Think Like a Tree

I’m studying Permaculture Design and Permaculture Educator Certificates concurrently this year, and learning a lot. As part of this work I’m reflecting on some of the Permaculture fundamentals and how they can be applied at our place, Saltbush Corner.

We are busy establishing a teaching garden and intend to run short courses from this space in 2021. We thought our process may interest a few of you… so have put together this journal entry.

What are the Permaculture Principles?

There are twelve widely accepted Permaculture Design Principles. These Principles first appeared in David Holmgren’s publication the Essence of Permaculture (2002). In modern parlance permaculture could be considered a process of biomimicry as the principles emulate and emphasise harmony with natural systems.

The principles of permaculture are broad enough to be applied across a variety of fields. My particular interest is twofold. Firstly, looking at how we apply these principles in our own family life. And secondly, how Permaculture Principles can enrich my practice of architecture.

How do Permaculture Principles inform our own work?

In the section below I touch on each of the twelve Permaculture Principles, reflecting on how we are trying to engage that principle in our own life and then in some instances, how that principle might inform architectural practice.

Principle 1 - Observe & interact
conscious design • nature as teacher • continuous observation

Slowing down. Sitting down, on the earth, amongst the plants and insects. Realising that the coming spring this year is not a single point in time but a moment in a cycle...

Preparing for spring is as much about being open to feedback loops as it is about deploying what we have learned. Building seating ledges in amongst the garden, drawing, taking photos, measuring soil ph and collected rainwater...

We have set up a paper year planner for the garden where we are noting what we do and observe. As we move through the planner again next year it will be useful to reflect on our earlier interactions with this place.

In broader architectural practice, Principle 1 would relate to a site analysis and briefing process. Here, there is greater opportunity to draw on clients and existing site users for a reading and translation of their habits in the place. Personal and intuitive feedback would compliment the technical analysis usually found in a site analysis process.

Principle 2 - Catch and store energy
solar • wind • water • biomass • seed • harvests • community

The land we look after is quite flat but the longer we spend on it the more we observe and feel the subtle contours. Last deluge I took photos of where the water was pooling and flowing. As we build no-dig garden beds and plant more plants we will be able to use their location to retain the flow of water on our land.

We have chickens, bees and worms, all working with us to close the loop on waste, pollinate and produce useful yields. Yet to run the chickens through the garden beds but are preparing fences for that. Our 20,000 litres of rainwater storage is full.

Chasing the plumber to resolve a pump issue by one tank we can use with gravity feed. Next on the to-do list with water is a grey water system. An agg line at the highpoint on our land is ready to receive grey water.

We have 4.9 kw PV system that exceeds our power needs for 2/3 of the year. With the feedback from the App we are moderating our behaviours to utilise solar generated electricity when the sun is shining for appliances. Our next second-hand car will be a PHEV with 50 km range on electricity only. There is a lot to learn with electricity and the technology and rules are complex and ever-changing.

We plan to draw ‘community energy’ into our place with a 'swap your excess - take what you need - pay what you can' store on our front fence. In time, as our knowledge grows, we hope to run small courses on permaculture design.

Principle 3 - Obtain a yield
design for abundance

Currently our yield is primarily derived from leafy greens, legumes and root vegetables that grow over winter. We pickle, kraut, kimchi and relish fresh veggies when we have too many to get through. Can’t wait for summer!

A focus on perennials and food forest species will fill in the gaps. In part we just need to be patient with the plants we have in the ground, see what thrives and what dies, and experiment with other species.

We plan to establish a trade with neighbours and we also attend a local crop-swap group each month.

Principle 4 - Apply self-regulation and accept feedback
notice • reflect & review • ask why • be open • co-evolve

In our experience applying self-regulation and accepting feedback can be harder than it sounds. Stepping outside of day to day tasks to act on more strategic observations feels counterproductive at first.

Respecting each others knowledge and observation and making time to talk through options is great. We will do more of this.

We plan to host a range of guests in our garden with a view to exchange knowledge, observations and experience.

Principle 5 - Use & value renewable resources & services
embrace nature’s abundance • reduce dependence

Part of our learning includes learning where to simplify and reduce dependencies on complex and resource-hungry technology (eg combustion engine, powered tools), versus where to pursue emerging technology (eg solar panels and batteries).

Maybe there is benefit in accepting we cannot be comprehensive, instead, thinking about our living systems and closed loops at the scale of the community or even our water catchment.

Principle 6 - Produce no waste
value all resources • let nothing go to waste • create natural cycles

Plants and animals in our garden see our leftovers and waste as a resource. In turn, they produce useful yields for us. We have set out to create closed loops in this regard. What was once waste for us we now allocate to our various living systems.

Plastics are the really big one we are yet to tackle. Getting our sorting right should be the first thing as Woolworths have a soft-plastics recycling drop-off. But really, joining the Flame Tree Food Coop and bringing our own reusable glass containers will be best. Plus, the food is less processed and hopefully more locally sourced.

I'm interested in composting toilets but need to put some pressure on the rest of the family.

Again, I’m reminded of the need to design systems not just design things. This is probably where the biggest change will occur in how I approach architectural projects.

Principle 7 - Design from patterns to details
context • meaning • flows • zones

We have almost lived for a year in this place so are getting a feel for the seasons. The flows of energy and water are quite pronounced. We are seeing the micro-climates emerge around the buildings and landscape. The El Nino cycle really means we won't get the full picture of the natural patterns here for many years.

Our design methods are shifting from designing things to designing systems. This is a big shift for me being an architect. Designing systems is primarily about relationships. The 'outcome' is fairly open ended and an evolution unto itself.

Last big rainfall our street gutter overflowed down our driveway and right across our garden, flooding the space for a few hours. My immediate response was flooding is not good. Council's water on our place.

After some thought I realised the water was a great resource. And that seeing its path could inform how we establish gardens and other spaces in ways that can slow down the flow, gather pools of water and absorb it into our earth rather than sending it to the concrete culvert over our rear fence.

Now I'm thinking through a suite of detailed elements that work in concert to respond to this bigger pattern. And also thinking of Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language.

Principle 8 - Integrate rather than segregate
relationships • interconnectedness

I like to translate this principle into 'designing multifunctional spaces and elements'.

One element we recently completed is a covered bicycle parking pavilion. It has a 30 degree pitch skillion roof over it. We integrated our waste and recycling bins behind a picket fence made from recycled fence palings. This is on the side closest to the street.

On the other side is a potting shelf which is at the perfect height for potting plants. We will probably store firewood under this shelf as it's partially covered by the skillion roof.

Both side 'walls' of the pavilion are built as growing frames and soon to be trained over with vines.

There are various other bits and pieces (elements) we will install around the place. Many are on hold, waiting till we find the perfect group of functions to integrate. We just get the right feeling when the ideas come together and we know it's time to start.

Principle 9 - Use small and slow solutions
doable • fixable • use smallest interventions • human-scaled

This principle I find challenging.

As a former work-a-holic I'm accustomed to finding the quick-fix or instant solution. In the garden this translates to buying plastic bags of compost from Bunnings rather than building up your own over a month or two. Or buying developed hybrid seedlings rather than raising our own heirlooms from seed.

I'm finding that part of the answer is having many overlapping projects on the go at once. It required a different sort of deep organisation to what I am used to.

I am using a paper-based year-planner to note down what we do and what we observe so that we can reflect on effectiveness and lessons-learned at the same time next year. I also have started keeping lists in Google Keep so that desired plants, materials, jobs, ideas and so on are at my fingertips when I need them.

Working with a view to a longer horizon helps. The urgency to complete is reduced and the ability to plan and shift your strategy is increased with the extra time. It’s surprising how, with a little extra time, your ideas shift and improve for the better - Sleep on it!

Principle 10 - Use and value diversity
polyculture • regeneration • ways of seeing

Diversity has always been a hallmark of successful places in urban design and architecture. Different activities, cultures and structures that are co-located just seem to thrive with an energy beyond the sum of their parts. Indeed planners and architects regulate for diversity through mixed-use buildings and mixed-use land zoning.

But prescribing diversity in a system does seem to fall a little short of delivering the organic qualities found in chance and happenstance. You know it when you feel it in rich ecologies as much as in organic cities.

'Designing the CONDITIONS FOR DIVERSITY TO EMERGE is maybe' a more useful way to think through Permaculture Principle 10.

In trying to apply this approach around our place we accept that some things will not thrive and conversely, unexpected things will flourish. Things will not go to plan... and that's completely fine.

“The plan is not the master.”

Seeding the conditions for diversity to emerge allows a system of complex interrelationships to find its own dynamic equilibrium. We are realising that the key is to spend as much time as possible immersed IN the systems, as PART OF the systems around us, as we do orchestrating or designing the systems.

In our garden we observe these acts of self-balancing through the way various species behave in different microclimates and with each other. We are realising that the ideas about what might work fall short.

This is often a case of knowing through studying/reading versus knowing through doing (and observing). Maybe also giving just recognition to the reiterative nature of these direct feedback loops...

Principle 11 - Use edges and value the marginal
opportunities • creativity • innovation

I love this principle and re-think it as 'Design more edges into our places!'

Christopher Alexandra's A Pattern Language epitomises the importance of edge conditions by cataloging all of the edge conditions that people are just intuitively drawn to.

So in our garden, we can try to approach this principle in two ways. Firstly, by simply observing existing thresholds and lines of transition and nurturing the tendencies for change and growth in these areas. Edges such as fences, drip lines of trees, changes in surface finish and so on.

And secondly, by actively adding in new edges - borders, frames, trellises, swales, ponds, pergolas, ledges and other elements - each new adjacency providing novel conditions for new relationships to emerge.

Australia's lovely climate is really optimised for living on the edge. I think of the Aussie veranda, where you can shuffle your chair around to be be in the sun, out of the breeze, in view of both inside and out, and so on.

Principle 12 - Creatively use & respond to change
adapt

We have only lived in this place for 9 months and are still finding changes in the shift from Sydney city life quite apparent.

Both Suzy and I have restructured or work balance, in recognition that we want to be doing less paid work. With the additional time now available we are focused on shrinking our supply chains for food, energy water etc.

We are new to this down-shifting lifestyle and reading lots but also feeling and finding our way. Not working as full time ‘wage slaves’ gives us the time and space we need to be responsive and adapt.

Our big change has coincided with broader global impacts of Covid19 on the world. Communities and individuals are adapting to the crisis, often by finding positive opportunities in each challenge.

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Written by Adam, September 2020