Hello everyone! Regarding agriculture in Asgardia, permaculture would be a great way to overcome many potential food (& health) related problems...

For those who are not familiar with the subject, Permaculture is a design system, aimed for creating completely sustainable and regenerative human settlements. We learn from the nature through observation and mimic nature to create a zero-waste system in which we grow maximum amount of diverse crops in very small spaces.

• Permaculture ("Permanent - Culture" or some say "Permanent - Agriculture")
• Nature creates no waste.
• Nature is diverse.
• The problem is the solution.

Using permaculture, we can actually create a space settlement where the installed ecosystem creates its own food, as well as oxygen, while all the waste can be re-purposed and re-used (read:humanure) and fed back to the ecosystem.

Regarding the health benefits... Of course, we are talking about pure organic food in permaculture. (Yes, traditional heirloom seeds!)

Also, it is my belief that even though we will be in space (and we want to be in space), putting our hands into soil will greatly increase our overall mood. And, as a side note, this would create meaningful jobs for people residing.

Creating a human settlement is much more than logistics. In permaculture, we not only deal with the agriculture side but the human side as well. That is why I wanted to mention it to you guys.

Love & Peace

It appears more like a design pattern rather than a technique (ex. hydroponics). Due to the fact that we have to design a way to make agriculture sustainable in space, isn't it implicit?

Well, I guess it may be considered as a pattern design...

It is certainly not one technique. Rather, it is a design process to determine what tools & techniques would be suitable for the project in hand.

Of course, there are many layers to the design process; so after this step, one would continue to determine where & how to implement those tools & techniques. (I'm sorry, it is not easy to deliver a 12-day Permaculture Design Course here in a few sentences. But I will do my best. :) )

Permaculture builds on the idea that for every item you put into a project, you've got to have multiple uses. To make a design sustainable, you have to build it in a way that would never collapse if one or more items get damaged. That way, the system continues to support itself because every needed use (FI, drinking water) comes in through multiple ways.

Permaculture is certainly not one technique; it is a design tool to bring together every discipline involved in the project.

Hmm... So, this last bit I wrote made me wander... I wrote about it in biological sciences because right now at Earth, it is largely used in agricultural projects. But maybe, I should have written about it in the design process of the space station since Permaculture thinking is a "big picture thinking". It is a systems design approach, that of course involves agriculture. And even more than involving agriculture; it is actually building the systems around basic human needs (clean food, clean water, clean air, and even clothing).

I'm not sure if this is making sense to you guys... But I'm always on the "build it so well that you don't have to keep repairing it every day" kind of mindset. That's why permaculture works for me. Once you go through the design process, when every problem becomes a solution, you've got yourself a solid thing that lasts generations.