Permaculture

Permaculture is a method of designing (pretty much the principles can be applied to designing anything) where we look for how energy flows in and out. On our homesteads major energy flows include sunlight, water, wind, mulch and manure materials as well as animals people. Gaia's Garden is a great beginner's book about designing permaculture gardens to help you get started. One of the great ideas I like from permaculture is to put your chicken coop and other animal shelters at the top of a slope and your garden at the bottom. That way the manure and bedding will work it's way down the hill to land where it's most needed, in the garden. Permaculture also teaches us that there is no waste in nature. Leftover/waste material from one operation becomes the fuel for the next. Personally I'm working on a  zero waste household. I have a long ways to go, but it gets better all the time. (Look in your trash can; most of what you throw away every day is food packaging. If you are growing your own, there isn't any packaging to throw away!)

For loads of free e-books about a variety of sustainable living topics, from building healthy soils, caring for animals, organic farming, health and many others, visit the Permaculture Media Blog's listing of free books.


Another great resource is Journey to Forever's Small Farm Library. This listing contains many agricultural classics on the importance of soil and health.

We really don't need to spend a lot of money to make our homes actually pay us to live there. A garden of fresh fruits and vegetables pays big dividends in providing us health promoting food at little expense. A few small animals such as rabbits, chickens and ducks can provide our meat and eggs. They also help recycle garden and food waste to help increase the fertility of our soil so we can grow more food. This means less waste goes to the land fill and less things we need to bring in from the outside. This is in direct contrast to Big Ag which uses up large amounts of oil & natural gas for machinery as well as fertilizers and for packaging and transportation.