In the second article in this series about Permaculture, I explain why there are three ethics in permaculture and explore Earth Care - including some fun and frugal garden projects.
What are the three ethics in Permaculture?
In our daily lives we have an understanding of what is good and bad; what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behaviour. These moral principles are known as ethics, and affect how we live our lives as part of a community. It’s a way of making choices that are good for us as individuals and also as part of society.
In permaculture there are three ethics which help to guide decisions and designs: Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share.
The idea of having “permaculture ethics” can be off-putting. It may give the impression that permaculture has loads of strict rules and specific ways that things have to be done to be “properly permaculture”. Indeed, over the years I have met some people who do treat permaculture like this, as if it were a religion or a cult, but this kind of elitism, exclusivity and control is absolutely not what permaculture is about.
The three ethics, along with the twelve principles, offer a guide to help with the practicalities of creating a design, whether you’re thinking about designing a vegetable garden, a compost loo or a community well being hub.
These ethics are of course not just a permaculture thing, and although credited to some permaculture writers, they have their roots in most traditional societies - the ideas are international and widespread. It’s mostly just about common sense ways of living harmoniously with each other and nature.
Earth Care
Earth Care focuses on sustainable ways of protecting our planet, on which we depend for everything we need to stay alive. It includes caring for everything, living and non-living, because everything is interconnected.
There are many ways that we can consider caring for the Earth in our daily lives. The choices we make have a wide spreading effect, like ripples on water. Try to live as sustainably as possible, taking in account that we need to thrive in and work with the situation we are in. Very few of us can live entirely off grid or or grow all our food. It’s about doing the best we can and knowing that even a small contribution to living more sustainably does make a difference.
Earth Care - everywhere
Here at my homestead I create lots of environments for the wild creatures: this is fun, thrifty and can be done in any outside space. I use twigs, piles of leaves, old pots and other bits and bobs to create places for creatures to live, forage, drink, wash, and reproduce.
Use an old shallow bowl to make a drinking pool for birds, hedgehogs and bees. Pour in some with stones to create a ‘beach’ so that smaller creatures can climb out. It is important that this is kept clean and topped up daily.
My daughter Caitlin lives in an urban area, renting a flat with a small paved yard that was devoid of life. Just adding some pots of edible plants and flowers has significantly increased the biodiversity there. Insects including slugs, woodlice and aphids have moved in, which in turn means that birds are frequenting the little garden foraging for insects to eat. Bees, butterflies and other pollinators visit the flowering plants. She has created a little oasis for the wild things. A small step which has made a world of difference to those insects and birds.
Jason Williams aka The Cloud Gardener was surprised to discover how quickly insects discovered his balcony garden on the 18th floor of a block of flats in Manchester! Find out more here. You really can make a difference wherever you are.
Soil care
One of the easiest and most effective ways gardeners can make a difference and care for the earth is to make their own compost. This is the ultimate in recycling, turning garden and kitchen waste into crumbly sweet smelling compost, which is a perfect food for soil life and plants.
You don’t need fancy equipment, even a pile of garden waste in a heap will eventually break down into compost. I prefer to enclose my compost using old pallets to make a frame, or using “dalek” composters (cone shaped plastic composters). Whilst the ingredients are turning into compost, the heap provides a habitat for all kinds of creatures including microorganisms, slugs, beetles, toad, slow worms, small mammals, lizards and hedgehogs. Open topped heaps provide a foraging ground for creatures including birds - and it’s great for fungi too.
If you don’t have the space for a compost heap there are some indoor home composting alternatives that might be perfect for you, including bokashi, indoor wormeries and even electric kitchen composters. Or sent kitchen waste off to be recycled by the council if that works best for you - it is all part of Earth Care.
It can be difficult producing all your compost needs yourself. When buying compost, make sure that it is peat free and using sustainable resources, such as the wool, comfrey and bracken used to make Dalefoot Composts.
Make a No Dig Hugelette!
Hugelkultur is a permaculture technique for making raised beds, using organic materials. They often require using piles of large logs, which is not something most of us have access to, so instead I create “hugelettes” - using twigs and other garden materials. This project is a brilliant way of quickly tidying up the garden too.
As the ingredients inside slowly decompose they feed the plants and also help to conserve moisture.
Hugelkultur often requires digging a trench which of course as a no dig gardener I try to avoid doing. This no dig method creates a beautiful mounded raised bed, ideal for areas with little soil (such as very stoney ground) or to create a raised bed to reduce bending.
Useful ingredients:
twigs and branches
leaves
grass clippings
old hay or straw
garden compost - half rotted is fine here
topsoil or compost
Simply pile the twigs and branches in a mound the length you wish the bed to be, and as high as you want. Next layer the grass clippings, hay, straw or leaves. Add the half rotted compost (if using) and then the topsoil.
If you don’t have any topsoil then compost (homemade or bought in – such as Dalefoot) works well too.
Plant out and admire your new hugelette.
Note: hugels of all kinds create a perfect habitat for slugs and rodents, so it is best not to plant anything that is susceptible to being munched by them. I grow rhubarb on mine and wild flowers.
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About Stephanie:
Stephanie Hafferty is an award winning garden and food writer, expert no dig gardener, homesteader, edible garden designer and inspirational public speaker. Stephanie is currently creating a no dig homestead on half an acre in West Wales, where she runs gardening and homesteading courses, at the homestead and online.
Her garden was featured on BBC Gardeners’ World in 2022. Her books include: No Dig Organic Home and Garden and The Creative Kitchen: seasonal plant based recipes using ingredients you can grow on an allotment.
Follow her journey on her blog, Instagram and You Tube
Website and blog : NoDigHome.com
Instagram: instagram.com/stephaniehafferty/
You Tube Channel: youtube.com/c/StephanieHaffertyNoDigHomesteading