"...an approach to designing human settlements and perennial agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in the natural world."Another definition:
"The conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems to create the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems."I like to think of permaculture as an intelligently designed system of agriculture which feeds itself; a diverse system in which everything serves a purpose and nourishes the whole; a system in which nothing goes to waste. The key word here is system. Much like the organs of your body, each aspect of a permaculture farm serves a distinct function, yet each is dependant on the others.
The interconnectedness of the system can be very complex and is virtually unlimited, but here is a quick everyday example: we harvest food from the gardens --> the stems, peels, leftovers, and scraps are fed to the chickens, ducks, and geese --> these birds lay many eggs which are eaten --> we save the eggshells, crush them, and use them in the garden soil --> the shells add nutrients like calcium and lime which help our plants grow --> we harvest food from the garden... and around and around we go.
What makes permaculture systems special is that they're sustainable and ultimately more healthy for the planet and for us. Industrial agriculture use systems too, but they are linear systems. For example, if an industrial farm wanted to add calcium and lime to their soil (and that's a big "IF" considering most large scale farms are not concerned with the nutritional value of their product), they would probably purchase it from a mining company, who of course extracted it from a finite source at a large cost to the environment.
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