http://www.findhorn.org/ecovillage/archives/training/jane.html 
Seeds of Peace by Jane Rasbash

hi everyone
        Here a part of a beautiful article written about Ecovillage Training at Findhorn in Scotland
                                                                wes
        
The Findhorn organic gardens operate an earthshare scheme. This entails local people who are interested in eating seasonal, organic vegetables paying for these in advance and having a box each week from the gardens thus missing out the middle man and ensuring fresh produce. Earthshare also supply the Findhorn kitchens where our group spent two afternoons turning the vegetables into a tasty dinner for around one hundred people. "Permaculture is revolution disguised as gardening", (Mike Feingold) Jane Hera's friendly and down to earth leadership was greatly appreciated during the permaculture module. She explained how most cultures are deeplyrooted in agriculture systems thus permaculture can relate to anything. I had a little chuckle with others in the group who were familiar with the Buddhist teachings when it was mentioned that the word permaculture had derived from "permanent". In the Buddhist tradition everything is seen as impermanent. Jane explained that permaculture was an ethical discipline that advocates caring, sharing and repairing the earth. Permaculture involves observing and learning to look at the world, landscape and natural systems. The principles outlined included looking for multiple functions for single elements, finding beneficial functional relationships and using energy efficient planning thus advocating inter-connection and sustainable use of resources. To start with, Jane suggested looking at the land for one year and observing what happens in different seasons. How does the land change, what plants grow and how do they relate to each other, what about the effects of the wind, the frost, the snow and the sun. Of course if you are local or indigenous you would have a huge start and it makes sense to learn from residents if you are new to an area. Then comes the permaculture design where a pictorial vision is created. The vision is an overview of a long term plan and the process for this includes zoning the land with different functions for each zone. Great thought is given to how the land will be in many years to come and long term planting with a succession of plants to create a healthy eco-system is used. Then you work out what the first achievable steps are rather than get over whelmed with detailed planning at an early stage. I was inspired by this approach that seems very relevant to our work with participatory development, indigenous values, sustainable agriculture and social justice and my imagination ran riot with the possibilities of a synthesis of all these aspects - perhaps it really is a revolutionary approach.