209 – The Realities of Practical Permaculture – Dell Artemis Farm

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Paul, Jocelyn and Eivind discuss the realities of practical permaculture depending upon environment, climate, soil and a multitude of other factors with Marina and Robert of Dell Artemis Farm. They talked about the challenges of practicing permaculture and farming techniques compared to the hypothetical notion of being completely self-sufficient from farming in any given environment.

Environment and climate also play a large part in the success or failure of permaculture techniques and that permaculture exists as a holistic “Way” of looking at the environment and “helping” things grow as opposed to “making” things grow. It is the idea that permaculture is an ever evolving set of techniques and ideas that further the development of self-sustaining agriculture, rather than a final solution.

The practical application of permaculture techniques and knowledge should be considered as an ongoing process that requires actual implementation on one’s own, rather than speculation borne of reading and accumulating ideas without experimentation and application.

Even in the most successful of permaculture environments it would be practically impossible to find a completely self-sufficient farm because many of the tools and equipment are not manufactured on site.

Prior to that they discussed cleaning with vinegar, using Kombucha as a cleaning solution and avoiding lye in cleaning products. The conversation progressed to farming techniques such as growing hops for shade, how to persevere when things go wrong, distribution labor in a farming environment and using electric fencing for swine.