A beach house’, he said, ‘doesn’t even have to be on the beach. Though the best ones are. We all like to congregate’, he went on ‘at boundary conditions’
‘Really?’ said Arthur.
‘Where land meets water. Where earth meets air. Where body meets mind. Where space meets time. We like to be on one side, and look at the other.’
from Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
(p 92)
‘Really?’ said Arthur.
‘Where land meets water. Where earth meets air. Where body meets mind. Where space meets time. We like to be on one side, and look at the other.’
from Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams
(p 92)
In Permaculture, we aim to maximize the edge in order to increase yield, whatever the desired yield may be.
On this page, I wanted to look at how nature proliferates along straight lines, softening them up to increase their edge
Edges are where there is an exchange of energy/resources between 2 different systems or habitats. The edges of a canal in East London are covered in mosses and lichens - signs of life starting to colonise these spaces.
I noticed the contrast between the canal edge and the water was very stark and vivid – perhaps because two very different textures and colours were encountering each other.
Pictures above:
Variety of sedums and mosses growing on a gravestone in Honor Oak Cemetery, growth by riverside at Caversham, gathering leaves at the fence boundary One Tree Hill nature reserve and lichen on the roof of Croydon Buddhist Centre.
Although the edges in the pics above may look infertile and sparse, they show what happens inbetween two different environments, and, if left alone, would gradually, by succession, become the basis for a larger, more complex, system.
Variety of sedums and mosses growing on a gravestone in Honor Oak Cemetery, growth by riverside at Caversham, gathering leaves at the fence boundary One Tree Hill nature reserve and lichen on the roof of Croydon Buddhist Centre.
Although the edges in the pics above may look infertile and sparse, they show what happens inbetween two different environments, and, if left alone, would gradually, by succession, become the basis for a larger, more complex, system.
Nature's patterns (spiral, wave, cloud, net, branch etc) all aim to maximise the edge in a variety of ways. For egs of patterns go to
http://permaculturediary.weebly.com/patterns-in-nature.html
http://permaculturediary.weebly.com/patterns-in-nature.html