Bio permaculture 03: 12 principles of Holmgren for permaculture agriculture with Mother Earth

Observe + improve - save energy + efficiency - yield in the long term - ecosystem self-regulating - slow but steady growth - waste does not exist - always keep an eye on the whole - investigate holistically + plant - increase efficiency slowly - maintain diversity - also consider marginal zones - for changes react creatively

  
Holmgren in the green [1] - book of Holmgren "Permaculture. Principles and Pathways" [2]

This work is quite theoretical and peppered with many special words.

from Michael Palomino (2018)

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1. Observe and improve -- 2. Work energy-efficiently, invest in the long term and achieve goals -- 3. Generate income that results in the long term -- 4. Create the ecosystem in such a way that self-regulation works -- 5. Trust the slow growth of nature, it will be worthwhile -- 6. Do not produce waste - waste does not exist -- Capitalism has no chance with a lot of waste -- 7. Always keep an eye on the whole thing recognizing the patterns -- Example of pattern understanding: The zoning of the farm for the generally efficient way of working -- 8. Examine holistically and plant holistically to achieve positive interactions -- The zoning of the farm is the foundation of efficiency -- MONOCULTURE puts plants in "solitary confinement" ("prison") and has NO chance - CHANGEagriculture -- Supplement: There is also a social monoculture - examples -- 9. Slowly but surely efficiency is increasing on site -- Examples of slow and fast growth: trees, livestock, plant varieties -- Social growth -- 10. Maintain diversity - install polyculture -- Independence (autarchy) comes with polyculture -- Addition concerning variety: Importing animals and humans from continent to continent is a risk -- 11. Also care and use edge zones, appreciate also rare species -- Agriculture with pesticides and machines of big capital sets profit "goals", but does not know anything agriculture (!) -- 12. React to changes in a creative and flexible way for survival

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The list

edited by Michael Palomino (2018), because one has to formulate the stuff simply, not with many special words:

from: „Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability“ by David Holmgren

-- With permaculture agriculture, natural and efficient self-sufficiency in the food sector is possible when creating a polyculture as a whole
-- You should always make high demands on your own efficiency - also collect data yourself, observe yourself and judge for yourself
-- One should always keep an eye on the whole, recognize general patterns and complex relationships in the ecosystem, and care for all corners, not leaving out any margins
-- one should maintain the ecological balance

    -- so that no animal and no fungus can dominate anymore
    -- so that with interactions the elements support each other
    -- so that unfavorable seasons are survived without losses
    -- so that fluctuations in the market do not matter.

-- Save energy and transorts where possible: avoid long distances, avoid long transports
-- Make a new zone partition of the farm with a zoning according to workload, taking into account factors such as sun, wind, flood and fire hazard
-- Changes should always be seen as an opportunity, react flexibly and creatively with little energy effort, promote developments with appropriate framework conditions, make adjustments where necessary when nature demands it
-- you should invest in the long term, the transition to permaculture is slow, income comes from about the 3rd year

-- It is important, above all, to study the interactions of the various elements and to consider how plants and animals (soil animals, soil population) support each other
-- Nature regulates itself, this balance of plants and animals which is capable to regulate itself must be restored
-- With all this it is advantageous installing strong, semi-wild, self-reproducing plant varieties and useful animal races (livestock breeds).

Maintaining the ecological balance - and when one element abounds: "Using waves of abundance efficiently"
-- A snail plague is an abundance of snails: so you use a few ducks, because the ducks eat snails
-- Dense grass and too many trees: So you use grazing animals, which regulate the excessive grass and are regulating dense trees to prevent bushfires
-- But overgrazing must be prevented, they must not eat too much, otherwise there is a danger that the desert will come.

Waste is never waste
-- Principle: waste is never waste
-- One should use material that is recyclable or compostable
[-- leaves and branches are shredded as mulch used on the flower beds, or are reduced and given to the compost heap, or are reduced and scaled down under the soil]
-- Earthworms feed on plant remains on earth (mulch on the earth) or in the ground (mulch under the ground) and convert it into the best humus
[-- Kitchen waste put in the earth or on the soil is eaten by earthworms and the excrements yield new humus. The degradation process causes oxygen depletion, so that one can plant there for 1 month nothing. That is why this transformation process is going on without planting or only in the compost pile - with earthworms [web02]].

Examples of interactions
-- Wild herbs in farm animals improve the soil, yield more biodiversity, perform a "herbal healing"
-- Weeds are eliminated by cattle from time to time
-- Pastures become rotation pastures, etc.

Edge zones between large areas are very valuable
-- Areas of river banks or of lakes can be expanded
-- Estuaries are the interface between land and sea and should be well maintained (these are shallow feeding sites with much algae and plant growth)
-- The earth's surface can be considered as the edge of the earth: Creation lives on this edge of the earth between the earth's core and the universe.

The knowledge about the edge zones brings new ideas that otherwise would never come, for measures that woule never been taken. Expansion of edge zones can increase productivity.

Examples:
-- Expanding shore areas provokes more life on land and in the water with more productivity
-- Expanding forest edges provokes that more beneficial animals will settle there and natural productivity will increase
-- When rows of trees are placed on crop fields, natural productivity is increased.
[but attention please: when a renaturation of a river is performed with calm meanders only, mosquitoes will come, when at the same time the natural enemies of the mosquitoes is missing - mosquitos don't enter houses when there is an open glass of coconut oil, they flee the smell of coconut oil].

The social balance
The diversity with the interactions counts also
-- for the preservation of different cultures
-- for the preservation of the different languages
-- so that different elements strengthen and inspire each other.

From a social point of view, this also means that marginalized groups are important:
-- to take into account the needs of women and children
-- do not discriminate any groups of [peaceful] people
-- BIG inventions almost always happen in SMALL businesses and in SMALL places and systems where there is NO wealth.

Negative examples
-- Monocultures are inefficient because of the lack of beneficial organisms which are attracted by flowers that live in shrubs or on trees. [So a monoculture can be rebalanced with shrubs and trees on the edge and with flower strips].
[-- Even the one-God religions are social monocultures with the principle: ONE God - ONE book - and all the knowledge about other cultures is missing, therefore life in these 1-God-religions is absolutely inefficient, because no flexible reactions are possible, but there is a "tunnel vision", whereas the original rich cultures were all BEFORE the invention of the 1-God-religion of Jewry]
-- Industrial agriculture with long transports is absolutely inefficient
-- Dense car traffic with mostly half empty cars in urban areas is absolutely inefficient.

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The 12 principles of action in permaculture agriculture according to Holmgren in detail: natural and efficient self-sufficiency are the norm

Edited by Michael Palomino 2018, because one has to formulate things simply, not with many special words:

1. Observe and improve
(Observe and interact)

In practice:
-- You should set yourself high standards of efficiency
-- But you have to collect the data yourself, observe yourself and rate and quote the environment yourself, with every season again
-- You must not think, this and this book has said that and that, so it's true for me too. No, because it may be that important basic requirements are not met (compost pile on the balcony without connection to the ground, for example, does not work, because no earthworms will come) [or one has to put earth with earthworms from outside into the compost pile - then it works].


2. Work energy-efficiently, invest in the long term and achieve goals
(Collect and store energy)

In practice:
-- You should work with renewable or free energy (sun, small windmills, water),
-- It is absolutely worthwhile in the long term to work with passive houses,
-- Soils should be kept fertile,
-- Pastures and vegetable gardens should always be supplemented with perennial plants (trees and shrubs) that produce food, wood and garbage with their leaves (biomass) [AND where many beneficial insects live, such as flies eating snails]


3. Generate income that results in the long term
(Generate a yield)

In practice: When converting a farm to permaculture you can expect a yield only from about the third year, but then the yield increases steadily, combined with low operating costs. Then the goal is achieved: Environmentally friendly organic agriculture and better life in harmony with Mother Earth.


4. Create the ecosystem in such a way that self-regulation works
(Apply self-regulation and learn from the feedback)

In practice: Planting the variety of vegetables and the variety of shrubs and trees provokes also that a diversity of wildlife and beneficial animals will come and settle, because every vegetable, every shrub and every tree has "it's" animals. In this way the natural enemies of the pests will come and settle, and in this way the balance is installed. This is how the ecosystem automatically regulates itself WITHOUT external intervention.

You have to create the conditions [of origin natural jungle life again], so that nature can regulate itself. That's the maximum efficiency.

In addition one should
-- grow strong, semi-wild, self-reproducing plant varieties
-- Keep strong, semi-wild, self reproducing livestock breeds.


5. Trust the slow growth of nature, it will be worthwhile
(Use renewable resources and services)

In practice:
-- The main elements of permaculture are wood [for heating, sawdust as litter etc.], sun [window front is facing to the sun], wind [plants should always be planted in groups to support each other against the wind], water [create ponds and little lakes, use greywater, etc.], living soil [put compost, etc.]
-- Trees give fruits for free, shrubs give berries for free (this is a renewable effort that does not charge the trees and shrubs, is not consuming them)
-- Persons who are still cultivating large fields: one can let animals work as a plow on fields: "chickens and pigs prepare the soil perfectly for the planting"
(this is a renewable power that does not consume them, so one just has to install new fences and any tractor work is not necessary, no tiller and no pesticides).
[-- In permaculture the hill bed has NEVER to be plowed, because the soil becomes more and more fertile and remains loose because the roots remain in the bed and transform into new humus].

You have to know what pigs and chickens eat in the field pretty much everything that is left.

Der Börsen-Materialismus produziert "Abfall" und entsorgt den "Abfall" in Deponien und Verbrennungsanlagen, was wieder Energie kostet. Verbrennung erzeugt ausserdem Schadstoffe.


6. Do not produce waste - waste does not exist
(Do not produce waste)

In practice:
-- Use materials that are recyclable or compostable
-- Waste is principally never waste
[-- leaves and branches are used as mulch on the beds, or are reduced and put on the compost heap]
-- Earthworms feed on plant remains (mulch!) and convert it into humus.

Maintaining ecological balance when an element is dominating: "Using waves of abundance efficiently":
-- Slug plague (abundance of slugs): Ducks eat slugs
-- Dense grass and too many trees: grazing animals regulate the lush grass and lush trees to prevent bushfires - [no cutting of trees is needed]
-- but prevent overgrazing, otherwise the desert will come soon.

Capitalism has no chance with a lot of waste
The stock market materialism produces "waste" and disposes of the "waste" in landfills and incinerators, which again costs energy. Incineration also generates pollutants.

7. Always keep an eye on the whole thing recognizing the patterns
(First create patterns and then details)

In practice:
-- One should always keep an eye on the whole thing and not just work on the detail
-- In this way one can recognize general patterns and understand the "higher structure of the system"
-- In this way a holistic understanding is developing
-- The spider web is one such pattern, but the details vary constantly
-- In the end one will be able to apply the same patterns in other regions in other climates
-- Patterns are the basics, and then the design is done with the different possibilities and options.

Not understanding the general patterns of nature can provoke that big projects will fail.

"Complex systems that self-regulate and operate on a long-term basis mostly consist of functioning simple systems. Therefore finding a proper pattern for a design is far more important than understanding all the details of the elements of the system."

Example of pattern understanding: The zoning of the farm for the generally efficient way of working

The farm is parted into zones, and labor-intensive plants are planted near the dwelling house to avoid pathways.
Quotation: "For example, use-intensity zones (zones where a lot of work is required) are arranged in the environment of an activity center (such as a farmhouse)."

So you know which plants and elements should be placed close to the house and which further away to increase the efficiency.

Quote: "The definition of such zones simplifies the placement of elements and subsystems."

Further factors for the sectors of a farm are: solar radiation, wind, flood and fire danger.

In this way one understands the elements (characters) of the property - and the organization of planting and work becomes very efficient.

8. Examine holistically and plant holistically to achieve positive interactions
(Integrate instead of exclude)

In practice:
Investigations should never be limited to one part (subsystem, element), but one should always keep an eye on the whole, otherwise all interactions are missing in the investigation - and the results are completely distorted and wrong. Interactions (effects and connections between the elements) are just as important as the elements themselves.

In permaculture counts:

-- "Each element fulfills many functions
-- Every important function is supported by many elements."

The zoning of the farm is the foundation of efficiency

The arrangement of elements must be such that all elements have a positive and supporting effect on each other.

Quote: "Many relationships between elements that support each other bring many benefits and are necessary for an efficient self-regulation."

That's why
-- In permaculture the elements in the system are arranged so that positive interactions are created (plants, animals, earthworks, infrastructure)
-- Each element supports another, so that necessary corrective measures are reduced to a minimum
-- The benefits of the positive interactions (complex relationships, "interlocked" elements) provoke an effect in their entirety which is the "efficient self-regulation".

Examples:
-- Wild herbs in pastures for animals improve the soil, yield more biodiversity, perform a "herbal healing"
-- Weeds are eroded by cattle from time to time
-- pastures become rotten pastures, etc.

MONOCULTURE puts plants in "solitary confinement" ("prison") and has NO chance - CHANGEagriculture
Farming with pesticides and machines continuously separates elements, installs monocultures, straightens creeks and rivers, destroys habitats, eliminates all trees in the fields, eliminates all shrubs and flower strips, putting the monotonously planted vegetables or fruits in "solitary confinement". There the vegetables become "unstable and more vulnerable" because all the beneficial animals from trees and bushes and the flowers are missing which are attracting the veneficial insects. So certain animals (snails!) and mushrooms have easy play, can multiply like wild and damage the vegetables. The same counts for plantation systems. Then the industrial farmer comes with pesticides, the pesticides then poison the vegetables, the fruits, the soil and the groundwater - and in dryness the soil is devastating because no mulch is put as a protection for the soil, or heavy rain comes provoking erosion, [because there are hardly any roots in the soil].

[The monoculture is therefore a DISASTER and finally means HUNGER. - THAT is what the Church and the Rothschild NWO want because they want new sheep in the church - same counts for Jewry and for Islam countries: in their "holy book" is NO indication about natural agriculture with Mother Earth!]

[Supplement: There is also a social monoculture - examples
-- Social monoculture is dominating when people is only reading ONLY ONE book (One God Religions - ONE book) ignoring all other books (so these elements of 1 God religions are: Bible pastors, bible terrorists, Talmud rabbis, Torah rabbis, Talmud terrorists, Quran Imams, Quran  terrorists, believers imitating these false leaders etc.)
-- Social monoculture is dominating when the government considers freedom of speech as "radical" and tolerates only certain tendencies (GDR, Merkel, NWO, Obama, CIA-Mosad-Wikipedia, etc.)
-- Social monoculture is dominating when in the street only half empty cars are circulating and pedestrians hardly have space and cyclists have no space at all
-- Social monoculture is dominating when there are hardly any plants in cities or when no plants are left at all in cities
-- Social monoculture is dominating when parents prohibit to their children to learn so that they "will not move from their residence" or thei should not become "too inteligent"
-- Social monoculture is dominating when parents prohibit visits to children and children do not learn to compare households
-- Social monoculture is dominating when women are banned from certain activities etc. etc.

With social monoculture, efficiency is decreasing and protest and rebellious movements are rising which can actually be avoided with polyculture].

9. Slowly but surely efficiency is increasing on site
(Use small & slow solutions)

Permaculture does not need as much area as a big farmer with his inefficient monocultures. The guiding principle "small but beautiful" applies. In practice:

-- avoid long distances
-- avoid long transports
[-- the hilly land of permaculture without pesticides and practically without machines yields in the end 10 times more yield than the inefficient monocultures with their high costs of machines and pesticides]
-- "In 1973 the British economist Ernst Friedrich Schumacher published the book "Small but beautiful" with a collection of essays about this principle of efficiency.

Examples of slow and fast growth: trees, livestock, plant varieties
-- Fast-growing trees often die after a short time
-- Slow-growing trees are stable after 30 years of growth and in the end they grow faster than the short-lived "fasties"
-- Fast-growing livestock, fed with concentrated nutrients, is often more vulnerable and often dies earlier
-- You should use original plant varieties, not highly bred plants that are less pest-resistant and need more care.

Social growth
-- Cars in cities hinder mobility and LOWER the quality of life, the bike is often more efficient.

10. Maintain diversity - install polyculture
(Use & appreciate the variety)

Nature works in complex contexts with many interactions. Only when the diversity of wildlife and plant life is preserved in all its forms and functions, nature can preserve itself interacting between it's elements.

When a landscape is "renatured", it is the permaculture designer's job to balance the different elements so that productivity and performance remain stable.

Vulnerable monocultures with imbalances, diseases, pesticides and destructive machines have no chance and destroy nature.

Polycultures with different vegetables and fruits in a small space promote variety,
-- so that no animal and no fungus can dominate anymore
-- so that with interactions the elements support each other
-- so that unfavorable seasons are survived without losses
-- so that fluctuations in the market do not matter.

Independence (autarchy) comes with polyculture

Diversity with the interactions is also valid
-- for the preservation of different cultures
-- for the preservation of the different languages
-- so that different elements mutually strengthen and inspire each other.

[Addition concerning variety: Importing animals and humans from continent to continent is a risk
When animals are imported from continent to continent, it can end up very dangerous because the natural enemies or the natural food is missing. The ecosystem is then greatly disturbed, some animal species or plants are then even eradicated by the imported animals, or there are major damage to vegetables and fruits:
-- Example of American Colorado beetle (damages potatoes in Europe and Asia)
-- Example Asian ladybug (eating away all aphids, but then it also eats fruits and vegetables)
-- Example American Marsh Crab (destroys the entire population in European ponds) etc. etc.

The same risk applies to mass migrations from continent to continent, forming new minorities, new divisions, new rebellions, or new colonialism. Colonialism must be recognized as cultural destruction, and the dominant one-god religions with their invented Yahweh, God or Allah, and their invented heroes Moses, Jesus and Muhammad must be debunked and banned as fiction and nonsense, so that the ancient cultures with Mother Earth can live again].

Beispiele für wertvolle Randzonen [bzw. Schnittstellen] sind z.B.:
-- Uferbereiche
-- Flussmündungen als Schnittstelle zwischen Land und Meer (seichte Futterstelle mit viel Algen- und Pflanzenwachstum)
-- die Erdoberfläche als Rand der Erde [auf diesem Rand der Erde lebt die Schöpfung zwischen Erdkern und Weltall].


11. Also care and use edge zones, appreciate also rare species
(Use edge zones and appreciate the marginal)

Examples of valuable edge zones [resp. interfaces] are for example:
-- shore areas
-- estuaries as interface between land and sea (shallow feeding site with much algae and plant growth)
[-- every forest edge with rich population of beneficial animals]
-- the earth's surface itself is an edge between earth's core and universe [on this edge of the earth lives the creation between the earth's core and the universe].

By taking into account and knowing what is going on in such peripheral zones [and enlarging these edge zones], one can achieve much more on the whole. There are ideas and mental impulses that one would never reach otherwise, and you can take measures that you would never take otherwise. In that sense, the development of peripheral zones can even increase productivity to some extent.

Examples:
-- As shore areas expand, life on land and in the water becomes more productive and productivity increases
-- As forest edges expand, more beneficial animals will settle and natural productivity is increased
-- When rows of trees are placed on crop fields, natural productivity is increased.

From a social point of view, this also means that marginalized groups are important:
-- to take into account the needs of women and children
-- do not discriminate against groups of people
-- BIG inventions almost always happen in SMALL businesses and in SMALL places and systems where there is NO wealth.

Agriculture with pesticides and machines of big capital sets profit "goals", but does not know anything agriculture (!)
Pesticide machinery agriculture focuses on specific crops and "goals" where count working hours and profit. The edge zones with all the beneficial animals are ignored or even destroyed, wild plants are eradicated.

From a social point of view this means:
The big capital cultivates its wealth, wants "flourishing cities" and is not very productive concerning inventions. The stock market capitalists really make EVERYTHING WRONG because they KNOW NOTHING as numbers about SELECTED COMPANIES and fantasy speculation. [Nature with Mother Earth is NOT listed on any stock exchange - nature has NO voice at stock exchange].


12. React to changes in a creative and flexible way for survival
(Use & react creatively to changes)

-- Changes should always be seen as an opportunity
-- New situations should be used consciously and in a cooperative manner
-- It's about going with the changes instead of fighting them with a lot of energy
-- A creative form of development and change can be supported and promoted by setting framework conditions.
-- In the long run, only the flexible systems and intelligent creatures can survive that can remain natural, can remain alive and will respond intelligently to changes of environment conditions.

Taoists say
-- Water is stronger than stone
-- to adapt to the environment [of nature] is more meaningful and more efficient than to react to an obstacle by force

Example:
-- Asian martial arts exploit the opponent's strike to gain new energy in the counterattack.

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Sources
[web01] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permakultur
[web02] Video: Bury Kitchen Scraps Directly in Garden and This Happens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL-WRZUG0d8  
Give some kitchen garbage with some paper in a garden bed underground. The paper absorbs moisture and dispels bad odor in the conversion process (1'7''). Then the open ground is covered again and waited. During the conversion process a lot of oxygen is consumed and the earth is low in oxygen. At this time you should not plant anything, because nothing grows at this point (1'37 ''). In 1 month, the earthworms process this kitchen waste and the paper, eat everything, and their excrements are perfect, new humus. Everything is new humus. Now you can plant (5'0 '').

Photo sources
[1] Holmgren in the green: https://www.pinterest.de/pin/147844800243208389/
[2] Holmgren, book "Principles and Pathways"

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