What is permaculture farming? Everyone understands what traditional farming is, and modern methods mechanize all aspects of food production in ways that take it away from traditions. So how does the application of permaculture change farming exactly? In this article I give my take on the combination of these two industries. If you want to learn in-depth how you can apply these concepts in specific ways to your property, you can take my Food Forest Mastery mini course.

Permaculture is a design system that empowers us to cooperate with

Nature in ways that deliver powerful results we couldn’t otherwise achieve. It has been demonstrated in the most extreme climate and region on Earth, the Sahara Desert, and it works in any other place! Used in farming, permaculture radically improves soil health, restores vital habitat to support beneficial wildlife that reduce your work load, filters and conserves water, replenishes underground aquifers, reverses desertification, increases food diversity, reduces costs, raises property value, increases production, and more.

Applying permaculture to your farm project is frankly a no-brainer. Commercial agriculture is known to be damaging, and the term ‘degenerative’ has begun to come into use to describe practices of land development or management that do not take ecosystem health into account.

What is Permaculture Farming then? It is farming with rather than against the natural patterns and systems given to us by our planet. Permaculture offers us a set of principles that can be applied to any landscape project. Most people I’ve spoken to about it, however, have told me that they have trouble applying the information. They spend money on books or even design courses, yet they don’t feel confident in their understanding or know where they ought to begin.

That’s why I created the Food Forest Mastery course, to give permaculture enthusiasts my step-by-step process. With it anyone can create their own permaculture food forest – an excellent way to combine permaculture with farming. I eliminated the worry people have told me they felt about making expensive mistakes, too. So students can achieve food independence. And the other big thing I heard when I asked people trying to gain an understanding of permaculture farming was the strong desire among many people to inspire their communities to be more sustainable. So I built that into the course too. If you’re interested in learning my effective, powerful system, which I developed over 20 years as a professional permaculture designer, you can learn more or register here.

The factory farming system claims to feed the most people with the least cost; I doubt that outright, but just looking at the mainstream calculation you see quickly that it leaves out the costs to human health, animal welfare, and ecology. These are major parts of the practice of farming that need to be accounted for and included if we are to achieve a true accounting of the best way to grow food.

Applying the priniciples of permaculture to farming is the most efficient approach, because when we support Nature in regaining its inherent journey toward climax ecosystem, where the most organisms find the most shelter and food, we benefit the most, for the longest amount of time, and with the least inputs. That means we spend and work less to get more out of our farms.

I hope this article helps you understand more about what the combination of farming and permaculture can do and inspire you to apply it to your property or project. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to me for a free strategy session.