For anyone interested in learning more about permaculture I recommend starting by studying the ethics and principles first.
The Essence of Permaculture by David Holmgren (co-founder of Permaculture) is a great introduction.
https://holmgren.com.au/essence-of-permaculture-free/
When first starting to apply permaculture and design systems, there are a few principles I recommend to put more focus on.
Slow and Small Solutions is important to keep in mind. It's very easy to want to do to much too fast when first building systems. Going too fast or too big is often met with unforseen issues due to lack of experience and observation.
Observe and Interact is also important, spend more time observing the existing conditions for which the system you want to create will be implemented. Observing how you interact and what your style/aptitudes are can offer lots of good information for improving systems before implementing them.
The design from patterns to details principle goes well with the others, thinking about the patterns and big picture of the system first and focusing on the minute details after it's up and running can save lots of time and money. It's easy to focus on making compost tea, and the perfect garden bed design but later realize that planting in the right location or at the right time offers much better yeilds for the time and money.
Personally, I've benefited a lot by making sure design systems that are easy to modify, move and expand. I avoid making anything permanent starting out and I try a lot of small experiments at once. I try to take good notes and review them regularly. I ask questions to people in my area, take thier advice, and take note of what's working for them. However, any time I thought to myself this is "the way" do something, I have been disappointed. Instead, I've learned to take inspiration from other's techniques and find ways to work them into my systems while taking into consideration my own aptitudes, style, and available materials/equipment. I've been surprised at how fast years go by and all the sudden systems are producing more yeilds than I can utilize.
A general rule of thumb is to spend at least one full year observing the property before implementing any major design. In that observation period, start designing the rough sketches of the systems. Get some small proof of concepts going.
I plan on offering v4v consultantions, if anyone is interested in being a guinea pig please reach out!
#permaculture #permies #homesteading