A Self-Sufficient System A Self-Sufficient System
i
Illustration by Karyna Piwowarska
Nature

A Self-Sufficient System

The Need for Permaculture
Łukasz Nowacki
Reading
time 6 minutes

Its solution of selected elements ensure ecological balance, an uninterrupted cycle of living and non-living material. A perfect system, a holistic perpetual-motion machine, created by people in partnership with nature. Is permaculture the key to producing healthy food in a time of ecological crisis?

Do you remember those times during the summer holidays when you’d spend the whole day in your courtyard, building treehouses, playing football, mumblety-peg, hare and hounds – and when the concept of boredom didn’t exist? It was 1996, I was 13, and like most of my peers I was dreaming about what interesting things I’d do on the following summer day. From today’s perspective, I can confidently state that I wasn’t a typical teenager. I differed from my friends in how I spent a lot of time

Information

You’ve reached your free article’s limit this month. You can get unlimited access to all our articles and audio content with our digital subscription. If you have an active subscription, please log in.

Subscribe

Also read:

Grab a Spade and Get Digging! Grab a Spade and Get Digging!
i
Illustration from "Grand voyages" by Théodore de Bry, 1596, The New York Public Library/Rawpixel (public domain)
Nature

Grab a Spade and Get Digging!

An Interview with Witold Szwedkowski
Marta Anna Zabłocka

Witold Szwedkowski, poet and Urban Guerrilla Gardening activist, talks about backyard policy, the spade as a tool of rebellion, and the subversive potential of the pumpkin.

Let’s start with a mindful walk. Think about what you see – how many trees do you pass, what are they, do you know them? The guerrilla needs to survey their area of operation. They must estimate the strength of the enemy – the enemy being the excessive use of concrete. They must sound out the weak points and attack there, firing off seedlings, plunging in a shovel. The guerrilla does not lash out at officials, drivers, or those who are disgruntled at the sight of falling leaves. The guerrilla is against the overuse of concrete – vast stretches of granite, oceans of asphalt and rivers of bitumen. These are the things that leave cities lacking in greenery. And we fight lack of greenery guerrilla-style.

Continue reading