For this week’s Tip of the Week I thought I would recommend my favourite magazine Permaculture. It’s full of inspirational yet practical and affordable ideas for a more self sufficient and sustainable lifestyle.
For those not familiar with Permaculture I will attempt to explain the concept! Permaculture is a way of working with nature to sustain human activities in the long term to provide for our needs of food, shelter, energy and community in ways that are healthy and efficient. It is about designing systems which are light on the planet; preserving the Earth’s resources whilst increasing soil fertility and agricultural yield. So an example of this could be my willow windbreaks. Instead of purchasing a plastic windbreak (created and transported using fossil fuels etc), I am using a sustainable wood resource in my local area. The permaculture application of this would be teaching others on my allotment site how to make windbreaks to improve the overall efficiency and resilience of the site. In the future strong local communities will be best placed to weather the problems caused by peak oil.
Interesting articles in the winter edition of Permaculture magazine 2011 include:
- The history and uses of charcoal
- How to make a pottery kiln from newspapers
- Book reviews including Alys Fowler’s The Thrifty Forager
- An interview with Green Party MP Caroline Lucas
- A feature on composting toilets
- Instructions on how to make Sauerkraut
- A wonderful description of the Karuna forest garden
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