The Garden of Interdependence
An Ode to Permaculture and an interview with Simrit Malhi of Roundstone Farms, Kodaikanal, India
The cycle of interdependency doesn’t start or end at any fixed point — the interactions between its members are constantly shifting, re-arranging, establishing new paths and networks and strengthening existing ones. While modern agricultural practices are built on the model of obtaining maximum yield above all else, permaculture aims to mimic the natural systems already in place and offers respite by harnessing diversity within the ecosystem.
No person is an island, and in the quest for solutions, each individual intersects increasingly when brought into contact with the dazzling diversity of people that are out there; creating a veritable web of interdependency in the process.
What exactly is permaculture?
In the late 1950’s, Australian ecologist, University of Tasmania professor and ‘father or Permaculture’ Bill Mollison, began to protest against the political and industrial systems that he saw killing us and the world around us. He soon realised the futility of persisting with opposition that in the end achieved nothing. He withdrew from society for two years saying that he did not want to oppose anything ever again and waste time. He instead wanted to come back only with something very positive, something that would allow us all to exist without the wholesale collapse of biological systems.
“Permaculture is a sustainable design system stressing the harmonious interrelationship of humans, plants, animals and the Earth. The core of permaculture is design and the working relationships and connections between all things.” Bill Mollison
In 1974, he and a student, David Holmgren, jointly evolved “a framework for a sustainable agricultural system based on a multi-crop of perennial trees, shrubs, herbs (vegetables and weeds), fungi, and root systems” for which they coined the word “permaculture”.
Soon after permaculture was first introduced and then put into practice by the public, Mollison recognized that permaculture principles encompassed a movement that included not only agriculture, horticulture, architecture, and ecology, but also economic systems, land access strategies, and legal systems for businesses and communities:
Permaculture is a beneficial assembly of plants and animals in relation to human settlements, mostly aimed towards household and community self-reliance, and perhaps as a “commercial endeavor” only arising from a surplus from that system
According to well-renowned permaculturist Ben Haggard- “Permaculture draws together the skills & knowledge of many ecologically sound disciplines — from traditional to modern — to create ways of providing for our needs, including food, shelter, financial & social structures. It empowers the individual to be resourceful, self-reliant & a conscious part of the solution to the many problems facing us, both locally & globally.” Permaculture advocates designing human systems based on natural ecosystems.
In coining the word “permaculture”, its proponents implied the permanence of this system as opposed to the non-sustainability of modern agricultural practices, a fact that is becoming more apparent than ever before.
In an interview with permaculturist Eric McCool (embedded below), the horrific truth about how civilization denudes the soil and uses up land fertility to ultimately render it sterile is revealed.
Extrapolating the features of permaculture into human ecology
Developing Ecological Literacy
Once there is acceptance of the complex relationships that exist in bio-systems, understanding the vitality of these inter-connections becomes lucid. For example, humans are conditioned to vilify fungi even though fungal mycelia are known to form underground networks, forming connections between different trees and plants roots, providing nutrition, water and a conduit for communication. Another pertinent example is the Dandelion, incorrectly classified as a weed despite being incredibly nutritious for both humans and livestock along with its ability to co-exist seamlessly with a host of floral species.
Striving for peaceful relationships
At the behest of pre-established techniques of agriculture, we are often conditioned to root out all that appears evil to us. Permaculture teaches us that conventionalized predators are in truth, often beneficial. As pedantic as it may sound, sometimes we often do away with the very same elements that are an intrinsic part of the bio-system and are just trying to do their job. We unfortunately tend to replicate the same practices with human resources. We are all weaker links in specific contexts. Look for fortes. Convert your game plan and adopt horizontal hierarchies that aren’t dependent on institutional force. An environment dominated by peace and harmony bears fruit.
Recognizing organic pathways
Permaculture provides a pathway to meet all needs without taking away from the natural ecosystem. In fact, it enhances and opens up new avenues which are conducive to life.
Urban permaculturist and blogger Kevin Bayuk offers a transformative approach when he depicts weeds as “carbon pathways”. Weeds aren’t the demons we’ve believed them to be. Weeds capture carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and add it to the soil. Perhaps, it helps to keep in mind that a weed-filled land contains more nourishment locked into the soil than barren land.
Discovering suitable strategies
Very often we feel enslaved to a system that demands compromises from us. In Bayuk’s words- “pick strategies that fulfill your needs”. Proximity is a pivotal feature of permaculture. Trees yielding plums create immense precipitation and when you plant plum trees in close proximity to your water-gobbling children, the water in your sump can be utilized for something else.
Cultivating patience
Patience isn’t the mother of “perma-virtues” but it certainly is an indispensable skill. It encourages you to experiment with many permutations and combinations until beautiful things sprout. The moment you allow restlessness to take root, you aren’t allowing the beauty of permaculture to manifest. The same applies to newly budding interdependent relationships. It takes patience to inculcate interdependency but the results are undeniably beneficial.
Accepting the laws of nature and maintaining distance for the greater good
It is equally important to mitigate harmful relationships in the ecosystem. Certain plants in close proximity can hurt each other chemically or physically. It is hence advisable to keep a distance between elements that untiringly aggravate harmful effects of temperature and humidity. In the dimension of human relations, it is safer to discourage contrasting personalities from clashing.
Confessions of a full-time permaculture addict
Weighed down by the city grime, Simrit Malhi relinquished the hustle and bustle of Bombay to embrace organic farming. After impulsively embarking on a Permaculture Design Course in Northern Thailand, she used permaculture as a model to design her lifestyle in Goa. When I asked her to share her experience and inferences, she surprised me with a barrage of fresh insights.
Q. When was the first time you heard of permaculture and what was the first distinct characteristic that caught your attention?
A. I first heard the term “Permaculture” in 2006 and as I read more, I realized it was not so much about how to grow your plants — which was what I had been focusing on through Bio-Dynamic growing — but more on, where to plant them, which plants to grow them next to, how close they were planted to you, and also on much larger systems like how to create a ‘value-addition’ to your produce, whom to sell your produce to, how to best use any of the ‘waste material’ and even, how beautiful it would make your garden/farm look! The closed, circular systems that involved all stakeholders on a farm or garden is what caught my attention most about Permaculture.
Q. Could you name a few pre-established techniques of gardening or farming that you had to reject to conform to permaculture?
A. The first thing I changed about how I planted my gardens, was to accept that I had to spend considerable time observing the space before I put down a single seed. I spent more time taking notes, making drawings, doing research and talking to locals than actually doing any planting! It is really the small things, like whether you have a water source/tap close to your garden, or if the spot gets too much wind or if it’s too far away from your kitchen when it is time to harvest. Once you sow a seed in the right place at the right time, you just need to sit back and enjoy.
Another technique that permaculture taught me was to have fun with shapes and designs. Curves have more surface area, which means you can plant more along the edges within the same space — no more square patches with straight lines for me! Bananas, for example, naturally grow in circular clumps and won’t be happy in lines anyway.
Besides, curving your patch or making key-hole gardens, allows you to create a wilder garden without making paths inside. This way, you can really allow the plants to create relationships with each other — like beans growing on corn with squash creating a living mulch to make sure the water doesn’t evaporate from the soil.
Lastly, Permaculture drew me to the importance of beauty. One of my favorite permaculturalists, a lady in Australia called Cecilia Macaulay said an amazing thing — “ Beauty is a renewable source of energy.” And it is! A beautiful work place is inspiring and makes you want to keep working there. You don’t need to separate your flower garden from your fruit orchard. In fact, growing your flowers under your fruit trees increases their chances of pollination.
Q. What would be the most winning testimony of interdependency in permaculture?
A. Honestly, all of permaculture is about inter-dependency — we try to mimic nature, and She does it best. In permaculture, the solution to every problem is a ‘win-win’. Everyone must leave happy. This is easily done also because each component of the whole is multi-functional. The compost not only degrades the waste, enriches and mulches the soil, but also provides heating for your shower!
It may seem like a small thing, but I think the best testimony for inter-dependency is the absence of any ‘natural pesticide’ on a permaculture farm. It might seem counter-intuitive, but constantly spraying your plants (natural and organic or not) to make sure no pests eat them is actually doing the farm a great disservice.
You cannot exterminate any member of the food chain without some repercussion.
We try to avoid selective removal of pests through several methods, all of which are winning examples of inter-dependency. We try to grow companion plants that confuse pests with their combined aroma and texture. If you have and strive to maintain healthy soil and water — you will naturally have ‘counter pests’ to tackle your pest problem (though you might get some damage before the lady bug and mantis army come in). This is why so many permaculture farms have ponds and open water bodies…even though they don’t need the water. It’s to invite the dragonflies, frogs and snakes in. Chickens, ducks and geese are also often used to pick out slugs, snails, beetles and other pests which are tasty and nutritious for the birds themselves (‘win-win’ for all!)
Lastly, we always grow multiple crops.The biodiversity is great for the plants, and polyculture makes sure you always have multiple crops coming into harvest, so if one fails — you always have a back up.
Q. Do you think there is a lot human beings can adopt from permaculture in terms of work relations and community living?
A. Oh absolutely. The future of permaculture is definitely in the socio-economic space. I think they call it ‘Social Permaculture’ now, but I have been using it in my daily life for years. It is the kind of learning that tends to creep into all aspects of your life. We can mimic the ‘rules’ of a healthy natural ecosystem within a social environment, and this is increasingly being used in the ‘intentional communities’ space.
Here are a few examples I can think of:
- To actively embrace diversity — a healthy community would be one with a diversity of genders, races and beliefs that would almost definitely result in a more creative community.
- To start slow and small.
- To ‘creatively use and respond to change’ (permaculture principle no. 12) — nothing needs to be fixed in a book of rules. All communities should have the flexibility to respond effectively to change…because change reaches us all. It is the same within a work space.
All my work since I first learned about permaculture has been mutually benefiting all stakeholders, and this makes my work very, very easy. Everyone is well paid and I don’t have to spend any time making sure I have to keep a client or supplier happy. For instance, I supply Avocados to restaurants in the major cities; because I approached restaurants directly, I cut out the middle man. I pay the farmers almost double what they would normally get because I don’t sell wholesale at wholesale prices.
Since I approach restaurants directly, I am able to offer them better prices than market standards and in return they are able to give me useful feedback including the type of produce they want. It’s true that I get a smaller cut but by starting small I was able to create a well-oiled system that I don’t have to babysit anymore. My business keeps increasing and I spend lesser and lesser time on it which in turn allows me to spend time on my other work (I have multiple sources of income because….polyculture:)
Learn More at Roundstone Farm’s Permaculture Design Course
We live in the delusion of independence and the battle for it is a struggle for freedom of choice. You might be living on your own but not without the support of the carpenter who built your table, the plumber who installed your latrine or the farmer who harvested your potatoes. Interdependence is the key principle underlying ecology; which is rooted in the fact that nothing in the natural world exists independently. Come November 2017, you could grab the opportunity to master the ways of interdependence and permaculture at Roundstone Farms. Good luck! Spread the love!
