How Does Permaculture View Waste As A Resource?

“Hi there, I’ve started creating a backyard food forest on my property in Hastings in Victoria, Australia. While I’m loving the progress so far, I’m starting to get overwhelmed by how much organic waste my garden is producing—fallen branches, twigs, grass clippings, kitchen scraps… the list goes on. Should I just be composting everything? Is there a better way to use it all that fits with permaculture principles? Thanks in advance for your help!” Anna, Hastings, Victoria, Australia.

How Does Permaculture View Waste As A Resource?

Great question, Anna! The concept of waste in permaculture is a bit like finding a twenty-dollar bill in your winter coat pocket—it’s considered a hidden resource waiting to be discovered. Rather than viewing waste as something to get rid of, permaculture encourages us to see it as an opportunity to create something useful and sustainable for our garden systems. Let me walk you through how to approach this in your own backyard food forest, and maybe ease some of that overwhelm.

The Principle of “Produce No Waste”

One of the core principles in permaculture is “Produce No Waste.” It’s not about having zero waste—let’s be real, that’s pretty impossible—but rather about making sure that anything that could be viewed as waste is instead repurposed, recycled, or returned to the ecosystem in some productive way. The idea is if you’re throwing something out, you’re essentially throwing away a potential resource. So, in your food forest, every fallen branch, every twig, every bit of kitchen scrap has value—you just need the right strategies to unlock that value.

Composting: The First Step, But Not the Only One

Composting is usually the first thing that comes to mind when we talk about organic waste, and it’s a fantastic way to turn kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, and even some small branches into rich, black gold for your garden beds. But composting is just one piece of the puzzle, Anna. While it’s perfect for your veg peelings and coffee grounds, there are other ways to handle the bulkier stuff like branches, leaves, and woody plants. Let’s explore these next.

Hugelkultur: The Art of Building with Logs and Branches

If you’re dealing with large amounts of woody material like fallen branches, hugelkultur might just be your new best friend. Hugelkultur (pronounced HOO-gul-kul-toor) is a technique that involves burying logs or large branches under layers of soil and compost to create raised garden beds.

The wood breaks down slowly over time, releasing nutrients and retaining moisture, helping to create a self-sustaining growing environment. Think of it as nature’s own sponge layer beneath your soil. You’ll absolutely love how much your food forest will benefit from it, and it’s a fantastic way to use up those larger pieces of organic matter that would take ages to break down in a regular compost heap.

Here’s a quick rundown of the process:

• Layer the base: Start with your largest branches or logs as the base. You can use anything from recently cut wood to decomposing logs.
• Add smaller branches: Next, add thinner branches, twigs, and other organic materials to fill in the gaps.
• Finish with soil: Top everything off with a thick layer of soil and compost. You can even plant directly on top of this layer.

The key advantage of hugelkultur is that it helps improve water retention and soil fertility. This could be really beneficial for your food forest, ensuring that your plants have a steady source of nutrition over a longer period.

Mulching: Mother Nature’s Carpet

If you’ve got a bunch of smaller branches, grass clippings, or leaves, mulching might be your go-to solution. Mulch acts as a protective layer on top of the soil, helping to retain moisture, suppress weeds, and gradually release nutrients back into the ground. Plus, it gives your garden a beautifully finished look—like nature’s version of a well-laid carpet.

Here’s a simple way to create your own mulch:

• Gather materials: Use fallen leaves, grass clippings, shredded branches—basically, anything organic that can break down slowly.
• Shred if needed: Shred larger pieces like branches or wood to help them break down more quickly. Investing in a small garden chipper can save you a lot of manual labor in this step.
• Spread it out: Apply the mulch in a thick layer (aim for around 3 inches) around your plants, especially around the base of trees, shrubs, and garden beds.

Mulching is an example of a passive technique where you let nature do most of the work for you. Over time, the mulch will decompose and enrich the soil, all while you sit back, sip your coffee, and watch your garden thrive.

Vermiculture: A Worm’s Work is Never Done

To recycle your kitchen scraps even faster, why not let worms do the heavy lifting? Vermiculture, or worm farming, uses red wigglers to break down organic waste into rich, nutrient-dense compost called worm castings. Trust me, your plants will love you for it. A small worm farm can be kept right in your garden or even inside as long as it doesn’t freeze, making it perfect for handling small amounts of waste regularly.

Here’s how to get started:

• Create a worm bin: You can purchase a ready-made bin or create your own using a plastic container with drainage holes.
• Add bedding: A mixture of shredded newspaper, cardboard, and straw works best to create a comfortable environment for your worms.
• Feed the worms: Regularly add kitchen scraps—avoid anything too acidic or oily. No citrus, onions, or garlic, thank you.
• Harvest castings: After a few months, your worms will have turned the waste into dark, rich worm castings that you can add directly to your soil or use for making compost tea.

Vermiculture is perfect for keeping a steady stream of tiny gardeners hard at work in your food forest. Plus, it’s a fun, hands-on way to teach kids about decomposition and sustainability—if you happen to have little ones around.

Chop and Drop: Nature’s Cyclic Process

If you’re short on time (and who isn’t?), let’s talk about the beauty of “chop and drop.” In a permaculture system, the idea is to mimic natural forest processes, where leaves and branches fall to the ground, break down, and feed the soil below. By chopping down unwanted plants, twigs, or pruning waste, and simply leaving it where it falls, you’re letting nature take its course without the extra step of composting or carting stuff away.

This technique works like a charm in food forests, where you want to build up layers of organic matter that will decompose in place, enriching the soil while providing habitat for beneficial insects. Not to mention, it saves you a ton of work!

Integrated Livestock for a Waste-Free System

Do you have space (and inclination) for chickens, ducks, or even a couple of goats? If so, they can be beneficial partners in your permaculture system. Chickens and ducks will gobble up kitchen scraps, fallen fruit, and even help with pest control, all while producing manure that can be composted or added directly to your soil (composting chicken manure before use is usually advisable). Goats, on the other hand, are natural pruners that can clear out brambles and weeds, leaving behind fertilizing droppings as they go.

Here’s how you can integrate livestock into your system:

• Create rotational zones: Divide your property into different zones and rotate your animals between them.
• Utilize animal outputs: Collect animal manure and add it to your compost or use it directly in your garden beds after proper aging.
• Feed weeds to livestock: If you’ve got invasive plants or weeds, consider letting the animals have a go at them before you resort to other methods.

By using animals, you can help close the loop on waste and maintain a more balanced, integrated system. Plus, who doesn’t love the idea of fresh eggs every morning?

Troubleshooting: When Nature Needs a Little Nudge

Even in a well-planned system, sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Here are a few common issues you might encounter and how to deal with them:

• Too much nitrogen in compost: If your compost is getting smelly or slimy, it could mean there’s too much “green” material (like kitchen scraps). Balance it out with more “browns” like dry leaves, cardboard, or straw.
• Compost taking too long to break down: If things are moving slowly, try turning the pile more often to introduce oxygen, or chop up your materials into smaller pieces before adding them.
• Unwanted pests: If you notice pests like rats or raccoons interested in your compost, you might be adding something too tempting like bread or meats. Stick to fruits, veggies, and garden waste, and consider using a closed bin system.
• Mulch blowing away or developing mold: If your mulch blows away in the wind, try soaking it with water before spreading it out. If mold appears, it’s usually harmless and a sign that your mulch is breaking down as it should—just avoid this in heavily trafficked areas.

Don’t stress too much about minor hiccups. Gardening is as much about learning and adapting as it is about getting things “just right.” The more you engage with your surroundings, the better you’ll get at reading the land and knowing just what it needs.

Advanced Insights: Closing the Loop with a Resilient Ecosystem

In permaculture, the best systems closely mimic natural ecosystems, where waste doesn’t really exist. Everything has a place, a purpose, and a role, contributing to a sustainable, closed-loop system.

For those who really want to level up, consider integrating techniques like greywater systems, where household wastewater (from sinks, showers, etc., but not toilets) is redirected to irrigate your garden. You can filter greywater through a natural system like a reed bed to keep pollutants out and make the most of your water resources. Or try aquaponics, combining fish farming and hydroponics to recycle nutrients through a symbiotic relationship between plants and fish.

The deeper you go, the more you’ll see that everything is connected, and waste is merely a signal that there might be a resource you haven’t yet tapped into. Creating a system where each element feeds into the next can be incredibly rewarding—not to mention better for the planet, too.

Final Thoughts…

So, Anna, hopefully, you’re now feeling more inspired than overwhelmed. Remember that in permaculture, waste is just a resource in disguise—whether turned into compost, built into a hugelkultur bed, or simply laid down as mulch. The trick is to start seeing those fallen branches and kitchen scraps not as a chore, but as an opportunity to enrich, sustain, and feed your garden. Thanks for submitting this thoughtful question—it’s gardeners like you who make the world a more sustainable place, one backyard at a time. Happy gardening!