Nicole Faires - Permaculture for Beginners: The Ultimate Guide to Natural Farming and Sustainable Living

Copyright 2022 by Nicole Faires

Previously published as The Ultimate Guide to Natural Farming and Sustainable Living by Skyhorse Publishing in 2016.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by David Ter-Avanesyan

Cover photo by John Faires

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-6770-6

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-6962-5

Printed in China

Dedicated to my husband John, who still doesnt let me quit, and my three crazy girls. I hope someday they look back at our bus years with love.

Special thanks to:

Renato Faustini, for the amazing solar house models;
Skyhorse Publishing, for making all my dreams come true; my editor, Jenn McCartney, for being awesome.

Contents

At its essence, permaculture is a series of questions. We not only ask where the water comes from, but also where it will go when we are done with it. We ask how to cool our house without electricity and without work. We ask how to grow food abundantly without backbreaking labor or waste. On a greater scale, we ask how we can live as biological organisms within the context of an ecological system, and as humans in a community, without the need to rationalize away guilt caused by knowing our own cost to the environment and to other, less fortunate people.

Not only does permaculture ask the right questions, it has all the answers, encased in a package of design and lifestyle strategies. Up until recent years, permaculture has been heroically promoted and taught by a few groups of ecologically minded people. Many of these people are dedicated legacies of the hippie era, and some are youngsters who are tired of our consumerist society. This anti-establishment culture has had both a positive and a negative impact on the movement as a whole. These hippies and hipsters have protected permaculture and promoted it, albeit within a relatively small minority. They have built up a community that is deeply passionate about the principles behind it. On the other hand, this exclusiveness and protection has slowed the spread of permaculture to the rest of society. If these answers are to be implemented by everyone, the culture surrounding a subculture will inevitably change.

If I have been able to impartially teach the basic principles and how-to aspects of permaculture, I will feel as though I have succeeded. I hope to dust away the cobwebs of preconceived assumptions and ideologies and in so doing further my goal of creating a better, more sustainable world that I can be proud to hand over to my grandchildren.

Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, while both equal co-creators of permaculture, disagreed on the spiritual side of things. Mollison, ever the scientist, wanted to distance the official practice of permaculture from any religious features that the community introduced. Holmgren, on the other hand, grew to believe that the spiritual aspects could not be ignored. If you participate in any permaculture design course (PDC), you are likely to be introduced to a variety of quasi-pagan and earth-centric faith practices, which many would argue are essential to a true understanding of permaculture. This book has purposely ignored this element in the quest for practicality and inclusiveness.