Practicing permaculture | MNN - Mother Nature Network

FRESH FOOD: This is a basic example of creating a backyard oasis using the techniques of permaculture. (Photo: Cicadas/Flickr)

Ecological garden designs educate students from the Chicago suburbs.
By Em-j Staples, Local Correspondent
Fri, Apr 30 2010 at 6:26 PM EST

A busy road bustles with high traffic at the five o'clock rush hour. Stoplights transition from red, to yellow, to green, as thousands of cars pass beneath them. White Escalades and navy blue mini-vans power the main four-lane road as they travel to destinations in the area. Supermarkets and gas stations monopolize the town. Off from one main road within a five-mile span stands Super Target, Jewel Osco, Piggy Wiggly, Walmart, Walgreens and White Hen Pantry. This community is a suburb, one hour and 15 minutes northwest of Chicago. It was a community made up mostly of cornfields just 12 years ago. Now big-name industries have plowed their way to make it the commercialized market it is today. Land space is rare and the consumer is king.

My hometown suburb represents a current trend in the United States: reducing land space to produce commercial opportunity. However, residents in suburbia still have the potential to produce their own food and plant the sustainability seed. Permaculture is an idea that allows consumers to produce their own food, instead of buying into the commercialized system. Regardless of space, anyone can garden efficiently. Regardless of experience, anyone who is willing to dedicate the time can cultivate his or her own crops. Regardless of cost, with compost, anyone who is willing to invest patience will save money. All of these factors result in a method of gardening which gives back to the environment. It becomes planting with a purpose, instead of gardening with greed.

Nature takes care of itself even in suburban areas, 75 minutes from Chicago. These suburban yards have to consider the lack of space and the lack of vegetation cover. Homeowners must use their given space very effectively because there isn't enough room to grow a huge variety of plants. However, within residential neighborhoods, plant communities are utilized in different designs. The big focus on suburban permaculture is to cultivate enough to supplement the suburban consumer's needs.

Go to your local library and check out a book about creating permaculture. I'll bet you will become absolutely and entirely hooked with all of its greatness.