The Art of Gardening by Andrea X. Kong

Author:Andrea X. Kong
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Speedy Publishing LLC

Chapter 5- Is Permaculture Really Sustainable?

Permaculture has been a popular topic for quite some time now. We all dream of living in ecologically friendly cities, with enough food and green energy, we all would thrive well in a society centered on having a green environment and clean water. All this is what Permaculture preaches, but is it sustainable in the long run? Can the already filled cities create any new gardens for growth of food? Whether or not all the items on the list can be achieved is the question. The system is well thought out and is an ambitious project but is it sustainable?

The argument will definitely go on for a while. While there is already agro-forestry and hugelkultur to show the progress that has been made, it is just a drop in the bucket. Hugelkultur is a good practice and if it can be achieved, it would be a big advancement but the question is where that kind of wood will come from in order to store just enough water to sustain a few acres of land. It is much more f a dream than a reality because the implementation can only be achieved on a fraction of land.

About agro-forestry, the question marks lie over the productivity of forests in comparison to farmland. Since the productivity of forests over time generally depreciates due to ecological succession, which is more important…The trees or the crops? Whether the argument is between woodland forest and climax vegetation, it still remains largely unconvincing to practice the farming method. Scientifically, productivity of woodland rises only until the woodland stage and then declines steadily thereafter which causes reason to hesitate.

The case for application of permaculture to natural buildings is also one to think about. The science demands that focus has to shift to use of material that is minimally processed at worst but encourages the application of renewable resources or those that can be recycled only; material that are largely unavailable.

Using purely salvaged material for buildings would be almost impossible and successfully completing whole construction purely on human labor looks a past thing and is almost impractical. Also orienting buildings to climate remains largely untested except for those who have enough monies to splash. In reality after one completes a building following the tenets of Permaculture, the costs and net input would be double what it could ever cost without Permaculture.

Water harvesting is arguably the most achievable of the options outlined so far but is also still farfetched. Rainwater is easiest within the bracket again but when you come to others such as black water and grey water, their uses are only a selected few even after they are harvested. Sheet mulching is also quite practical and easily applicable.

To determine the sustainability of Permaculture therefore, it's worth looking at the principles that guide the science. Twelve guidelines are outlined below:

Respond to and be creative with change-That for the slightest change that we observe, we have to be creative with it and respond to it.

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