Category Nurture

Permaculture theory and design are concepts traditionally communicated in an adult forum. Children may pick up snippets of information living within and around a permaculture system, perhaps learning more as they grow older. However, children can reveal themselves to be very adept at taking on permaculture concepts when they are presented to them at an early age, or adopted as part of the family vernacular.

The ethics – earth care, people care and fair share (or return of surplus) – make sense to a child’s sense of justice and understanding of their place in the world, so the best time to begin talking about permaculture as a family is now. But how do you introduce permaculture to children? Here are some ideas.

Permaculture began as ‘permanent agriculture’, a sustainable food production system based on ecological principles. Growing our own food is extremely good for us and there is an indisputable and ever-increasing body of research, which supports the health benefits of gardening: it can improve our health through stress relief, exercise, mental activity and better nutrition. Certain strains of a harmless soil-borne bacteria Mycobacterium vaccae have been found to stimulate the human immune system and boost the production of serotonin – a shortage of this mood-regulating brain chemical is associated with depression. Who would have thought that playing in the dirt could be so good for you?

Permaculture has grown to embrace more of the human experience than just food production, to become ‘permanent culture’. Despite the tendency of some to try to make it all things to all people, permaculture is essentially a system of ecological engineering.

Claudia Echeverria is a teacher and facilitator based in the Blue Mountains, near Sydney. Her work involves various disciplines, groups, partnerships and businesses; heart, hands and nature are the common themes.

Claudia is the founder and designer of, and environmental educator at, Wild Wovenforms Eco-design Studio; and the founder and director of, and teacher at, Kundalini Yoga Radiance – yoga, sacred art and sound therapy. Recently she’s been establishing her office based on concepts such as natural architecture, integrated environmental design and regenerative landscapes.

Locally Claudia has: been joint coordinator of Permaculture Blue Mountains; volunteered in coastal bushcare, growing food at the Katoomba Organic Community Garden; and organised several monthly sustainability talks, mainly focused on growing food, natural building and eco-literacy. Recently she began ‘Talking country’, a cultural awareness series in collaboration with her teacher Uncle Des Dyer elder from the Darug nation, inviting people to walk the land on Aboriginal sites, and helping them understand about local culture and bush tucker, Dreamtime stories and the ways of traditional custodians.

The garden is a good place to start doing permaculture. But Bill Mollison would be shaking his head in dismay if it stopped there, behind a little fence: ‘Poor bastards’, he’d be saying.

From the beginning, permaculture has been something to apply to every area of life: architecture, economics and community building. So why are permaculture books almost entirely about land use? Give Bill a break; he’s been roughing it on the road, too busy spreading his message to get good at the nesting side of things. He gave us a blueprint, a set of design principles that work, no matter where you use them; now he’s waiting for us to write the next generation of permaculture books. Like everyone else, most of your joys and sorrows come from your home life and relationships. Home: that’s the place for your best permaculture.

We are becoming increasingly aware of the hazards of eating a chemicalladen diet, and many have taken steps to avoid toxins in their food. But avoiding human-made additives and petrochemical derivatives can be more difficult when it comes to body products. Commercial body products can contain dozens of chemicals, in the form of stabilisers, preservatives and artificial dyes, many of which are harmful to the environment and your body.

Here are some pared-back recipes which you can make at home with a few easyto- find ingredients. These recipes are simple, natural and they work! Standard tools required for the recipes include: cooking thermometer, cooking pot, electric mixer, grater, kitchen scales, measuring spoons, mixing bowls, spatula. Additional requirements are noted in the recipes.

A few years ago we thought up examples for parenting (and other systems) to illustrate the principles of permaculture and how they can be applied to all systems. When we did this our own children were young, so most of the explanations were for parents of small children. This article expands those ideas for parents of older children; it is a mixture of practical and philosophical examples of parenting according to permaculture principles.

1. Observe And Interact

Look for signals from your children about what developmental stage they are at, and support them to learn what they need in this stage.

Observe your children’s behaviour to discover what they love and engage in these activities with them – this will facilitate greater connection and better relationships.

Observe your children in their difficult times, to assist them in finding their triggers and patterns so that they can learn from them.

I got hooked on gardening at age fourteen when I found mustard seeds in my parents’ spice rack, planted some and watched them transform into little trees with yellow flowers followed by a tangy and crispy crop! I started growing my own vegies and fruit, then started planting trees in local parks when there was no space left at home. Years later, when my own children started exploring and playing in the garden, I set out to connect my children’s experience of the garden with my passion for edible gardening, and came up with the ideas behind what I do now as a designer of edible and sensory children’s gardens. In this article I’d like to share some of the things I’ve learnt over the years if you’re interested in gardening with or for children.

1. Observation

Observe how children use the spaces in the garden and play spaces generally. Kids are generally far more imaginative than us, and care far less about things being neat and tidy, so take your cues from your kids as to what sort of garden they would enjoy most. Reflect on your own childhood experiences of the outdoors and how this shapes your expectations now: do you expect your kids to keep the garden neat and tidy or do you encourage messy play? will you let them create their own ramshackle treehouse or will you insist on it being perfect?

2. Planning

Plan ahead so that your garden can grow along with your children.

Many wild plants are considered weeds in Australia, but their medicinal uses are powerful. They flourish in abundance, enabling people of all kinds to use simple and effective medicine while ‘weeding’ our landscapes.

Although the first written records of herbal medicine date back 5000 years, humans have coevolved with, and relied on, plants for food and medicine from the beginning.

There are many kinds of plant-based medicine used worldwide, including Chinese, Ayurvedic, Native American and Indigenous Australian. This article will focus on the plants of Europe and western herbal medicine.

Deep ecology has its origins in the ideas of Norwegian ecophilosopher Arne Næss. His ideas include the concept of Gaia: that this planet we live on is a living earth; that all living things are part of the web of life; and that we humans are just another strand in that interconnected web.

It is through expanding our sense of self, and building our awareness and appreciation of connectedness, that we naturally change the way we behave in our daily lives, taking responsibility for our actions on the planet, and being part of what ecophilosopher Joanna Macy calls ‘the work that reconnects’.

There are many practices within deep ecology, but at their core they invite us to connect with a larger sense of self – the self that includes our ecological identity and sense of our place in the web of life. It is an approach that allows us to face the challenges of living in the world at this time.

Sometimes the storm of world events or even the domestic chaos of children, lunches, work and life can crowd out the voice of the earth.

Wild, abundant, full of wildlife. Some parts neat, lots messy! Always jobs to do – subtropical, so heaps of biomass to turn into compost. Alive. Quiet spots to sit, with garden sculptures and installations. A heaven for people and animals to rest and be in. Paradise.

How do you spend your days?

Every day is different. I don’t lead a routine lifestyle, although I do my best to take a three kilometre walk each morning, and have a healthy green juice to start the day no matter where I am.

How would you describe the work you do?

Diverse, innovative, creative, leading edge. I do lots of different things – training teachers and group leaders, writing books and learning resources, guiding and consulting to community groups, leading tours of Crystal Waters Permaculture Eco-village, and presenting and hosting workshops.