Submitted by Debbie Willis on behalf of Grounds Committee
Welcome to Permaculture Potential! This is a new column from the Grounds Committee; we are excited to help educate co-op members (and ourselves!) about permacultures principles and techniques, with the eventual aim of proposing more permaculture projects to membership.
What is permaculture?
According to Bill Mollison, who was a professor of biogeography and environmental psychology at the University of Tasmania, permaculture is the "conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive systems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems."
In short, permaculture is about living and gardening in harmony with nature. It is a holistic worldview, as well as a set of principles and techniques. It often involves closed-loop systems (a system that provides its own energy needs), rain conservation and usage, the planting of perennial crops (rather than annuals, which involves disturbing the soil every year), and letting nature do the work for you (the human's role is to observe and work with nature's inclinations, rather than to engage in unnecessary labour).
A wonderful example of permaculture is the food forest that co-op members planted last summer—a welcoming space of perennial plants and trees that we expect will produce hundreds of pounds of food for co-op members in the coming years. We feel that further permaculture projects will enhance the beauty and sustainability of our grounds while also reducing maintenance costs and increasing food security.
For a lovely and moving overview of the principles of permaculture, please see the documentary Inhabit, available on Vimeo.
Winterizing Your Garden—Permaculture-style!
To winterize your garden the permaculture way, you want to take advantage of the resources that nature has already provided and to sustainably cycle them back into your garden to feed your soil over the year ahead. According to the website growmyownfood.com, here is a reliable way to prepare your garden space for winter:
After you've harvested the last of your veggies (and presumably you already did this before the snow this year!), cut your annual veggie plants stems off at the soil level. By retaining the root system in the soil, the roots will gradually die off over the winter and provide a ready source of accessible nutrients for next year's plants.
For perennials, perform some last "chopping and dropping." To "chop and drop" means to take extra green leafy growth and drop it directly into your garden as you cut it off.
It's best to refrain from doing any pruning of fruit trees until the late winter when they are more dormant.
Once you cleaned up the old plants in your yard, feed and preserve the soil by keeping it covered and moist. This is especially important during Calgary's dry, cold winters! The simplest (and most inexpensive) way to protect your soil is to mulch with shredded leaves. Shredded leaves decompose faster than whole leaves and so won't rot. According to The David Suzuki Foundation, leaves also provide important nutrients for the microorganisms that keep soil healthy, as well as providing a warm home for butterfly pupae, who need shelter to overwinter.
And voila! You have a simple, low-maintenance way to preserve the integrity and health of your garden over our long winter! :)
Please get in touch with Debbie in unit 34 (debmwillis@gmail.com) if you have ideas for other topics that should be covered in Permaculture Potential!