Mary Stella,
I certainlly can't speak for everyone on this forum, but I dare say that none of us would say that we practice "perfect permaculture"!
We've only lived on our farm for a couple of years now. In order to afford the amount of land that we want, we purchased "unimproved land". It was malnurised, overgrazed, and poorly managed. Those are some of the nicer things I say about it! We've imported, we've watered, we've added a 30/30/30 fert in order just to get a crop of veggies, and I'm sure every other "wrong" thing.
But all the while, we're working toward a greater goal. We're working to build soil fertility, to set up a permaculture foundation, structures, and implement ideas. None of this happens overnight for us, but gets built over time. Looking at the difference in our land (never mind the gardens) from then to now is nothing short of amazing. While it has taken a lot of time and work, we're proud that we didn't take the easy way out and hire someone to spray all the weeds, replant the pastures, and chemically fertilize everything. For the veggies, when we had to fert to get something to grow in our poor conditions, we consoled ourselves that it was better than WM food, and we were on our way. Some of our gardens now have the richest soil I could have dreamed of, but I still water!
I don't believe we'll ever hit "perfection". We don't live in a perfect world! My goal is to do the very best that we can year after year building to more and more self sustainability- both personally and for our land- all the while, doing what needs to be done to achieve my goals. I'll probably always have to water, do some weeding, and it could take a great many years (if every) that I'm able to not only supply my family's food needs, but also all the animals under my care. For me, that's ok, because perfect is not my goal.
We're all here, not to brag about any of us having perfect permaculture, but rather to share and encourage ideas and inovation. Most of us don't know anyone in person who practices permaculture, but rather we just read about it in books. It seems like much of the teaching and true permaculture practices are happening in Australia and CA. The rest of us are doing the best we can, building one step at a time.
Be encouraged!
