Sepp Holzer is a man of legend. He is the brightest representative of the agrarian direction, which was called "permaculture" - permanent, that is, natural, agriculture. Today they say so: not just permaculture, but Sepp Holzer's permaculture. An Austrian farmer is confident that so-called permaculture can feed the entire planet. You need quite a bit for this: do not interfere with Nature.
For a long time, Sepp Holzer was called a rebellious farmer in his homeland in Austria, and what he does is wild agriculture. For abandoning the traditional norms of farming and experiments, he was forced to pay fines, moreover, he was threatened with prison. Now Holzer's know-how - the creation of land ridges, crater gardens, the construction of reservoirs - is admired by many specialists and amateurs.
Sepp Holzer's secret is simple. He observes nature and tries to live according to its laws. As a boy, Sepp grew various plants on his father's farm. Then he called all his acquaintances to his garden and gladly shared his discoveries with them. Roughly the same thing is happening today. Only now, not the guys from the schoolyard come to Holzer - professional farmers from all over the world go to him. Holzer's farm is located in the mountains, at an altitude of 1300 meters above sea level. There are harsh climatic conditions, for which his estate in the Krameterhof is called Austrian Siberia. Even in July-August, Holzer's lands can be covered with snow, but at the same time, plums, apricots ripen in it, kiwi and grapes perfectly bear fruit.
“Everyone comes to me and looks: what can grow on these steep slopes with bad weather and without fertilizer? Sepp Holzer says with a smile. - And when they see a variety of exotic plants, they generally lose the power of speech. Someone from a Russian group that recently came to me asked: “How is it that you have the most beautiful rhododendrons that can be in nature, right up to the very top of the Alps, and they don’t grow in our suburbs?” They also ask: “Why do you have such long ponds on the slopes - 80–100 meters each, how can water linger in these depressions, and besides, without a film? We can’t save water even on the plain…” Then I begin to explain to them that this is a normal natural process, that nature itself will do everything, it’s only important to stop interfering with it.”
Sepp Holzer Manor Krameterhof
Three agricultural paths
Sepp Holzer: “Permaculture can feed at least three times the population that lives on the globe today. You just need to agree on this with nature.”
When in 1998 an Austrian student assessed the economic performance of Sepp Holzer's Krameterhof farm in his thesis, the tax office immediately visited the farm. We carried out a complete audit of the farm, revised the baseline performance indicators, which are usually set every 10-15 years. As a result, the regulatory authorities almost tenfold increased the amount from which taxes were previously calculated - from 24 thousand Austrian shillings per year to 200 thousand.
When asked why his farm was ten times more efficient than the average farm, Sepp Holzer replied that it was all about permaculture.
Today, when people talk about agriculture, they usually mean industrial and traditional areas. As you know, in industrial agriculture, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, genetically modified organisms, as well as heavy agricultural machinery are used for the rapid growth of plants. Thanks to this, farmers get high yields and profits, but chemicals are harmful to the environment, and fruits and vegetables grown with their help are often tasteless.
The traditional, or biological, type of farming is characterized by closeness to nature, the complete rejection of chemical means of protection and plant nutrition, and the use of crop rotation. Its main advantage is obtaining healthy products, the disadvantage is low yield and high labor costs.
Permaculture offers a new type of agricultural business based on the relationships that exist in natural ecosystems. From traditional agriculture, permaculture took the rejection of chemical fertilizers, and from industrial - large agricultural machinery.
Sepp Holzer calculates his costs, and, according to him, they are much more modest than in industrial and conventional agriculture. “Firstly, I have less labor costs, which affects pay,” he explains. - Secondly, I do not waste time growing plants - they help each other. Thirdly, the quality of my products is higher, because I do not need to fight weeds - everything is regulated by nature, and I try not to interfere with it.
The main difference between permaculture and industrial and traditional agriculture is respect for all living beings. When trying to change the world around them, permaculture adherents always think about how their decision will affect other participants in the ecosystem.
“Use your brain to go with nature, not against it,” Holzer teaches. - Do not try to fight weeds, as such a fight is extremely harmful to agriculture. You need to think: can you take responsibility if you change something? My secret: put yourself in the place of a pig, a sunflower, an earthworm, and also the person who is in front of you. Would you feel good about it? If yes, then you are doing everything right. If not, guess what's wrong."
Sepp Holzer at the Krameterhof
Theory of mixed landings
Sepp Holzer: “Be curious. Sow a lot of seeds and watch what happens. What grows well is in place here.
In modern agriculture, it is customary to grow one type of cultivated plants in the fields. Such monoculture of crops, according to Holzer, only brings harm: plants develop and bear fruit at the same time, require the same nutrients, which makes them compete with each other. Holzer goes the other way, promoting mixed plantings. He is sure that when different types of plants live side by side, a symbiosis arises between them. Representatives of different species require different nutrients, moreover, they feed each other - the soil is fertilized by fallen leaves, dead parts of the roots.
Sepp Holzer talks about his estate in Austria. He, like his parents, grows cereals. But along with them, Holzer grows fruit trees, shrubs, vegetables, and flowers. “Many people think that cereals are a monoculture, which is not true,” he says. - On my site they get along well with other plants. When I harvest grains with a combine, I leave 10 centimeters of stems so as not to damage other plants during harvesting - radishes, lettuce, carrots.
Holzer is sure that a narrow specialization for an entrepreneur in the agro-industrial complex is too risky, not only in biological, but also in economic terms. In his youth, he tried to find some specific niche in order to deal only with it. One of his hobbies was the cultivation of mushrooms - the Austrian produced, processed and even sold them to other countries. But one day, sales of mushrooms plummeted, and he almost went bankrupt. According to Holzer, multilateralism, on the contrary, creates confidence in today and tomorrow.
Mixed planting at the Krameterhof
Landscape change
Sepp Holzer: “Land is the biggest capital in the world. When properly used, the land will always bring wealth.
Competent formation of the landscape can give an increase in the yield of cultivated plants - this is another postulate of the doctrine of permaculture. Holzer's favorite landscape elements are land ridges (high rolling or flat) and crater gardens. The peculiarity of both is in the form: different plants are planted one above the other in steps, due to which not only the sown area increases, but also different microclimate zones are created.
The land ridge is made in the form of an embankment approximately 1.5 meters high. It is ideal for humid regions where there is a lot of rainfall - the earth dries out faster on it than on the plain. Light-loving plants such as sunflower grow well on the top floor. Fruit trees are also planted there, but not apple trees, whose roots spread along the ground, but with deep roots, like cherries, such trees will protect the plants planted below from the wind. Any vegetables are planted in the middle of the ridge. And at its foot, where a lot of moisture is collected, there are cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, watermelons.
The crater garden is built on the same principle as the land ridge, only it goes into the depths. For the arrangement of such a garden, the lowest place on the site is chosen, where aboveground and groundwater can collect. The crater garden, very suitable for dry places where additional moisture is needed, increases the cultivated area, protects plants from the wind, creates a heat trap and is ideal for moisture-loving vegetables. In winter, the plants in such a garden are protected from wind and frost.
Crater garden in Belarus built according to the method of Sepp Holzer
water lock
Sepp Holzer: “Water is the most important thing on Earth. There is no life without water. Everywhere in the world there is enough water, even in the desert. You just need to learn how to find it and use it correctly.
Restoring water balance is Sepp Holzer's favorite topic. Holzer is against mechanized irrigation systems and explains that while there are not enough springs and groundwater everywhere, there are many ways to attract water to your site. The simplest is to collect rainwater from the surface into recesses for water accumulation, and then direct it to water the plants. An even better option is to create a reservoir on your own, where such water will accumulate.
“In the Moscow region, on average, 550–650 millimeters of precipitation falls annually,” says Holzer. - It's six thousand cubic meters. What happens to this water? It flows into ravines, carrying away the top fertile layer of soil. Soil erosion begins, which increases due to wind. Add bright sun here. Cracks appear on the ground, plants dry out, and there is a danger of fires. Who is to blame - nature or the owner of the site? Of course, a person. Try to retain the water available on your site, and you will save yourself a lot of problems later.
It is important to choose the right location for the future reservoir. Each owner knows all the heights and depressions of his site, so he can easily determine where the precipitation water will eventually drain. If the site is on a plain, then Holzer advises to observe the plants. For example, alder usually grows where there is groundwater. So, next to it and other moisture-loving plants, you can safely arrange a pond.
An Austrian farmer proposes to create reservoirs, excluding from the construction process the film, concrete and other materials that are usually used to retain moisture. “I don’t want to disrupt the water cycle in nature, so I suggest filling the water tank in a natural way. In the future, such a pond will not only promote the growth of plants - it will be possible to breed fish, crayfish, waterfowl in it, ”he explains.
In his ponds, Holzer retains water exclusively with the help of natural materials. “Water is always looking for a loophole to seep through, so you have to find that bottleneck and seal it. To begin with, free the place of the future pond from what passes water - sand, small stones. Then dig a ditch two to three meters deep and fill the bottom with more dense material, compact it with an excavator. If you make a good lock, then the water will not flow down the sides either.”
Sepp Holzer watches the construction of a dam at one of the permaculture workshops in the Moscow region
shaman trail
Sepp Holzer: “Russia has vast territories and the best soils in the world, but you do not know how to use them correctly. Otherwise, you would have overtaken the West long ago.”
Interest in permaculture is great and constantly growing all over the world - from owners of large farms, small farmers working in the field of biological production of agricultural products, as well as from those who strive to be closer to nature. An Austrian farmer holds seminars around the world, and they are a success.
Of course, Holzer takes money for his seminars, and makes good money on it. However, seminars in Russia are cheaper than in European countries. Holzer's interest in our country did not arise by chance. One day, about ten years ago, he came to the council of elders of the leaders and shamans of Indian tribes in North America. At the meeting it was about the changing world, about its fate. And what was discussed there had a rather strong influence on Holzer's worldview. “I can’t tell you specifically what the shamans were talking about, since I was obliged to keep a secret, but it was then that I began to be interested in Russia. Unfortunately, I heard a lot of terrible things about Russia that I did not want to believe, so I began to study your country,” recalls the Austrian farmer.
Today, Holzer has a more positive opinion: he is sure that Russia can be not only a country of oil and gas, its future lies with the agricultural sector. “The wealth of your country does not lie in minerals, but in vast areas of high-quality fertile land where a wide variety of crops can be cultivated,” he said. - In addition, the relative conditions in Russia are better than in other countries. For each person you have 8 hectares of land. No country in the world can offer this to its citizens. But I am extremely surprised by the attitude of the Russians themselves to the land: I am often told that it is unattractive to engage in agriculture. Such a statement is fundamentally wrong, and by my example I want to prove the opposite.
Not everyone needs to prove the attractiveness of agriculture in our country. The Sepp Holzer Permaculture Center already exists in Russia, which popularizes Sepp's ideas and helps him hold his seminars here. Seminar participants can be divided into two conditional types. The former dream of moving or have already moved with their families from the city to the countryside. Their goal is to get closer to nature, to establish tribal settlements; or they just love nature and want to live in harmony with it. The second type is entrepreneurs, and they are in the majority. Some also want to build a family estate, raise their children and grandchildren in it. But in addition to the spiritual component, these people are also concerned about the material side of the issue, the practice of life.
“It is very difficult to find pure products, the only guarantee of quality is the products that he grew himself,” says Anatoly from Samara, who once trained as an astronaut, but has always worked in private business. Recently, Anatoly accidentally discovered the idea of permaculture and realized that this is exactly what he had been looking for for a long time. Now, together with his family, he chooses the land on which he will grow vegetables. In the future, he plans to engage in private counseling.
The stories of the rest of the participants are very different - and similar at the same time. Musician Vladimir from the Kaliningrad region dreams of moving his family to the land, and then founding a company that will help everyone to get settled in the countryside. Renaldo from the Ulyanovsk region has been studying the principles of building settlements for a whole year, and now he plans to create a brand under which residents of family estates will be able to sell surplus products grown. Gleb from the Krasnodar Territory has been managing a tourism enterprise for ten years - he has an aqua farm with trout and carps, now he is building a mini-hotel in the forest, and he is going to apply his knowledge of permaculture there.
Holzer says that he has many successful projects in Russia - in its central part, in the south and in Siberia. “Recently, I started collaborating with the Tomsk Agrarian University: this is a large-scale project, but our experience can be useful to everyone,” says Sepp. - We planted medicinal herbs in a box that was installed on a tree, it turned out to be like a nest. The plants began to climb up the trunk of the tree. I think landscape designers and those involved in the garden can use our idea. But the most important thing, to summarize, is that a similar own garden, with which you can be treated, can be created by every city dweller. A balcony is perfect for this, and if there is none, then a box with plants can be fixed on the outer wall or do as we did: install a green pharmacy on a tree.
The Austrian farmer has few unsuccessful projects. “I would not like to discuss them,” says Holzer, “because, first of all, I explain the failure not by my mistakes, but by the fact that the projects were not given enough attention. People need to understand that it's impossible to do a permaculture project once for an A and then forget about it. Nature is a living organism that is constantly evolving and does not allow us to rest. Therefore, you need to work hard, analyze your mistakes and correct them.”
Intuition and self-organization
Holzer himself is ready to work on mistakes all the time: his main goal is to correct the mistakes of the past with the help of the laws of nature and the principles of permaculture, to prevent new natural disasters. Such a philosophy, of course, cannot but resonate with caring people, and, having learned about permaculture, many of them begin to actively follow the teachings.
However, for the most part, people are skeptical about what Holzer proposes. Representatives of the Russian agrarian business interviewed by us say that they are impressed by Holzer's ideas. But, they note, the practice of permaculture is only suitable for creating small niche farm projects or for amateur gardeners. Despite the declared scale that Holzer dreams of, it is difficult to apply his principles to large farms, and therefore permaculture cannot become the main one for agriculture and compete with industrial and traditional farming.
There are several reasons for this. In general, agricultural producers are concerned about the unpredictability of managing “according to Holzer”. The agricultural business is generally high-risk: it is very difficult to calculate the annual harvest. If you follow the principles of permaculture and rely only on the mood of nature in everything, then it will be even more difficult to predict the economic results of future activities. The implementation of innovative permaculture projects costs a lot of money, so if the outcome is unsuccessful (what kind of demand from nature), farms can go bankrupt.
A number of our respondents are confused by the fact that Sepp Holzer is an Austrian peasant, his experience is limited to the area where he grew up. At Holzer's farm in the mountains, the temperature is constantly changing, the sun is shining brightly, and snow can fall in summer. And the knowledge on which agriculture is based on his farm is not universal and cannot be extended to other territories.
Much depends on the human factor. A large-scale farm built according to the principles of permaculture should be headed by the same high-class specialist, who has a subtle feeling of nature and knows its laws, like Sepp Holzer. Unfortunately, there are few such people. In order for them to appear, you need to go through the entire path of Holzer from the very beginning. It is important that a person, in addition to logic, has a good intuition. Many techniques need to be specially learned, and not only from nature. This requires communication with like-minded people. Who will take the responsibility to follow the principles of permaculture, to be a teacher? Now there is such a guru - Sepp Holzer. But if it does not exist, then permaculture itself is in danger of disappearing.
Another question: how to motivate hired personnel who will work at a large agricultural enterprise, so that ordinary workers follow nature in the same way as farm managers? Permaculture appeals to many because of its simplicity. Indeed, in nature everything grows by itself, it would be nice to learn not to interfere with this. But not everyone can do such a teaching - high self-organization, enthusiasm, patience are necessary. This is the highest stage in the development of agriculture, which can be reached only independently and consciously. And Sepp Holzer's "intellectual farming", despite all the popularization, by and large, remains piecework. Although very tempting.
The main difference permaculture from other gardening methods is that it is not just a set of practical methods, it is a way of thinking and adapting to a certain ecology. Every garden, every family, and every community is different, so it relies on observation and local knowledge.
This is why, in addition to the fundamental concept of caring for the earth, people and environment, permaculture is built around twelve guiding principles.
Whether you're starting a new garden, or just starting to practice permaculture in an existing garden, these principles will help you understand the design process.
1. Observe and interact
Permaculture relies on an understanding of your site and local conditions. Ideally, you should study your site throughout the year at any time of the year, studying patterns of sun, wind, heavy rains, floods, hail, snow, animals, noise, and the like. Even if it's not possible to make a thorough assessment of the site's interior qualities, visit nearby gardens to see what grows well in your area.
2. Capture and store energy
Just as a squirrel gathers nuts during the summer to overcome a barren winter, so does the principle of permaculture to capture and store energy.For example, a greenhouse can collect and store energy from the sun to keep plants warm. Proper placement of a greenhouse can even provide passive solar heat to other buildings. Saving abundant summer crops for the winter is a way of storing food energy. Collecting rainwater or recycling dirty water from the home prevents valuable irrigation water from draining into the sewer system, and provides energy for the water during the dry months.
3. Benefit
Of course, the whole purpose of an edible garden is to get a harvest. But there are other less tangible, but no less valuable, benefits of permaculture in the garden. The benefit may be the exchange of skills or information from one gardener to another. The gardening community is a good example of this principle, where neighbors work together to mulch beds and build gardens, tool sheds, fences, and trellises. School gardens are places for experienced gardeners to teach the next generation how to grow their own food. Elders can share their wisdom, young people can share their enthusiasm and energy, and people from different cultures can exchange seeds, plants, planting calendars and growing techniques.
4. Self-regulation and feedback
A Native American proverb says, "Think seven generations" means to think seven generations ahead. But it also means remembering our great-grandparents, parents, and ourselves, and also looking forward to our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, it means acting like we are part of a continuation, starting with the evaluation of previous harvests, and planting perennials and enriching the soil so that many years later our future grandchildren can continue to enjoy and reap the harvest from our labors. Feedback can also mean eliminating the mistakes of our own or those of our predecessors. This may mean replanting unproductive areas in the garden or improving impoverished soil.5. Use renewable resources
are a multipurpose example of a renewable resource. From them, we get fruits, nuts, seeds, building materials, and fuel. They also provide shade during the summer to cool our homes by blocking the wind, filtering the air, and releasing oxygen. Fruit trees can bear fruit for decades and are a resource that connects us to our community. Even when the trees are exhausted, we can chop them up and use the wood to build new beds, grow mushrooms, or cut them to create mulch, knowing that any leftover wood will eventually be converted back into soil.6. Production without waste.
One of the main advantages of a permaculture garden is that there is no waste. Instead, we are finding ways to reuse leftovers from our gardening efforts. Composting is one example, especially the red worm, which efficiently converts organic matter and can then be put back into the beds. The worm's digestive tract converts food waste, enriches the soil food web, and is a key factor in compost. This is the complete edible life cycle of plants: from harvest, food preparation, waste processing by worms, and finally back to the garden as fertilizer.7. Design from general to specific.
Permaculture seeks to understand and mimic the successful patterns found in nature. For example, the spiral shape is found in everything from galaxies to the structure of DNA to the house of a snail. It works well as a design template for a grass carpet because it creates more surface space in a small area. Spiral beds also create an effective microclimate because you can use some plants to shade others. This means you can grow sun-loving herbs like rosemary and thyme alongside shade-loving herbs like mint and violet.
8. Complementation, not separation
Placing plants together in the right combination helps them grow in cooperation with each other rather than in competition. Thus, the whole garden as an ecosystem becomes more than the sum of its parts. And when you take your time to see what's going on in the existing landscape, you can find ways to make changes so that all elements work in synergy.9. Use Small and Slow Solutions
At permaculture, we don't aim for quick gains. The goal is to design a garden system that is made up of many small parts, each contributing to the overall function of the garden. An example is the emphasis on perennial crops. Perennials don't need to be repotted every year, so they save energy, and they don't disturb the soil like most annuals. Although their yield may be slower, they are the first to emerge in the spring. Similarly, permaculture focuses on small, local solutions as opposed to more industrial approaches. Yards for the exchange of local products, community gardens and regional seed banks are examples of small and slow solutions.
10. Use variety
Most gardeners love to look at plant catalogs for new varieties of vegetables, as growing such a variety is not only fun, but also smart. There is less vulnerability to a single disease or pest when different vegetables and varieties are planted in close proximity, be it an entire farm or garden.
During the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-1852, about one million people died and as many emigrated when one widely grown variety of potato susceptible to potato rot died. In the Andes, the potato has been growing and developing for 5000 years, thousands of varieties have been grown.
Every year, some new varieties should be introduced to the permaculture garden along with the old ones. This will build a diverse plant repertoire and create a balanced garden system that can handle losses without too much damage to the entire garden. This helps ensure resilience in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges.
11. Effective use
In a permaculture garden, we strive to use as much space as possible. This may mean planting vegetables, grass, and flower beds in unusually shaped beds. For example, a keyhole. If you have six keyholes in a circle, one path will be the entrance and there will be a round area in the middle to give some room to turn around. This increases the number of ribs to maximize seating space and minimize track area.
Marginal spaces that may not be suitable for traditional garden sites can also be turned into productive areas. Try growing heat loving vines like beans, grapes, kiwis, melons on a stucco or brick wall to benefit from stored heat and soften the edges between the garden and the built environment. The vines also provide shade during the summer and let in light during the winter. Even dark nooks and crannies can be used to grow crops. I grow mushrooms under the children's tables, where they get enough water and little sun.
12. Creative response to change.
Change is inevitable in the garden. What works well one season may not be successful next year. Adapting to changes in temperature, rainfall, pest populations, and other external forces is an essential skill for a permaculture gardener. Our goal is to work with nature instead of controlling it. When you face the challenges that come with growing fruit, keep this principle. You will soon realize that in the garden, there are no mistakes, only lessons that guide you towards better solutions.
Most people believe that the most serious threats to the existence of human civilization are the problems of global warming and environmental pollution, but few people know and understand that the problem of mass land degradation associated with non-organic monoculture agriculture, the expansion of livestock production and logging is very serious. forests, which leads to barren soils and the growth of deserts. And this threatens Mankind not only with an ecological catastrophe and climate change, but also with the fact that after a while there simply will not be fertile soils left on which it will be possible to grow food in the volumes necessary to feed all people.
But of course, there is a solution to this problem - it is to change the structure and approach to agriculture, to start developing instead of monoculture large-scale agriculture (when large areas are planted with one crop), small private farms operating on the principles of permaculture (when different crops grow on the same plot together) and organic farming.
Permaculture is a design system whose goal is to organize the space occupied by people on the basis of environmentally sound patterns.
The author of the term is Bill Mollison from Tasmania, who formulated its basic principles in 1974 in the book An Introduction to Permaculture ( download from THIS link).
The term itself is not only short for "permanent agriculture", but also means "permanent culture", for in the absence of an appropriate agricultural base and ethics of land use, culture cannot exist for a long time.
Permaculture, as a design system, is equally concerned with plants, animals, buildings, and infrastructure (water, energy, and communications). However, permaculture is not directly related to these things, but rather is focused on creating relationships between all the components of nature surrounding a person.
The challenge is to develop systems that are both environmentally sound and economically viable at the same time. These systems must be self-sustaining, not devastate or pollute the environment, and, as a result, remain sustainable over time.
Permaculture uses the inherent properties of plants and animals, combining them with the natural features of the terrain, as well as structures to meet the needs of people in both the city and the countryside, using a minimum area.
Permaculture is based on the observation of natural systems, traditional agriculture, as well as modern scientific and technical knowledge. Although permaculture is based on ecological natural models, it creates a so-called "cultivated environment" that serves to produce more food for people than is possible in the wild.
Land Reclaiming - Short film by John D. Leeu:
Urban permaculture 2700 kg of food on 4 acres:
Introduction to permaculture. Practical illustration of Bill Mollison's book:
Permaculture - BEST VIDEO - theory and practice:
Threatened by falling food Film interview with Bill Mollison:
Permaculture water systems with keyline:
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HOW AND WHY TO GROW VEGETABLES AND FRUITS WITHOUT MANURE.
The amazing garden of Igor LyadovAt the request of many of my friends, I will tell you how I grow vegetables. In this way, many gardeners are already planting. I'll try to explain to you. I work, so I can only go to the summer cottage on weekends. At the same time, you need to relax after a working week, eat barbecue, take a steam bath, and work a little on the ground. Currently, there are several problems in gardening: Soil fertility is falling. The earth becomes dense, depleted and gray in color. The fall in fertility entails a decrease in harvested crops.
The use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides leads to contamination of soil, water, air and food, which leads to human diseases.
Traditional agricultural practices used by most gardeners are very labor intensive. And this reduces the interest in gardening among young people. 
However, all these problems are quite easily solved if natural farming is used instead of traditional farming. Such agricultural technology not only preserves, it also restores soil fertility. The result is an increase in the yield of horticultural crops. Mineral fertilizers are not used, which preserves the purity of Nature and preserves human health. A number of horticultural operations in natural agricultural technology are used less frequently than in traditional ones. And some are completely missing. All this reduces the labor intensity of cultivating the land and caring for plants.
In my opinion, it is more important to return to nature and forget the postulate that the soil must be stuffed with fertilizers, torn with shovels and sprinkled with pesticides. Natural farming is, first of all, gentle tillage, protecting it from temperature changes, returning nutrients that the earth has generously given to plants. 
Every year in the spring, coming to our summer cottage, we sow or plant vegetables in our beds. The size of the beds is from 1.4 meters to 2 meters wide, the paths between them are from 20 cm to 40 cm maximum. This is called the traditional way of planting vegetables in the garden. The plant in such beds, especially in the middle, often get sick, rot, and develop poorly because of this, vegetables are small, and are not stored for a long time. But for pests, a weakened plant and good nutrition, and offspring can be postponed near it. Weeding, processing such beds is one torment.
But on such a bed, I saw one positive side. The outermost plants, relative to those located in the middle, looked more worthy. Larger ones are not susceptible to disease and are easy to weed, thin out, etc.
I also thought about another factor. A single tree along the alleys within the city, no one feeds it, the foliage that it throws off and then they try to remove it for appearance and beauty. Although this foliage could serve as top dressing for the tree. So why does this tree exist and where does it get its food? In recent years, scientists have found that about 60% of the plant takes food from the air. It's certainly interesting.
The unpredictability of our Far Eastern climate, high temperature fluctuations, night and day, dry or rainy summers, excessive precipitation by the end of August and the beginning of September confirmed the methods of growing vegetables that I had chosen over many years of trial and error.
I came to the conclusion that we need to look for another way that is less time consuming, but at the same time with the possibility of obtaining higher yields. I combined two technologies.
1. "Narrow ridges - a unique vegetable growing technology for small areas."
2. "Agrotechnics of natural farming".
I became convinced that it is organic matter that can reveal all the possibilities of plants, saving time and energy. Only on good compost can one see and appreciate the quality of Western and domestic varieties: most of them are created for organic soil. I am sure: we can’t get away from organic matter. That's all there is to it: learn how to compost and also arrange stationary beds - once for many years.
Vegetable growing on narrow ridges was developed by J. Mitlider in the 70s of the last century and brought by the author to Russia in 1989.
But blindly copying techniques and advice, even the best, will not lead to anything. There must be a creative approach to understanding the biological laws of the culture itself, and the processes that occur during its cultivation. Mitlider has one drawback (this is my opinion) when using mineral fertilizers, the taste of the fruit is unnatural. To fix this, instead of mineral supplements, I use humus, ash, manure, herbal infusion, etc. (I am a supporter of organic fertilizers). I am for a clean ecological product.
But do not take mineral fertilizer as a poison. Just stick to the dose. It is better to underfeed a plant than to overfeed it.
What I am especially grateful to J. Mitlider for is the development of narrow beds. Although Mitlider does not recommend putting the box on narrow beds, I still knocked together the boxes. Nature itself told me this. In the spring, many suburban areas are flooded, the water does not have time to drain, there is water in the aisles. We have the same problem in late August and early September - it rains day and night. Yes, and in the middle of summer it can rain for 2 - 3 days, or it can flood the entire garden in half an hour.
Therefore, raising the beds 15-25 cm above the path solves this problem. The width of the ridge is 60 - 100 cm, the length is arbitrary. The gap between the beds is 60 - 80 cm. It only seems that the earth in the aisles walks uselessly. It is the passages that work, and how!
A vegetable container is a high bed, the walls of which are made of bricks, logs, timber, boards, stone, slate ... The beds stretch from north to south. The passages between them can be mulched with sand, sawdust, roofing felt, etc. I preferred the lawn, which I cut with a trimmer once a month. Some passages I covered with sawdust. The beauty of the garden leaves no one indifferent. There are no weeds, the site is clean and beautiful.
Box - the box is filled with organic matter. Plant residues (grass, straw, foliage) are put down, then compost or manure, or we spill with infusions of herbs and the like; the earth from the passages is placed in the upper layer. Thus, the box is filled.
Each bed is 2 rows of vegetables, planted along the edges in a checkerboard pattern between vegetables. In this geometry, a huge reserve of productivity is hidden, it has long been noticed: the outermost plant develops almost twice as well as those in the middle - they have much more light and space for growth. And here - all the plants are extreme. A wide aisle is also needed in order to give them light and space. A small area of organic matter yields more than a large area of soil. Anyone who has worked on narrow ridges for at least one season is convinced of the enormous possibilities of this method and simply cannot return to traditional technology. Working on the ridges, a person experiences joy not only from a good harvest, but also from the very process of growing vegetables.
The beauty of the garden, which looks more like a park, leaves no one indifferent. There are no weeds, the site is clean and beautiful.
In two rows in a checkerboard pattern, I plant cabbage, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, etc.
In four or three rows, I plant onions, garlic, beets, lettuces, radishes, carrots, etc.
Disadvantages Requires material costs in the first year for the construction of the beds. This tiny flaw makes the container inaccessible to most summer residents.
Advantages
Such a bed has been working for several years, one might say forever (replenish it with waste, plant debris, foliage, etc.). After digging, sow green manure. When planting, do not add compost or rotted manure into the hole. This bed itself is compost.
The humus is not washed out, as the bed is fenced.
According to many agronomists, 60 - 80% of a plant gets its nutrition from the air, so large passages play a significant role in the biological process of a plant. The culture receives good light and sufficient air flow.
About 30% of the plant receives food from the ground. Naturally, the consumption of organic and mineral fertilizers on a narrow bed is 2 times less compared to a standard bed. At the same time, you will get a much higher yield from a narrow bed. I have tested this for several years and it shows in my photographs.
Contains a large amount of nutrients, a supply of moisture 
Convenient watering.
No stagnant water
Does not require hilling
Does not require weeding - if the bed is mulched
Does not require digging, only loosening by 7 - 10 cm.
You can plant early, as the beds in the spring warm up faster than usual.
Narrow beds are easy to rotate. Where onions were planted last year, this year you can plant carrots or cabbage. The beds are all the same width.
Yields are increased by 100% or more.
Tubers, root crops are clean without visible signs of disease
Beautiful and easy to work with.
Takes up minimal space, does not create dirt and mess.
It is very convenient to make shelter with plastic arcs, which are sold in seed stores. We put 2 pegs on both sides of the beds and put an arc on them. The distance between the arcs is about a meter. Depending on the length of the beds, you set the desired number of arcs. Covering material or foil can be used over the arches until the danger of frost has passed.
It is this system of narrow beds that allows me to receive constantly high yields, independent of the vagaries of the weather and the conditions of the site itself.
Permaculture on 6 acres sounds a little strange, as if the scope is not the same, and the words are suspicious. However, recently in all spheres of life we are surrounded by quite a lot of words borrowed from foreign terminology. They do not bypass the "garden" theme. Thus, such a concept as “permaculture” has already become firmly established. But not all gardeners and gardeners have an idea of what it is, and, most importantly, how to put it into practice, on their 6 acres.
Is permaculture possible on 6 acres?
The word permaculture comes from two roots - permanent, which in this particular version means "permanent", and culture, applicable to agriculture. Based on this, we can say with confidence that permaculture is a system of agricultural management based on the constancy of its functioning, on its self-sufficiency, and most importantly, on ecological principles.
So what is permaculture?
An important feature of its existence is that it relies on careful design and planning. In order for this system to work, it is necessary to link all its components and components with each other in such a way that one can say about the natural and uninterrupted functioning. In this case, the element of chemical exposure, as well as the percentage of human intervention, are reduced to zero.
The following principles of permaculture can be distinguished:
- A competent project (permadesign) that takes into account absolutely all the features of the components and establishes the “correct” connections between them to increase the efficiency of functioning and reduce labor costs.
- Harmony. Permaculture is based on the harmonious management of agriculture, on the consent of man and nature. Here, man “helps” nature, and does not correct it and does not fight it.
- Variety of flora and fauna. The more species of plants/insects/birds present in the system, the better: this is how they complement each other in their life activity. It is with this diversity that all kinds of symbiotic relationships arise, allowing species to solve each other's problems, excluding humans from this process.
- Environmental friendliness. Permaculture is based on natural relationships, based on the natural impact of all its parts on each other. Thus, when the system works well, it becomes completely unnecessary to interfere in the processes, helping it with “chemistry” (fertilizers, insecticides, top dressing).
- Self-regulation of the system. It is expressed in the minimum presence and participation of a person. In fact, his participation is necessary here only at the very beginning - when designing, when it is necessary to take into account all the features of the surrounding world, having developed the optimal number of components, building a scheme for the interaction of flora and fauna. Further, a person becomes only an observer, and a controller.
- No waste. All the "results" of life are used with benefit in the future, i.e. such a system of agriculture recycles its own waste. (By the way, we already talked about kitchen waste. Many others can also be used wisely).
- Energy saving. In permaculture, energy is carefully saved, the site, plantings, buildings are located so that there is no unnecessary waste of energy.
- Closure of the system. Permaculture is a closed project that does not require outside intervention, the system itself provides for almost all of its needs.
- System stability. When designing, you need to understand that the built system of agriculture must function for a long time.
- The economic component is obtaining a plentiful environmentally friendly harvest with minimization of costs. This, perhaps, is the result and goal of the entire organization of permaculture.
Of course, one must understand that the creation of such a project is advisable only on large areas, where each component occupies a rather large space, only in this case it is possible to fulfill all the principles and obtain the desired result - economic profit and an environmentally friendly product. But! The device of permaculture in small spaces also has a place to be. And quite successfully the application of certain methods and principles takes place precisely on 6 acres.
How to reproduce the principles of permaculture on your site?
Yes, it will be quite difficult to reproduce the permaculture system in a summer cottage. But even if it is established, it will not be possible to achieve complete autonomy of the system. But in any case, it’s worth trying to do this, because in return we will get an environmentally friendly, plentiful harvest, with the least labor costs for ourselves.
The first thing to do is to carefully analyze your 6 acres: terrain, climate, wind rose, soil, water supply, etc. The second is to determine the composition of the flora and fauna that will be present on the site. The third is to think over the connections between all the components of the system.
So, let's begin:
- Site design: where what is located (plantings, buildings, reservoirs, etc.) This is the basis where all components are linked to each other. As an example, place ducks under a mulberry tree so that the ducks peck at the falling crop, and pass a stream through their aviary and direct runoff water there so that the stream feeds the plantings with bird droppings.
- Landing location. Landings should be located in such a way as to minimize the cost of their care, cultivation, harvesting. For example, we will place the most moisture-loving plants as close as possible to the reservoir, those that need less water - further away, etc. We will plant sun-loving crops on hillocks, we will leave unpretentious crops in the shade, and we will place those who are afraid of the winds near the fence.
- Ancillary buildings, garages, sheds, gazebos are built on the site only from natural, improvised materials. They also play their important role on the site - they protect some plants from the wind / scorching sun, and the water flowing down the roof into specially placed barrels goes on to irrigate the garden.
- Relief. Great attention should be paid to the terrain. Use all natural hills and depressions with the greatest return - especially in terms of providing the site with moisture (for example, water flowing from a slope to a certain part of the site, which no longer needs to be watered after that). Such reliefs can be created independently, only without the use of heavy equipment and plastic / concrete as reinforcing components.
- Biodiversity. The largest number of crops used on the site form a healthy eco-system, significantly bringing it closer to natural interaction. Each culture has certain properties, making its contribution to the functioning. In addition, it is the diversity of species that creates beauty and diversity on the site. Yes, yes, we are again returning to the topic of arranging a forest garden, this is logical after all. When laying a garden, try to make a fruit guildso that various plants not only help each other with food, but also scare away pests, and also give shelter to entomophages.
- Building symbiotic relationships. Down with the established ideas about the strict division of the site. In permaculture, all plants are adjacent to each other based on the "benefit" they bring to each other. So, for example, we will “frame” fruitful beds with flower plantings - to attract pollinating insects. Here is an example from our garden: a bed 8 m long and 1 m wide. Indeterminate tomatoes are planted behind, then a row of beets, and in front - early cabbage interspersed with undersized zinnia. When the cabbage "left" on the table, there was a solid beauty:
- Wasteless production. It is necessary to establish a waste-free production process. Grass and weeds are used as natural fertilizer for crops, and are not thrown out the gate. For compost, food residues, textiles are used, and ash and organic matter are used for soil mulching. And if chickens are bred on the site, then their droppings are perfect as fertilizers. Thus, an uninterrupted recycling cycle takes place.
- Environmental friendliness. If it is already decided to reproduce the principles of permaculture on the site, then we exclude all chemistry and fertilizers that are not natural. For pest control, only folk remedies are used, as well as “correct” plantings. For example, by surrounding potato plantings with a double row of beans, you can get rid of the Colorado potato beetle. Plants with bactericidal properties should be actively used, which in themselves will repel pests and improve the air. Crop rotation also plays a big role here, which establishes order - biological and agrochemical, the soil is provided with all the necessary replenishable elements, and then you no longer need to apply an infinite amount of fertilizer - the site itself is fertilized with plant mulch and loosened by obsolete roots.
- Minimization of labor costs. It is achieved by the absence of loosening, weeding and digging of the soil, instead, the soil is “loosened” just by grass and even mowed weeds.
- Maximum useful use of the site. Still, we have a few acres, and we need to get a good harvest. For this, such types of beds are most often used as snail, pyramid, raised ridge, Rosum's bed. Such an organization helps to save space, which means that you can increase the variety of landings. And dense rows of plants allow them to better interact with each other.
And here is another video by Jeff Lawton about permaculture, which is built not even on 6, but on 5 acres in a cold climate (Canada):
And, of course, we listen to nature. This is a very important factor - to be able to see and hear nature. She herself will tell you how to use the area most rationally, where and what to plant, how to arrange the elements with the greatest benefit. Watch nature - only in this way you will understand what is good for it, only in this way you can interact with it, arranging your own permaculture on 6 acres.
