Permaculture is a framework and methodology based on Indigenous knowledge from across the world. Its process balances human needs with the needs of other species and transforms scarcity into abundance. It is made up of two words: ‘permanent’ and ‘agriculture’.

At its heart are three very simple tenets, or ethics:

– Care for the planet

– Care for people

– Fair share (which also involves returning the surplus to the system)

Permaculture encourages us to be resourceful and self-reliant. It is not a dogma or a religion but an ecological design system that helps us find solutions to the many problems facing us - both locally and globally. It also uses the wisdom of Indigenous peoples, along with the innovations of technology, to bring natural and intelligent methods to land care.

Click here to read more about Permaculture.

For a snapshot of more detail on what Permaculture stands for, here are the 12 principles that it’s based on:

1. Observe and Interact

2. Catch and Store Energy

3. Obtain a Yield

4. Apply Self-Regulation and Feedback

5. Use and Value Renewables

6. Produce No Waste

7. Design from Patterns to Details

8. Integrate Don’t Segregate

9. Use Small, Slow Solutions

10. Use and Value Diversity (in all it’s forms)

11. Use Edges and Value the Marginal

12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change

—————

It should be noted that though Bill Mollison coined the term “permaculture”, he acknowledged and referenced the cultures he learned from in his writings. His work was developed in partnership with Indigenous Tasmanians and by observing other Indigenous permaculture designs around the world. The Tasmanian Indigenous members shared their ancient wisdom that he analyzed using modern scientific technology, and then created a written program, with his business partner David Holmgren for anyone to use and understand to regenerate the planet. Part of his personal people care included creating a genealogy of Indigenous Tasmanians that assisted them in regaining their land rights.

“Permaculture is fundamentally then, an Indigenous science. Its framework is a design system that incorporates core principles and practices from Indigenous knowledge around the world, assimilating it with sustainable new technology that is making strides towards harmonizing this traditional wisdom with pioneering modern quantum science.”

Now then, doesn’t that sound like a system that is adaptable and future-fit?

Why regeneration? Because all sustainable solutions are unsustainable over the longer term, if they are not also intrinsically regenerative. The spaces we work on are specifically designed to live on long after our lifetime.

Regenerative farming or 'regenerative agriculture’ calls for the creation of demand on agricultural systems to produce food in a way that is beneficial to the production and the ecology of the environment. It uses the science of systems ecology, and the design and application through permaculture.

The degree of technological innovation by humans is remarkable but has also advanced to the point at which the industrialized lifestyle it has engendered is fretting the basic elements we depend for our existence at the most fundamental level, in particular, soil, water and air.

Improved conditions from regenerative permaculture might include the creation of habitat (including building soil), water purification, and the enhancement of nitrogen- and carbon-fixing processes in the soil.

Click here to read more about regenerative permaculture.

Rewilding is a progressive approach to conservation. It's about letting nature take care of itself, enabling natural processes to shape land and sea, repair damaged ecosystems, and restore degraded landscapes. Through rewilding, wildlife's natural rhythms create wilder, more biodiverse habitats.

In our work, we incorporate native species and natural systems to mimic the rewilding efforts happening across the world.

Click here to learn more about rewilding.

Why is the use of native species so important?

The term “native” plant generally refers to plants indigenous to a particular geographic region. Over time those plants have adapted to local environmental and social influences such as soil types and hydrology, local organism impacts, micro-climates, and human influences. They are the ecological basis upon which life depends, including birds and people. Without them and the insects that co-evolved with them, local wildlife cannot survive.

Native plants provide multiple benefits to people and wildlife, while contributing greatly to healthy soil and water in urban and rural areas. Benefits include:

• Native plants help you use less fertilizer

• Native plants are low maintenance

• Native plants are effective at storing greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide)

• Native plants help you use less water, as they are acclimatized to the existing water “budget”

• Native plants can significantly reduce water runoff and, consequently, flooding

• Native plants generally have deep and extensive root systems that make them (and their surroundings) more tolerant to drought and other adverse conditions

• Native plants provide shelter and food for wildlife and support pollinators

• Native plants promote biodiversity and stewardship of our natural heritage

• Native plants have been shown to be more cost-effective

Click here to read more details about the above points, or click here to see a list of native species in Ontario.

But wait - does non-native automatically mean it’s invasive? The quick answer is no. There is a difference between a non-native plant and an invasive species. All invasives are non-natives… but not all non-natives are invasives.

For example, hostas, hydrangeas, boxwoods, tulips, daffodils, garden salvias, dwarf shrub junipers, peonies, and many others are non-native to Canada but are not considered invasive.

With that said, the truth is that there is still a lot of research that needs to be done to fully comprehend the complexity of domino effects on the ecosystem that non-native species bring.

For this reason, we aim to minimize the use of non-natives for all the aforementioned reasons. But a sprinkling here and there? No problem.

A closed-loop is a cyclic process where wastes or renewable sources are reintegrated as resources in a dynamic system. Elements in a system are viewed in relationship to other elements, where the outputs of one element become the inputs of another.

Everything is recycled, waste is eliminated by design and transformed into resources, processes are clear and energy-saving, defined for little maintenance.

A classic example of this is composting kitchen scraps. The finished product from this process gets applied as fertilizer to food crops, which then produce food that we eat, which then creates more organic materials for your compost systems, and the cycle continues round and round.

Read more about closed-loop systems here.

We love perennials!

When we consider the ‘permanent agriculture’ aspect of permaculture, it should be apparent that we would need to use perennial plants to construct a permanent system, rather than using annual crops to create temporary systems, which are there one season, and return to bare earth the next.

Particularly in our northern climate, perennial vegetables have many advantages and yields are surprisingly often better than conventional crops. Perennials are perfectly adapted to short-season conditions as they come into growth early in spring (when it’s still cool and the soil is damp) and use the available solar energy optimally over the season. Conventional crops take much longer to get going. But why else?

There are in fact far more profound ecological and environmental reasons for using perennials rather than annuals in our food production systems.

• They do not need to be pulled out of the soil, which saves invaluable fungal networks and delicate soil organism ecosystems from destruction

• They put out extensive root systems very deep into the soil, which allows them to access water and nutrients that cannot be reached by annual plants.

• They create a permanent network of roots that helps stabilize the soil and prevent erosion.

• They are better adapted to extreme climate conditions.

• The very long perennial root systems are also excellent at stabilizing steep slopes and river banks, which shallow-rooted plants are unable to do.

• If we’re trying to replicate nature - the majority of plants on the planet are perennials (for a reason)!

• They are on the whole a lot more productive than annuals.

• Growing perennial food plants is by far more sustainable and energy-efficient, and requires much less work overall.

With all of that said, we do believe that there is a time and a place for annual plants as well (I’m looking at you, Tomatoes!). And so our aim is to create perennial-dominant greenspaces, combined with the occasional mix of intentional annuals.

Read more about perennials (vs annuals) here!

It’s a buzz term these days among the green thumbs, and for good reason!

A food forest, also called a forest garden, is the harmonious integration of the landscape with people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable (regenerative!) way. It’s a diverse planting of edible plants that attempts to mimic the ecosystems and patterns found in nature. Food forests are three-dimensional designs, with life extending in all directions – up, down, and out.

We can convert several acres - or even small backyards - into food forests! No matter the size, you can use the food forest layers to build your space into a lush and beautiful space.

There are generally seven layers of a forest garden: the overstory (tall trees), the understory (smaller trees), the shrub layer, the herbaceous layer, the root layer, the ground cover layer, and the vine layer. Some also like to recognize mycelial (fungi) as the eighth layer. Using these layers, we can fit plants much more densely in an area without causing failure due to competition. Like you see in the wild!

A food forest does not have to be re-planted year after year. Once it is established, it is generally very resilient. You can also choose to intersperse annual plants if desired.

This is an entire topic that we could talk for hours about, but to learn more about this awesomely cool approach to growing food, check out some of the links below!

Click here to read more about what Food Forests are.

Click here to see how someone transformed their backyard into a food forest.

Click here to see Geoff Lawton talk about food forests.

Bare soil is like an open wound on your hand, or like a human without clothes. Land doesn’t like to be bare and monocultured. It needs diversity and attention! It needs to be covered!

Soils are made in part of broken-down plant matter. This means they contain a lot of carbon that those plants took in from the atmosphere while they were alive. Especially in colder climates where decomposition is slow (hello, Canada!), soils can store—or “sequester”—this carbon for a very long time. If not for soil, this carbon would return to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas causing climate change.

But using conventional methods to convert natural ecosystems like forests and grasslands to farmland disturbs soil structure, releasing much of that stored carbon and contributing to climate change. Over the past 12,000 years, the growth of farmland has released roughly 110 billion metric tons of carbon from the top layer of soil—equivalent to nearly 80 years’ worth of present-day emissions in the U.S.

This is why the regenerative permaculture and no-dig approach are so vital. It enables the regeneration of soil and returns it to a healthy ecosystem that effectively sequesters carbon. It ensures the ground always has a natural covering, which ensures it can continue holding on to that carbon. While it cannot single-handily reverse the effects of climate change on its own, taking care of our soils is a (big!) step in the right direction.

Hügelkultur (loosely pronounced “Hoo-gul-culture”) is German for “hill culture.” It’s a no-dig garden bed technique whereby large amounts of wood are buried in a garden bed mound. Flora is planted on top of the mound, and whatever is left over after harvesting eventually composts itself into the soil as well.

The mounds can be between 2-7ft off the ground, and are a great way of maximizing growing area as you’re making use of vertical space. People have great success growing fruit, vegetables, and herbs with excellent yields.

A Hügelkultur bed is also a great way to follow the permaculture principle of catching and storing energy. The decaying wood acts like a sponge to hold onto water that seeps into the ground, providing much better water retention for your plants. They also act as a consistent source of long-term nutrients for the plants, helping to ensure their natural resiliency.

Plus - it looks cool and makes accessing your vegetation much simpler.

Check out this article to learn more.

Companion planting is the practice of planting two or more types of plants close together for some kind of benefit, such as the control of pests, increased health and vigour, resistance to disease, or higher yields. They can even help to improve crop flavour. These are termed ‘good companions’.

An example of good companions (friends!) to cabbage are:

• Onions: they naturally repel pests that love cabbage family plants.

• Sage and rosemary: especially effective for deterring cabbage moths.

• Chamomile: enhances cabbage’s flavour with sulphur, potassium, and calcium.

Conversely, companion planting is also concerned with plants that are detrimental to each other and must therefore be grown in separate parts of the garden. These are termed “bad companions”.

Examples of bad companions (foes!) to cabbage are:

• Lettuce: root secretions from members of the cabbage family can prevent lettuce seeds from germinating

• Strawberries & Tomatoes: cabbage (and brassicas, generally) impair the growth of these plants

All plants have friends and foes, and we keep this in mind when planning your garden so that we can leverage natural relationships to make your green space thrive.

See here for a pdf chart of optimal companion plants.

There are a number of “no-dig” or “no-til” garden methods.

No-dig gardens are based around the premise that instead of breaking up the soil before planting, it’s simply left undisturbed. Loosening the soil can lead to erosion and nutrient runoff, as well as destroying beneficial fungi networks and fragile micro-organism ecosystems in the land. Remember our bit about soil sequestering? Well, using this method is part of how we protect soil health and ensure the sequestering of carbon.

Conventional tillage (digging) disturbs the soil. Among many other negative effects, this lets carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and overly oxygenizes the soil.

Leaving it in place helps retain water, prevents carbon from leaving the soil, improves soil quality, protects against frost, increases rainfall absorption, and reduces the amount of weed seeds being brought closer to the surface to germinate.

A common method of creating a “no-dig” garden is called sheet mulching, wherein you use alternating layers of “green” and “brown” materials.

Brown materials include fallen leaves, shredded paper and cardboard, pine needles, wood chips, and straw.

Green materials include manure, grass clippings, worm casings, vegetable scraps, hay, coffee grounds, and compost.

Anywhere from 5 to 10 layers of materials may be used. This is then topped with straw or wood chips.

Not only is this method easier than digging, but the results and benefits are also greatly rewarding.

Once built, to maintain a garden bed using this ideology, you can “chop and drop” leftover annual crops at the end of a season, cutting them at ground level. This allows their root systems to continue to aerate the soil, and leaves all of the living creatures to carry on as they should.

Read more about “no-dig” gardens here.

Interplanting, or intercropping, is a way of mixing different plants within your garden space that either mature at different times, need different space requirements or have different nutrient needs. This allows you to break up monocultures, diversify crops, reduce pests, maximize verticle space, and overall - save space so you can grow 2-3 times more crops! It also means that you can make the most of your growing season by planting at intervals and harvesting continually.

This is of course related to our earlier point around Companion Planting, where we plant according to beneficial relationships.

We use these two principles together to create diverse, thriving, and beautiful gardens.

Read more about interplanting here.

Ecological succession is the orderly and predictable process by which an ecological community progressively transforms itself to ultimately create a stable system. This process is initiated whenever new space is made available for nature to work upon.

As permaculturists, given the environmental degradation that has transpired, it’s part of our role to accelerate the natural ecological succession process by mimicking natural systems in our green spaces. This is largely done by:

• Using what is already growing, usually a weed layer, to build soil fertility.

• Planting all vegetational layers at the same time (ground cover, vines, shrubs, trees, etc) to expedite the normal growth flow.

• Introducing plants that will easily survive in the particular environment and which will help to bring up soil fertility.

• Raising organic levels by using mulch, green manure crops, compost and other natural fertilizers to change the soil environment.

• Substituting our own herb, pioneer, and climax species in these spaces

When you regenerate spaces with ecological succession in mind, you are working with nature’s natural path, instead of against it, to ensure that the spaces will thrive for generations to come.

Read more about ecological succession here.