Watch this video to learn a little bit about how to apply ecological design aka permaculture in your life and on your land.

What is Permaculture?
Here is my current definition:  An interdisciplinary design approach, based in and derived from the observation of indigenous practices of nature stewardship and natural ecological systems of relationships that strives to repair and create regenerative and reciprocal systems for meeting human needs while also enhancing the quality of life for all beings, including plants, insects, non-human animals, and fungi.

(You are welcome to share that definition with the proper credit.)

Please note that I often don’t use the term permaculture in my work as it can be jargon.  Sometimes regenerative design, ecological design, or designing for resilience are more intuitive terms.

What is Edible Forest Gardening?
• an application of permaculture that is specific to our region’s natural environment
• a consciously designed ecosystem that mimics the structure and function of temperate forests
• gardening like the forest, not necessarily in the forest, mimicking a forest’s diversity & resiliency
• a perennial polyculture of multipurpose plants with each filling at least 3 of 7 functions (The 7 Fs:  food, fiber, fun, “farmaceuticals”, fuel, fertilizer, fodder)

What is Edible Landscaping?
• replacing plants that are strictly pretty with plants that produce food or are useful in various ways, such as attracting pollinators
• a well-designed, colorful home landscape that makes efficient use of water, fuel/energy, money, labor, and time and becomes easier to maintain than “contemporary” landscaping
• can be very pretty to look at

What is Regenerative Design?
• design that creates resilient, diverse and stable systems where human live in a mutually enhancing relationship with the earth