[Sdpg] "Permaculture is revolution disguised as gardening", (Mike Feingold)

[sdpg-admin at arashi.com]

http://www.findhorn.org/ecovillage/archives/training/jane.html
Seeds of Peace by Jane Rasbash

hi everyone
         Here a part of a beautiful article written about Ecovillage 
Training at Findhorn in Scotland
                                                                 wes

The Findhorn organic gardens operate an earthshare scheme. This entails 
local people who are interested in eating seasonal, organic vegetables 
paying for these in advance and having a box each week from the gardens 
thus missing out the middle man and ensuring fresh produce. Earthshare also 
supply the Findhorn kitchens where our group spent two afternoons turning 
the vegetables into a tasty dinner for around one hundred people. 
"Permaculture is revolution disguised as gardening", (Mike Feingold) Jane 
Hera's friendly and down to earth leadership was greatly appreciated during 
the permaculture module. She explained how most cultures are deeplyrooted 
in agriculture systems thus permaculture can relate to anything. I had a 
little chuckle with others in the group who were familiar with the Buddhist 
teachings when it was mentioned that the word permaculture had derived from 
"permanent". In the Buddhist tradition everything is seen as impermanent. 
Jane explained that permaculture was an ethical discipline that advocates 
caring, sharing and repairing the earth. Permaculture involves observing 
and learning to look at the world, landscape and natural systems. The 
principles outlined included looking for multiple functions for single 
elements, finding beneficial functional relationships and using energy 
efficient planning thus advocating inter-connection and sustainable use of 
resources. To start with, Jane suggested looking at the land for one year 
and observing what happens in different seasons. How does the land change, 
what plants grow and how do they relate to each other, what about the 
effects of the wind, the frost, the snow and the sun. Of course if you are 
local or indigenous you would have a huge start and it makes sense to learn 
from residents if you are new to an area. Then comes the permaculture 
design where a pictorial vision is created. The vision is an overview of a 
long term plan and the process for this includes zoning the land with 
different functions for each zone. Great thought is given to how the land 
will be in many years to come and long term planting with a succession of 
plants to create a healthy eco-system is used. Then you work out what the 
first achievable steps are rather than get over whelmed with detailed 
planning at an early stage. I was inspired by this approach that seems very 
relevant to our work with participatory development, indigenous values, 
sustainable agriculture and social justice and my imagination ran riot with 
the possibilities of a synthesis of all these aspects - perhaps it really 
is a revolutionary approach.

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