Class 3 notes by Trisha C.
David Holmgren, a student of Bill Mollison’s, and still-active permaculture designer, has also tried his hand at defining the essential principles of permaculture. Holmgren’s principles are much more abstract and philosophical. Where Mollison’s are specific and tailored to the garden or design; Holmgren values diversity, integration, interaction and feedback. In his book, Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, Holmgren draws schematic diagrams and cycles to illustrate his view. The take-home message is, of course, that all the principles advocate an awareness of our interconnectedness.
We were given the opportunity to practice this interconnectedness (and also realize our natural affinity to forget or not pay attention to it) while conducting some unplanned meandering. We ventured out into the rapidly-warming day to test our sense of self-reliance, and also our ability to notice naturally-occurring patterns. Armed with our skills of observation, we were able to practice first-hand our abilities to “observe and interact,” one of Holmgren’s permaculture principles.
Upon retruning to class, we were asked to identify the pattern types that we observed, and realized that as varied as they were, they all fit within 8 different pattern types: radial, wave, branching, decentralized branching, packing, spiral, lobed and scattered/random. This one was my favorite: A honeycomb-like packing or crating pattern, that is used in building or planting to reinforce and create strength or protection amongst things that, to me, seem unlikely to cooperate. Plus, it reminds me of flowers.
Speaking of flowers, we had the chance to visit an intentional community in southwest Berkeley that had been a cooperative living situation for the past 25 years. While hearing the story and history of the house, we had the opportunity to wander around in their permaculture garden, performing a site analysis – but really just marveling at the variety of flowers and trees and shrubs and food plants. All had been done with care and attention to the needs of the community (human and otherwise) as a whole. There was an herb spiral, raised beds of greens and radishes, pathways buttressed by rainwater-collecting barrels, and miniature forests created to attract and entice pollinators.
Learning and being able to experience urban permaculture in all its beauty was marvelous. Watching members of the community working on the garden and using group decision-making tools to modify or re-plant different areas of the yard was also sobering, and made me realize that achieving true stasis with nature doesn’t happen just because you think it will.
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