Day 4 - Permaculture principles

Impossible in the short time availabel to cover everything we did today, but to give you an idea, here's the 12 permaculture principles David went through today, and the parable he used to describe / illustrate them. If you want more detail see www.holmgren.com.au

1. Observe and interact - beauty is in the eye of the beholder
2. Catch and store energy (my new excuse for eating cake!!) - make hay while the sun shines
3. Obtain a yeild - you can't work on an empty stomach
4. Apply self-regulation and accept feedback - the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children unto the seventh generation
5. Use and value renewable resources and services - let nature take it's course
6. Produce no waste - waste not, want not & a stitch in time saves nine
7. Design from patterns to details - can't see the forest for the trees
8. Integrate rather than segregate - many hands make light work
9. Use small and slow solutions - the bigger they are the harder they fall / slow and steady wins the race
10. Use and value diversity - don't put all your eggs in one basket
11. Use edges and value the marginal - don't think you are on the right track just because it is a well-beaten path
12. Creatively use and respond to change - vision is not seeing things as they are, but as they will be

Lots of food for though over the 6 hours of lessons today - and now there is a Q&A session with David so it's time to go again.

This course is SERIOUSLY full on - the only unstructured free time is when we're asleep!!!