Revolution Disguised as Gardening : Day 4 in Australia

11 Jul 2026 · 1 min

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In this vlog entry, the speaker recounts a classroom discussion about whether permaculture can aid people marginalized by society. He relays Jeff’s examples of creating gardens from discarded materials—compost from garbage cans, food forests atop concrete, and projects involving people with disabilities, addicts in recovery, and those lacking resources—emphasizing the mantra that “permaculture is a revolution disguised as gardening.” The speaker then shifts to a personal narrative about living in West Virginia, describing the resilience inherited from grandparents that fuels homesteading on reclaimed strip‑mine lands. He frames this work as a quiet, self‑sufficient revolt, contrasting external perceptions of West Virginia’s decline with the community’s grassroots, sustainable building efforts. The entry marks day 11 of a 21‑day series, underscoring the ongoing commitment to this subtle yet unstoppable revolution.

Chapters

Someone asked a question in class today. Can permaculture help people who've been thrown away by society? Jeff started to answer, talked about people that he had worked with building gardens completely out of the junk that they had. Compost from garbage cans, food forests on top of concrete buildings, people with disabilities, addicts in recovery, folks who couldn't afford really anything, building living systems from things that people throw away. And then he says the line like he often does, Permaculture is a revolution disguised as gardening. Quiet, self-sufficient revolt. That's why I love living in West Virginia. I've seen a couple parts of the world and I always can't wait to get back home to a place where we have great people. Everyone else says that we don't have much, we've been left behind, what good could come out of West Virginia? And then I see people start building something special in spite of all that. People with enough resilience that they probably got from their grandparents to stay. We homestead on mine lands, on strip mine lands in fact. Something that people would probably tell you not to do, but we love to do it. It's not because anyone begs us to, because that's what our passion is. That's not a hobby, it's a revolt. Quiet enough that you don't really see it coming, and it's self-sufficient enough that it's too late to stop it. All of it. It's a revolution disguised as gardening. 11 days down, 10 more to go. I'll see you tomorrow.