We're in the garden of Eden

The only job we have left on earth that can express our humanity, is to return other species to their place, and take our place, which is a small place in the total system.

Bill Mollison

In parts 5 and 6 of In danger of falling food, Bill Mollison takes us from a rain forest to an African desert plateau nearly completely denuded of vegetation, then to Crystal Waters Permaculture Village, and finally to a 67 year old garden he calls the garden of Eden.

Note: This is a continuation of the hour-long film In grave danger of falling food by 220 Productions. The segments stop and start mid-sentence. See May 19 and 20 posts for parts 1 and 2, 3 and 4, respectively.

[Permaculture] has to be the mainstream agriculture of any future society.

Bill Mollison

People say to me, will permaculture work? I say, will plants grow?

Bill Mollison

I give gratitude to 220 Productions for making this film available on YouTube and to Bill Mollison and the others of the Permaculture Research Institute for teaching us all how to recognize our place in the natural system. I give gratitude as well for their showing us how to build a world much like the Village of Ordinary.

Next: We'll take a break from the world as garden and I'll introduce you to two amazing men who sat across the table from one another, made eye contact, and shook hands. One of them spent 25 years in jail for shooting to kill the other. He nearly succeeded.

See the three hundred year old food forest

For twenty-eight generations, this Vietnamese family has grown its food and medicinal supplies on two acres of land in what permaculture expert and trainer Geoff Lawton calls a three hundred year old food forest.




We can do this. A bountiful lifestyle like the one Rose, Cheyenne and the entire Village of Ordinary enjoy is possible for each of us now. We can eat healthier, preserve our precious water supply, and live in harmony with the Earth.

Over the next few days, I'll show you how Geoff Lawton trained a team of Jordanians to grow figs and citrus in the sandy desert, how urban gardeners are relaxing with permaculture gardens on their balconies and in their backyards, and how permaculture co-originator Bill Mollison got his start reclaiming overgrazed land and rebuilding the soil and local water resources.

You might be surprised how much of your own energy a permaculture lifestyle can save, because permaculture is not just about the food. It's about a way of life that gives back as much as it takes. Stay tuned. Learn how. And if you're already doing it, tell me about it in the comments section below. We can learn from each other.

What is permaculture and why should you care?

Permaculture is

• Care of the Earth
• Care of People
• Setting limits to population and consumption
• Reinvesting surplus back into the system

Those are Penny Livingston-Stark's words, not mine. She's talking about the basic tenets of permaculture, and in this video by globaloneness she shows how agriculture is perhaps the easiest way for us to begin to adapt the concepts of permaculture into our lives. Take a look.



David Holmgren and Bill Mollison developed the concept of permaculture in Australia in the Seventies. Mollison says the term permaculture is a marriage of two words: permanent culture. By observing and imitating natural systems, say Mollison and Holmgren, we can better establish a working partnership with nature that ensures the longevity of our species. Rather than the slash and burn, pillage and exploit, tear down and rebuild strategy of the past three centuries, permaculture shows us how to live in abundance without destroying our world.

Want to see how it works? Check out Crystal Waters Permaculture Village and Earthaven Ecovillage. These people have been living in an Ordinary village for decades. They show the rest of us how.