What is Permaculture
October 31, 2007
What are alpacas? Alpacas are cousins of llamas. They are a domesticated animal from South America, developed by the ancient human inhabitants of Eastern South America from the wild counterpart, the vicuna. alpacas are raised for their soft, light, warm, and exquisitely beautiful fiber. There are two breeds of alpaca, the huacaya alpacas, which have a crimpy, bushy fleece and a rounded appearance, and the suri alpacas, which have a lockey, drapey fleece of high luster, and a slender, dreadlocked appearance. For more about alpacas, visit the webistes of the Alpcas Owners and Breeders Association, or the Suri Network, or see the Alpacas Book, by Eric Hoffman.
what is permaculture? Permaculture is advanced sustainable agriculture. Equally it is the art and science of applied ecology. It is the creation of intentional ecosytems based on the energetic structures and principles exhibited by natural ecosystems. Designers set in motion an ecosystem of edible and useful plants, and draw off a yield at intervals to feed and support themsleves, without disturbing the sustainability of the system. The term permaculture, from "permanent agriculture," was coined by its founders, Bill Nollison and David Holmgen, of Australia. Want to read mor about permaculture?
Great books include:
Permaculture, a practical guide to a sustainable future, by Bill Mollison;
Permaculture, principles and pathways beyond sustainability, by David Holmgren;
Gai's GArden, by Toby Hemingway;
How to Make a Forest GArden, by Patrick Whitefiled;
Edible Forest Gardens (2 vols.) by David Jacke;
The Permaculture Way, by Graham Bell.
An interesting quarterly magazine with articles around a different theme each issue, book reviews, and lists of permaculture courses around the world, is The Permaculture Activist.. See the November, 2007 issue (Animals in Permaculture) for an article about our alpaca farm.
Why did we start this blog? Most permaculture sites are based on plants, plants with bees, or plants with chickens, ducks, or other poultry. Sites which incorporate larger grazers or browsers are less common. We want a place to talk with others about what we are doing. As part of our ten year review of our farm plan we applied for a USDA SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) grant for an intern to help us research how we can add browse plants to our alpaca pasture to extend the forage season and for other benefits. We did our first tree plantings this pst spring. You can read about our project in the November issue of the Permculture Activist, or see a little about it at our website in reconstruciton, www.lazymsuris.com, and we will post our SARE grant report when it is completed. We are about ready to collect samples of browse plants for a third time this year to get a seasonal profile of how the woody plants compare with our pasture plants, and dry hay nutritionally.