Coopers Flock

According to Oxford, Permaculture is “the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient”

Now that we have the definition out of the way, what does that even mean? Through this post, we are going to focus on permaculture used in a farming and agriculture perspective.

Nothing should be wasted.

This principle should be used everyday as much as possible! In the world we live in, there is so much in our society that is “one time use” and “disposable”. Someday we would like supply all our own food, but right now we are far from that. Going through the grocery store is like a plastic factory. We bring our own bags and we don’t use the plastic bags from produce. Still, while unloading the cart, we notice that there is SO much plastic!! For this reason, we try to grow and preserve everything we can here. When we can’t, we try to buy in glass or a container that can be reused.

For the farm, all food scraps are used and not thrown out. Veggie scraps are frozen for future vegetable stock, anything that can go in the compost pile goes there and whatever is left is fed to the chickens and rabbits.

Work with nature, not against it.

There are so many ways to put this principle to use! One easy way is companion planting. Instead of using chemicals that harm the environment, you can plant things that work together and achieve the same goal. Tomatoes are a great example. Tomato plants use a lot of nitrogen from the soil, can get eaten up from bugs, and can take up quite a bit of space. By using companion planting, some of this can be avoided. Tomato plants grow up, leaving empty space below them. Here you can plant bush beans and radishes. The beans will improves air circulation around the tomato plant and they attract bumble bees. Radishes can save your tomato plants from pests and make sure the space under the tomato plants is being used. Clover can provide much needed nitrogen, prevent weeds and attract pollinators.

When ever you are planting, take the time to search companion plants. This will keep the unwanted pests and weeds away and help towards healthy plants.

Don’t waste natural resources and use renewable sources when possible.

With a good design, you can plant water loving plants where water pools, drought loving plants in drier areas and everything else between. Take care to grade the soil properly around your plants. Build a rainwater collection system.

Instead of having a lawn, plant grasses, wildflowers and other plants that can be used by wildlife and people! This is natural and helps everyone and everything around you. If you have animals, let them graze instead of using a lawnmower to cut it down. As they graze, they will leave the ground fertilizer too!

Self-sufficiently can be an easy thing to start, especially with plants. Plant heirloom varieties to start. Seeds can be saved from heirloom varieties to plant the following year and will produce the same produce. Start a small compost pile so you can add nutrients to your garden on your own without purchasing any. Eat what you grow! Not only do you get the freshest produce, but there’s something so satisfying about going out and planning your meal from what’s ready in the garden.

This isn’t even the whole tip of the iceberg but hopefully it’s a good start on how you can do better for yourself, your family, the environment and your pocket book!