Subscribe Donate

Topics

8 forms of capital active hope agroecology agroforestry alder buckthorn Amazon anxiety apples arthritis autumn Autumn equinox back yard beans Bec Hellouin beech tree bees beneficial berries biochar biodigester biodiversity blackberries blackthorn book review brain brassica cage budget build building campesino capital card deck Celtic festivals change changes chemical-free chickens christmas circular clay pot cleansers cleansing milks climate change climate chaos climate emergency climate grief climate solutions climbers climbing cob comfrey community Community Nature Network community projects compost compost teas connection consciousness conservation container cooking coppice coppicing cordial cosmology courgettes crafts crisis crop protection Cross Quarter Festival cultural emergence culture cut flowers cycles degraded design diary diversity DIY do it yourself dryland earth care earth's cycles Earth's energy ecoculture economics ecopoetry ecosystem ecosystem restoration camps ecosystems edges edible edible flowers education efficiency elder elderflowers elements elixir energy equinox ethics face mask fair shares Fairtrade farming feedback feminine ferns figs film firewood floristry flower essence flower garden flowers food food forest food garden footbath forage foraging forest garden forest gardening forests fruit fruit leather fruit trees funding fungi future future care gardening gardens garlic gift economy gin Give Nature a voice Glennie Kindred global poverty glut grapes green space greenhouse grief groundcover grow grow food grow your own growing guilds habitat habits handcream harvest harvests hawthorn hazel hazelnut healing shrubs healing trees health healthy soil heart health hedgerow hedging herbal herbal remedies herbal teas herbalist herbs holistic holistic planned grazing home homeless homemade wine homestead hope Hugelkultur humanure hummus hungry gap IBC tanks Imbolc incense increase yields Indigenous inexpensive influence inspiration International Womens Day jam keyline kingfisher kitchen garden lacto-fermentation Lammas land landscape landscapes life lifestyle limeflowers livelihood livestock living labs logs Looby Macnamara lotion low cost low-impact Lush Spring Prize macerations Manda Scott Mangwende Orphan Care Trust market garden market gardening marmalade marshmallow mass heater meadowsweet medicinal microbes microfarm Midwest Permaculture mimic mindset mitigation money Morag Gamble moringa Mother Earth movement mulch multifunctional mushrooms native plants natural natural building natural fertiliser natural skincare natural swimming pool nature nature connection nitrogen no dig no waste no-dig north-facing novel November nutrition nuts observe oca October off-grid oil cleansing orchard orchards organic organic flowers organic gardening outdoor shower oven oxymel oyster pallets pasture-fed patterns people people care peoplecare perennials permaculture permaculture design permaculture magazine award permaculture projects permaculutre permayouth pesto pests philippines pine tree pips pizza oven plant profile plants pollinators pollution polyculture polycultures positive change preserving principles propagating protection pruning prunings psycho-spiritual awareness psychospiritual transformation rainforest rainwater raspberries recipe recipes reduce reed beds regeneration regenerative regenerative agriculture relative location relative matter remedy renewable renewable energy resilient resources restoration reuse revolution rhythms rootstock rootstocks roundhouse roundwood runner beans sage salad salads salve Samhain schools Scotland scotts pine seasonal seasons seeds selfcare Sepp Holzer september septic tanks sewage treatment shade shamanism sheet mulching shrubs skincare sloes slugs small solutions small-scale smallholding social justice soil health solar solutions sowing spiritual spring squash stacking functions stock-free straw straw bale summer support sustainable Sweet Bay syntropic systems temperate terraces thistles thrutopia timber timber framing tincture tonic toolkit tools transformation trees upcycle urban urban gardening veg garden vegan veganic vermicomposting vinegar visionaries walnuts waste water water cleansing watering weeds wellbeing wetland wild edges wild food wild garlic wildflower wildlife wine recipes wings winter winter greens winter salads wood stove woodburner woodland woodland management woodlands world is possible worms yarrow year round year-round food yield young people youth zai pits zone 00 zoning

Topics

8 forms of capital active hope agroecology agroforestry alder buckthorn Amazon anxiety apples arthritis autumn Autumn equinox back yard beans Bec Hellouin beech tree bees beneficial berries biochar biodigester biodiversity blackberries blackthorn book review brain brassica cage budget build building campesino capital card deck Celtic festivals change changes chemical-free chickens christmas circular clay pot cleansers cleansing milks climate change climate chaos climate emergency climate grief climate solutions climbers climbing cob comfrey community Community Nature Network community projects compost compost teas connection consciousness conservation container cooking coppice coppicing cordial cosmology courgettes crafts crisis crop protection Cross Quarter Festival cultural emergence culture cut flowers cycles degraded design diary diversity DIY do it yourself dryland earth care earth's cycles Earth's energy ecoculture economics ecopoetry ecosystem ecosystem restoration camps ecosystems edges edible edible flowers education efficiency elder elderflowers elements elixir energy equinox ethics face mask fair shares Fairtrade farming feedback feminine ferns figs film firewood floristry flower essence flower garden flowers food food forest food garden footbath forage foraging forest garden forest gardening forests fruit fruit leather fruit trees funding fungi future future care gardening gardens garlic gift economy gin Give Nature a voice Glennie Kindred global poverty glut grapes green space greenhouse grief groundcover grow grow food grow your own growing guilds habitat habits handcream harvest harvests hawthorn hazel hazelnut healing shrubs healing trees health healthy soil heart health hedgerow hedging herbal herbal remedies herbal teas herbalist herbs holistic holistic planned grazing home homeless homemade wine homestead hope Hugelkultur humanure hummus hungry gap IBC tanks Imbolc incense increase yields Indigenous inexpensive influence inspiration International Womens Day jam keyline kingfisher kitchen garden lacto-fermentation Lammas land landscape landscapes life lifestyle limeflowers livelihood livestock living labs logs Looby Macnamara lotion low cost low-impact Lush Spring Prize macerations Manda Scott Mangwende Orphan Care Trust market garden market gardening marmalade marshmallow mass heater meadowsweet medicinal microbes microfarm Midwest Permaculture mimic mindset mitigation money Morag Gamble moringa Mother Earth movement mulch multifunctional mushrooms native plants natural natural building natural fertiliser natural skincare natural swimming pool nature nature connection nitrogen no dig no waste no-dig north-facing novel November nutrition nuts observe oca October off-grid oil cleansing orchard orchards organic organic flowers organic gardening outdoor shower oven oxymel oyster pallets pasture-fed patterns people people care peoplecare perennials permaculture permaculture design permaculture magazine award permaculture projects permaculutre permayouth pesto pests philippines pine tree pips pizza oven plant profile plants pollinators pollution polyculture polycultures positive change preserving principles propagating protection pruning prunings psycho-spiritual awareness psychospiritual transformation rainforest rainwater raspberries recipe recipes reduce reed beds regeneration regenerative regenerative agriculture relative location relative matter remedy renewable renewable energy resilient resources restoration reuse revolution rhythms rootstock rootstocks roundhouse roundwood runner beans sage salad salads salve Samhain schools Scotland scotts pine seasonal seasons seeds selfcare Sepp Holzer september septic tanks sewage treatment shade shamanism sheet mulching shrubs skincare sloes slugs small solutions small-scale smallholding social justice soil health solar solutions sowing spiritual spring squash stacking functions stock-free straw straw bale summer support sustainable Sweet Bay syntropic systems temperate terraces thistles thrutopia timber timber framing tincture tonic toolkit tools transformation trees upcycle urban urban gardening veg garden vegan veganic vermicomposting vinegar visionaries walnuts waste water water cleansing watering weeds wellbeing wetland wild edges wild food wild garlic wildflower wildlife wine recipes wings winter winter greens winter salads wood stove woodburner woodland woodland management woodlands world is possible worms yarrow year round year-round food yield young people youth zai pits zone 00 zoning

How to Permaculture Your Life

Ross Mars
A practical guide of strategies, techniques and useful tips to help you live a greener lifestyle.

Ross Mars’ Basics of Permaculture Design was one of the first books I read when first becoming interested in permaculture during the ’90s. As the title suggests, this was very much a ‘does what it says on the tin’ manual, full of practical advice, and whilst not as detailed or in depth as, say, Bill Mollison’s A Designers’ Manual, it was easier to follow for a newcomer, and certainly more portable for on-site reference!

How To Permaculture Your Life is also more practical than theoretical. As Mars points out, there are already many books exploring the permaculture ethics, principles and philosophy. Instead this is a collection of strategies, techniques and useful information about plants, technology and materials, a resource book for not only surviving but thriving in the Anthropocene era.

From multinationals patenting and modifying the genetic code of our staple food crops, to housing markets driven by the whims of faceless financial investment companies, our most basic human needs are increasingly dependent upon inhuman scale globalised and corporate systems over which we seem to have little direct agency or control. Yet despite their monolithic appearance, these edifices of power are in reality extremely brittle – Climate instability; Peak oil, soil and water and issues around food sovereignty are factors that are fast causing the current paradigm to unravel as its inherent fragility is exposed.

Mars doesn’t have much space for complex arguments about the whys and wherefores, but sees, as self-evident from his years of hands-on experience gained from setting up Candlelight Permaculture Farm in Perth, that the key to sustainable and resilient living is about returning to more human-scale approaches to food growing and community relationships. The bulk of the book therefore consists of clear, readable chapters chock full of advice on garden planning, soil health, growing vegetables, herbs, fruit and nut trees and other edible crops, water harvesting, understanding landscape and keyline and other aspects of regenerative farming.

In addition there are sections on small space living strategies, renewable energy production and efficiency, and other forgotten skills that our forbears took for granted. No section goes into too much depth, and the information is often presented in a handy checklist format augmented with clear line drawings, diagrams and handy little memory-friendly acronyms, giving an empowering sense of ‘yeah, I could do that!’, but with plenty of leads to follow for more details. Learning how to reskill and permaculture our lives will be increasingly vital as the collapse narrative continues to unfold over the coming years, and this book is a great primer to set us on our way.

Further Resources

Watch

What is Permaculture Design?

Books

Zen in the Art of Permaculture Design
by Stefan Geyer

Articles

What is Permaculture: Part 3 – Design

About the Author

Graham is an author and permaculture teacher and runs permaculture courses in North London through Naturewise and in West Essex at Dial House and is the founder of Spiralseed, an ethical organisation based around the three principles of permaculture, Earthcare, Peoplecare and Fair Shares.