Why we do Permaculture wherever we are

 Our Permaculture Model Garden in Sri Lanka

 

When we have experienced that the quality of food we eat and the soils they grow in around the world are getting worse and worse and irreversible damages have happened to nature, we decided to start a project with the purpose of creating a little place of healthiness on this planet.

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Our aim is to create a self-sustainable garden where there is no need of external energy input such as artificial fertilizer, buying compost or need of electricity. It should be a model garden for food sovereignty, self-sustainability and eco-tourism.

We want to become a role model for others and encourage small farmers from the surrounding area to also start their own gardens to be more independent from the food industry and to rebuild a healthy ecosystem.
 

To achieve this, it is necessary to stop monoculture and increase the variety of flora and fauna. There needs to be a big variety of plants, which will also support each other in growth and healthiness. In the long term, biodiversity is what will keep the soil more fertile and tolerant to pests and diseases. These principles are also called companion planting or Permaculture.
 

In 2012 we discovered a land in Haburugala, Bentota in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka, away from the touristic sites. It had abandoned cinnamon growing between rocks, weeds and wild plants. The breath-taking view over the lower hill country, the tranquil evenings, and the monkeys jumping in the trees more than convinced us to invest in this land. Enthusiastic and full of ideas, we purchased the property to create the Amuura Permaculture Garden, a paradise for biodiversity, self-sustainability and real good food production.
 

First we changed the existing cinnamon plants to organic. This meant no use of artificial fertilizer and letting the plants rehabilitate.

The next challenging task was to prepare the unused land for planting, so we cleaned and levelled the ground and planted many nitrogen-fixing plants to give back nutrients to the soil.

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By now we have already planted more than 1000 plants: timber trees, ayurvedic trees, spice trees, banana trees, fruit trees, vegetable plants, flowers and herbs.

While many of the plants are still too small to yield, we already regularly harvest organic bananas, papayas, mangos, pineapples, limes, coconuts, chilies, jack fruit and many other fruits and vegetables. We harvest the spices cinnamon, turmeric, lemongrass and curry leaves from our garden. Our hens provide us with organic eggs.

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Our cinnamon is looking gorgeous now as well. Looking after it carefully shows its results and we are proud to be the only cinnamon exporter, selling sulphur free cinnamon! Usually all cinnamon is treated with sulphur against pests and fungus, which we avoid by letting the cinnamon dry for at least six days instead of the usual three days. This means that the cinnamon weighs less, therefore less profit, but we think it’s worth having chemical free cinnamon.