Anyone who has done any gardening or farming in the United States knows that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has a map of “zone” called the USDA Plant Hardiness Zones. This gives a general idea of climate conditions for different areas of the United States, mostly determined by minimum extreme temperature. The Ozarks in Arkansas are in zones 7a and 7b, for example, and the southeast portion of the state is zone 8a. There are a few spots of 6b near the north edge. These are useful, but they can be confusing to a newcomer to the topic of Permaculture.
Permaculture has its own set of “zones,” and these are based on how much time is spent in that area over a given period of time. For example, the home is “zone 0.” You are in your home most of the time, because you most commonly eat, sleep, and relax in your home.
The first “outside the home” zone is “zone 1.” This zone is where you might plant a kitchen garden, near the back door. Then zones 2, 3, and 4 are where your design would have plantings and structures that may not be visited as frequently. Some of the higher numbered zones’ plantings are purely to provide fodder for your grazing animals, if you incorporated them into your system.
The last zone is “zone 5” which is supposed to be a small piece that you leave for nature to do whatever it likes. It remains untouched from an agricultural perspective, but you might go into it very rarely in order to observe, forage/wildcraft, or hunt. It is important to leave at least a little bit of untouched ground.
We will cover different concepts of these zones in more detail, and we’ll reference them occasionally when discussing placement of elements in a design.