“Agriculture is literally the cultivation of fields. When we see huge plowed fields of corn, wheat, or soybeans, or even things like squash and peppers, that’s agricultural cultivation. Agriculture requires routinely causing a manufactured catastrophe in the form of plowing up the soil in order to grow mostly annual cereals and legumes. This regular plowing and growing of single crops has degraded soil for thousands of years and turned once great forests into deserts.
Permaculture is usually viewed as either forest gardening (which is something often used in permaculture design) or as some hippy dippy woowoo thing cuz of some hippies in the 70s and 80s. What permaculture actually is is a design science focused on integrating natural systems in order to design human habitats sustainably. So, you’ll often see people using forest gardens as well as things like green architecture and sustainable wood lot management, and even some relatively normal annual vegetable gardens.
As we design our strategies for new ways to order our lives in line with justice and liberation, doing so in the context of habitat loss and climate chaos, horticulture and livestock management methods in line with the principles of permaculture design are going to be necessary to feed, house, and cloth as many of us as possible while building soil and supporting the biodiversity that agriculture has damaged.”
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Here in The Tropics biodiversity is something to be sustained and cultivated. Biodiversity means your crops and seeds adapt quickly to their unique microclimate. Diverse crops, fungi, insects, shrubs and trees attract diverse pollinators, and beneficial insects, giving your garden more sustainable resources to thrive with.
Earth gives back to us many things and among them, market security; growing a diverse selection of fruits, herbs, and roots ensures you always have a stable crop to sustain or supplement your income. Market value in food fluctuates based on demand, weather, and fads, so make sure you have many diverse crops to sell trade and eat.
We love the biological poetry of the Food Forest.
Planting your garden in layers that mimic the natural ausosuficiency of our Jungle. In many cases, our research has only provided permaculture information pertaining to the 4 Season annual cycle in the north Americas. This can create holes in the learning process when it comes to adapting these techniques in tropical climates. The two season weather of dry and wet in Costa Rica provides consistent sun year-round with no variation in sunlight. This means that we have completely unique range of crops to work with and growing techniques to adapt.
Every plant and property is unique with its own combination of microclimates that’s why we take a close up approach when designing your Food Forest and Anual Beds. Sustainability means that you have your favorite tropical fruits and vegetables growing on your own land, cooperating with each other and with minimal farmer interference.
The world of permaculture is intricate and fascinating. We are provided with the opportunity to literally take hold of our relationship with nature in as responsible stewards of the land we care for.
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