Stretching from New York down to Virginia, the Mid-Atlantic region boasts ecosystems that range from coastal waters to the Appalachian highlands. This region experiences all four seasons and adequate rainfall for a wide variety of plants. Typically thought of as hosting extremely diverse and abundant ecosystems, the mid-Atlantic supports life in such an amazing way. Permaculture has the potential for incredible results within this part of the world, and to be honest, it takes very few tweaks to achieve them!
Why Practice Permaculture in the Mid-Atlantic?
I have had to ask myself, "why am I practicing permaculture while living here in the mid=Atlantic". It was my husband, James, who first made the observation that much of the information designed for those learning permaculture is targeted towards those working with difficult climates. Cold winters, lack of water, and hot tropical weather are some of the most common challenges addressed with permaculture. When I initially went searching for information on practicing permaculture in the mid=Atlantic region, surprisingly I found very little to work with! Perhaps this is because when you plant a seed here in Western Maryland, it almost always wants to grow. When you neglect your garden for a month at a time and return to look at it, your biggest problem will likely be weeds growing, not your desired plants dying. We don't have the fear of hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, earthquakes, or volcanoes threatening us except in rare circumstances. In general, the soil is decent, the rains are generally plentiful, and the winters are cold but not extreme. Why would we want to go through the effort of perfecting our designs in a place where you can grow a tomato plant on accident out of your compost pile? I believe I have found some answers to this question.
Abundant Harvests
There is virtually no limit to the amount of abundance we can experience when we put permaculture to work in our lives. Why should we ever have to pay for a strawberry grown in a desert in California when we can have fresh food, straight from our gardens all year long where we live. Here, there is no need to substitute rare or unheard-of foods for our regular diet. Almost all of the produce we enjoy as Americans can be raised right in our own backyards! In fact, we can grow so much food in a small mid-Atlantic yard that we regularly end up with extra to share with neighbors, family, or even food pantries. The idea that those of us in the mid-Atlantic would ever find ourselves outsourcing our food production to any other part of the world or country is astounding. This place supports human life like no other! We have the ability to use the land where we live as the land that feeds us. The fact that this gift is overlooked and wasted by the shortsighted and money-driven design of our society is the crime of the century.
Earth Healing
Despite the fact that most ecosystems in the mid-Atlantic are working with pretty ideal conditions to thrive, there has been centuries-worth of damage done to the land that needs to be corrected. Just because we are not currently living in a desert does not make us exempt from creating one with poor land-management practices. When we plant food forests, restore wetlands, reforest hillsides, and use mulch to sink carbon into the soil, we are healing the injuries that humanity has caused to the planet through misuse. Our ability as people to destroy the Earth is incredible, but in this same way, we have an amazing ability to repair it. It only takes a small percentage of humanity working to counteract the negative impact of our society to completely reverse the damage that has been done. Permaculture is the perfect tool for healing the planet and creating a better future for our children. When these children grow up as witnesses of this success, they too will be motivated to go on as the next generation of Earth healers.
Our Health
It is no wonder that there is a mental health crisis in this country where kids are growing up with no idea where their food comes from. As humans, we are tied to this earth whether we are aware of it or not. The disconnect between our own existence and the planet to which we owe it is damaging to both us humans and the planet itself. When we take responsibility for our sustenance and welcome nature up to our doorstep, we will find ourselves becoming physically and mentally healthy. There are so many local food traditions across the mid-Atlantic that can be traced back to the foods we still grow in our gardens today. The foods you consume from a permaculture garden contain more nutrition than the same foods from a grocery store and cooking these homegrown foods to share with your family is an activity both rewarding and essential to our life experience. Spending time surrounded by and actively participating in the natural processes that support us is healing for our minds, bodies and spirits. Children especially experience huge benefits from these practices as their growing bodies require more nutrients and a relationship with nature can boost confidence and give them a sense of belonging. Excluding ourselves and our children from this part of the life experience has hugely detrimental effects on our wellbeing overall.
Unraveling the Establishment
There isn't a movement much more anti-establishment than the permaculture movement. Many people have displayed the movement as something all about peace and love and yoga but if you actually read the Designer's Manual by Bill Mollison, you get a very different vibe. This isn't about finding your tribe or making a fashion statement. This is about rejecting the system which is built on consumerism and corporate greed and refusing to participate. It is about choosing to forge your own path in life, providing your own sustenance, creating your own joy, and just generally taking matters into your own hands. It starts with the realization that the "establishment" isn't there to help you, it is there to profit off of you. And the "establishment" certainly isn't going to fix the environment once it is broken beyond repair. If we want a better world and a better life for ourselves, we first need to redefine what "better" means and then we have to achieve "better" through our actions. When we experience the satisfaction that comes from positive results, we will be hooked on action and want to dig deeper and deeper to push the limits of what is possible. This movement is happening whether you live in the rainforest or the desert or the arctic circle. It is certainly happening in the mid-Atlantic where it takes so little work to achieve astounding results. Standing up against greed and a system that profits off of the less fortunate is a reason in itself for practicing permaculture wherever you live!
In Conclusion
There are so many benefits that come from living the permaculture lifestyle. Just because you can have a nice little veggie garden in the mid-Atlantic without building swales and growing forests of fruit-producing trees, doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. The permaculture designs of the mid-Atlantic can be mind-blowing and provide us with all that we need to live an amazing life with even a small property! Whether you live on the coastal edge of this region or on the side of a mountain, we have the ability to build a beautiful and abundant niche for ourselves in our own backyards. Because when it comes down to it, we need permaculture to thrive as much as it needs us.