Do you want to try to be more sustainable in the way you live? You should try planting a garden! Even better, try planting a permaculture garden! What is that you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. Having a permaculture garden is among other things having a garden that is designed by trying to recreate what you would normally find in nature. This can be a bit confusing at times but I will go through it (as well as the “other things” that I mentioned).
The first part of creating a permaculture garden is planning its layout. A permaculture garden often has 5 zones. Each zone (starting nearest to the house) requires less or more infrequent work done by human hands. You start with your normal garden vegetables in the first zone, go on to perennials and plants that need less work in zone 2. In zone 3 you put your main crop (whatever that may be). Zone 4 and 5 are different. Zone 4 is mostly undisturbed wild land that can be used as a foraging zone. Zone 5 should be left completely undisturbed. This may be hard to do in smaller plats but it can be done. Keep in mind that mulching (spreading woodchips or something similar on the garden to prevent weeds) can be very helpful.
Within each zone, you want to plant things in the way that they would be found in nature. By this I mean that things should be mixed together. Put plants that fix nitrogen near plants that use lots of said nitrogen (such as beans). Plant vined plants near tall plants (like corn) or trees so that they can have a natural place to climb up. Try to remember that nature grows in 3D not 2D having trees is not necessarily a bad thing. This planting like you see in nature allows plants to interact in beneficial ways that would not happen in a traditional garden.
Obviously, this is an extremely simplified way of looking at how to create a permaculture garden (I can only fit so much in a short blog post). You should look at some examples on the Internet and if you decide that you like what you see do some more research before you start.
Some good sources:
http://permaculturenews.org/2010/10/08/how-to-build-a-permaculture-vegetable-garden/
http://deepgreenpermaculture.com/diy-instructions/starting-your-permaculture-garden/
And lots more! Have a look for yourself!
– Ben Vockley