TAO
DCL
OK - let's continue our exploration of permaculture design principles. So far we've covered a huge range of topics, from sectors in permaculture to permaculture zoning to relative location to the ideas that one element should have multiple functions, and that one function should be met by multiple elements. We've also covered permaculture's take on energy efficiency.
Next up is the concept of biological resources - which is as much a cultural bias of permaculture as it is a design principle. As I said in my introduction to this series, I like to think of this as the lazy principle. Sore, sometimes human beings need to do work - but as nature is constantly busy, why not look for things that she can do for us before we bother ourselves.
Examples might range from my chickens turning the compost, to the goat patrol - a local landscaping company that uses goats for vegetation control (pictured). Others might include using a grape vine to provide shade, growing your own bamboo for plant supports, or favoring efficient biomass heating.
All this is not to say that permaculture shuns human work, or technology. Plenty of permaculturists embrace solar photovoltaics, renewable energy, computers and even the need to occasionally double dig the vegetable beds. But wherever possible, the first line of attack for a particular problem is to look for solutions that nature has already provided. After all, billions of years of evolutions can't be wrong...
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