Peter Bane, the editor of THE PERMACULTURE ACTIVIST MAGAZINE joined WMNF for this segment to discuss the idea of permaculture. A central theme in permaculture is the design of ecological landscapes that produce food. Emphasis is placed on multi-use plants, cultural practices such as sheet mulching and trellising, and the integration of animals to recycle nutrients and graze weeds. However, permaculture entails much more than just food production. Energy-efficient buildings, waste water treatment, recycling, and land stewardship in general are other important components of permaculture.
More recently, permaculture has expanded its purview to include economic and social structures that support the evolution and development of more permanent communities, such as co-housing projects and eco-villages. As such, permaculture design concepts are applicable to urban as well as rural settings, and are appropriate for single households as well as whole farms and villages. “Integrated farming” and “ecological engineering” are terms sometimes used to describe permaculture, with “cultivated ecology” perhaps coming the closest. Jon Butts and Rob Lorei co-hosted.
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