Permaculture! What is it?

It has been a few years since I discovered permaculture. I was immediately enamored with the concept. 

What is permaculture? For those who are interested here is what Bill Mollison co-originator of the term says,

    "Permaculture. A copyright word, owned as a common copyright by the Permaculture Institutes & their graduates. Derived from ‘Permanent’ and ‘Culture’, as follows:

    Permanent: From the Latin permanens, to remain to the end, to persist throughout (per = through, manere = to continue)

    Culture: From the Latin cultura - cultivation of land, or the intellect. Now generalized to mean all those habits, beliefs, or activities than sustain human societies.

    Thus, Permaculture is the study of the design of those sustainable or enduring systems that support human society, both agricultural & intellectual, traditional & scientific, architectural, financial & legal. It is the study of integrated systems, for the purpose of better design & application of such systems."

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless action; of looking at systems in all their functions rather than asking only one yield of them & of allowing systems to demonstrate their own evolutions."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Permaculture seeks the Garden of Eden & why not?

The overall aim of permaculture design is to produce an efficient low-maintenance productive integration of plants, animals, structures & man; with the ultimate result of on-site stability & food self-sufficiency in the smallest practical area.

The aim is also to plan for craft or other products on larger areas, that yield a trade or commercial potential for clients, again as diverse products resources. The design should aim for a total, secure, long-term integration of all elements; stability & diversity are the keynotes. Conservation of soil, water, & energy are central issues.

The system combines rational landscape design, organic gardening methods, & alternative energy systems into a unified design encompassing many trades, skill, & disciplines."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Permaculture really starts with an ethic or earthcare, understood as care of whole systems of earth & species. So we actually devise model systems. Much of the design is drawn from nature. The end result that we aim for, is to produce a system that is ecologically sound & economically profitable. It can get sophisticated or be as simple as you like.

1. Permanent Agriculture, the requirement for a permanent culture

2. An ethical philosophy of earthcare & peoplecare supported by the distribution of surplus goods; wealth, labor, attention, information

3. The condition of abundance in nature marked by cooperation, diversity of species, occupation of essential ecological niches, & stability over time, in contrast to the conditions of competition, scarcity, monotony, &^ imminent decay which predominate under hierarchical social conditions.

4. A productive system of human design based on maximal beneficial connections between the elements thereof.

5. A global grassroots movement for self-reliance, community responsibility, decentralization of social, political, economic, & technical authority.

6. The demonstrated & replicated teaching & techniques thereof.

7. Interactive, recombinant ecologies marked by elegance of principle, efficiency of function, appropriateness of form, & astonishing beauty.

8. Maximum satisfaction of needs for all living beings employing the minimum area of built space with a high density & quality of biological information"  

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are some links that define permaculture. The first is where I pulled these quotes from.

About Permaculture 

Definitions of Permaculture