I was introduced to this in Alan Chadwicks garden at UCSC in the 1970s and learned more at Camp Joy with Alan's prodigies. I have practiced this for over 40 years and been able to work in 7 countries on development. My book, Radical Regenerative Gardening and Farming, is based on my work .
With respect, Glenn, I'm not just talking about the common American focus of 'design' but rather the entire body of permaculture as outlined and practiced by Mollison, Holmgren, and Lawton, as well as Americans such as Ben Falk and Mark Shepard. It appears Mr. Gliessman started with a western agriculture mindset then learned from traditional farmers with the goal of making the western food system "more sustainable". Permaculture isn't about making something broken more sustainable, but is about making permanent systems that are sustainable by definition - permanent agriculture and permanent culture. visit with "Farmers of Forty Centuries", the work of the New Alchemy Institute on Cape Cod in the 1970s, and Mollison's original books like "Permaculture One" from 1978 for more.
I see where you are coming from. Thank you for the insight. I have trained with many permaculturists -- Bane, Doherty, Jacke, Shepard, and more, but have gravitated to more Holistic Management, cover cropping (Gabe Brown, David Brandt), and Biological Farming (John Kempf), but also Mark Shepard style agroforestry, in part because these methods are accessible to more farmers, the people who need to transition, and the ones farminge large scale and will thus have the greatest impact . These frameworks and methods lend themselves to efficient production methods, and not efficiency just for the sake of profit., but still plenty of income to make it worth the transition. Permaculture is not a word I commonly use with farmers. Gliessman's talk is not really about permaculture per se, but does, to some degree, model after nature, stressing diversity and interactions.
Clayton Campbell Not really - there's more to the Permaculture ethic and principles than that. Permaculture isn't about 'sustanable', it's regenerative and truly permanent. It's not permanent with tillage and annual crops. It's not permanent if it requires inputs.
Clayton Campbell Not false. Tilling causes severe damage to the soil, to the life in the soil that actually helps plants grow and makes nutrients available, and leads to erosion. Annual crops can be part of Permaculture, but there is zero reason for tillage. Spend some quality time with Fukuoka, Tree Crops, and Mollison's early writings.
