Permaculture

We Are What We Eat:  Saving Earth With A Shovel

 

“Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”  (Chief Seattle)

 

 

The ethics of permaculture:

 

·            Earth Care – Protection and regeneration of the Earth; man is a part of Earth, not apart from it.

·           People Care – Food, water, health, shelter and energy for ALL people on Earth in healthy,      sustainable communities

·            Fair Share – Living more and consuming less

 

 

Bill Mollison and David Holmgren coined the phrase permaculture, a portmanteau of permanent agriculture and permanent culture in the 1970’s Australian outback.  Permaculture is an approach to designing human communities incorporating infinite, sustainable agricultural systems that mimic the relationships and patterns found in nature.

 

"When we mimic nature, we go beyond sustainability" says Rob Avis and we move to regeneration.  Consider that the total biomass of a woodland is very high with stacking (layers) of trees, shrubs, plants and vines with birds and animals and micro-organisms rounding out the ecosystem.  The forest garden is an efficient converter of sunlight and water into this biomass.  In contrast, a wheat field has much less bio mass and consumer much more man-made energy thru fertilizers, fossil fuels, man hours and GMO seeds.

 

“When we look to nature with humility and pattern, we realize that she has already invented everything we have but far more eloquently with less cost to nature.”  (Jane Benyus)

 

The Lak’ech gardens and orchards are small-scale gardens which support the 100 kilometer concept for food sourcing, a main tenet of permaculture.  In order for people to feed themselves sustainably and organically, we need to move away from reliance on industrialized large scale agriculture.  Where large industrial farms use technology powered by fossil fuels and grow a single product (mono cropping), the Lak’ech gardens and orchards stress the value of low inputs (no mechanized tractors), bio diverse crops (stacking, complementary plantings, succession plantings, cold season gardening) and synergistic design elements aka the llama story.

 

Lak’ech EcoLodge and Ranch has been permaculture and organic friendly since 2008 and we are working toward fully and complete sustainability for food, energy and income.  Our “plans” include completing a root cellar, designing and building a model and then fully functioning Solviva greenhouse incorporating solar ovens, animal shelters, passive solar design and grey water recycling.  Additional raised garden beds are added every year to accommodate increasing amounts of organic vegetables, fruit, edible flowers and herbs. 

 

 

 

Our two rabbits, Nikki and Leonardo, are testing the heat (BTU's) provided by rabbits in greenhouses during the winter.  We have noticed an astounding 10 degree difference between the outside and interior greenhouse temperatures even when it's minus 22 outside!  Our ability to grow salad greens during the winter is starting to look exciting and promising!