My husband fell into the ‘permaculture rabbit hole’ and upon realizing I couldn’t pull him out, I jumped in after him.
I am totally enthralled and enthusiastic about the permaculture world as it relates to us as individuals, as a community, and as residents of the natural state in which we live.
But no matter how in love I am with permaculture and its principles, there are still some things that I find confusing, challenging, and rather comical.
Here are the ways in which I know I have completely let permaculture take over my life…
- I can no longer throw away organic material. — I don’t know how or when the shift happened. Now, whenever I chop up fruits and veggies or I have egg shells or any food remnant, I find myself constantly looking for a compost bin or a place to bury it in the soil. I am pretty set in the composting habit, but while I was learning I would sometimes forget to differentiate, and in those cases, my husband would literally pull compostable food out of the trash.
- I have pet worms. *Sigh*. Yes, this is embarrassing, but worms are REALLY healthy for soil and they keep plants healthy! So, throughout my house I make sure there are worms in the pots of my plants. Sometimes, I even bury an apple core or some sort of leftover food scrap, in the soil, to ‘feed my worms’. (I also started a Vermi-compost, which you can read about here…)
- I have stopped killing spiders. This is HUGE! For the entirety of my life, I was on the, “Is that a spider? Kill it!!! Kill it with FIRE” bandwagon. In fact, I was a great warrior in the battle to eradicate spiders from the planet. And please note: if they are inside, I still believe they have crossed the line, and should probably die. However, if they are outside…I let them live. They are so good for our garden and our world, and I have decided their good works shall keep them alive.
- Enormous lawns of perfectly planted and mowed grass or huge fields of one crop landscapes, make me terribly distraught. I see land totally differently these days. I see land as life giving. Life is important for the existence of the land, itself, but it also gives life to the people on that land. A small area tended, as it was meant to be, in its natural form, can yield great produce for hungry people and create greater opportunities for acquiring clean water. Rows and rows of one crop, and fake grass mowed to perfection, ultimately lead to soil depletion.
“Great civilisations have almost invariably had good soils as one of their chief natural resources” Nyle C Brady ‘Nature and Properties of Soils’
- Rain is SUPER exciting. I never knew how important rain could be and how crucial it can be to preserve it, collect it, and direct it. (You can listen to us talk about our rain barrels here.. )
So these are just a few of the ways permaculture has left its mark on me. I continue to learn more everyday, and I continue to discover ways my life needs changing!
As we continue to learn, it can be daunting to live in the purest and healthiest way possible, but it is important to remember that God is so good to us. He is also super patient with us. He wants us to live naturally and abundantly, but He recognizes that it is a long and sometimes slow journey of exploration and transformation. Let Him continue to guide your journey to a life of true joy, peace, and natural abundance!
Permaculture Princess—A More Abundant Life 