Taking Root

Want to heal the world while enjoying some responsible yet creative gardening? Karan Singh Parmar decodes permaculture.

- Karan Singh Parmar

When I took up gardening seriously a few years ago, I restrained my purchases from the local nursery— not because I had limited space, but because I was afraid I’d just end up killing all the plants. Later, once I had gained some level of gardening expertise and was feeling more confident, it was, ironically, the lack of space on my terrace that prevented me from buying more plants. That is when a dear friend introduced me to permaculture.

Permaculture is the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient. A portmanteau of the words ‘permanent’ and ‘culture’, the term was coined in 1978, collectively by David Holmgren and Professor Bill Mollison. The philosophy behind this science revolves around consciously designed landscapes that imitate the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of resources and energy for local needs. As such, people, their surroundings and the ways in which they organise themselves are central to the concept of permaculture.

3 CORE PRINCIPLES DEFINING THE PHILOSOPHY