This Permaculture Thing

A couple of weeks ago now we took a little drive to a spot about an hour from home to check out the permaculture garden at Melliodora, created by David Holmgren and his partner over the past 30-odd years. David Holmgren is one of the originators of the concept of permaculture. To be honest, I really didn't know what to expect, apart from the simple joy of having a poke around someone else's garden. 

Giant old pear tree.

A tree branch conveniently blocking our host's face.

A husband and a son.

What I didn't expect was to be so taken with what permaculture is, and what it isn't. I thought it was just  a way of gardening, really. But it is not just a way of gardening. And then on closer inspection, you could conclude that it is a type of counter-culture movement, but it is not a counter-culture movement. It is so much more than that. I don't even know really how to describe it. 

source

I think this 'permaculture flower' thing sums it up quite well. For me, it pulled together so many elements of our way of life, our beliefs, and what we plan for the future, all into one place. And there it is - all bundled up very neatly into this thing called permaculture. I'm fully immersed in reading a fascinating book on the subject (this one) right now, and it's refreshing, challenging and downright reassuring. 

We've definitely got some new ideas on how this garden will take shape here in our little corner of the world. Slow and steady is how we plan to go about it all. Already it's drying off so much and we've not even hit summer yet. A lot of our plans will have to wait until next year, or even later, but I guess that gives us time to make sure they are really good plans.

For more informative blog posts than mine about the Melliodora property, here are some good links:
Permaculture Parr
PermaCultured
and this interesting piece on Simple Lives.