ORDERLY CHAOS OR CHAOTIC DISORDER?

This topic came up recently in a Permaculture discussion. An interesting conundrum.......

Previously I quoted something Bill Mollison said in one of his design courses:

“We should not confuse order and tidiness. Tidiness is something that happens when you have frontal brain damage. You get very tidy. Tidiness is symptomatic of brain damage. Creativity, on the other hand, is symptomatic of a fairly whole brain, and is usually a disordered affair. The tolerance for disorder is one of the very few healthy signs in life. If you can tolerate disorder you are probably healthy. Creativity is seldom tidy.

Tidiness is like the painting of that straight up and down American with his fork and his straight rows. The British garden is a sign of extraordinary tidiness and functional disorder. You can measure it easily, but it doesn’t yield much. What we want is creative disorder. I repeat, it is not the number of elements in a system that is important, but the degree of functional organization of those elements – beneficial functions.”

[Bill Mollison: Transcript for a Permaculture Design Course.]

I am very creative and so this really tickled me. I know some people so bound-up in the need for showpiece tidiness that they are only kidding themselves that they are creative. Our modern hyper-tidiness cannot produce creative abundance. Same with natural systems: Functional order in natural systems can look chaotic. But regimental tidyness - regimental visual order - is chaotic functionally. In terms of abundant human creativity it is death.

Question: Which do you want? Lots of rows of tidy plants gasping out an existence in neatly weeded bare earth? Or a mass of happy low-effort productivity? These two ideas are mutually exclusive.

When we have a diversity of plantings together they take care of each other. Different root depths ensure minimised competition. Some plants bring up what others need and give it later in leaf fall. Some need shade, some don't. Easy to see where this goes. Synergism with the many integrations producing beyond your wildest dreams.

I must admit to having had a bit of fun with this quote. I know he sounds a bit rough, but I had some things happen that brought it into clear focus. He is misunderstood as advocating untidiness. That is functionally disorganised too! But this extreme hyper-tidyness - an extreme kind of perfectionism and control - that seems to create a need to regiment everything into straight lines and perfect "order" kills synergy.... and creativity too! :-) And what do you have left? Monoculture rows of plants propped up with chemicals and poisons to produce on a diminishing return. And no special happenings in enthusiastic synergism. A bit nuts in my view.

Until next time,

Chelle

NOTHING WASTED

Bless the flowers and the weeds, my birds and bees.

Anon

I used to hate the way the Chinaberry just popped up everywhere, but now I just think of it as a wonderful source of bio-mass. A year ago I think I would be amazed that I would actually be happy to see a Chinaberry coppicing.

I cut it down now and it goes into the beds I am structuring. I layer different sources of bio-mass lasagna-style to build up the bed. I use the Chinberry as part of the greens, and also as mulch on top when needed. Those that have been chopped down seem to coppice so readily that they are an endless supply.

I read that Bill Mollison said that in order to completely destroy a tree you are to use road salt... I assume this means coarse salt... at the cut, and then cover with an old carpet to block out the light. I would need a lot of old carpet! But I will have to make a plan like this, in time, as I settle areas down to Food forest. For now they serve a welcome purpose. Everything that grows rampantly in this rainy season is used like this - if not specifically purposed to be there.

I have found that the Mulberry tree bouces back very readily too; a real blessing. Such a useful tree. And the long leafy stems make wonderful fish food for my Tilapia. I will probably cut back a number of Moringa too to create coppiced limbs and increase forage for the animals when I get them.

I found sad little sticks of Purslane down near the river and brought them into the Food forest too. Now they are the best looking Purslane I have ever seen! Large leafed and a good 40cm high. They have become forage food to me. I love nibbling on the leaves. It feels so good to reach out and pluck one leaf after another to eat. They are one of nature's richest sources of Omega 3 fatty acids. Perfect to add to salads. I have also read that when thrown into a stew-pot they will thicken the sauce. I have not tried this yet... they don't make it past raw in my kitchen.

With all the recent rains the weeds are rampant in growth. I will have to pull hard in some places, but they are welcome mulch. Even the Khakibos has become a friend to me; added around young plants the strong scent repels predatory insects. Nothing wasted.

Until next time,
Chelle

WHICH PLANT WHERE......

“The yield of the system is limited by our imagination.”

Bill Mollison, founder of permaculture

I am now looking at the specific plants I want to grow in the food forest. I have already got a number of established Citrus and Mulberry trees in the area I am starting with, and have dotted some Moringa here and there between. The shade of the Moringa is very light and I needed to get them planted out from their bags before the summer had advanced too much. I have already harvested leaves to eat. They have really taken off. I think it has a lot to do with the lasagna style beds I have laid around them… greens… dry grass… manure… and then sifted topsoil. I have so many rocks in my soil that this was necessary to start with, I think. I have read that this is not needed but the difference in the plants grown in these beds in comparison to those grown in a less prepared area is almost incredible. Besides, I have a lot of use for the different rock sizes with all the pathways and building I am doing out of rock. It also allows me to assess depths for planting because some rocks are so enormous that it is best not to plant a tree over; and some rocks I like to leave uncovered to be able to access within the beds without walking over the soil.

So far in the Food forest I have Citrus, Moringa, Mulberry, Banana, Litchi, Apricot, Nectarine, Peach, Mango, Papaya, Pineapple, Almond, Raspberry, Spearmint, Sweet potato, Peanuts, Purslane, Strawberries, and Pumpkin. The Pumpkin was from seeds of a rotten Crown Prince Pumpkin that I threw out. They have taken off at a gallop. Any surplus growth will be cut back as mulch if they get too rampant; but in the meantime the half meter height under the umbrella effect of the leaves is serving a wonderful purpose for Papaya grown from seed and transplanted there - as well as off-cut from a box of Pineapples we have enjoyed; they fit so snugly under the leaves as though in a mini-greenhouse.

Until next time,

Chelle