Permaculture Paths

Medical doctors and certified Permaculture Designers.

Transform Your Garden, Transform Our Planet.

Discover effective permaculture practices that empower you:

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

The most energy efficient thing you can do in your life is grow some of your own food.

There is no greater reduction of energy per action.

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

People don’t want to work gardens because they have been lied to about it being back-breaking work.

During the agrarian age that was true, but interestingly, many civilizations throughout history created permanent agricultural systems, which were the opposite of back-breaking work (servitude) and are not talked about. Can you name one?

They were stewards of the land.

Permaculture, today, is the culmination of our human knowledge about growing food, both in small and big spaces, with nature.

And as soon as someone who is genuinely interested visits a permaculture garden, food forest, or farm (it is not for everybody, just like not everybody likes to play sports, or whatever), they see that it is meaningful work, a craft, and a very pleasant effort.

That is done by applying functional design (not cosmetic), and you can discover how it works by subscribing (link in bio).

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

The modern method is not the only way to garden, nor the best.

Many people are tired of tilling, of fighting weeds, and of depending on pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. They feel overwhelmed by ineffective advice, and they want to save our home planet without struggling for it.

The good news is that a valid, tested, and safe alternative exists, and it is available to anyone: permaculture.

In a nutshell: permaculture is the most complete method to garden with nature. It is a craft you can adapt to your own personality, and it gives you a beautiful garden where you enjoy every step.

Subscribe to our newsletter and transform your relationship with nature.

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

Dear fellow humans,

We want to reach people who think gardening is a chore.

They were told that gardening means tilling, weeding, and spraying. So they never found out that a valid, tested, and safe alternative exists: growing food without poisoning or destroying the environment.

They want a garden that works with nature and generates more than it demands. On top of that, they want one that looks beautiful, because a good design is both functional and beautiful.

By subscribing to our newsletter, they will transform their relationship with nature.

Would it be a crazy idea to enjoy the process of growing food in a garden that doesn’t use pesticides, doesn’t need weeding, yet provides what we want while improving the environment?

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

Gardening is one of the most underrated ways to become a free individual.

First, it teaches us about our relationship with nature, life and death, and the way things are.

Second, it teaches us how to take care of ourselves - how to survive.

Third, it’s a skill you can bring with you anywhere in the world, and by practicing it, we can really improve the local community and environment and earn a living.

Those are the reasons I would argue that it should be taught to every human being.

And if you were not taught gardening as a kid, it’s not too late: permaculture offers effective sustainable practices to create thriving gardens.

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

We need a functional design to really enjoy all a garden can offer.

A design that focuses only on the cosmetic composition of a garden loses much of the meaning of creating one. Moreover, since a garden can be considered the human nest, we learn a lot about nature and our relationship with it by creating a functional permaculture garden, something that is also lost with a purely cosmetic composition.

So, the only way to acquire the ability to cultivate thriving ecosystems and regenerate your landscape with confidence is by mastering functional design, which, as Bill Mollison stated, is:

- Functional Design: Every component of a design should function in many ways. Every essential function should be supported by many components.

- Principle of Self-Regulation: The purpose of a functional and self-regulating design is to place elements or components in such a way that each serves the needs, and accepts the products, of other elements.

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

As doctors, we love definitions

Here is the definition of permaculture design as stated by Bill Mollison:

"Permaculture design is a system of assembling conceptual, material, and strategic components in a pattern which functions to benefit life in all its forms. It seeks to provide a sustainable and secure place for living things on this earth."

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

All over the world, there are people practicing permaculture.

The thing they all have in common is the love and respect for nature, and the desire to be part of it by being able to produce food in a way that is also good for nature.

By studying permaculture, you will be able to turn your ideas into sustainable gardens, homesteads, and food forests, and recover the environment!

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

I believe that another one of the greatest lies still being told today is that mechanized, petrol-based agriculture is necessary to grow enough food to feed the population.

I always tell people that there is enough scientific proof that small vegetable gardens (750-1000 m² or 8000-10750 square feet) are much more productive than any highly technological field. Plus, permanent tree crops outperform even corn in terms of productivity! Last but not least, if you want to enjoy grains, like rice, wheat, and barley, plant them following Fukuoka’s method.

So, we can save the world by home gardening, planting food forests, and growing “Fukuoka grains”.

That’s the craft of permaculture.

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

There’s only one way to garden for survival!

You have to rely on nature alone.

And your garden has to generate more than it demands.

So, you cannot survive if your garden depends on the very system that is causing the problems from which you are trying to survive.

That means no dependence on pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and petrol.
The plot twist is that gardening for survival is gardening with nature, and by doing so you will probably prevent any collapse of the food system.
Permaculture is the most complete method to garden with nature, and it deals with gardens, grains, animals, food forests, restoring watersheds, and restoring polluted or eroded land.

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

I believe that one of the greatest lies still being told today is that we need to plough or till to grow food.

I always tell people that if you want to garden for survival, don’t till. Instead, harvest water, plant perennials, compost, and use mulch.

That’s it!

Ah! Save seeds as well, because heirloom (or should we call them real?) seeds produce food with better nutrition and grow well in a polyculture system.

If you want to go even deeper, study permaculture.

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

Shades of green 💚

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

What makes gardening a chore is when people till!

It also comes with the tilling package to apply chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Moreover, people have to weed or apply herbicides.

I want to make it clear that the modern method is not the only way, nor the best.

Permaculture, on the other hand, is a valid, tested, and safe alternative to grow food without poisoning or destroying the environment.

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

All my friends tell me they don’t understand how I find it fun to garden.

They say it is a hobby for old people and involves just repetitive things and being neurotic about your plants.

However, they understand very fast why I like to garden when they visit our garden. They say it looks like a mixture of a laboratory and a workshop.

That’s quite true! I explain to them that a permaculture garden is just like that.

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

Nature finds its ways.

You can also help.

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

Rosehips are very useful plants in a Permaculture design. These were happily growing by the side of the road!

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

@SerenaCsiszar We 100% believe this!

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

Permaculture is a revolution disguised as gardening.

Gardening the permaculture way means:
- creating food security
- having enough water
- building human relationships based on respect and friendship
- protecting nature
- reverting climate change

“Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.” — Bill Mollison

Does it sound crazy that most of the problems of the world can be solved by gardening?

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

@DamonZumbroegel We'd love to!
Would you like to be in a newsletter edition telling your story and about your farm in Burma? It would be an honor!

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

Geoff Lawton, the successor of Bill Mollison, put his entire reputation on the line when he bought land in the Dead Sea region (arguably the region with the worst conditions to garden or farm).

The land was completely desertified, and his intention was to try to create a food forest.

The locals thought he was naive because he was not a native and didn’t know better, so much so that they tried to talk him out of it, to spare him a financial loss.

Well, Geoff actually knew better, because he had studied permaculture and designed many gardens and forests in many difficult, destroyed desert regions in Australia.

He started by making a mainframe analysis, especially of water, which is the backbone of any permaculture design. He then installed water catchment earthworks to start rehydrating the land, followed by planting hardy pioneer trees. That started to change the local microclimate, which allowed him to plant the next plant successions.

Long story short, after eight years, he managed to create a biological succession, transforming barren land with no water into a desert food forest, an oasis. People from the neighborhood were “infected” by the permaculture concept.

Many natives studied it and created home gardens, which is greening the desert.
In recent years, the project got the attention of the local university, and Geoff is implementing food forests on the hills of the region.

They are changing the local climate, desalinating the soils, and showing people effective permaculture practices to save our home planet, create food security, economic opportunity, and a community of people aiming to build a nice future.

As Bill Mollison said, “Though the problems of the world seem increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.”

You shouldn’t have to struggle to create a sustainable future.

And it can start in your home garden.

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

@DamonZumbroegel The younger generation needs people like you!
We appreciate you!

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

Fukuoka speaks about Mahayana! That was his philosophy of gardening and farming.

It is farming and gardening as sacred work in the service of nature.

Interestingly, he noticed how people of all religions were attracted to his farm, and his philosophy of natural living and growing, of making no difference between oneself and the world.

Bill Mollison interpreted that this way: “All we can do is assist in the complexity of life, we cannot create life. By trying too hard, we can easily destroy life.”

When I first discovered it, I found that amazing and I want to create this kind of relationship with nature and live my life and grow food according to that, and luckily I found both Fukuoka and Bill Mollison from the start.

For someone starting today, it’s frustrating to create a sustainable practice that works, because there is so much shallow information, when it is not misleading.
We believe that you shouldn’t have to struggle to create a sustainable garden, food forest, or homestead, and that’s why we created this newsletter.

If you’re looking to learn sustainable practices, subscribing is the way to go: https://t.co/RqOZ5wn9kV

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

@DamonZumbroegel Yes yes yes!! 100% yes!

[Permaculture Paths @Perma_Paths]

The backbone of any sustainable design in permaculture is Water, Access, and Structure analysis, together with Zones and Sectors placement.

It’s, in essence, how to read the landscape and then harmoniously fit your project (a garden or a food forest) onto it.

So we are dealing here with functional design, not cosmetic composition. While cosmetic composition focuses only on appearances, functional design focuses on what is productive, beneficial, and energy efficient.

A functionally designed permaculture garden won’t look conventional, and some people might say it looks untidy. But I love that you can delight not only your vision but your whole body, since you can pick nutritious food on a stroll around your garden.

Subscribe, and receive actionable projects to transform your relationship with nature, so you can cultivate thriving ecosystems and regenerate your landscape with confidence.