditation? Can it or should it be both? Where on the property does the owner or caretaker go every day? every week? Do certain things work together, such as chickens and tomatoes?
Thus you see the complexities of such a design. This is a skill which takes years to master and a lifetime to perfect. But what does this design do for us?
It builds us wonderful things like the Krameterhof in Austria, and Whole Systems Design in Vermont, and a lovely place to sit on a warm evening and watch the sunset in your back yard, all the while providing you with growing food. The best part of permaculture for me is the fact that it can be applied loosely or tightly, on a patio or a million acre plot of land. You can take that PDC and become a designer, but if you want the end result and don’t necessarily need to know how to build a swale or a sun trap, then maybe just contact a designer. A one-time fee to set up your basic framework for your own space might ultimately be cheaper, easier, and less all-encompasing (unless you just like drawing maps). Just remember, if permaculture is your plan, you don’t need to know what a dendritic pattern is to grow enough pears and blackberries in your back yard for your own personal uses. Ultimately you cannot address all of the complexities that the universe has to offer in a design. It is primarily just a benchmark and ultimately you just have to pay attention to the nature of nature to see what works and what doesn’t.
From the design science side of things, permaculture fills a void that nothing prior to its invocation really did. North America once had an eco-system that had it been looked at through the permaculture lens likely would have been recognized as the most extensive managed food system ever conceived, and it was never designed. It is my personal belief that many of us would like to get back to a system which is more-or-less self-sustaining, and our best toolkit at this time utilizes design.
PermaCULTure
Permaculture, in spite of Bill’s blatant statements about permaculture having “no room for religion,” has gained a considerable cult following, tying bits of spirituality into it. Practically every religion, and even some cults have laid claim to some of the “sacred writings” of Bill Mollison as being somehow enlightened.
The “Duke of Permaculture”, Paul Wheaton has theorized that when properly administered, permaculture brings about a monumental change in landscapes which seems like almost magical results. His belief is that while most of the phenomena can be explained by scientific principles, that some people simply need that belief structure to make their world-view work. To describe this particular phenomenon of human psychology he refers to how spiritual people are on their permaculture beliefs on a “Brown to Purple” scale. He identifies people who use logic and are pragmatic about permaculture as being more “brown” and people who claim that the tree goddess has blessed them with fertility of their avocado crop (as an arbitrary fictitious example) as being more “purple.” On this totally arbitrary “brown to purple” scale Paul determines how much value he puts in a particular technique based on how “purple” it seems. This terminology has spread somewhat and “purple breather” is sometimes used as a tongue-in-cheek descriptive of those that we used to refer to as “hippies.”
I tend to think that the Ethics and prime directive, in the minds of a more spiritual person may seem more enlightened and spiritual than, for instance, engineering. Also, in a society wherein a large segement of our population is two or three generations removed from anything agrarian, permaculture creates spaces and experiences which connect with people on a very primal level. For those so long removed, this experience can be life altering. It’s important to remember that this is how humans are supposed to feel.
Permaculture Prime Directive and the Three Ethics
I should, just as a matter of course actually tell you what the Prime directive and three ethics actually are, so that it’s not the proverbial elephant in the room.
Prime Directive: The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for own existence and that of our children.
Three Permaculture Ethics:
Care of the Earth
Care of it’s people
Return of Surplus
There has been some dispute as to what these ethics actually mean, but ultimately its up to us as individuals to administer them in the best way that we see fit.
The United States of Permaculture
Much like religion, some people who come across it find that it solves so many problems, that they attempt to co-opt it into their Statist ideology of choice. I have seen socialists, communists, liberals, conservatives, fascists, democrats, republicans, libertarians and marxists all claim that this permaculture thing is their solution. They truly believe that it is tailor made to suit their particular ideology.
In chapter 14 of Permaculture – A Designers Manual, Bill goes into great detail about setting up local economies, building community, and basics of self governance. What you will not find is ideology. In fact it almost seems as if the opposite is true. Bill has made claims that permaculture is “totally apolitical,” and by his writings, that seems to be the case.
Thankfully, despite the fact that the blueprint is there to build a society based on permaculture, there likely won’t be a “People’s Republic of Permaculture,” or “United States of Permaculture.” It seems that once immersed, permaculture practitioners commonly take a journey down a mental path and never return, rejecting politics altogether, which leads me to the next point.
Permaculture = Voluntarism?
To answer that question, first I’d better define voluntarism.
Voluntarism is a philosophy which revolves around the voluntary association of individuals or groups of individuals for the purposes of fellowship, service, or commerce. within this, all interactions are voluntary, and no one is forced or coerced into doing anything against their will. The primary ethic that governs to keep everyone civil and safe is the NAP, or Non-Aggression Principle.
The non-aggression principle is a philosophy wherein individuals decide that it is unethical to aggress upon another person’s property or person. Once at that point, many determine that it is unethical for a government or entity to do the same on their behalf, or on the behalf of another person or entity. It is a personal choice to adhere to the Non-Aggression Principle, much like it is a personal choice to voluntarily associate.
In essence voluntarism is taking total responsibility for your own actions and those of your children… hmmm, where have I heard that before?
Are you with me so far? Sound like a good philosophy to have? Remember your thoughts on this in a bit.
Many permaculture “big names” claim to be or display signs of being voluntarists.
The late Toby Hemenway was a self-proclaimed voluntarist, as are co-founder David Holmgren, Josiah Wallingford, Byron Joel, Phil Williams, Podcaster Jack Spirko, and Urban Farmer Curtis Stone. Bill himself didn’t necessarily think of himself in this way, but practiced voluntarism at every turn and allowed many others to do so through his ideas. Others who act voluntaristy (I’m just making up words now) yet don’t claim to be voluntarists include but are certainly not limited to Geoff Lawton, Paul Wheaton, Ron Finley, Joel Salatin, Mark Shepard, Ben Falk, and Sepp Holzer.
Honestly, permaculture as a design science is very self-supporting. Can you think of another process which strives to produce all of your food, fibers, medicine, building materials, and fuel? And if followed to fruition, where even 50% of those needs are met, it would improve a persons life drastically. Take that to the point where you can produce enough surplus to trade or sell to obtain the rest of what you might need, and take a look around. What do you need government oversight for again? In that case, you don’t, thus its easy to see why it might lead to voluntarism.
Now for the mind fake: I’ve used the word voluntarism to cover for another word which has gotten a bad rap due to inadvertent (or maybe not so inadvertent) use. Voluntarism is, in simplified terms, what anarchism is supposed to be (Which is the absence of “Rulers” not the absence of “Rules”). Unfortunately in modern society anarchy is a word used to describe chaos, which is not a correct usage of the word at all. (remember your thoughts if you agreed with voluntarism, but anarchism turns you off… thats marketing)
Jack Spirko recorded an hour long podcast explaining his thoughs on whether permaculture leads to anarchism. You can listen to it here.
As an aside there’s a peculiarity about permaculture. It sometimes looks messy. It makes a place look… unimproved. It can sometimes make a property look overgrown and chaotic. Toby Hemenway referred to this as being “fiscally illegible.” It’s difficult to tax and steal what you don’t recognize or understand, and permaculture can often be practically invisible value. Vin Armani has recently coined the phrase “Crypto-Savage” to describe how many technologies and ideologies are circumventing the current powers that be by hidden in plain sight (Crypto) and misunderstood (Savage). Permaculture is therefore, by Vin’s definition, “Crypto-savagery.”
In Closing
So, back to the original question: What is permaculture? In Bill Mollison’s view permaculture was a design science to grow food in a manner more closely following and even mimicking the patterns of nature. With the built-in ethics dictating what can and can’t be done, permaculture as a design science stands alone. To some it’s a spiritual movement, even cult-like in it’s application. To some it’s the applied government ideology of choice. To some it’s plain nonsense, and to some it’s when you get the farm paid off. It’s such a broad term that honestly if you get two answers exactly the same you should really question whether its their own thoughts or someone else’s mantra. I believe that it should be as individual as our beliefs and faiths. You might ask two people what is Islam, or Communism, or the American Dream and get as many individual answers commensurate with how many people you asked.
To me, I feel like it’s a framework. Its like a set of generalized recipes for making the world a better place. These recipes cannot be applied at will, but need to be studied and the right application addressed to the right situation. But when it works, oh wow does it work. Go do amazing things people.