Today we take a deeper look at the 11th permaculture design principle: Make The Least Change For The Greatest Effect.
This principle is about economy of effort. When designing a sovereign homestead, we need to make sure that our systems are providing us with not only the right types of yields, but also in sufficient quantity and at a reasonable return to make our continued tending of the system worthwhile.
Living systems that provide for generation after generation exhibit a high degree of economy of effort.
We’ll look at how you can analyze your current homestead and lifestyle to identify the leverage points where optimizing your system can produce outsized returns to your quality of life.
We also talk about biasing your interventions and applications of time/energy/money to more “permanent” improvements – things that will require less of your time/energy/money as they mature while increasing in productivity and/or value that will outlive you by a long margin.
Getting started designing your homestead?
START HERE: Enroll in the Minimum Holistic Goal Creation Mini-Course today for free. This is the ONE THING that will make everything else easier or unnecessary on your homesteading journey! 100% Free
Upon completing this course you will have a crystal clear idea of who and what resources you have to work with, your desired Quality of Life that your homestead has to provide for, and what you will need to produce and the conditions required to sustain that production to meet your Quality of Life needs.
Need some help getting the “birds eye view” of your property and its surrounds to help you design your sovereign homestead?
Check out our Hi-Definition Contour Base Map package. This package includes:
- Hi-definition LiDAR contour map layer (contour lines can spaced at whatever scale you desire – as tight as 1 foot or less if you desire).
- Aspect Map Layer – color-code your entire property by which direction it faces – very helpful in identifying ideal growing zones and microclimates for specific plantings.
- Hillshade Layer – for easily visualizing landform across your entire property.
- Slope Layer – color-code your entire property based on the % grade – very helpful for access planning, living systems establishment and site selection for buildings etc.
Deliverables include:
- Hi-definition .jpeg or .pdf of your entire property and/or its contributing watersheds, at whatever size you desire (if you wish to print a poster and have it laminated as an iterative design tool images can be generated at whatever size the poster shop will print).
- .KML file of the contour lines for importing and 3D viewing in Google Earth Pro (free to download) – this is a very helpful and accessible design tool.
We also offer consulting calls if you need some design help or a fresh perspective – see the Virtual Property Design Review for details.
