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In short, permaculture is a practice of farming and gardening that strives to mimic patterns already found in nature. It is a movement surrounding a series of principles that strive to care for the earth with the belief that in return, the earth will then care for its people. Permaculture is not a new idea, but rather has been practiced around the world for centuries. However the name "permaculture" was coined by combining the words "permanent" and "agriculture" by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in 1978, with the intention of naming an ideology that opposed industrialized farming. 

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The three tenants of permaculture are Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share. 

Earth Care: Giving more back to the land than what is taken; practicing and establishing farming and growing methods that do not harm but rather replenish the soil and natural ecosystem.

People Care: By regenerating soil and natural ecosystems, the earth is equipped to provide an abundance of produce, shade, lumber, and other crop byproducts that provide shelter, clean water and food for people. 

Fair Share: In implementing natural and organic farming methods to fortify the planet, the earth will be able to produce an abundance of food for its people. As a result, there will be plenty of food and resources for everyone.
Permaculture is not a one-size fits all solution. What works for me on my farm with my animals and crops will not work for everyone. Every landscape, growing zone, microclimate, etc. is different from farm site to farm site, meaning a grower or farmer must make informed decisions and formulate solutions that are best suited to their exact location.

This can be overwhelming. Therefore, in addition to the three major tenants of permaculture, there are a series of twelve principles or guides that can apply to every farming or growing location or site. These guides help farmers and growers to make appropriate and informed decisions for their own spaces while keeping sustainability at the epicenter. The twelve principles of permaculture, as shown above in the infographic, are as follows:
Observe and Interact
In permaculture, it is the belief that nature is in the driver's seat. No decisions or efforts are made without a period of observation and information gathering. For example, we didn't just install a coop anywhere. We waited to learn the traffic patterns of our resident foxes, coyotes, and other predators and made an informed decision about coop placement. We also observe weather patterns, water flow, snow drift accumulation areas, wind direction by season, etc. This data saves on labor and costs when installing shelters, pastures, garden and growing spaces, and more. Projects can be executed appropriately and well the first time around. 
Catch and Store Energy
Here at Axe & Root Homestead we use solar batteries on our livestock fencing. We also use solar lighting in our greenhouse and in our walkways. Rain barrels have been installed throughout the farm to catch water runoff from the house and barn roofing. In addition, there are three small catchment ponds installed which collect rainwater during our rainy seasons. These efforts supply us with energy and resources without the need for extra or additional inputs. 
Obtain a Harvest
When we care for the soil and environment, our ecosystems are equipped to care for us. Reaping a harvest is the reward for our hard work and serves as the motivation to keep going. Harvests can be more than just fruit and vegetables; beeswax, lumber, forage, water, and energy are all harvest varieties.
Self-Regulate and Accept Feedback
This principle is a good reminder that we should be working with nature and not against it. And often times, problems are actually the solution. For example, a muddy area on the farm was often host to standing water, sliding vehicles, and muddy horse traffic ways. Instead of constantly fighting this lowland, we changed our vision and embraced the problem. We accepted nature's feedback and installed a catchment pond.
Produce No Waste
This principle can be easier said than done. But "reduce, reuse, recycle, and upcycle" is the mindset we try to operate in here at the farm. For example, feedbags are saved and used for giving away or selling compost to friends. Sunchoke stalks are harvested and repurposed as vegetable crop trellises. We try to collect water runoff in our pastures in our catchment ponds for use on our crops during the dry season. Hay that litters the barn floors or is deemed inedible by the horses is gathered and spread in our pastures to keep the soil covered and to take advantage of all the seed contained within. We have many rocks in our landscape so we use those for edging in growing spaces. We try to use as much of what we already have on-hand as we can.
Prioritize the Use of Renewable Resources
Piggy-backing off of several of the principles listed above, renewable resources offer a chance to reduce consumption and waste, to capture and store energy we may have readily available, and to reduce inputs to the farm or homestead. Our community is home to outdated electrical infrastructure which often powers down during windy weather and storms. Rather than rely on electric fencing powered by a traditional energy and power company for our animal fencing, we opted for solar chargers. We no longer have to worry about keeping our animals contained in inclement weather, and we're more self-sufficient. Plus there's a definite cost savings involved! 
Design From Pattern to Detail
One of the most exciting, albeit daunting, tasks of setting up a farm or homestead is all the fencing, garden planning, shelter, and pasture considerations that come into play. It can be easy to dwell on the details without thinking about the bigger picture first and foremost--such as which flower colors you like, or what breed of chicken to have. But looking at patterns allows us to make informed decisions that can reduce a lot of stress and wasted funds. One such example is my annual vegetable garden space. In heavy rainfall, water runoff would start at the top of my garden and flow its way down throughout my beds, moving rocks and soil, and even shallow-rooted plants with it. This runoff was a pattern as it happened every single severe rain event. I decided to restructure my garden layout, running growing spaces perpendicular to the direction of the runoff. Now, deeper beds could capture the water, store it, and slow the spread. After I devised a solution to the problematic pattern, I then brought in details; rock borders and edging, and thirsty perennials to help soak up water in these spaces.
Integrate Rather Than Segregate
By far and away my favorite principle. Such an easy one to implement and so rewarding to see the benefits of. Here at the farm we employ mixed species in our grazing spaces to ensure the ingestion of all plants in the fields, and to help reduce parasite loads in our animals without the need for dewormers. I employ extensive companion planting regimens in my gardens and in my fruit orchards. More diversity means less pest pressure, healthier soil, and more pollinators, native birds and wildlife.
Use Small and Slow Solutions
Rome was not built in a day. This is the mindset we use in developing our homestead. Introducing too many solutions too quickly can result in an adverse effect on the land, animal health or on growing spaces. For example, when we moved to our farm there was a very healthy resident rat population--afterall, the place had been vacant for about a year or more. Rather than shop for loads of barn cats and introduce them all at once, we strive to seek a balance with our local predator population. We wouldn't want to bring in excess cats only to have them remove the food population of owls, kestrels, falcons, and hawks. This would either provoke those animals to leave our space, or to start feeding on different prey such as our ducklings and goslings. Instead we started with one cat. Then two. Observing and watching throughout this process ensured our rodent numbers were dwindling without causing us to loose our predatory birds simultaneously.
Use and Value Diversity
There can be too much of a good thing. Too many ducks, for example, means too much webbed foot traffic on stream banks, too much of the same forage consumed, and too much competition between males for females. Too many annual plants leave the soil year after year, without perennial roots given the chance to sink deep within the soil's sublayers, absorb loads of carbon from the atmosphere and contribute to the mycorrhizal network. Too many horses in one pasture can cause degradation to the land, overgrazing, and a plethora of parasites. So we use diversity, just as nature does. We graze mixed species in a rotation pattern, we plant hundreds of perennials and annuals of varying kinds, and we keep a flock of three different bird species. Diversity thins out the cause and effects of pests, parasites, and more. 
Use Edges and Value Margins
One summer we had a horrific drought. This caused the forage in our pastures to sputter and slow growth well before fall. We did have native grasses growing in a wetland space, however, outside of our pastures. Rather than continue to put grazing pressure on our pastures or feed a diet solely comprised of hay to our animals, I chose to use the margin and graze the animals on the outside of their typical spaces. Solar charged portable fencing allowed me to set up an impromptu grazing space, to feed my animals fresh forage, to mow the existing tall growth without a machine, and the animals fertilized the space as they grazed, improving the crop for next season. Using the margins can give farmers and homesteaders an additional yield or space we may have otherwise not used.
Creatively Use and Adapt to Change
As summer temperatures seem to climb higher with each season, and storms seem to become more severe, it's important to adapt and pivot as needed. When we first moved to the farm almost a decade ago we experienced only one severe flooding event in the first five years. In the next five years we would go on to experience several more. Water runoff and disastrous flooding is becoming a more common problem and I've had to adapt. Our catchment ponds help to collect some of this run off and we put it to use later in the dry months. The stream bank I had hoped to equip with lounge seating that continuously floods is now a riparian zone supplied with native grasses and weeping willows for bank erosion control and fast water absorption. Our initial ideas for some of the spaces on the farm have had to evolve over the years and while this can be frustrating, it makes a more resilient homestead in the long run.
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