Permaculture at Garden Village
My permaculture teacher, Joel Glanzberg, said permaculture was more about a way of life than about a particular skill in growing things. It is about seeing the naturally productive designs already present in nature and building with that rather than interrupting it with our own force. This applies to all homes, yards or gardens regardless of the scale of land involved.
For us, it’s about allowing ourselves to tune into a frequency of Life that naturally sustains its self; that naturally grows, replenishes and expands into endless systems of abundance and beauty. When we give our self the space to tune in to such an existing miracle of natural life, and to work within its magic, it requires a lot less energy out-put from us. Energy becomes self replenishing. That is the way Earth and all of us who came here to be our own “Little Earth” are designed to operate.
At Garden Village we live in the awareness of the on-going gifts being given to us by Nature. We live in the practice of reciprocation. If water, for instance, is freely given to us by the abundant streams and springs here, we use it gratefully and we pass it on to further extend its gift, returning it eventually into its own natural cycle of creation. We do this through intelligent grey-water usage. All of our toilets are composting and do not require water.
Our buildings vary in style and include living structures with posts that are “planted.” These can be designed to receive water from rain or to be watered with grey water. Even kitchen counters and sinks can be supported with live posts.
In our gardens, trellises are built with living posts as well. We use mulch for weed control around the garden beds and we use a weed whip to keep pathways clear. Since we have poisonous snakes in these areas it is important to keep everything well trimmed and weeded so as not to leave a habitat for them near the homes.
The practice of permaculture comes to focus in our most primal thought process. Live, evolve, create with the infinite resources and intelligence that is inherent in Nature. This is what we pass along to our students and interns. Welcome to the School of Sacred Earth Technology at Garden Village.
Yuca harvest demonstration