Permaculture Design Principles: Best Sites for Beginners (2024)

Published: Apr 2, 2020 · Modified: Feb 13, 2024 by Sarita Harbour · This post may contain affiliate links and Amazon links

When we moved to our off grid home in Canada's subarctic, we had no idea how difficult it would be to start a vegetable garden. Poor soil conditions, tons of bedrock, and a uniquely compressed garden season were, well, challenging. That's why I started looking into permaculture design principles.

Permaculture Design Principles: Best Sites for Beginners (1)

It was tough to find information on permaculture back then. However, that's changed in the past year. Permaculture ideas are popping up everywhere as more families turn to growing their own food.

When I first wrote this post, few gardening websites covered permaculture. Now, permaculture sites and low-maintenance garden sites have popped up everywhere!

If you struggle to grow vegetables in a traditional backyard garden, consider learning about permaculture design principles and basics. Then, visit these permaculture sites for beginners.

What is Permaculture?

Permaculture is an ethical gardening method that copies patterns found in nature. This is called biomimicry.

People who follow permaculture basics also try to limit how much they disrupt or harm the earth. So if it's doable, permaculture activities should actually improve the earth. This idea supports the basic permaculture ideals of earth care, people care, and fair share.

What is a Microclimate?

Permaculture design principles depend heavily on using microclimates, which is pretty different from the idea of carefully planned and landscaped kitchen gardens.

A microclimate creates pockets of weather conditions not typical of your area. These microclimates let you grow vegetables, fruits, and herbs that might not usually do well in your gardening zone- and they might surprise you.

For example, we live very far north.

This means we face the unique challenges of northern gardening. Our gardening zone is 0A. Yes, there really is a "zero" gardening zone. (FYI, we are at about 62 degrees north in Canada's Northwest Territories.)

We have one acre of land overlooking a lake. Our property is a mixture of bedrock, clay, and sandy soil. Yet, with our ongoing family composting efforts, we've improved the soil quality over the years. We've even had topsoil trucked into our off-grid garden for an added boost.

We're experimenting with several microclimates on the property. Large bedrock and almost 24-hour sunlight in June and July make "hot spots" for typical warm-weather crops like watermelons. Birch trees offer shade for veggies like chard and potatoes.

Permaculture is a Long-Term Commitment

Today, there's growing interest in low-maintenance backyard gardens, and more people want to learn how to start homesteading.

This offers an excellent opportunity to practice permaculture. However, be warned. Permaculture takes years to really work well.

Prepare to make some planting errors and vegetable garden harvesting mistakes. So you need to commit to your gardening activities - and your property. Apply permaculture design principles with your long-term goals in mind.
And then you'll get the chance to enjoy a high-yield, low-maintenance vegetable garden.

Permaculture Design Principles: Best Blogs for Beginners

If you'd like to learn more about permaculture, visit these 14 sites. Some offer an introduction to permaculture basics. Others include diagrams of possible garden layouts. Others offer tips and tricks for permaculture success.

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Permaculture Design — The Urban Farmer

Photo Credit: www.theurbanfarmer.ca

The Urban Farmer page offers a simple permaculture overview. It also discusses the history and development of permaculture design principles for beginners.

Permaculture Principles

Photo Credit: permacultureprinciples.com

At Permaculture Principles you can see a video with David Holmgren, one of the founders of permaculture. And the site also includes ideas on how to use permaculture design principles to your suburban home and yard.

Difference Between Organic Gardening and Permaculture

Photo Credit: permaculturevisions.com

Confused about the difference between permaculture and organic gardening? The Permaculture Visions site includes an informative article that highlights the characteristics of a permaculture garden. It isn't the same as organic gardening. It also offers a free Permaculture Ethics Course.

The Family Food Garden:Backyard Permaculture Design & Tips

Photo Credit: www.familyfoodgarden.com

This site has all sorts of useful gardening information for aspiring homesteaders and gardeners. In addition, The Family Food Garden includes a post on permaculture design layouts with several clear backyard design diagrams.

Permaculture Design

Photo Credit: www.neverendingfood.org

One of the rules of permaculture design is to mimic natural growth patterns in your part of the world. At Neverending Food, learn how permaculture design principles inform gardening efforts in the dry and difficult environment of Malawi in southeast Africa.

Deep Green Permaculture:How to Start Your PermacultureGarden

Photo Credit: deepgreenpermaculture.com

This site includes a ton of information for budding permaculturists. Look through Deep Green Permaculture for detailed DIY posts on plant stacking, edge effects, and water gardens for beginners.

Temperate Climate Permaculture:Permaculture Design Projects

Photo Credit: tcpermaculture.com

Interested in getting your Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC)? If so, you'll need to complete a design project. Browse through the Temperate Climate Permaculture site design diagrams for inspiration. Currently, I see eight projects in PDF form suitable for 1 acre to 6 acre lots.

Dr. Axe Permaculture:The Many Benefits of Permaculture (And Why We Need it to Feed the World)

Photo Credit: draxe.com

Use the Dr. Axe Permaculture site to explain permaculture to your kids. They'll enjoy the simple explanations, colorful diagrams, and basic projects. And this could be a good time to also take a look at our Composting With Kids, Easiest Vegetables for Kids to Grow, and How to Use Foraging to Teach Your Kids posts as well.

Natural Living Ideas:What Is Urban Permaculture? How & Why You Should Adopt These Principles

Photo Credit: www.naturallivingideas.com

Many people become interested in permaculture while living in cities. The Natural Living Ideas site shares many urban permaculture ideas. Find advice on container gardening, vertical planting and balcony gardens.

Permaculture magazine

Photo Credit: www.permaculture.co.uk

Think of this UK-based site as a news site with the latest trends. This is the site for the print and digital magazine Permaculture. It lets visitors subscribe to the magazine format of their choice, or buy back issues. It also has a handy article on hugelkultur. Hugelkultur is the art of gardening in a specially crafted "no-dig" raised bed.

Oregon State Free Permaculture PDF Book:Introduction to Permaculture

Photo Credit: open.oregonstate.education

Are you looking for some textbook-style information on permaculture? Visit the Oregon State Open Text Books site. It includes a free downloadable PDF version of Andrew Millson's 28 chapter Introduction to Permaculture textbook. And it even links to a couple of permaculture YouTube videos