Perma- what?

When so much of our lives now feels temporary, fast-paced, and only focussed on immediate results, there has recently been some small growth in precisely the opposite. Permaculture, has emerged as an alternative approach to much of a modern day habits. This is the theory of sustainable systems: “a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature”, as the proclaimed “father of permaculture” Bill Mollison explains.

There are many aspects to permaculture, but they originally came forth from the desire to have more sustainable agricultural practices. Growing food in such a way that the soil doesn’t require industrially produced fertiliser, or enhanced pollination through the encouragement of natural pollinators such as bees and other animals. Indeed, much of permaculture is primarily focussed on the producing food.

What can you grow?

To some extent permaculture is a very prescribed methodology. It has three foundational ethics, twelve design principles, and various permaculture related jargon. In some ways, you could imagine these practices as being almost like a religion - there's even a patriarchal head of this church in Bill Mollison! In reality however, the theory is not a strict list of do’s and don’ts. Rather, it is about being delicate with how we go about our lives, ensuring our practices do not harm the earth in the future, and establishing how best we live in this world with limited resources it has. Permaculture is to create something more than the sum of its parts. By working with the land, caring for it, careful planning of housing and design, and adjusting our lifestyles, these relationships bring about added value. The emergence of permaculture has been seen in the uptake of permaculture principles in the hôtellerie industry. On the whole, not the most sustainable of sectors, some hotels and resorts are breaking the mould and seeing the value in permaculture. A clear example was in our previous blog article about Areias do Seixo - being in touch is so important that the kitchen garden is open to the visitors. They maintain their garden as a micro-climate, encouraging self sustaining actions, and over time reducing the inputs required for increased output - more than the sum of its parts.

The permaculture garden at Areias do Seixo

Similarly the luxury eco-hotel of The Scarlet perched high up on the top of the sea cliffs of Cornwall. Here all their products are sourced responsibly while considering the life-cycle of each product and service they use. Both Areias do Seixo and The Scarlet demonstrate how permaculture and sustainability is not at the expense of luxury: rather if new practices can be established and the problems of over-consumption are challenged, we can have the best of both worlds on this one and only world of ours.

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