Did you know there is a kind of agriculture that produces an abundance of food for a fraction of the effort all while healing the planet and the communities it feeds? This isn’t a utopian idea–it’s very real and it’s called permaculture. If you’re new to permaculture, you’re in the right place. Learning the foundational permaculture principles is a great place to start.
In my time studying sustainable agriculture, I’ve really fallen in love with permaculture. It’s rooted in growing methods developed by nature herself and therefore it is the most sustainable and fruitful form of agriculture. In this article, we will discuss the philosophical foundation of permaculture and how these philosophies are implemented.
But first, let’s clarify what permaculture even is.
What is Permaculture?
Some people have a hard time wrapping their heads around what permaculture actually is. Basically, it’s a kind of agriculture that mimics the way plants and animals naturally grow in the wild. In conventional agriculture, there is an emphasis on separation and order. We grow in straight, tilled rows planting only one crop per row or per field under lots of water, fertilizer, and pesticides that have been trucked in from elsewhere. This is largely true for organic agriculture, too.
In permaculture, the emphasis is on relationships. We create micro-environments that mimic the ways plants naturally grow. When we do this, we don’t have clean rows like we do when we use conventional growing methods, but we create environments that don’t need outside inputs, that reserve water, and that can protect themselves from opportunistic plants and pests.
Permaculture is rooted in set principles. These principles guide the entire permaculture design process. Let’s get into them.
The Traditional Permaculture Principles
In the world of permaculture, there are twelve principles taught to us in the very beginning. If you study permaculture, then you likely know these principles very well. They are:
- Observe and Interact
- Catch and Store Energy
- Obtain a Yield
- Apply Self-Regulation and Feedback
- Use and Value Renewables
- Produce No Waste
- Design from Patterns to Details
- Integrate, Don’t Segregate
- Use Small, Slow Solutions
- Use and Value Diversity
- Use Edges and Value the Marginal
- Creatively Use and Respond to Change
There are many gems in these principles. By learning and following these guidelines, it is easy to create well-functioning human-made ecosystems that benefit both the environment as well as those the landscape sustains.
However, in my time studying both sustainable agriculture, decolonization, and mysticism, I have found these principles to be vaguely problematic for three reasons. First of all, these principles center the permaculturist and the yield. Second, they disregard the importance of human communities in nature. And lastly, they fail to convey the heart of what permaculture is: learning to work with nature and the systems she has perfected over billions of years.
The New Permaculture Principles
The principles themselves aren’t the issue, but rather the perspective from which they were written. For that reason, I’m following in the footsteps of Toby Hemmenway in his book, Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-scale Permaculture, and modifying them slightly.
#1 Observe
In the traditional permaculture philosophy, the first principle is called “observe and interact.” I appreciate the emphasis on observation but I want to emphasize it more. Observation is the most important skill we can develop when learning about permaculture and permaculture design. It is the foundation of everything we do.
As humans, we tend to jump right into things. We are excited and innovative by nature. However, we can’t effectively become a part of a landscape–let alone make sustainable changes to it–without getting to know it well. Therefore, all of the following permaculture principles are based on a foundation of observation.
When designing a permaculture landscape, it is recommended to observe it over the course of an entire year before making any serious changes to it. If you don’t observe the landscape through each of the four seasons, you miss out on all of the changes that take place month to month. All of the changes that may impact your work in the future.
Plus, when we observe a landscape this way, the landscape tells us exactly what it wants to be. It tells us what to plant where and how to make the most efficient changes. This video by Star Hitch Farm explains this idea well. If you want more information on this, read this article about how to perform a landscape assessment.
#2: Research the Land
Learning about the history of the land is just as important as observation at the beginning of the permaculture design process. Understanding this history will tell you a lot about the land you’re designing on. It can tell you what agricultural practices were previously used on or around your land, laws and regulations you need to follow, the Native peoples who occupy the area and their traditional uses of the plants and animals found there, any susceptibility to natural disasters like fires or flooding, and so much more.
It’s particularly important to research the Native peoples of the land you’re designing on. When designing on land I’m not familiar with, I like to use Native Land Digital to do this research. Native history is always interwoven with ecological information about what grows on the land we’re working with and how those plants can be used–all information that can help us in our permaculture designs.
#3 Capture and Store Energy and Resources
Trees are the masters of this. They know how to seek out the sun, water, and nutrients and they know how to store those resources for long periods of time. Some trees store this energy for half the year. In sustainable agriculture, we do the same.
When we say to capture and store energy, we mean all energy and resources. Yes, this means energy from the sun, wind, water, and more through solar panels, wind turbines, etc. But it also means capturing and storing energy in plants and plant material, storage crops, firewood, and more. Learning about and observing the landscape will show you many creative ways to generate, capture, and store energy.
#4 Focus on the Abundance
Nature is full of abundance. There is always more than enough to go around. However, it’s common when growing food to think that we will only reap a fraction of the effort we put in. Common gardening and farming techniques require a lot of energy input. They require constant attention and restless work. And only if we put in that kind of work do we receive abundance.
However, nature doesn’t work this way and, in permaculture, neither do we. When we are designing permaculture landscapes, we work to create the highest yield for the lowest amount of effort (hence why this permaculture principle is usually called “obtain a yield”). We do this by analyzing how much effort we put into different elements of our landscape versus how much we get out of it. Then, over the years, we move toward the elements that give us the biggest yield for the lowest amount of effort.
“Obtain a yield” has undertones of greed that rub me the wrong way. Yes, we are working to increase our yields and decrease our effort. However, we do this by focusing on abundance and not by hoarding resources. If you’ve ever picked fruit or nuts from a tree, then you know that one tree can provide way more than enough of that food for many people for very little effort. When designing permaculture landscapes, we create opportunities for such abundance to flourish.
#5 Evaluate Your Trials and Successes
And turn conflict into growth. In traditional permaculture philosophy, we call this principle “apply self-regulation and feedback”. All this means is that there should always be a system in place to evaluate what is and is not working so we can make efficient changes in the future. For a lot of farmers and gardeners, we use journals to keep track of daily activities and observations. Then, usually in the winter, we sit down and analyze what worked that year and what didn’t. That way, when we’re planning the next year, we can make the best changes.
It’s also important to remember that conflict equals growth. When we’re faced with a challenge, it is easy to become discouraged or frustrated. However, every time we encounter these challenges, we are invited to create a better working system. Especially at the beginning, it is common to make mistakes and face conflicts. These do, however, become fewer and easier to manage over time.
#6 Use Renewable Resources
In a forest, all systems are contained. A forest doesn’t need compost that’s outsourced from across the country, synthetic fertilizers, or plastic to suppress the weeds. All the resources the forest needs are made right there in the forest. In permaculture, we have the same goal.
Because of the world we’re all living in, it’s almost impossible to avoid non-renewable resources. However, it’s still our goal to try! As much as we can, we aim to create self-contained and renewable resources on the land we’re working on. Instead of trucking in compost, how can we create enough plant matter on the property to feed the soil ourselves? Instead of using plastic on our beds to suppress weeds, what natural materials can we use? Can we design beds that don’t need help suppressing weeds at all?
#7 Utilize All of Each Element’s Roles
There is no such thing as waste in a natural ecosystem. Every product of every organism can be used by others. When trees lose their leaves, they feed decomposers in the soil that create rich humus full of nutrients. Then the trees and other plants can use that rich soil the following spring. Animal manure acts the same way.
In permaculture, we aim to create landscape designs that utilize every role of every element to prevent any kind of waste. When we plant a pear tree, for instance, we don’t just plan to utilize the delicious fruit in the fall. We also plan to let the chickens forage the dropped fruit (which feeds them and spreads fertilizer beneath the tree), we leave the fallen leaves on the ground to act as a mulch, insect sanctuary, and fertilizer, we use the winter trimmings in our hugelkultur beds, we sell scion wood, and more. That way, every output from the pear tree is utilized!
#8 Create Redundancy
Every element should be supported by multiple elements. This principle was borrowed from Toby Hemenway in his book, Gaia’s Garden. Here, he emphasizes the importance of redundancy. If you cut one strand in a spiderweb, the web stays intact. That’s because it has multiple attachment points and lots of internal reinforcements. In permaculture, we mimic nature by ensuring stability. If something goes wrong on the landscape (which happens often) the entire system stays intact when we have lots of redundancy built into the design.
#9 Design from Patterns to Details
In permaculture, we start with the big picture. What are our goals? What elements do we definitely want and need? How do we want the landscape to flow? Then, we move into designing the details. When we design in this way, we make sure that the ecosystems we are creating flow well together and we don’t miss any big-picture errors.
#10 Create Relationships and Guilds
Nature doesn’t grow plants in organized rows. When we walk through the forest, we don’t see one kind of plant here, one kind of plant there, and so on. Plants in nature grow in relationship with every other plant around them and they often grow in guilds. And contrary to conventional agriculture, we do the same.
When creating permaculture designs, we focus on putting plants in relationship with one another. We do this strategically so that every element is supported and utilized by multiple elements. And often, we create plant communities, guilds, and micro-environments.
#11 Design for Community
Humans are a part of the landscape, too. When we are designing permaculture landscapes, it is important to recognize the needs and wants of the community the landscape is serving, whether it’s a family or a large community. Not only do we want to think about what the landscape can give us, but also how we can integrate people into the landscape, too. Are there gathering places we can integrate into the design? In what ways can the landscape feed people in need? What kind of relationship do people want with this permaculture landscape?
#12 Make Small, Slow, and Efficient Changes
Every major change starts with a first step. It’s easy to become overwhelmed when we’re beginning a permaculture landscape design, especially if we try to force too much change too quickly. Not only can we become overwhelmed when we do this, but we end up missing things or creating more problems for ourselves in the future. Permaculture is all about longevity. When making changes, we take it slow, consider the whole picture, and focus on making the smallest changes for the biggest effect.
#13 Collaborate with Succession
This is another permaculture principle I’ve borrowed from Gaia’s Garden. There are patterns and rules that natural landscapes follow when they are evolving. When we have an understanding of these patterns, then we can better understand how to create the landscapes we wish. If we are transforming a field into a food forest, it isn’t going to happen in a single season. This process will likely take years. However, if we understand succession and the paths nature takes when transforming a field into a forest, we can mimic and expedite those patterns to create our food forest faster and more sustainably.
#14 Emphasize Diversity
Similarly to why we want to create redundancy in the landscape, we want to uplift diversity. In conventional agriculture, it is common to see lots of monocultures. Yes, even in organic agriculture! This monocropping leads to plants that are more susceptible to disease and pests while also creating instability. If a farmer is only growing a few crops and one of those crops fails, that farmer takes a huge financial blow.
In permaculture design, we recognize the importance of diversity and work to support it. We aim to include a large variety of food crops that support one another while also creating stability in the environment.
#15 Optimize Edge
Edges are the most biologically productive places in nature. Estuaries are known to be breeding and feeding grounds for many species, the places where the forest meets a field is always teeming with plants and animals, and so on. In permaculture, we recognize that the places where two ecosystems meet host great opportunities for diversity and abundance. Therefore, we optimize, utilize, and value the edges and margins of the landscape we’re designing for.
#16 Practice Creativity and Embrace Change
The biggest limitation to abundance is creativity. There are solutions to every problem and change is our friend. When we embrace change, we are gifted with opportunities to grow and create better systems. As permaculturists, we go into the process knowing that change and conflict are inevitable and we remember to show up with an open and creative mind.
Resources for Permaculture Principles
If you’d like to learn more about permaculture and the principles that guide us, I recommend checking out the permaculture books on my Bookshop page. Here, I’ve collected a number of titles that I have found to be very helpful while studying permaculture. You’ll find lots of books about permaculture design, foundations of permaculture, and niche topics like growing mushrooms, harvesting rainwater, and silvopasture.
You can also find some of my favorite permaculture titles in this article.
The Free Permaculture Visioning Workbook
If you’re interested in permaculture design, check out this article on the visioning process. Visioning happens in the second step of the permaculture design process and is arguably the most fun and creative step. Type in your email above, get the workbook sent right to your inbox, and start learning how to vision.
Summary: Permaculture Principles
The principles of permaculture are the foundation of the practice. When we understand these principles, we can design sustainable landscapes that feed us with very little effort while supporting the health of the environment. These include observation, learning about the land, catching and storing energy, focusing on abundance, evaluating our trials and successes, using renewable resources, utilizing all of each element’s roles, creating redundancy, designing from patterns to details, creating relationships and guilds, designing for community, making small, slow, and efficient changes, collaborating with succession, emphasizing diversity, optimizing edge, and embracing creativity and change.
If you’re curious about how these principles could be applied to human communities, check out this article on social permaculture. In this article, I explore how these permaculture principles can be used to create more sustainable communities that benefit everyone.
Do you have any questions or comments about these principles? Please leave a comment down below, I would love your input.
Thanks for stopping by!
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