Traditional Farm Design vs. Permaculture Design: What's the Difference?

Differences between traditional farm design and permaculture design on a sample land area.

You will see that a permaculture design can be a little complex, but this video explains the most important permaculture design elements and the rationale for their implementation. Let me know if you've got any questions.

Whether you're a farmer, gardener, or just interested in sustainable agriculture, this video will provide you with a basic understanding of traditional farm design and permaculture design and why they matter.

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Contour Map Generator:
❗DISCLAIMER: Please note, this online contour map generator isn't always accurate and therefore to design your land you need to rely on the good topographic maps as well as level measurements on site. Before making any decisions consult with an experienced Permaculture Designer or book a consultation with me. You can also email me to express interest in free webinars where we'll dive deeper into permaculture.

Sun angles calculator:
Link to windbreak video:
Link to video illustrating access design ideas:

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Useful Resource:
Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison

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[granvisio]

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[TheGreatLittleOrchard]

Amazing. We bought a house last winter (3.14 acres) with a cottage and noticed some muscadine vines and fig trees. Little did we know, it was a fruit forest and orchard. It wasn't listed as such and definitely not expected. Once spring came around we began identifying what we had and couldn't believe it. The land was neglected for quite a while so uncovering every square foot has been a surprise. Which has led to a year of studying fruit trees, growing, pruning, and now permaculture. Turns out the previous owner planted with tremendous vision and what you describe here, with the directions, placement, ditches, and ground cover, are all what is currently happening on this property. Thank you for explaining with such great detail. This helps us appreciate what we have and understand why they did what they did, and how to continue the practice. I feel like the past year of my life has been the most enlightening yet. Very grateful for your time in making this video. We just made this channel yesterday so we'll post our stuff soon hopefully :) #rookies

[amillison]

Very well thought out summary of the permaculture design process for a farm.

[laMoria]

My uncles don't know anything about permaculture, yet since it's a remote part of France, they still apply most of its principles. What you say seems so obvious to me ':D

[ModernFarmersJourney]

That drone footage of the farm at 8:15 is breathtaking! It really shows how beautiful modern farming can be

[wouterm]

Awesome video! For a city dweller like me, this is out of my direct experience. And we only have very efficient and boring straight pastures and cropland in my country, no quaint sustainable farms like this. But I would love to live on a homestead like that.

[Sheneller]

this vidoe was much needed! pls share more of this style of video on the permaculture topic! Thank you!

[chazaqs]

Part of the reason people build the houses closer to the road in northern climates is because of snow and snow removal. Though yes, building on higher ground is necessary, if you decide to build a long way from the road you will spend an awful long time or need awfully expensive equipment to remove snow when trying to get in and out of the property during the winter. And where I live once it snows it pretty much is there for the next 3-4 months. And if you don’t plow it out you will have massive drifts forming during the winter and will be stuck where you are. That is the main reason why building close to a road, that is regularly plowed during the winter, has become a normal thing to do.

[nishantahvan]

In India land price have gone rooftop, forgot acres here 300 sqft is luxury to buy. My dream of farmhouse is now impossible, I can't go outside due to weak currency.

[luzgiraldo]

I live in the tropics in a tropical dry forest climate. I do incorporate forage trees on countour because I have a hilly landscape. We graze in strips also on contour between the fodder trees. On more extreme slopes, we plant nitrogen fixing trees for fodder to cut and carry to the animals in times of dry and no rain season, with fruit and lumber trees.

[SolutOdka]

Hello, thank you very much for this high level summary of the permaculture principles :). I look forward to watching more videos on this topic :) !

[christopherhowse]

Very nice video, well narrated and I really liked the animations! I also liked the comparison approach. Great job!

[johnberry]

Ease of use and dramatically increased production is the main points of difference. The conventional farmstead design allows diversity and abundance. I believe the idea is to have permanent production units. How far apart they are or how mixed up they are is not a significant point. Thank you. Stay safe. MonoCulture is a different story.

[madlymode]

My only issue with this is trapping water. We know over-irrigation can destroy lakes (see: Aral Sea). Capturing precipitation on a large scale could impact areas where that water would otherwise drain--and figuring out where those areas are could be challenging. Understanding data like this, esp in this age where water is becoming scarcer (see: California, USA; also: cities planned to be built in deserts) will help us be better in future.

[BlueLineofthesky]

I really like the video even though it is a challenge to listen to. The tune in the background is close to the voice type and sometimes is hard to understand because some sounds overlap. But other than that it is a great video. Thank you!

[IdiosyncH]

Very well explained! I hadn’t thought about using a compass for the sun before. In this design, as someone from North America, having the berry bushes on the outside of the property would also keep the bears and deer a little farther away from your house… hopefully 😅

[theylivepart]

Thank you for these videos. I have gained many ideas for my property.

[KevinJames-uhlp]

Great video. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and energy with us all. 🤔🙏🙌🐦🥕🐝

[halthammerzeit]

I think some kind of middle ground can be achieved. In Poland, where I live, old way of dividing fields had impact on bio diversity.
Fields were divided by balk- narrow patch of unplowed land. Natural border with high grass, bushes and trees, home to birds, small mammals, and many more. Mini wild world among fields of grain. Disappears each year more.😢

[twigandroot]

very well explained. thank you for sharing this information!