I’m not really sure how I found Geoff Lawton’s website about Permaculture gardening, but as a fledgling vegetable gardner who fantasizes about owning a little farm that produces my own food using methods that support soil heath and the natural cycles of the Earth, I fell in love with Geoff’s teachings.
The granddaddy of permaculture is Bill Mollison, who was very active in building its popularity in the 1970s. I had seen Bill Mollison’s books before on Amazon, but I had not purchased any because it seemed they were old and I presumed outdated.
Apparently, that assumption was incorrect and his works are still considered the cornerstone of the permaculture movement today.
What caught my eye about Geoff Lawton was that he had helped a couple of guys in Boston grow fruit trees and an abundance of fruit, vegetables and herbs on a small plot of land in a suburban area. (I have not been able to find the video on YouTube again, but when I do, I will post the link.)
I was shocked that those fruit trees would survive Boston winters. I thought that one had to live in a tropical climate to grow the healthy fruit trees he mentioned in that video.
Once I got to Geoff Lawton’s website and signed up for his video series, I was shocked again to discover that he has created several successful permaculture gardens in the desert.
Here is a video about permaculture in the desert on You Tube:
The Greening of the Desert (in the Jordan Desert)
The beauty in permaculture is that it uses the natural tendencies of Earth to support the system. This means less work for humans and a natural thriving environment for all the systems involved if implemented correctly.
Additionally, there is a huge emphasis on keeping water on soil by catching it in natural contours of the land. This will add nutrients back into the soil as well as allow the rainwater to soak into the ground rather than run off to other areas, which was one of the main issues that has been emphasized with the water crisis in the documentary Blue Gold: World Water Wars, which I wrote about in my previous post.
(I’m still learning about permaculture so please forgive me if I am not describing this correctly. You can send me a message here.)
Observing the success in the Jordan Desert and in Massachusetts, one can presume that permaculture can be successfully implemented in a variety of different landscapes on the planet.
This gives me great hope that as people wake up to how the needs of planet Earth relate to the needs of one’s own body (for energetically, they are one in the same), more people will be drawn to creating a healthy earth and a healthy food and water system for all beings.
I also feel that indigo adults will be at the leading edge of this shift.
~ Peace ~
Indigo Leslie
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