Related Links
Permaculture design can be a hard subject to explain. Mickey Z took a good stab at introducing permaculture a while back, which I added to with a summary of the principles of permaculture. But as with most things - it's in the details that permaculture gets interesting. So having covered the principle of permaculture zoning, let's dive in to sectors.
As with zoning, sectors are about where you place things within a permaculture design - the ultimate goal being maximum yields with minimal inputs (inputs being labor, fuel, or material resources). But while zoning relates to the center of human activity - the home, for example - sectors are a way of placing elements in relation to energy or resource flows coming into a system from outside. But this is all getting a little theoretical - so let's look at the real world.
My property has a wet-weather creek flowing through it. So if I was creating a permaculture design map, I'd include that as one of the sectors. Likewise sunshine - we have a south-facing yard with a large front lawn (which has since become part-veggie garden). So sunlight would be another sector we would want to factor in. Others might include prevailing wind, or even different soil conditions. (I used to garden on some land that had a thin seam of heavy clay running right through the middle.) Some folks like to include paths and driveways and such as a sector or "energy flow" too - factoring in how people move through the environment.
By including all of these factors in the maps we create before we do a design, we can place specific elements where they make best use of each sector. Tender plants, for example, will need to be protected from prevailing wind. Veggie gardens will need sun, and lots of it. As you'd expect, exact placement is often a compromise - weighing up pros and cons of each sector, and balancing that out against other design considerations like zoning.
Going back to the real world example, I use our creek for 'shocking' shiitake logs (pictured), submerging them in the cold water for 24-48 hours and then pulling them out, dropping them heavily on a rock, and waiting for the 'shrooms to fruit (don't ask me why it works, but it does). So from a sector perspective, placing my logs next to the creek makes perfect sense. On the other hand, the creek is a little inaccessible from the house - so zoning-wise it is less than optimal. Because mushroom logs don't require daily attention, I'm OK with that - but then some fruit by surprise and the mushroom gets munched by deer before I get to eat it which, quite frankly, is annoying as heck. So I've chosen to hedge my bets - placing some logs by the creek for shocking, and some on the path to my chicken coop so I get to inspect them daily.
From a practical perspective - if you are drawing up a design for your garden, I recommend mapping out the existing physical landscape first - and then drawing out various sectors on tracing paper that you can overlay on the design. That way you can start to get a picture of how the various sectors interact.
OK - that's sectors down. (Any questions? Leave 'em in the comments.) Next week we'll take a look at relative location.
Want to create the perfect eco-nest? Get the nuts and bolts (pun intended!) on building green on Planet Green TV's Renovation Nation.
