7 Easy Ways to get Started with Permaculture

No matter where you live, find a way to grow any amount of food. Herbs on the windowsill, potatoes in the community garden down the road; anywhere is better than nowhere, and better spots will open up once you start connecting with the plants.

If you can find opportunities to build compost, spread mulch, and plant cover crops, prioritize it. If you don't have access to land, make a tiny worm bin and use the castings in your house plants. Whatever situation you're in now, these skills will always be important, so make a point to go out and do soil building activities wherever you can, and learn about the life in the soil and how you can help it to thrive.

Every ecological system is in a relationship with water, and so are you. Start practicing ways to catch, clean, conserve, direct, and protect water, in your home and garden and also in your larger bioregion.

Make time every day to look deeply into your surroundings, and learn to recognize patterns and relationships between the living systems around you. See the world through the eyes of other species, and empathize.

Make notes about the patterns you see. Keep a garden journal. Write stories about your experiences. Document species and varieties and anomalies. Make charts and lists and mindmaps. Do all of the above or just a few, but the more you write, the more you will learn, and the better you will be able to share what you learn with others.

Harvest comes in many forms, including feedback from the humans and other species in your system. Feedback, of both positive and negative types, is a designer's most valuable tool. Tune in, capture the data, get your ego out of the way, and constantly adjust your strategies and perspectives,based on what you learn from feedback.