Emily Markides came with Charles and Julia Yelton to Cyprus with the goal of introducing Permaculture design to the island. In two months they developed a four season garden for the residents at the Agia Skepi Detox Center.

Below is the article I wrote in the Cyprus Mail to go along with this video:

PERMACULTURE is an ‘ethical’ form of integrated design that ensures the survival of people and their environment by bringing together organic gardening, architecture, ecology, landscape, agroforestry, green economics and social networks.

The word permaculture was coined in the 1970s by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, who merged the words “permanent agriculture” and “permanent culture”. Permaculture design requires the detailed observation of natural systems and the recognition of universal patterns and principles. These ‘ecologial truisms’ can then be applied to all realms of human activity. In a time of severe water and oil shortages worldwide, this method of design is even more critical as governments scramble to find ways to satisfy the growing demand for scarce natural resources.

It is this sense of urgency that brought Emily Markides and Julia and Charles Yelton to Ayia Skepi, a drug detoxification centre at Filani. Dr. Markides is a native Greek Cypriot from Famagusta who now teaches courses on Building Sustainable Communities and Ecovillages at the University of Maine in the United States. In February, Dr. Markides arrived in Cyprus with her two permaculture colleagues from Australia, Julia and Charles Yelton, with a vision to introduce this sustainable method of agriculture to an island currently facing a severe water shortage.

The Ayia Skepi detoxification centre offered Markides and the Yeltons two acres of land on which, within two months, they designed and planted an “edible forest” comprised of more than 150 fruit trees and nearly 300 aromatic plants, along with climbing bushes and flowers. An edible forest is a home scale garden that produces food by mimicking forest ecosystems and ecological principles.

The process of creating the garden includes the following steps:
1. Locate the appropriate land plot
2. Draw the design
3. Stake the land
4. Dig swales and ponds: the swales are paths that retain water to prevent land erosion. Two ponds were constructed to attract pollinators such as butterflies, bees, and other insects. Rosemary was planted all around the ponds to repel snakes in response to a recommendation by the local priest of Ayios Heraklidios, Father Georgios.
5. Plant the fruit trees: cherry, plum, nectarine, apricot, peach, apple, quince, pear, citrus and many others.
6. Sheet mulch: Spread manure and eight layers of wet newspaper over the land and around the trees, followed by a bed of straw. This process prevents weeds from growing and maintains the moisture in the soil. The newspapers also draw the worms to the surface so that they can naturally till the soil. Each tree is encircled by rocks, which collect the morning dew and moisten the soil.
7. Once the trees are planted, they are intercropped with flowers, vegetables and aromatic plants such as lemon balm, lavender, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil and many more. Intercropping is the agricultural practice of cultivating two or more crops in the same space at the same time. The point is to make use of resources that would otherwise not be utilised by a single crop.

In total, the three permaculturalists along with a number of local supporters have created a sustainable four-season garden, an edible forest that avoids the land-stripping commonly induced by the large-scale conventional agriculture industry. In addition to the main edible forest, the gardeners, along with the residents of Ayia Skepi, created additionally both an herb garden and a vegetable garden.

It is important to note that permaculture is not only about gardening, but it also implies the utilisation of alternative sources of energy such as geothermal, solar-thermal, wind power, and waste treatment management. Ayia Skepi has already implemented a waste-water treatment system. Ideally, in the next few years, it will be able to harness energy from Cyprus’ unlimited supply of sun, as well as wind and rain through all the above alternative technologies. However, this is possible only through the continued assistance of donors and other in-kind supporters, who have already generously supported Ayia Skepi and the creation of the edible forest.

Ayia Skepi proved to be the best place for the application of the principles of permaculture, as the construction and maintenance of the garden has been a viable therapeutic tool for the residents of the detoxification centre. Markides said the idea of introducing permaculture practices to Cyprus was part of a larger vision of hers to see the return of her hometown, Famagusta, to its legal inhabitants and the ultimate reconstruction of the city as a “green zone”. She stressed that Famagusta has the potential to become a “model eco-peace city” for all of Europe whereby architects and designers rebuild what is now a derelict ghost town in a sustainable way in which economics, ecology and ethnic difference harmoniously co-exist.

According to the Ayia Skepi permaculturalists, this practice has the potential of addressing, mediating and resolving the pressing social and ecological crises that threaten Cyprus today.

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