Problem Statement/Definition of Research Area Permaculture – is this idea of sustainability the way of the future? The idea of permaculture (permanent agriculture or permanent culture) was developed by two Australians in the 1970’s, David Holmgren (a graduate student) and Bill Mollison (his professor) (Sullivan, 2008). There are many branches to the permaculture movement, all of which are related to ecology, sustainability and the idea of working with nature rather than against it. Essentially, leaving as small a footprint as possible on the earth. The way to start to do this is to give back to the environment, grow organic food where possible, drive the car less or reduce energy consumption. In what ways can adopting the theories behind…
A raised plant bed is elevated and sits higher than the its surrounding ground. Many things can interrupt the ability of plant growth in a raised garden bed: materials, bugs, and even the products that are being used. To some extent, we can control how strong we want our plants to grow. The most modern stage in the development of plant bed design today for raised beds filled with fast draining planting mix, which are ideal growing environments for vegetables. Therefore, using a deeper plant bed…
Working in tandem with the Resilience Hub ( a local permaculture business), myself, and other members of my high school, designed a farm-to-school-greenhouse, in the hopes of empowering other students with a greater understanding of food, nature, and community. (See bottom of essay for attachment to finalized design.) Each greenhouse team member picked a specific element they wished to propose a design for, in my case it was a pond, as I was greatly inspired by permaculture principles, and…
The Stain of Sustainability Sustainability is discussed in “Attention Whole Food Shoppers” by Robert Paarlberg and “Sustainability by Christian R Weisser. Christian R Weisser speaks more about the idea of what sustainability is and how is important for society to be aware of it. Robert Paarlberg explains in his article the way the Earth is more and less sustainable because of everyone 's actions around the world. Both articles touch on the ideas that there are people out there helping change…
Social Justice: As we have seen thus far, permaculture knows no class and is best suited in its nature to areas with more problems. It can provide jobs for people who have not been included or considered in the job discussion. It can be a safe place for children or grown ups in rough neighborhoods, and it is a great way to get teenagers involved. There is a woman named Pandora Thomas who works with people reentering the community after incarceration. She applies the first rule of permaculture…
In both “An Animal’s Place” by Michael Pollan and “The Omnivore’s Delusion; Against the Agri-Intellectuals” by Blake Hurst, the highly debated issue over modern American farming is addressed. Due to the importance of food to people’s lives, this issue is salient to the average individual because it concerns how his or her food is processed and where it originates from. Pollan’s proposal is that organic farming is a better method due to better quality of food and better quality of life for…
I used permaculture principles when designing the pond throughout the process, as I was trying to design a pond that was sustainable, and multi purposeful (beyond that of aesthetic value.) When deciding the placement of the pond, I took into account the surrounding environment to find an area where it would have the least amount of impact on the microclimates. This is a principle of permaculture as one’s design must cooperate with nature. By placing the pond in an area where the drainage…
John, an environmentalist. created his garden with permaculture qualities. What may seem to him a sustainable and efficient way of growing crops, is actually a technique derived from Native Americans. John uses a rubber hose to water his plants in his permaculture garden. Rubber products like these are created by The Native Americans, as they taught Europeans how to extract and cure rubber, creating common rubber products, such as the hose he uses. John is parched from maintaining his garden,…
what I have found in my research is to further the spectrum of how plants can be cultivated easier, and with less wasted energy to produce an optimum yield from a plant. Specialized vocabulary is something horticulturists have a slew of. Much of the jargon is shared with the rest of the scientific world. Cultivaris a term describing “a plant that is cultivated to introduce characteristics that set it apart from other plants in the same species” (Lerner). l Bioengineering a “method of securing…
This was achieved through conversations with professors to create student-advisor relationships in order to help facilitate the establishment of green initiatives throughout the house’s property. By working with multiple classes, students and professors we were able to receive donations of rare native plant species for the permaculture garden along with grants for the installation of a passive solar hot water heater, a rainwater capture system, a garden composting program, house-wide LED…