Spring 2022

November 2022, the month starts with an atypical cold, temperatures between 5 and 10 degrees celcius, after a very rainy month of October, with precipitation of about 500mm, with the soil completely soaked,water pouring all over in ecoPalha, which is not very common for this time of year.This period is being used to observe, study and of course as always to do general works of maintenance (mowing, cleaning of dry toilets,firewood, gutters..) in addition to preparing seedling, pruning, planting, raising and improvement of the garden.

By taking the time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation.

This behavior is well explained in the first Principle ofpermaculture.

First principle of PERMACULTURE

Observe and interact

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

"Good design depends on a harmonious relationship between nature andpeople in which careful observation and thoughtful interaction provideinspiration, repertoire and design patterns. It is not something generated in isolation, but through a continuous and reciprocal interaction with the object.Permaculture uses these conditions to consciously plan ourpath to energy decline." --- book 12 Permaculture Principles by David Holmgren

For me, this principle was very important, because I learns tospend a lot of time observing nature, being patient beforeto make certain decisions, to wait for the time to reflect on theresults.Increasingly, more time is spent observing and theninteracting rather than just interacting with the environment. At the beginning of ecoPalha more time was spent on the action than watching, of course, at the beginning there was not even a shelter for rest, but today with a better structure as a shelter, running water, hot toilet, dry toilet, and other structures, time can be spent observing and studying the behavior of nature, and with that to work in harmony with the environment in which ecoPalha is inserted.

Using Permaculture principles and tools, each seasonecoPalha becomes more self-sufficient, making with the passingof time, we can stay longer without having toleave to seek support in the Conventional System, or whenleave to travel don't worry about getting back fast, because ecoPalhawill be more and more stable, and even being away, the landwill remain stable and producing good results.

Plants and animals are increasingly getting more healthy, needing eachless of human help. There are already several stable fruit trees, whichI practically do not need more weekly or monthly care, but onlymaintenance in some seasons of the year. Fruit seedlings made fromseeds, need almost daily care in two to threeearly years, but after that period, the only work practicallyis to harvest and eat, and as they are made of seeds, and not grafted,so the harvest will last around 100 to 200 years, this is one of themain advantages of planting from seeds, as treesof grafted produce from 30 to 50 years.

One of the main things you learn in the early years of a project,is learning from mistakes, as David Holmgren says "Failure is useful as long as we learn from it. Planning and design processes often involve adjustmentsincrements in response to experience."

That's it for today, let's put more wood on the woodstove, prepare the coffee, grab a book and enjoy this off-season cold, because it's not often that we can enjoy 5 degrees in the beginning of November.