Design with nature's intelligence. Permaculture is not a set of techniques — it is a lens that restores our relationship to the living world.
What Is Permaculture?
Permaculture — a contraction of permanent agriculture and permanent culture — was developed in the 1970s by Australian ecologists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. It is a design system for creating sustainable human habitats by following nature's own patterns.
At its core, permaculture asks a simple question: how does nature do it? A mature forest needs no fertilizer, no irrigation, no pesticide. It is self-sustaining, endlessly productive, and regenerative. Permaculture takes those principles and applies them to gardens, farms, homesteads, and whole communities.
Unlike conventional farming, which simplifies and extracts, permaculture complicates and accumulates. More species, more relationships, more layers — each element serving multiple functions, each function served by multiple elements.
"Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against, nature."
— Bill Mollison
Core Concepts
Four ideas underpin every permaculture design. They are not techniques but lenses — ways of seeing that change what you do.
- Perennial systems: Long-lived plants that build soil year after year rather than deplete it.
- Closed loops: Waste from one element becomes food for another. Nothing leaves the system.
- Pattern literacy: Observe how nature organizes itself — spirals, edges, cycles — and mirror those patterns in design.
- Stacking functions: Every element earns its place by serving at least three functions in the system.
First time here?
Start with Chapter 1: The Three Ethics →Or jump to any chapter
The Living Garden is organized into eight chapters. Each one stands on its own — read in order for the full arc, or dip into whichever section answers the question you have today.
1. The Three Ethics
Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share — the three constraints that shape every permaculture decision.
Read →2. The 12 Design Principles
David Holmgren's twelve practical principles — observations about how living systems work, translated into actionable design guidance.
Read →3. The Zone System
Organize your land by visit frequency: from the kitchen herb bed to the wild edge that runs itself.
Read →4. Plant Guilds
The seven layers of a forest garden, the role of comfrey, and the 5,000-year-old wisdom of the Three Sisters.
Read →5. Living Soil
Soil as a living community, not a mineral substrate. Plus pointers into the deeper Living Soil Course.
Read →6. Water Wisdom
Slow it, spread it, sink it. Swales, ponds, roof catchment, mulch, and Keyline — five ways to keep water in your landscape.
Read →7. Getting Started
A year-by-year roadmap. From observation in year one to integrated animals by year three — and lifelong iteration after.
Read →8. Edible Perennial Plant Guide
Twelve perennial food plants that thrive in the BC Interior — establishment, harvest, winter care, and culinary use.
Read →Related Free Courses
For a deeper, hands-on dive on specific topics, the section also hosts two long-form courses written for the BC Interior homestead.
The Living Soil Course
A six-part course on composting, soil biology, perennial systems, wild-crafting, nutrient density, and the seasonal calendar.
Start the course →The Spring Hot Box
Season extension through decomposition heat. Start growing 4–8 weeks before your last frost using waste as energy.
Read the guide →An Invitation
At Nature's Place, we're building toward workshops, seasonal intensives, and hands-on learning days at our homestead in Salmon Arm, BC. The intent is to host visitors as a living permaculture system in action — and to send them home with skills they can apply on their own land.
Permaculture is not a rigid system requiring certification to practice. It is a way of seeing. Begin wherever you are — a balcony herb pot, a backyard, a thousand-acre farm. Observe first. Then design. Then plant.
More Content Coming
We will be developing detailed guides on no-till bed preparation, food forest design, water harvesting, seed saving, perennial vegetables, and the integration of these practices into a complete approach to health and purpose.
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