from 26 feb 2006
ESEI vol 1, #4
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Ecological and Economical Development:
An Introduction to Permaculture

  by Larry Santoyo



(also below - Recommended Useful Species List for Cold Climates)

Imagine living in a place that is blended into the natural environment. Your home is not only naturally heated and cooled, but is elegant and affordable. Integrated into the surrounding landscape are natural water systems where food is being grown safe from harmful chemicals, and waste is managed for productivity. A place where the neighbors, young and old, routinely help one another. There is less traffic, less pollution and more open space. Leisure time becomes abundant and recreational opportunities are close at hand. Also imagine, that as a result of its design, this place saves you money and, most importantly, it saves the Earth its precious resources.



Through the simple and practical strategies offered by Permaculture Design, a village lifestyle like this is not a dream. Permaculture mimics nature -where total resource efficiency is accomplished by managing waste for productivity and balancing its consumption with contributions from each of the elements in the system. Permaculture brings to home owners and design professionals an innovative approach to planning, landscaping, building and retrofitting.

Coined by Australian ecologists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, "Permaculture" is a contraction of the words "permanent and culture". It is a highly developed Art, Science and Philosophy. Regional groups and colleges teach Permaculture Design, and design firms throughout the country are now offering Permaculture services. Permaculture Design sciences are now used by homeowners, architects, land use planners, landscape designers, farmers and community service organizations world wide.

Permaculture courses train designers in simple techniques to "read the patterns of the landscape" and methods that turn problems into resources. Permaculture designers consider that every property has a unique pattern of natural characteristics. Proper alignment with these natural patterns is the basis of the permaculture process. Using Permaculture Design, human ecosystems (development) can model nature's patterns of multi-functionality and inter-connectivity, making it as sustainable and resilient as a forest system.

Instead of the "one size fits all" approach, Nature is allowed to direct the land use plan. By skillfully using permaculture methods of site analysis and evaluation, elements (such as buildings and roads) and practices (such as farming and forestry) are established only in areas with optimum conditions - working with nature in an efficient and economical way. Elements are placed not in isolation, but in relation to the dynamics of the total site. Proper placement is achieved when an element or a practice is designed to interact efficiently with all of the influencing elements. To do this, permaculture designers use simple physics and biology, as well as specific observation skills.

The permaculture designer treats the built environment and the natural environment as a whole. Houses are designed not only for optimum solar advantage but are carefully sited away from sensitive areas. Prime agricultural land and wildlands are protected. Precautions are taken for the predictable threats of fire, flood, wind, and cold air drainage. One of the primary objectives in permaculture is for designers to develop simple biological alternatives to reduce the need for the expensive and resource consuming demands of high technology. (Proper shading alone can reduced cooling costs even in desert areas by 20% or more.)

Permaculture designers also learn to observe and research naturally occurring plant and animal assemblies (guilds). This information is translated for use in sustainable farming. Perennial fruit trees, shrubs, and vines, together with livestock and commercial crops, are selected to mimic natural assemblies - each plant and animal benefits the other, providing a permanent and maintenance free resource system.

Comprehensive water and soil conservation planning are integral to any sustainable design. For water conservation and flood controls, permaculture designers use roofs of buildings, parking lots, roadways and landscapes for harvesting run-off water. Basin and berm structures (swales) and cisterns are constructed to collect this run-off water and convert flooding problems into helpful resources of drinking water and low cost irrigation.

For economic development, Nature's model of resource efficiency is used again. Creating community development plans is probably Permaculture Design's best application. In this process an inventory is meticulously prepared, examining a community's basic needs and cross-referenced with its renewable resources. Needs that are not met by local resources are considered job opportunities for the community. Only those resources surplus to local needs are made available as sustainable commodities for sale and trade - thus creating a stable economy based on real need and renewable resources.

"Mixed use" zoning closely mimics natural systems and is highly recommended for community land use plans. Designing residential and commercial zones as clusters allows large areas of open and wild spaces to remain intact. This creates an access-by-proximity design allowing people to live, shop, work and recreate in the same general area. Transportation and traffic problems are greatly reduced. Suburban and urban consumers can also help conserve resources and link directly with nearby farms and other rural enterprise.

Permaculture Design offers a natural, practical and inherently economical way to model our homes and communities. Permaculture also offers hope -as it effectively bridges the gap between development needs and true ecological sensitivity.



–  Larry Santoyo

Larry Santoyo is available for consultation, design and project management. For additional information about Workshops and Training Programs see http://www.earthflow.com/

http://www.earthflow.com/courses/whatispermaculture.shtml






Recommended Useful Species List for Cold Climates
By Larry Santoyo, EarthFlow Design Works



Nitrogen-fixing Plants:

Alnus sp. - Alder
Caragana arborescens - Siberian Pea Shrub
Ceanothus sp. - Ceanothus
Elaeagnus commutata - Silverberry
Elaeagnus angustifolia - Russian Olive
Elaeagnus umbellata - Cardinal Autum Olive
Trifolium sp. - clover
Gymnocladus diocus - Kentucky Coffee Tree
Vicia sp. - vetch
Shepardia argentea - Silver Buffaloberry
Medicago sativa - alfalfa
Shepardia canadensis - Russet Buffaloberry

Agro-forestry plants:

Vaccinium sp. - Ornablue Blueberry
Vaccinium corymbasum - Patriot Blueberry
Rubus sp. - Boyne Raspberry
Rubus sp. - Amity Raspberry
Rubus occidentalis - Munger Black Raspberry
Viburnum trilobum - American Cranberry
Viburnum dentatum - Arrowwood
Viburnum lentago - Nannyberry
Corylus sp. - Hazelbert
Corylus sp. - Bill's Hybrid Trazel
Corylus sp. - Gellatly Filazel
Corylus sp. - Peace River Cross
Sambucus canadensis - Adams #1 Elderberry
Humulus sp - Tettnang Hops
Vaccinium angustifolium - Lowbush Huckleberry
Vaccinium corymbosum x augustifolium - Northland Blueberry

Wildlife / Shelter Belt plants:

Prunus americana - American Plum
Caragana arborescens - Caragana
Elaeagnus umbellata - Cardinal Autumn Olive
Fraxinus pennsylvanica - Green Ash
Gymnocladus dioicus - Kentucky Coffee Tree
Celtis occidentalis L. - Northern Hackberry
Rosa rugosa - Rugosa Rose
Elaeagnus angustifolia - Russian Olive
Elaeagnus cummutata - Silverberry
Shepardia argentea - Silver Buffaloberry
Lonicera tatarica - Tatarian Honeysuckle
Cotoneaster acutifolia - Peking Cotoneaster
Cornus mas. - Cornelian Cherry Dogwood
Cornus 'Sericea' - Red Osier Dogwood
Morus alba - White Mulberry
Diospyros virginiana - American Persimmon
Crataegus sp - Hawthorn
Prunus Besseyi - Hansen Bush Cherry
Amelanchier sp. - Pembina Saskatoon
Amelanchier alnifolia - Smoky Saskatoon
Amelanchier sp. - Northline Saskatoon
Prunus tomentosa - Nanking Cherry
Vaccinium angustifolium - Lowbush Huckleberry
Vaccinium sp. - Ornablue Blueberry
Vaccinium corymbasum - Patriot Blueberry
Rubus sp. - Amity Raspberry
Rubus sp. - Boyne Raspberry
Viburnum trilobum - American Cranberry
Rubus occidentalis - Munger Black Raspberry
Viburnum dentatum - Arrowwood
Viburnum lentago - Nannyberry
Viburnum sp - Blue Ray
Corylus sp. - Hazelbert
Corylus sp. - Bill's Hybrid Trazel
Corylus sp. - Gellatly Filazel
Corylus sp. - Peace River Cross
Sambucus canadensis - Adams #1 Elderberry
Humulus sp - Tettnang Hops
Vaccinium corymbosum x augustifolium - Northland Blueberry
Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea' - Yellow Twig Dogwood
Prunus armeniaca 'Mandshurica' - Manchurian Apricot
Berberis thunbergi atropurpurea - Barberry, Red Japanese
Diospyros virginiana - Early Golden Persimmon

Windbreak / Screenning Plants:

Populus sp. - Balm of Giliad
Populus sp. - C.I. 308
Populus sp. - Lombardy
Populus sp. - Red Caudina #101
Populus sp. - U of I Hybrid
Lonicera tatarica - Tatarian Honeysuckle
Acer ginala "Flame" - Flame Amer Maple
Caragana arborescens - Caragana
Elaeagnus umbellata - Cardinal Autumn Olive
Fraxinus pennsylvanica - Green Ash
Gymnocladus dioicus - Kentucky Coffee Tree
Cotoneaster acutifolia - Peking Cotoneaster
Cornus mas. - Cornelian Cherry Dogwood
Cornus 'Sericea' - Red Osier Dogwood
Salix alba 'Belders' - Dutch Timber Willow
Salix alba "tristis' - Weeping Golden Willow
Salix alba 'Vitellina' - Gold Willow
Corylus sp. - Hazelbert
Corylus sp. - Bill's Hybrid Trazel
Corylus sp. - Gellatly Filazel
Corylus sp. - Peace River Cross
Sambucus canadensis - Adams Elderberry
Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea' - Yellow Twig Dogwood

Select Hardwood Timber Trees:

Juglans cinerea - Butternut
Juglans sp. - Hansen Walnut
Juglans nigra - Black Walnut
Juglans sp. - Sommers Walnut
Carya illinoisensis - Northern Pecan
Carya ovata - Shagbark Hickory
Carya laciniosa - Shell bark Hickory
Quercus macrocarpa - Bur Oak
Quercus kelloggii - California Black Oak
Quercus rubra 'Borealis' - Red Oak
Quercus sp. - Sweet Idaho Bur Oak
Quercus alba - White Oak
Acer saccarum - Sugar Maple
Prunus serotina - Black Cherry
Castanea dentata - American Chestnut
Castanea mollisima X dentata - Douglas Hybrid Chestnut

Water and Wetland Plants:

Azolla sp - Azolla fern
Typha sp - Cattail
Sambucus sp. - Elderberry
Rorippa amphibia sp - Watercress
Mentha sp - Mint
Zizania sp - Wild rice
Salix sp - Willows
Vaccinium sp - Cranberry
Vaccinium sp - Blueberry
Phragmites sp - Reed
Juncus effusos sp - Rush
Humulus Lupus - Hops

Beneficial Insectary Plants:

Umbelliferous Plants:
Celery
Angelica
Sweet cicely
Parsnip
Fennel
Parsley
Cumin
Anise
Dill
Chervil
Caraway
Coriander
Lovage
Carrot
Queen Anne's lace

Rosacea:
Apple
Plum
Raspberries
Saskatoon
Pear
Chokecherry

Pest Control Plants:
Marigold - nematodes
Tobacco - insecticide
Pyrethrum daisy - insecticide
Rhubarb - insecticide

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