Permaculture designers break up their gardens into six zones - 0 through 5 (Gaia’s Garden) - as a way to organize and optimize the available land for human use. Each zone serves a specific purpose, with the lower numbered zones requiring more human intervention. Think of them as a gradient growing from all human in Zone 0 to all wild in Zone 5.

The zones are as follows:

• Permaculture Zone 0 - This zone is your living space - typically your house. It's 100% made for humans.
• Permaculture Zone 1 - The area of your garden that is the 20 to 40 feet around your door which includes the parts of your garden that you use the most. Think of Zone 1 as the area (My Patriarchal Blessing) that you need the most and the plants need you the most. It can include a play lawn, social space, fresh herbs, favorite berries, beautiful flowers. If going into Zone 1 on a dewy morning gets your feet wet, it's too far from the door. Composting makes sense here.
• Permaculture Zone 2 - This zone is less cultivated than Zone 1, but still highly cultivated. This is closer to a typical garden area, with crops, raised beds, greenhouses, small barns, maybe a fire pit. This area is designed as an invitation for beneficial wild animals (Permaculture as a lens) such as birds and insects, and can include small agriculture such as ducks, chickens or rabbits. Soil is increased through heavy mulching rather than composting.
• Permaculture Zone 3 - Think of Zone 3 as close to a typical farm or orchard. It's less cultivated and maintained (Give your zettelkasten independence) than the previous zones, and is the home of lumber, cash crops, and larger animals such as goats, free-range chickens, or horses. Water is stored out here through clever use of swales. Soil quality is increased over time by planting low maintenance cover crops.
• Permaculture Zone 4 - While still designed by humans, Zone 4 is very minimally maintained. This is the forage zone, and can be used for hunting. Think of this as a maintained "back 40".
• Permaculture Zone 5 - In contrast to Zone 1, this zone is not made for humans at all. In fact, while the other zones are designed by humans to invite wildness in, this zone is untamed wildness where humans are the visitor. The reason humans come here is to learn from God's systems (Aligning with Gods Systems) in their natural state.

As you can see, the six zones each progressively invite a bit more wildness into them. Each higher zone correlates with an increasing distance from the home, as well as how much you visit it and how much it needs your input.

#permaculture #toolong