Midwest Permaculture

About Permaculture:

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Permaculturists Learn to:

grow food just about anywhere,

repair environmentally damaged lands,

design lovely and long lasting
green-buildings,

produce the power they need,

run successful, people-oriented businesses, doing work they love,
and
live meaningful and authentic lives
while building genuine community;

All by using the same fundamental permaculture principles,

and applying a Permaculture Ethic:
Care of People - Care of the Earth
- Share all Surplus -

It's all About Honoring Relationship
Simply put, permaculture is really about relationship - our relationship as humans to the world around us. Will/do we work with the natural abundance and flows of the world around us, or will/do we ignore these? 

Bill Mollison

Working with the sun, the wind, the rain, the soil, and our own human love and ingenuity, will allow us to create sustainable or permanent-cultures, hence the word 'permaculture'. Fighting these forces requires excess time, money and vast amounts of energy from the burning of non-renewable resources (coal, oil, gas), the very resources that all future generations are entitled to, but that we will almost certainly consume in the next 50 years should we continue on as we have over the last 3-4 generations.

More specifically, permaculture explores practical ways to improve the quality of our lives by re-thinking or re-designing our relationship to:

1. The land around us -- and how we care for it while providing our food, fiber , medicines and other needs.
2. Our homes -- how we design and build them for optimum joy and use.
3. The energy we use -- why we use it, how we use it, and how we generate it.
4. Our work -- does it reflects who we truly are? Is our work of true service to anyone or anything? Have we found 'right livelihood' and/or meaningful work.
5. Each other -- have we created meaningful lives with our families and communities.
6. Ourselves - are we living from an authentic experience of self.

The Bigger Picture
Many permaculturists are concerned about their relationship with others (all others) and the planet.  It is our belief that it is possible to design, or re-design our lives, to provide an abundance of food, fiber, energy & shelter for every person on this planet while dramatically improving everyone’s overall quality of life. 

Mountain removal in the United States in the search for cheap coal.

In addition, we know it is possible to do this without consuming the natural resources that all future generations are entitled to have access to.  And we can do it without the pollution associated with our current way of living.

Sound idealistic?  Seem improbable - even naive?  Maybe so.  But it is, none-the-less, a possibility, a choice, that we as humans can move towards.  Our part as individuals is to start from where we are at, from where we live, and from how we live.

We don’t believe it is the intention or desire of most who are adopting a permaculture approach to life to tear anything down.  Non-sustainable systems will naturally fall by the wayside as they become irrelevant. 

Permaculturists are simply choosing to put their energy into discovering ways of living that are more sustainable and authentically in tune with the abundant and natural resources that surround them;
       – the wind, the rain, the sun, the soil... and human love & ingenuity. 

Why Bother?
We think this is a great question, and the answer probably comes down to one simple response:

What else is there to do?

We either focus our time and energy on creating something that creates authentic beauty, security and joy in our personal lives and communities, or we don't. One brings peace and sustainability into the world, the other does not.

Besides, what could be more meaningful than spending ones time working towards the creation of a world that works for everybody?  The implementation of a permaculture approach to living brings this closer into being.

Many have also discovered that diving deeply into the study of permaculture can be a life changing experience.  What often comes with the knowledge of how to feed, shelter and provide for yourself, your family and others, is a profound sense of security, and the ability to live more authentically and consciously each day. 

More on Permaculture
Thanks for reading this far and we hope you enjoy your time on our website. A permaculture approach to life is quite simple really, but it does have many faces or applications. Here are a few places on our website with some examples and more information we trust you will find useful. The door is open to you to join us for some of our trainings and events.

1. For a clear, simple explanation of permaculture with some specific examples of how it has been applied, please view the description of our 3-hour Introductory Seminar

2. Look Below:  Each of these more detailed 'Picture Summaries' hold insights & ideas into permaculture with lots of helpful photos from our tours and courses.

3. This link will take you to our Interesting Permaculture Resources page.

4. Learn about our 8-day Permaculture Design Certification Courses.

5. Sign-up for our free-monthly-educational emails (sample or sign-up immediately below).

6. And at the bottom of this page are some links to our favorite permaculture sites which might save you some time if you are to go hunting for more information.  We also thought you would enjoy reading what Bill Mollison has to say about the very subject he pioneered.

Permaculture Photo Summaries
Quick Reference to the Permaculture Pictures on our website

Suburban Permaculture Our Permaculture Home Transformation Bill & Becky Wilson- Stelle, Illinois View photos of our progress over the next couple of years as we transform our traditional and somewhat plain suburban house into a permaculture home.
Tour Mark Shepard's 100 Acre Permaculture Farm June 2007 Design Certification Course Besides learning about Mark's farm, view permaculture photos of Erin and Dave Varney's 5-acre farm, the Pierce's small trout operation, a 20-year-old community permaculture project, and more.
Suburban Permaculture Tour Nowicki's Home Aug. 2007 Design Course View permaculture pictures of an established home in Downers Grove, Illinois, a small farm that made $25,000 by harvesting the wild plants around them, and a greenhouse operation that also raises hundreds of pounds of tilapia fish.
Urban Permaculture Chicago Honey Co-op July 07 Visit Learn why Chicago makes some of the most unique honey in the world, and how this small co-op is changing peoples lives with a 'perma-culture' approach to community gardening.
Urban Permaculture Chicago Center for Green Technology July 07 Visit A quick picture tour including green roofs, unique rain-water catchments, photovoltaic, and more.
Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton A Design Course Diary Dispatches from Australia, Jan. 08 By Julie Pagliaro One of our webinar students decided to take her full design course from Bill and Geoff.  View her email and photos as she works her way through a two week design course delivered by the very man who originated the concept of 'permaculture'.

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