October Monthly Meeting

Elaine Merrylees (centre) is seen chatting after her talk

Out talk this month was given by Elaine Merrylees, and concerned the topic of permaculture. A lot of us are probably not entirely sure what the subject is about, or perhaps associate it with the idea of using plants for a roof covering.
The talk by Elaine gave us instances of the important things that can be achieved by the practice of permaculture which combines three aspects:
1. An ethical framework
2. Understandings of how nature works
3. A design approach
This unique combination provides an ethical framework that is used to design regenerative systems at all scales - from home and garden to community, farm and bioregions.
We we given several examples of arid environments where with careful management of water harvesting along with a balance in the use of crops and animals could produce viable and hospitable landscapes thus supporting the local populations.
The illustrated talk gave us a photographic demonstration "before" and "after". The success of the various projects was clearly evident.
We were left wondering why we do not hear more about the activities of the Permaculture Association and similar organisations. Click here to find out more.