<div dir="ltr">Thanks for the reply Steve. <br><br>A week ago I knew almost nothing about Permaculture. Never mind doing it myself, I don't think I'll even develop into a "groupie", but there is a very good probability that we have an enthusiastic card carrying "arm-chair" supporter in the making. I really love the concept.<br><br>But then, that's if I had free will. My wife is already planning "our" Permaculture vegetable garden.<br><br> </div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, 22 May 2021 at 17:05, Steve Smith <<a href="mailto:sasmyth@swcp.com">sasmyth@swcp.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<p>Pieter -</p>
<p>As Kathryn surely offered you, the field of "Permaculture" has
experienced a serious resurgence with a lot of practical
demonstrations of how *intense* multi-use land/animal/plant
"husbandry" can be in terms of production if careful thought and
patience and respect for the land, animals, plants, air, water,
neighbors are practiced. A great bit of background to the spirit
of the movement is Masanobu Fukouka's story. Holmgren and
Mollison are the "founders" of modern permaculture but Fukouka is
the Patron Saint IMO. <br>
</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/one-straw-revolutionary/" target="_blank">https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/one-straw-revolutionary/</a> <br>
</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Mollison" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Mollison</a><br>
</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Holmgren" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Holmgren</a><br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The mainstream dialogue (if we must call it that) seems to be a
highly polarized tension between the devil-may-care
pedal-to-the-metal damn-the-torpedoes
neoliberal/industrialist/extractionist ideal that we just need to
charge forward as fast as possible vs a sometimes blindly
idealistic draw to "wishing and hoping" that putting down our
manic hypercapitalism in disgust would yield instant utopia. <br>
</p>
<p>The Permaculture people ( I am at best a groupie ) "do the work"
as they say. But in counterpoint to your point about it being
labor intensive, they make a very strong point of "productive
laziness". For example the principle that every thing one does
or makes or has should have at least 3 purposes. A fruit/nut
tree offers fruit/nuts in season, shade in the summer, wind-screen
in the windy season, shelter and food for birds, etc. A pond
provides ... , ... , ... and ... ... ... <br>
</p>
<p>Permaculture *first* appealed to my optimizing/satisficing
awareness developed through my practices in science/engineering.
I *grew* to appreciate the gentleness and reciprocity with nature
that it inspires (requires) as well as the slow-patience.<br>
</p>
<blockquote>
<p><span style="color:rgb(32,33,36);font-family:Roboto,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;display:inline">Permaculture
Design<span> </span></span><b style="color:rgb(32,33,36);font-family:Roboto,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">principles</b><br style="color:rgb(32,33,36);font-family:Roboto,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">
<br style="color:rgb(32,33,36);font-family:Roboto,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">
<span style="color:rgb(32,33,36);font-family:Roboto,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;display:inline">Catch and
store energy: Develop systems that collect resources at peak
abundance for use in times of need. Obtain a yield: Emphasize
projects that generate meaningful rewards. Apply
self-regulation and accept feedback: Discourage inappropriate
activity to ensure that systems function well.</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="color:rgb(32,33,36);font-family:Roboto,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;display:inline">Here is a more elaborated, popularly
accessible review:</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p><span style="color:rgb(32,33,36);font-family:Roboto,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;display:inline"><a href="https://ethical.net/ethical/permaculture-principles/" target="_blank">https://ethical.net/ethical/permaculture-principles/</a></span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="color:rgb(32,33,36);font-family:Roboto,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;display:inline">I strongly believe that the "choice
between hurting the environment and letting people starve" is a
false dichotomy, though it is fair to notice that it is "hard to
get from here to there", especially if we aspire to do it
quickly and without any discomforts and inconveniences.</span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(32,33,36);font-family:Roboto,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;display:inline">I don't have a specific reference on
the tip of my fingers but I believe that Permaculture honestly
aspires to address (holistically) all levels of Maslow's
Hierarchy of Needs, with *food* being an easy/obvious one for
many to focus on.<br>
</span></p>
<p><span style="color:rgb(32,33,36);font-family:Roboto,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;display:inline">- Steve<br>
</span></p>
<div>On 5/22/21 4:51 AM, Pieter Steenekamp
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">I think there is broad consensus that modern
farming is bad for the earth. I was always under the impression
that it's one of those very difficult problems to solve. I
always implicitly assumed that the yield of modern farming is
just so much higher than ecologically friendly farming that it's
impossible to feed 7 billion people without resorting to
ecologically harmful farming.
<div><br>
</div>
<div>So I always assumed that the choice was between hurting the
environment or letting people starve.<br>
<br>
I got a wake-up call this week. We visited a nearby
Permaculture farm (<a href="https://numbivalley.webs.com" target="_blank">https://numbivalley.webs.com</a>) and
it's just amazing the yield in terms of healthy food that they
produce on a ridiculously small area of land. They farm in a
very sustainable and eco-friendly way that produces more food
(and it's very tasty, we had lunch with them and healthy too)
per land area than modern farming. That's what they claim in
any case, I have not independently verified that. The co-owner
Kathryn says she challenges any farmer that uses modern
farming methods to match their yield in terms of food
production per area of land.<br>
<br>
I asked the other co-owner, Ross if a global disaster happens
and they become totally isolated from the rest of the world if
they would be able to survive. Jokingly he answered that they
would not, because they won't be able to buy tennis balls.
Tennis balls? I wondered what part of Permaculture depends on
tennis balls. Yes, he said, I regularly go to the nearby town
to play tennis and I won't survive without that. But on a
serious note he thought about it and speculated that he
reckons that they will survive.<br>
<br>
The possible draw-back is that Permaculture is extremely labor
intensive. But then, working and living like that could be
very good for the soul and the body, it's not like working in
a factory.</div>
</div>
<br>
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