Bell Graham - The permaculture way: practical steps to create a self-sustaining world

THE
PERMACULTURE
WAY

Practical steps to create a
self-sustaining world

Graham Bell

Illustrated by Brick

Foreword by Bill Mollison

Preface by David Bellany

CHELSEA GREEN PUBLISHING COMPANY
White River Junction, Vermont

A Permanent Publications Book

Published by:

Permanent Publications

Hyden House Ltd.

The Sustainability Centre

East Meon

Hampshire GU32 1HR

UK

Tel: (01730)823 311

Fax: (01730) 823 322

Email: enquiries@permaculture.co.uk

Web: www.permaculture.co.uk

Published in the United States in 2005

by Chelsea Green Publishing Company

www.chelseagreen.com

Published in 2004

by Permanent Publications, UK

First Published 1992

by Thorsons an imprint of Harper Collins

1992 Graham Bell

Graham Bell asserts the moral right to

be indentified as the author of this work

Illustrations 1992 Brick

Cover photographs Photos.com and Nova

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

eBook ISBN: 978-1-60358-129-5

All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, rebound or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Graham Bell, Hyden House Limited or Chelsea Green Publishing Company.

For my father

Jim Bell

and for all fathers

that we may give with compassion,

and receive with joy.

The contents of this book and the word Permaculture are copyright. The word permaculture can be used by anyone adhering to the principles and ethics expressed herein. The only restriction on use is that of teaching; only graduates of a Permaculture Institute can teach 'Permaculture', and they adhere to agreed-on curricula developed by the College of Graduates of the Institutes of Permaculture.

I would like to thank my partner Nancy Woodhead for her creativity and support during the production of this book. I am grateful to Andy Langford for his hard work in establishing Permaculture in temperate Britain over many years, and for the large number of ideas he has cheerfully given myself and others.

I am grateful to Andy and Nancy for reading the script and also to others who did so, notably Diana and Jay Wood-head, and Ian Lillington whose prompt and detailed comments were much appreciated. I thank my colleagues Kate Cox, Andy Foreman, and Caroline Leckenby who also read the manuscript, but more importantly kept daily business turning over whilst I was absent from my desk, idly writing this book.

The following people, knowingly or unknowingly, provided help, ideas and information on specific points:

Eoin Cox (landscape), Chris Dixon (wilderness), Ian Flindall (energy), Ken Hennessy (species), Verity Langford (work), David Leigh (water), Jim McGurn (transport and community), Stephen Nutt (maps), Lon J Rombough (US varieties and references), Dorothy Shipp (midwifery), Bernard Quinn (geotextiles).

Permaculture in the UK has benefited greatly from three senior growers whose gentle momentum in the face of official indifference is exemplary: Robert Hart, Arthur Hollins and Bruce Marshall, please take a well deserved round of applause. I am conscious that there are many more creative and visionary people throughout the world who shine in their achievements in greening the planet, and that you may be one of them. I look forward to this minority of souls becoming the majority, and hope that this book makes some modest contribution to that change.

Many more people who are unnamed have contributed to my thinking, and I particularly thank all those who write for Permaculture News for their free input to expanding our understanding of the planet. The authors mentioned in the booklist have all added dimensions to my vision of a sane future.

The final manuscript is my responsibility, but would not have been possible without the enthusiasm of all these people, and the support of my household. I also thank John Button for his tireless commitment to advancing green thinking and John Clark for his drawings, which help show that planet-repair can be fun.