Permaculture by Sepp Holzer

The Big Idea: Learn how nature works. Then work with nature, instead of against it, to practice sustainable agriculture.

Ch 1: Landscape Design

Permaculture landscape design is about restoring a partially destroyed natural landscape.
Keep water on your land as long as possible.
Terraces are an important part of my permaculture system.
With the exception of raised beds, there should be no straight lines, corners, or steep slopes.
Create microclimates where possible, to increase diversity and maximize use of land.
Livestock plays an important role in my permaculture system.
When making larger changes, seek professional help to avoid landslides and gully erosion.
Mechanical diggers might be used when first creating the system.
Burning biomass is a mistake.
Loosening subsoil with the excavator helps make the soil productive again.
Flat land, at low altitude, with lots of sun is the easiest, but permaculture systems can be developed in many unfavorable lands.
Understand soil conditions, water sources, aspect (directionality), and climate.
Raised beds are great over heavy soils that are difficult for plants to establish roots in.
Good healthy soil is critical for earthworms and micro-organisms that benefit plants.
Indicator plants will tell you what the soil conditions are like.
Dig deep test trenches in many places to see what the soil layers are.
Always experiment with new plants to see what might grow.
Pioneer trees can be planted to quickly protect land from erosion.
Lay thorny branches to protect germinating seeds from animals and to create a microclimate for growth.
In dry areas, you must retain as much water as possible.
Terraces prevent erosion, hold moisture, and increase the amount of usable land.
Dispersing water for roads by making the middle of the road higher.
Use pipes or culverts to divert streams and springs underneath roads.
Ditches are good for collecting water and collecting organic material.
Develop terraces slowly, over multiple years.
After excavating terraces, plant immediately and mulch to encourage fast growth.
Green manure or wildflowers can be planted immediately to improve suboptimal soil on a terrace.
Cutting grasses in summer and autumn is not necessary.
Plant fruit bushes and trees on embankments of terraces.
Humus storage ditches can be built the bottom of a slope and a terrace.
Raised beds are a staple of Holzer permaculture.
Holzer permaculture raised beds are 3-4 feet deep into the ground, 4-6 feet wide, filled with hugelkultur material, then soil to 3 feet high, with steep (45+ degree) sides.
Cover raised beds with mulch to prevent drying out.
Consider planting bushes on top of raised beds. Vegetables can still be planted under the bush. Bushes can protect vegetables from the sun drying out the soil.
Inside the hugelkultur, use wood chips for vegetables that require lots of nutrients. Use bulky material for vegetables that don’t require as many nutrients.
Try to retain as much water as possible on your land.
Wetlands house snakes and amphibians that help control pests.
Large areas of water help to stabilize temperature fluctuations.
A pond for fish will be different than an aquatic garden for plants, or for a pond for swimming.
Play close attention to topography when building a pond.
Rain-filled ponds are for plants. Animals require a constant flow of water.
An excavator is used to dig the pond and tamp the base to seal it.
Holzer ponds never use a pond liner.

Ch. 2: Alternative Agriculture

Fossil fuels have enabled large, unsustainable monoculture farms to replace sustainable, diverse farms.
Healthy plants require healthy soil and healthy micro-organisms.
Green manure crops help restore soil health.
Using flail mowers to cut down green manure is a common mistake.
Gardening problems are usually caused by an imbalance which we should fix, instead of treating the symptoms.
Many corrections (weeding, chemical fertilizer) that are are possible on a small scale, but not feasible or desirable on a larger scale.
It’s better to understand and correct the imbalance instead. Eg. mulch with cardboard, plant Jerusalem artichokes.
Old plant varieties generally make the best crops. Avoid hybrid seeds.
Store or propagate the seeds of your strongest plants growing in the worst conditions.
Try to grow plants in polycultures. Eg. cereals with catch crops. Eg. corn with beans or peas.
Breed only old, domestic breeds of livestock.
Keep livestock humanely, and in family groups.
Pigs loosen the soil and till the terraces.
Direct pigs to loosen desired soil by scattering feed.
Pigs can clean up fruit orchards, preventing rotting fruit from spreading fungus and mold, without damaging the fruit trees.
Pigs can also control snails.
Use a rotating paddock system when keeping pigs.
Keep wild and domestic cattle in paddocks and let them forage to stay healthy.
Birds are great for controlling insect population and helping to propagate plants. Provide them with good forage and habitat.
Free range poultry needs good habitat, protection from predators, and good forage plants.
Ponds with an island in the middle provide good protection against predators for ducks and geese.
Earth shelters can be used to house pigs and as storage cellars.
Cellars can also be built out of stone to last forever.

Ch. 3: Fruit Trees

Fruit trees provide food for animals and insects.
Fruit trees provide wood for homes, fuel, and furniture.
Fruit trees provide shade against the sun and also stabilize soil.
Plant fruit trees wherever possible.
Wild fruit trees can pollinate cultivated fruit trees.
You don’t need to prune, fertilize, or use chemical pesticides. Doing this trains them to depend on human care forever.
Leave all the branches below the graft intact.
Do not use a tree guard, hammer in a stake, or use chemical fertilizer.
Cover the base with mulch and stones.
Plant green manure around the base.
Create microclimates around the tree to give it protection.
Branches sink down under the weight of fruit, allowing sunlight to reach in. Do not prune.
Pruning also creates wounds and can introduce disease.
Side shoots and branches also protect the tree from deer from damaging the trunk.
Plant distraction plants such as fruit bushes and willow trees to protect fruit trees.

Ch. 4: Mushrooms

Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of mycelium.
Mushrooms can be cultivated on wood, compost, or straw.
It’s easiest to grow mushrooms on wood.
Softwoods gives faster yields, if that’s what you want.
Use only fresh, healthy wood.
Inoculation is easier than growing from spores.
The key to mushroom growing is the right combination of sun, moisture, and substrate.
Snails will try to eat your mushrooms.
You can also cultivate wild mushrooms by inoculating in the wild forest areas.

Ch. 5: Gardens

Try to keep gardens closer to the home.
Plant vegetables, medicinal, and culinary plants in your garden.
Natural medicine is being replaced by more effective modern medicine. However, natural medicine is safer and still effective.
A cold frame can extend the growing season.
When you weed the garden, place weeds on the ground as cover and mulch.
In the spring, you can lightly loosen the soil.
There is no need to dig soil over. It is harmful because it disturbs micro-organisms and worms.
Watering in the garden should be limited to dry weather. Use lots of mulch to help protect plants from drying out.
Adding compost is not required, though it is helpful.
Mulching is important. Mulching is basically surface composting and happens in nature. Spread mulch loosely because mulch needs oxygen for decomposition.
Natural liquid fertilizer is useful for nutrients and repelling pests.
Pest problems are an indication of an imbalance.
Monocultures are an imbalance, so there will be pests.
Lack of natural predators is an imbalance, so there will be pests.
Restore natural balance and pests should not be a problem.
Non-indigenous pests are an exception and should be controlled more aggressively.
Create good habitat for garden helpers like lizards, birds, worms, and predatory insects.
Create enough good forage to distract garden critters from your vegetable garden and fruit trees.
Encourage lots of earthworms by giving them lots of mulch and stones for good living conditions. Consider breeding earthworms in your garden by burying food compost in your garden.

Ch. 6: Projects

Example project in Scotland.
Example project in Thailand.