CREATE – WILD AND HEALTHY

PLANNING THE CREATE STAGE

Permaculture ethics and principles – Evaluate your ideas against ethic and principles. Use this to narrow down options and make decisions about what options to pursue.

Parts – You should now have a good ideas about what the ideas to take forward are. Consider what you will need to use to create this design.  Consider the functions required and what parts do you need to make your design work? How will these parts work together most effectively?

Goals – Set yourself goals about how this design will address your aims. Make your goals SMART so that you can see if they have been achieved.

---

ACTIVITY FOR THE CREATE STAGE

Apply Permaculture ethics I re-visted my research table, looked in more details at where the remedies are sourced from and accessed each option against the permaculture ethics of earth care, people care and fair shares. This led me to discount some possibilities as unsuitable and make decisions about how to pursue others. Please see the ‘parts’ stage after the table for a summary of my decisions.

NATURAL COLD REMEDIES

REMEDY	PROPERTIES	WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM? Conventional sources	WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM? Wild or home-grown sources	APPLY PERMACULTURE ETHICS	DECISION
Vitamin C	Reduces the length of a cold	Citrus fruit Tomatoes Peppers Most fruits Green veg	Rose hips Garlic mustard Wild garlic Elderberry Wild strawberries Lambs lettuce Wild rocket	Earth care – Its better to use items that I can grow/ forage myself, or those that grow locally and definitely in the uk to avoid airfreight and pollution associated with travel. People care – Consider what we like the taste of and enjoy eating Fair shares – Buy fair-trade items and organic/ FT seeds. Only take a small amount if collecting from the wild.	Home grown Toms and green leafy veg   Forage for rose hips, wild garlic, mustard, rocket and elderberry
Vitamin D	Reduces your risk of catching a cold in the first place.	Fish Meat Eggs Milk Mushrooms Supplements	Sunlight Wild caught fish Wild mushrooms	EC – Consider the sources and the production chain. Positive or negative affects on the earth? PC – We are veggie/ almost vegan, so the meat, fish, diary and eggs are not options for us FS – Collecting wild mushrooms is a risky option	Supplement   Get plenty of sunshine
Zinc	Reduces the length of a cold	Red meat Chicken Seafood Pumpkin seeds Chickpeas Cacao Cashew nuts Mushrooms	Spinach	EC – Consider the sources and the production chain. Positive or negative affects on the earth? PC – We are veggie/ almost vegan, so the meat, fish, diary and eggs are not options for us	Home-grown spinach   Supplement   Plenty of seeds, nuts cacao and mushrooms brought from ethics suppliers
Oregano and/or thyme essential oil	Antimicrobial and antiviral treatment	Oregano Thyme Essential oils purchased from shops	Oregano Thyme	Currently purchased from DoTerra, a company with ethics in line with permaculture, so I’m happy to stick with this	DoTerra EO and add more of the herbs to my garden to use in culinary ways and as herbal teas
Cinnamon	Effective antiviral and antibiotic Relieve cough and congestion and lower fever.	Bark of the cassia tree Essential oils purchased from shops	N/A	Currently purchased from DoTerra, a company with ethics in line with permaculture, so I’m happy to stick with this	DoTerra EO
Eucalyptus essential oil	Opens nasal passages and promotes clear breathing	Eucalyptus tree Essential oils purchased from shops	N/A	Currently purchased from DoTerra, a company with ethics in line with permaculture, so I’m happy to stick with this	DoTerra EO
HERBAL
Ginger	Ginger helps bring down inflammation, clear congestion and support the immune system. Soothes sore throats.	Ginger root, fresh or powered in tablet form	Will grow in the UK on a sunny windowsill	To try growing it ourselves seems to fit the best with all the principles	Grow it ourselves   Buy fresh from ethics suppliers
Ginseng	Boost the immune system Reduces length and severity of a cold Can prevent you catching a cold	Ginseng root in tablet form	Will grow in the UK outside in a woodland environment	To try growing it ourselves seems to fit the best with all the principles	Grow it ourselves   Buy fresh from ethics suppliers
Echinacea	Reduces the length and severity of a cold	Tablet form	Roots and flower heads of the Echinacea plant	To try growing it ourselves seems to fit the best with all the principles	Grow it ourselves   Buy fresh from ethics suppliers
Elderberry	Stops the cold virus from multiplying	Syrup form Tablet form	Elderberries collected from the wild and processed into a syrup	EC – Collect locally from the wild from places we can walk too. PC – Can be educational for the kids. FS – Just take our fair share. Can I share with friends or maybe do a swop scheme with friends who are also making herbal remedies?	Collect from the wild and make into syrup
Nettle leaf	It contains large amounts of vitamins and trace minerals and helps the body stay hydrated and remove toxins.	N/A	Nettles collected and processed	EC – Collect locally from the wild from places we can walk too. PC – Can be educational for the kids. FS – Just take our fair share.	Collect from the wild and eat as a green veg or soup or in smoothies.
Yarrow	Unsurpassed for flu and fever, and great for children. If used abundantly in tea or tincture at the beginning of an illness, it will usually shorten the illness to less than 24 hours	Not commonly used but can be found in herbal tea mixtures	Yallow collected and processed into a tea or tincture	EC – Collect locally from the wild from places we can walk too. Add it to our garden PC – Can be educational for the kids. FS – Just take our fair share.	Start growing this in our garden   Learn about how to process and use it
Chamomile	Calms the nerves, helps children sleep better and reduces inflammation or fever.	Herbal tea mixes Essential oils purchased from shops	Chamomile collected and processed into a tea or tincture	EC – Collect locally from the wild from places we can walk too. Add it to our garden PC – Can be educational for the kids. FS – Just take our fair share.	Start growing this in our garden   Learn about how to process and use it
Peppermint	Great for all digestive disturbances and for lowering fever. It is antimicrobial and antiviral	Herbal tea mixes Essential oils purchased from shops	Peppermint collected and processed into a tea or tincture	EC – Collect locally from the wild from places we can walk too. Add it to our garden PC – Can be educational for the kids. FS – Just take our fair share.	Start growing this in our garden   Learn about how to process and use it
OTHER
Garlic	Stimulates the immune system and fights the virus. Natural antibiotic, anti fungal, and antibacterial	Fresh garlic bulbs Dried and powdered in table form	Wild garlic Garlic bulbs	EC – Collect locally from the wild from places we can walk too. Add it to our garden PC – Can be educational for the kids. FS – Just take our fair share.	Collect wild garlic in the spring and process into pesto and freeze to have extend the season
Honey	Honey has antioxidants, antiviral and antibacterial properties, boosts the immune system and soothes sore throats and coughs.	From bees Purchased from shops or directly from producers	Wild bees. Bee hive in my garden	EC – Consider the sources and the production chain. Positive or negative affects on the earth? PC – As above FS – try to support small local producers rather than big corporations.	Purchase from local ethical bee keeper
Coconut oil	Coconut oil is high in lauric acid and is thought to dissolve the lipid coating around some viruses and make them more susceptible to attack by the immune system.	Purchased from shops	Not in the UK	EC – Consider the sources and the production chain. Positive or negative affects on the earth? PC – As above FS – try to support small local producers rather than big corporations.	Purchase from ethical producer

 

---

Principles

So having thought more about which remedies to pursue and how to source them, I thought i’d look at permaculture principles and consider how to apply them to my ideas. As this is my final design for the diploma, I thought i’d look briefly at each of the 12 Holmgren principles, giving more or less attention to each principle as I deemed appropriate for this design. 

Principle	Possible application in this design
Observe and interact	Research before acting Observe my health and the health of my family and how any illnesses manifest in us Observe and note any remedies tried and the effects Learn from others
Catch and store energy	Harvest wild foods at the correct time for optimal potency Process or store then to expand the season that they are available to us.
Obtain a yield	Make sure I am getting useful results Harvest what I need Use what I produce
Apply self-regulation and accept feedback	Observe and note any remedies tried and the effects Make changes and tweaks to the design as needed
Use and value renewable resources and services	Consider where I am sourcing my purchases. Is it the best source?
Produce no waste	Use what I produce; don’t waste my hard work by making these remedies and then forgetting about them. Can I double up by using this knowledge to lead wild harvesting, herbal remedy making sessions for muddy boots?
Design from pattern to detail	Look at the patterns in the year when these wild foods will be available Look at where they most like to grow in the wild and see if I have suitable niches in my garden Consider the moon phase and when is the most potent time to harvest wild foods and begin remedies.
Integrate rather than segregate	Use remedies together for maximum impact Use plant guilds in my garden designing
Use small and slow solutions	See what I already have, knowledge, books, herbs, plants in the garden, essential oils, supplements and use these first before rushing out and making purchases
Use and value diversity	How do the remedies work together? Are they more powerful in union with each other? Use plant guilds in my garden designing
Use edges and value the marginal	Look to the edges of the woods, the canal towpath etc. as these are often the richest place to harvest wild foods. Can I design more herbs into the edges of my garden, along the paths etc.
Creatively use and respond to change	Observe and note any remedies tried and the effects Make changes and tweaks to the design as needed Respond to the season changes in my planning

Parts

For the ‘parts stage’ I looked at both of the tables above and made decisions about which elements to include in my design. The decisions I made were as as follows;

I will grow at home; I will add tomatoes, green leafy veg, echinacea and yarrow to my raised beds.I will grow pots of peppermint. I will also experiment with growing ginseng and ginger in containers on my conservatory or on our sunny patio. I will add wild garlic, garlic mustard, rocket and nettles to the wild areas of my garden. I will prune the Elder in our garden and harvest the berries from it this year.

I will forage locally for; rose hips, wild garlic, garlic mustard, rocket, nettles, yarrow, mint and elderberry.

I will purchase from ethical sources and add to my diet; seeds, nuts, cacao, mushrooms , coconut oil and honey

I will purchase from ethical sources and use as a supplement; DoTerra Cinnamon, oregano, eucalyptus, peppermint and thyme essential oils. Vitamin D, vitamin C and zinc supplements.

---

I considered how these parts could work together by asking myself a range of questions; 

What grows well together? Where was the best location in the garden for each plant? What can I forage for at the same time of year / in similar locations? What is the best was to make my purchases?

I looked at plant guilds/companion planting for the new plants I was planning on adding to my garden.

I also considered where was the best location in the garden for each plant I was planning on adding to my garden.

In pots – Peppermint, other mints, ginger, ginseng

In wild areas of my garden – Nettles, garlic mustard, wild garlic, herbs

In herb/ flower beds in full sun – Echinacea, yarrow, oregano, thyme

In annual/ perenial veg beds in full sun – tomotoes, rocket

In annual/perenial veg beds in part shade – leafy greens, wild garlic,

Against boundary wall in full sun – Roses

On reflection, I decided maybe not to grow – Eucalypus (non- native, essential oils will be a better option) Echinacea and yarrow ( herbal remedies will be a better option but I may add them to my garden anyway for their beauty alone) Leafy greens (My chickens will eat these before I do, adding them to my weekly veg box order will be a better option)

What can I forage for at the same time of year / in similar locations?

I thought about when in the year i’d need to forage for my chosen remedies.

I considered what is the best was to make my purchases? Could I buy in combination or bulk to get the best deals? I looked at adding the items required to my  6 weekly SUMA order and settled on this for now. It links back in nicely to another of my diploma designs and fits in well with my current buying habits. I will buy the essential oils from DoTerra as I already have an account with them and feel their ethics are in line with my own.

I already have a good collection of DoTerra essential oils and will add the selected additional oils to my collection as and when I can afford them or when they are on special offer.

---

Setting goals

To make my goals more achievable and SMART, I decided to allocate each task to a suitable month. This became more of an implementation planning exercise than a goal setting exercise in the end.

Grow at home

• February I will draw up a plan of how to add my chosen plants into my home garden.
• I will prune my elder
• March I will look in plant and seed catalogues and order my chosen plants and start them off in the spring.
• April onwards I will add plants over the spring-summer.
• I will leave a patch of nettles at the end of my garden.
• I will encourage the wild garlic, garlic mustard and rocket growing wild in my garden. I will harvest these at the correct time and add them to our diet as fresh greens, pestos and as cooked greens.

Foraging

• Before the end of Feb I will walk the local area to look at what is growing and talk with people with local knowledge.
• I will look at existing maps of my area and draw my own version showing where to find the plants I want to forage for.
• March I will research herbal remedies and make decisions about what I’d like to try making this year.
• I will find out more about using yarrow and see if its growing locally or add it to my garden. I will find some good recipes for remedies
• April-June I will forage for spring greens, nettles, wild garlic, garlic mustard.
• May – June I will harvest yarrow
• Late aug-sept – I will harvest elderberries and process to make syrup
• Oct I will harvest rosehips after the first frost and process them to make syrup.

Making purchases

• February I will look at prices for all items to purchase and decide on the most cost effective way to make my purchases.
• March onwards. I will make my purchases and include the food items in our diet.
• I will use the oils in preventative ways and as treatments when needed.