Andrew:
In the Spring, Lindsay and I hosted a permaculture course here at Windward. We were able to video some of the more introductory parts of the class and want to make that available to folks here.
What is permaculture? Permaculture (a conjunction of permanent-agriculture) is a rather hard thing to define, but most regard it as an integrated design philosophy with the objective to create sustainable systems that provide for their own needs and recycle their waste. Permaculture encompasses a diverse array of field including ecology, gardening, architecture, horticulture, forestry, money systems, community design and many more.
I often think of Permaculture as a frame-work in which we can hang all of human knowledge in an interrelated pattern. A pattern which has at it's base both an interior logic and ethics of learning from and designing based upon the physical and ecological laws which underlie the world we live in. And to design with a long term thinking about how our living arrangements will impact future generations.
We utilize permaculture principles in much of what we do here. Regardless of if we call it "permaculture" or not, our community life on the land , and our work with integrated systems in all about creating a self-reliant, inter-generational, resilient and regenerative way of life.
Hope you enjoy this brief introduction to this complex and facinating subject!
If you are interested in learning more, we invite you to an upcomming permaculture weekend intensive on September 6th-8th