Permaculture is a cheap and efficient way to grow your own food, build green and reduce waste. You can practice it on your small garden at home or on a large-scale farm.
Permaculture aims to promote sustainability and environmental awareness while ensuring healthy nutrition and economic value. There are many examples of permaculture gardens across the world, with success stories and insightful experiences on how to get the most of sustainable farming. Here are a few:
Parc Carreg
This organic farm combines duck farming and blueberries on a 10-acre farm in South East Wales. It is a small mixed farm that is run on organic and regenerative principles, hosting a flock of approximately 500 ducks.
The farm is subdivided into paddocks, which are grazed alternately to improve grass growth and increase the carbon captured in the soil. Further, the farmers have added trees to improve the farms carbon catchment capacity.
Duck farming is preferred in Parc Carreg as they are flat-footed and help to improve the contact of mulch with the soil. Ducks also feed on slugs. The farm also has multiple ponds that ducks can drink from or wade through.
The water is then used to irrigate other crops and trees in the farm. The duck eggs are sold in the local market, with the owners hoping to introduce them as a favorable alternative to chicken eggs.
The farm was originally created to provide a habitat for insects and wildlife, help in water retention during drought, capture carbon in the soil and maintain its natural fertility without relying on chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
The farm has been in operation for five years and have been pioneers in the British agricultural industry and contributed toward environmentally conscious farming. The farm operates on the principles of diversity, sustainable farming, and obtaining a yield to feed the owners and the surrounding community.
Melliodora farms
This one-hectare property located in the Victorian central highlands is run by David Holmgren (co-founder of permaculture) and Su Dennett. It is a good example of small-scale permaculture farming.
The proprietors of the land have a solar house, mixed food gardens, orchards and creek revegetation which have been developed and maintained over the years. The model applied at Melliodora shows how permaculture can be applied to produce abundant food and other yields from a beautiful living environment.
David and Su offer tours of their land to demonstrate sustainable building, water catchment and how to mimic the patterns of nature in an urban garden. House gardening in Melliodora helps a farmer to create a microclimate that suits specific plants in their locality.
The orchard allows animals and plants to interact naturally, while mutually benefitting from each other. The farm offers tours to demonstrate how to design bushfire-resistant gardens, connecting to the solar power grid, greywater treatment, community food sharing and recycling materials in your land.
You can visit the garden at any time to get a lesson on permaculture implementation from one of the founders of the movement.
Yarnauwi Farm
This permaculture project located in Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia began in 2012. Joel Catchlove and Sophie Green bought the land to regenerate and reinvigorate the landscape in order to be self-reliant in terms of food and fuel.
The land had been cultivated for rearing sheep, and cattle for over 170 years. They had to work hard to apply permaculture principles to the land which had been degenerating gradually over the years.
The two owners spent some time learning about the capabilities and limitations of the land, observing the behavior of animals, plants, weather patterns, and soil quality. This was key to understanding what type of permaculture system was appropriate for the land, the type of plants to grow, and how to replicate the local ecosystem of plants and animals.
They then zoned their land by fencing areas depending on the energy they would need to rehabilitate it. They planted approximately 8,000 trees with the intention of bringing back local wildlife. Mr. Catchlove expressed his desire to have a woodland that would attract birds back to the region.
Today, the woodland is taking shape and birds are returning to the area. It is a good example of permaculture in Australia, and the potential of reclaiming lands that have been deteriorating and losing their agricultural potential over the years.
Stonecroft farms
This farm is located in Port Washington, Wisconsin. Mike Trinklein is the proprietor of the farm. In his website, he documents his failures as he experimented with different trees and plants in pursuit of permaculture.
Today, he grows aronia, Saskatoon, walnuts, lavender, pears and honeyberries in his farm. He began his permaculture project by planting 100 chestnut trees, which were all eaten by the local deer population. He also planted apple trees which failed. He planted lavender, which provided a bountiful harvest and offered hope for the success of his farm.
Mr. Trinklein is well aware of the long-term benefits of permaculture as he remains patient that his nut trees and plums will finally produce heavily this year. In the meantime, he is reaping from Aronia, lavender and other berries in his farm.
Mr. Trinlkein learns a lot from his local environment. He tries to plant trees that produce the fruits that people want. He has integrated exotic plants such as seaberry with elderberries and honeyberries, hazelnuts, and peaches and cherries.
He recognizes the value of lavender as the most valuable and bountiful plant in his garden. He sells them at the local market and aims to profit from the couple of thousand plants he has on his farm.
One key philosophy of permaculture applied in Stonecroft farms is letting nature dictate the type of food to grow on your land. Mr. Trinklein does not use any spray on his plants. He mainly mulches and maintains his fences to keep out deer. He has also installed nets to keep birds away from his fruiting trees.
Curious about what to plant together in your permaculture project?
Limestone Permaculture
A 1-acre farm located in New South Wales Australia. The farm aims to deliver ethical and health-conscious permaculture goods to the surrounding regions. Limestone farms showcase practical permaculture examples such as holistic farm design, use of recycled materials, water harvesting, market gardening, forest gardening and solar and wind energy.
This farm is built on the tenet of caring for the earth and ensuring that people have all resources they need to lead a healthy life. You can visit the farm to get hands-on experience with homesteading and sustainable living. Limestone permaculture aims to put food and energy supply back to the hands of the people through regenerative principles.
Conclusion
The five farms mentioned combine different principles and techniques of permaculture in pursuit of their sustainability goals. Permaculture aims to copy the natural ecosystem, through elements that interact with each other, without any human intervention. Permaculture can be profitable and help sustain the food, fuel and housing needs of the local population.
